We The People

We The People

I know that there are a lot of erroneous emails that have circulated the last several months that attempt to build steam against the candidate Barack Obama. Most of them have been littered with half truths, similar to the advertising that both parties are participating in now; of which both candidates apparently approve the message. The funny thing is most people have fallen for it. It’s easy to believe something when you want to. What’s difficult to do is to take the road less traveled the one where you actually have to investigate and sort through all the information, and finally come up with an informed decision. A decision that is based on what you know to be true and not based on clever advertising or what you thought was true.

America is the greatest country ever, and we are a great people. Our differences, our cultures, and our freedom to choose are what make us exceptionally different from all other countries. However, with that freedom comes responsibility, specifically the responsibility to share the knowledge and promote good decisions based on facts, not emotions.

Regardless if you are Democrat, Republican, Independent, or have another party affiliation it’s time to put those labels away and focus on being American. It’s time for us to stop being controlled by the media. It’s time to ask hard questions, which demand even harder answers of those who aspire to represent “we the people”.
Not only those who wish to hold the title as President of the United States, but also those in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It’s a time to be patriotic, not symbolic. It’s time to put the country first, not talk about it. It’s time to make change, not hope for it.

Now is the time to take action, to think outside the box and see the big picture. The picture of America with the express freedoms our founding fathers fought to give us, the freedoms which our military still fights to preserve, freedoms which may not be as broad, and well, free if we don’t make an informed decision.

This election season, is unlike any in respect that more money has been raised than any other election ever, and that the disparity in funds between the two major political parties will certainly play a pivotal role in the election. So as the adage goes in the “golden rule”, “he who has the gold makes the rule”. But you have a choice, a choice to not allow the golden rule to apply, a choice not to be programmed by the media and advertisement, but rather to choose by your own intellect. Choose to be American first, before party affiliation. Choose to be American first, before all other labels. Because aren’t we all American’s first? Our ethnic diversity, that melting pot of America, has somehow changed, as we have changed it. Are we American Africans or African Americans, are we American Latinos or Latino Americans are we American Mexicans or are we Mexican Americans? I think you get my point. Once we grasp that our similarities are greater than our differences we can finally put country first and institute change.

Today, I ask you take both major parties slogans, put them together and be American. Do the American thing, put country first, and make change. Think logically and act responsibly. You wouldn’t take a strangers advice on buying a vehicle, you’d ask someone you respect, someone you know that knows about vehicles. You would might even do some research online, you would probably test drive the vehicle before you invested in a 4 year loan or lease. You’d want to find out about the reliability, the costs associated with owning that vehicle, and any problems with that particular make and/or model. And in most cases you wouldn’t buy the latest model in its introductory year without knowing the history of its development. Likewise wouldn’t it be prudent to put each candidate through the same assessment?

I think each candidate should be held to the vehicle analogy test I just mentioned. I know a lot of people fall in love with a vehicle when they first set their eyes on it, they are mesmerized. It’s called impulse buying. Advertisers tend to exploit these impulses which are tied to the basic want for instant gratification. Impulse buying disrupts the normal decision making models in consumers' brains. The logical sequence of the consumers' actions is replaced with an irrational moment of self gratification. Impulse items appeal to the emotional side of consumers. Impulse buying is also associated with buyer's remorse which is an emotional condition whereby a person feels remorse or regret after a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of higher value items which could be considered "bad" although it may also stem from a sense of not wishing to be "wrong".

I think it’s pretty clear that John McCain’s life is well documented, for all its good and bad. I can’t say we have the same knowledge of Barack Obama. There just seem to be too many unanswered questions about him. In the totality of each candidate, do you really want to invest in that introductory model that is full of performance claims with unsubstantiated promises? Yes it’s shiney and new. But will it get you from point A to point B, or will you have to trade it in and be upside down?

John McCain is the equivalent of the muscle car, the one that has a proven track record. I might not like the braking system, but I know exactly what I’m getting. I don’t have to worry about what problems might come up with the new untested model (Barack Obama).

But don’t take my word for it, do your own research. Here are a few websites for you to do just that. Most don’t are non-partisan public watchdog organizations, some claim to be non-partisan but you’ll undoubtedly see their twist, and a few moderately biased.

Here they go: http://www.publicagenda.org/ I think probably the most complete resource for the uninformed or those that think they know.

Here is voter’s survival kit: http://www.publicagenda.org/citizen/electionguides .

Project Vote Smart: http://www.votesmart.org/index.htm

Taxes and Budget: http://www.usbudgetwatch.org/ and http://www.usbudgetwatch.org/files/crfb/usbw082908promises.pdf

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/ and http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411750

http://www.taxfoundation.org/

http://www.taxfoundation.org/candidates08/


Seniors: Obama’s Income Tax Cliff for Senior Citizens
http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/23525.html


Healthcare:

http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.3572/pub_detail.asp

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/10/news/economy/tully_healthcare.fortune/


General Election Information: http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php

http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/

What you think you know:

http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/NewsDetails.aspx?myId=301
http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/NewsDetails.aspx?myId=292