Wake Up the Dinosaurs

Government (taxpayer) provided funding to put these clowns in office is NOT the answer.  Let me make my point in a couple of ways:  fiscal responsibilities and ethical blindspots.

With a large deficit looming over us, adding multi-billions of dollars to the must pay line in the budget is just plain wrong.  Make no bones about it -- this will not be left to the discretionary spending side of the equation.  Further, whose responsibility is it to pay for advertising, pay for lunches, fuel for the bus / motorcade / plane, etc. -- Mr. and Mrs. struggling to pay for their kids' college, or the (mostly) millionaires who are running for office?

Secondly -- the ethical blindspots could come in several forms.  My main concern is that by saying we are publically funding campaigns, we will simply drive most political donations underground.  As a realist, those who wish to influence candidates with money (and why else do we or anyone contribute dollars?  To see those who share our views get elected) will do so regardless of whether there is public or private funding.  At least with our current system I believe it encourages some openness in who is contributing.  

One other area -- it might discourage an otherwise worthy candidate from running.  If he is barred from gaining financical support from his base (let's say his base is the farming and agriculture community and he's otherwise not known outside of that community), he might end up out of the race...I wonder how broad Lincoln's base was originally?

This is the Answer

Robertd772,

Actually, public financing of campaigns can, and indeed does save taxpayer money.  By combining this kind of reform with reform of the out-of-control earmark process in Congress, there will be more than enough money to pay for a new public financing system.  Furthermore, when a candidate is elected using public financing, they are beholden to nobody but the constituents they serve.  What a novel idea, eh?  Public financing is the answer; stemming the fundraising arms race, returning power to average voters, actually saving precious taxpayer money and allowing candidates with good community support to run for office.

Look at recent data from Maine, Arizona and North Carolina: www.azclean.org.  The system works!

DEMOCRATS: WHERE'S YOUR BACKBONE?

A week before the last election I pointed out that the Democrats seemed poised to take back congress.  I went on to say, let us hope they take a backbone as well.  Well, I guess that was just a little too much to ask.  The Democrats won a tremendous victory on November 7th. They were given a clear mandate to restore America to a position of dignity and respect in the eyes of the world. But even before the voting machines cooled they had wet fingers to the wind in an attempt to position themselves for the 2008 election.

In fact, even before the first chad was punched the now presumptive Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, pledged in a 60 Minutes interview that if the Democrats won the election the impeachment of George Bush "was off the table."  Even Rep. John Conyers, who, as ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee wrote a bill to consider the impeachment hearings of Bush, now, as presumptive chairman of the committee says that he's in total agreement with Rep. Pelosi-"impeachment is off the table." Also, Senator Russ Feingold, positioned to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee's Constitution Subcommittee, said during a group meeting in his home state of Wisconsin, "I don't support impeachment, and I don't support impeachment hearings, even though I think the president has probably committed an impeachable offense."

Are these Democrats out of their minds? If there's ever been a man who deserves to be impeached, George Bush is the one.  The man lied to congress and the American people to drag us into a war that's responsible for the death or maiming of thousands of Americans, and reportedly, the death of up to 600,000 Iraqis.  He's mounted an assault on the United States Constitution by spying on American citizens without proper authority.  He's implicated in the outing of one of our own secret agents-and just for spite.  He's destroyed America's reputation all over the world by associating American justice with unlawful invasions, torture, concentration camps, and illegal detentions.  He's unnecessarily placed American troops in harm's way by rushing them into war with defective equipment; and he's dishonored American troops by forcing them to place their lives on the line through repeated tours of duty, forced extensions of duty, and providing them with tainted rations while in pursuit of their duty.  And in the final analysis, it has becoming increasingly clear that it was all done for the profits inherent in war. So if Bush doesn't deserve to be impeached, what tyrant would?

These Democratic politicians don't want to move on the impeachment of George Bush because they fear that it may be so unpopular with Bush supporters that it will serve to rally conservative voters for the 2008 election. They're afraid that if that happens, it could cost them their newly won chairmanships and positions of power.  Of course, they'd tell us that it doesn't have anything to do with them, they just don't want power to slip back into Republican hands. But what good does it do to have power if you're afraid to use it when you've got it?  If you're always maneuvering for the next election you'll never get anything done.  The bottom line is, you simply have to do what's necessary when you have the opportunity to do it, and if it's the right thing to do, the next election will take care of itself.  It about heart, and dedication to what's right.
Yes, there are many of us who want to see Bush impeached just for the shear pleasure of seeing him drummed out of office.  But that's not the primary reason that he needs to be impeached.  Bush needs to be impeached to vindicate America in the eyes of the world.  If this man isn't impeached, the American people will be seen as ratifying everything that he's done in our name.  If he's allowed to remain in office we will send a message around the world saying, yes, America believes in the preemptive invasion of sovereign nations; yes, we agree with the wholesale slaughter of innocent men, women, and children; and yes, we support the use of torture, secret concentration camps, and the illegal detention of innocent people.

We must also impeach Bush to send a clear message to all internal enemies of America.  We must set a precedent that tells prospective tyrants that you don't lie to the American people for your own personal gain, or sacrifice American lives to enrich your cronies.  Future demagogues must be made to understand that America is not the place to practice their trade.  We don't play that.

And Ms. Pelosi, the people who voted you into office made themselves abundantly clear.  Your constituents in the city of San Francisco voted for a resolution that reads, in part, as follows:

"It is the Policy of the people of the City and County of San Francisco to call for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney for violating the public trust and for knowingly harming the United States of America, the State of California, and the City and County of San Francisco."

And I'd like to also remind Rep. Pelosi, and all other Democrats who seek to spare this tyrant in order to feather their own nest. Your Congressional Oath of Office states the following, without any ambiguity:

"I, Loyal Citizen of the Republic, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

So, I think it's about time for you Democrats to wake up and sniff the funk that's emanating from all around you. You see, we're not happy with you either-after all, you simply sat back and allowed Bush to pull off this scam. And don't be fooled by the last election-you simply benefitted from being the lesser of two evils.

Therefore, at this juncture it would be extremely prudent for you to recognize that this is not about you and your political career.  If I were in your shoes, I'd put such concerns aside, rush to the dictionary, and look up the word "statesman."

Eric L. Wattree, Sr.