You Ain't Worth Crap

Summer's been over for a few weeks now. I guess it's time to get my butt in gear and revisit this blog. For starters, here's a piece I submitted to our local paper this past week:

One of my favorite stories by Dr. Suess was published in 1961 and simply titled, The Zax. It is the story of the South-Going Zax and the Nouth-Going Zax who eventually come face to face in their tracks. Neither Zax is willing to take one step to the east or the west and so their they stand, unmoving, face to face, while the rest of the world grows up around and over them; the Zax oblivious to the cost and folly of their uncompromising ways.

And so here we are at October 1st, the government defunded, while our elected members of government stand toe to toe unwilling to budge. Meanwhile, the world moves on and how soon will it be before we wonder, just when did the U.S. become that second-class piece of real estate?


The truly alarming part in all of this is that it’s not about healthcare reform. It’s not about Obamacare. It’s about jobs. For once the congress is taking real and tangible action to protect American jobs: Their own. The alarming piece, from my view, is that this debacle is about re-election strategy. It is the criminal offspring of a political system in which our elected representatives are beholden to the individuals, corporations, and organizations with the resources to bankroll a billion dollar presidential bid, the millions needed each year to elect our congress, the tens or hundreds of thousands needed to elect our state representatives. Our elected representatives claim to represent the voice of their constituents but what constituency is that? With national organizations extending their reach across state boundaries, pouring money and resources into our representatives campaigns for election and re-election, just whose agenda is it that gets carried to Washington—where our valued representatives settle into a job offering income, healthcare and retirement benefits most Americans will only ever dream of.

I used to read of the open political corruption in other countries and I felt both disgust for the system and sympathy for the citizens. Whether the current stand-off in Washington, D.C. continues for only 12 hours, 12 days, or 12 weeks, I think it’s time we open our eyes to the fact we have become that country. We have become that place where representatives, legislation, and votes are bought and sold on the open market. For all the self-righteous back and forth banter one hears about just what the Founding Fathers intended, what the Bill of Rights provides, the sanctity of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, I feel fairly certain the current state of affairs is not what they had in mind.

The solution to our current sorry state of affairs has nothing to do with Obama, healthcare, Republicans, or Democrats. It is solely dependent on effective and sweeping campaign finance reform. As desperately as our country needs meaningful healthcare reform, the process by which we allow the unfettered buying, selling, and manipulation of politicians and policy is the rotting corpse on the prairie of American life.