Common Sense is so lacking in the United States Government and in many Americans. Now I know this may be offensive to many people, but where did common sense and good judgment go?
It has been bought by lobbyists, by politicians, by Wall Street, by huge oil companies and huge pharmaceutical companies, by the Federal Government, by the NRA, by the Department of Defense, by the Justice Department, and in many ways by the U S Supreme Court.
When will those in power do what is right and what will makes sense for this country?
It makes sense to seek alternative energy, through wind, solar power, bio fuels, and clean natural gas. It does not make sense to continue to import foreign oil sending hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign governments which threatens America's national security.
It makes sense to help America become energy independent for the sake of saving this country. It does not make sense to allow big oil companies to keep 68 million acres of leased land for drilling, letting Americans pay for those leases while never drilling on them, and asking for MORE leases to drill off shore and giving more tax breaks to big oil.
It makes sense to let Americans 'bare arms' but it doesn't make sense to allow people to the right to buy AK47s and Uzi machine guns.
It makes sense to provide a Medicare prescription drug plan for seniors, it does not makes sense the government refuses to negotiate prices for these drugs as the government does for the Veterans Administration, just to boost the profits of big drug companies. It does not make sense Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world while other countries demand and get negotiated drug prices from these same companies. It does not make sense the US Government allows this to happen.
It makes sense to provide an affordable healthcare plan to cover uninsured and older Americans, to cover pre-existing conditions and make health care insurance companies be accountable. It does not make sense to tax health care benefits and pass along these costs to Middle America which will drive many Americans to drop health insurance and cause many other Americans to have to purchase health insurance while throwing a few tax credit crumbs to defray the costs, just to boost profits of big health insurance companies.
It makes sense to end an illegal Iraq war costing Americans $10 billion a month and bring our loved military sons and daughters home. It does not make sense to keep U S troops in a war just to obtain oil nor does it make sense to think America can change the climate of other ethnic cultures, while the Iraqi government continues to drain the US Treasury while holding on to an $80 billion dollar surplus.
(When the powerful say that the price was worth the blood and treasure, you can bet your ass it wasn't their blood, nor their treasure.)
It makes sense to rebuild America's decaying infrastructure in rebuilding roads, bridges, sewers, etc. and create jobs. It does not make sense to spend hundreds of billions of dollars rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq while neglecting that of America.
It makes sense to create jobs at home. It does not make sense to ship American jobs overseas to the detriment of Americans and it does not make sense to allow American businesses to create companies in foreign countries to avoid paying taxes in the US.
It makes sense to invest in America's public schools to educate the children of our future and to raise America's educational standing in the world which has dropped while a dozen or more countries educational rankings continue to exceed and surpass those of America. It does not make sense to neglect America's future by throwing a few pennies on a dollar at a broken educational system and force teachers to teach children to pass a test rather than to provide a through high class education in math and science.
It makes sense to talk to the leaders of foreign countries, friend and foe in an effort to negotiate policies that avoid war and could reach agreements benefitting the security of America and the world. It does not make sense, in a global world, to threaten countries with violence when America's standing in the world is no longer respected as a peaceful or strong nation, with our power and influence eroding.
It makes sense to regulate Wall Street to prevent a collapse in America's economy and to ensure Americans jobs are secure. It does not make sense to eliminate regulation to allow greed, corruption and theft of Middle America by corporate CEOs and the SEC to the detriment of America.
It makes sense to regulate the FDA to ensure food for Americans is safe. It does not make sense to eliminate or reduce regulation, oversight and accountability causing illness and death to U S Citizens.
It makes sense for big oil companies and big drug companies to help reduce the national debt given they have received billions of dollars in tax breaks while making record profits and ripping off Americans. It does not make sense big oil companies continue to get huge tax breaks and keep their record profits when they should be paying taxes on all these profits.
It makes sense to drop the price of gas as quickly as increasing prices. It does not make sense to increase gas prices and let them trickle back down, when the price of oil drops, giving additional profits to big oil.
It makes sense to let a woman have the option of an abortion if she chooses because of being raped, or incest or other personal and individual reasons. It does not makes sense for the Federal Government to have the right over a woman's body or dictate to any American on issues which are personal and private. The Federal Government is not God.
It makes sense to respect all Americans and the diversity which makes this country great. It does not make sense to legislate hate or discrimination against gay Americans who pay taxes, serve in the military and contribute to society.
It makes sense to respect the rights of privacy for Americans. It does not make sense to monitor phone calls, emails, US Mail, internet activity and cell phones under the guise of fear to protect America from terrorists.
("He that wishes to see his country robbed of its rights cannot be a patriot." Samuel Johnson)
It makes sense the government which is supposed to be of, for and by the people to actually honor these same people when the majority disagrees with government policy. It does not make sense for the government to ignore the majority while seeking its own personal agenda for greed, corruption, secret prisons, and torture; and to only do the will of the people simply because of near term elections.
It makes sense to continue funding Social Security. It does not make sense to invest any portion of Social Security in the volatility of Wall Street.
It makes sense for the government to pay as we go as do American households. It does not make sense for the US Government to borrow exorbitant sums of money from foreign countries driving Americans for generations into financial debt.
It makes sense non-profit churches are not allowed to preach politics. It does not make sense to allow non-profit religious organization to keep tax exempt status when they clearly violate existing law.
It makes sense to develop an immigration policy to allow 30 million immigrants to work in America and pay taxes. It does not make sense to believe the Government can remove 30 million people from this country when the Government allowed for decades immigrants access to the United States.
It makes sense to hold the Federal Government, the Justice Department, and the U S Congress accountable when they violate the U S Constitution and existing Federal Law. It does not make sense these Federal entities get to ignore existing law, ignore court ordered subpoenas and to allow U S lawyers to support these illegal actions. It does not make sense the government denies Americans right to engage in lawsuits when the government does not follow the same standard.
It makes sense that Americans are allowed to disagree from time to time. It does not make sense the Federal Government marks anyone disagreeing with them as traitors or as being un-American.
(Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall)
It makes sense Americans should be above emotional politics and vote for people who will do what is right for the whole of America, and vote to throw the bums out who engage in greed, corruption and put foreign interests above America. It does not make sense to allow people who clearly have a political agenda against the good of the country and the will of the people to stay in office.
It makes sense to focus on America's future existence. It does not make sense to focus one day or one week at a time for political and financial gain to the detriment of America's future and that of our children, grand children, great grand children and beyond.
The present state of America is truly alarming to every citizen who is capable of reflection on the past 8 years and beyond. A government which violates its own laws, a government whose actions demonstrates they are not supporting the peoples' rights - of - for - and by the people. We have a government no longer accountable to its citizens seeking instead to follow their own political means and end at the expense of the many.
Americans must wake up from their slumber while the political enthusiasts seeking individual gain and fortune squander an inheritance given to America more than 200 years ago. The Federal Government and politicians look over this country with little thought to consequences in their selfish effort to gain a vote. Americans would do well to remember this same government has removed oversight, sent our sons and daughters to war, many died, many maimed. Our government has squandered the respect of
America which once was a beacon for nations around the globe. Americans are deceiving ourselves if we believe the power of the few will do what is in the best interest of the many. Inaction and delay can only continue to bring ruin to our prosperity.
A government that works for and by the people is a natural right. Honorable men and women should seek the highest offices in the land only if they honor and respect the needs and wishes of those hardworking Americans who put them there.
The Almighty has implanted in Americans unextinguishable feelings for good and wise purposes. We are the guardians of His image in our hearts. We have hope that our strength lies not just in our numbers but in our unity. Not red and blue, but as Americans, we have the power of our vote and our voice.
Thomas Paine wrote:
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamities is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer! Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.
I truly believe in the resolve of Americans. I believe this is the time for all Americans stand up for freedom, for democracy, for doing what is right for America. In these challenging times, Americans must keep the faith; they must stand strong against those who would destroy the very foundation of these United States, our Constitution.
("Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave." – Thucydides)
Americans must stand as one; stand against the injustice perpetrated by big oil companies, by greedy politicians who are in the pockets of lobbyists; by those who would seek to destroy those very liberties so many citizens fought and died for. We have heard "Freedom is not free"; and we must do the right thing and pull our heroic troops out of Iraq, rebuild our decaying infrastructure and ensure big oil and the wealthy pay their fair share and stop hiding their wealth in foreign banks. All that we have, all that we are, and all that we hope in this life, we are able to stake upon the good of the American people. While we live, let us have a country, a free country restored to the full meaning and intent of the U.S. Constitution. Let it not be said that in this time, Americans did nothing. It just makes sense.
("Truth is incontrovertible. Ignorance may attack it and malice may deride it, but in the end, there it is." - Winston Churchill)
A video all Americans should see