I don’t know how to put it simpler than this:

FDR and his progressive Democratic Congress passed tax laws so corporate profits would have to be split with the employees of a corporation.

Reagan and his Republican and neo-liberal Democratic Congress passed tax laws so CEOs and stockholders could walk away with all the profits and so the incentive was to pay American workers as little as possible.

This is why and how America lost its middle class over the last 40 years.

The problem is systemic and invasive. Our kids have so much to overcome, and they have to do it without the education and disposable income they need to travel beyond the prejudice and hate endemic to twenty-first century Americans.

What I see is how well the two parties have sold the concept that they alone can fix it for us. What the people want is to not be bothered. Less than half the eligible voters participate in our election process. That’s not a good thing when we have a representative form of government. Add to that the facts that one of the parties is actively suppressing voters they think will not support them, and the stranglehold the parties have put on the candidate selection process and we have a formula destined to deny representation to the taxpayers. Sound familiar?

Our founding fathers actually intended for us to send our best and brightest to represent us in our government.
When you look at who has gained control of the selection process, it becomes obvious how the parties manipulations have corrupted the intent of the election in favor of a process for gaining money and power for themselves.
The end result is morally deficient, bribable minions, rather than the representatives of the people our votes should ensure.

Ours is a Constitutional Republic. That means that We The People have been given the responsibility to select and elect our best and brightest to represent us in local, state, and federal government.

My question for you is are you sending your best and brightest to be your representative, or, are you using your vote to rubber stamp the candidate your party selected for you? Who is your party choosing to represent, and is that choice you, and in your best interest?

I’m not taking the high ground, moral or otherwise. What I am going to do is stake out this middle ground. I’m going to stand where I can see as far to the right of me as I can to the left. I’m going to look at the facts surrounding both sides of every issue. I’m going to throw out the talking points, the propaganda and the nonsense and I’m going to make my decisions and my opinions based on what’s known, rather than how I personally feel about a situation or issue.

The reason I’m telling you this is because over the next few months there are going to be calls from the corporate owned Republicans, and the corporate owned Democrats to “unite” for the common good. That’s what they are going to say. What they mean is we need to move to the right and coddle them and the Trump people that have no intention of moving a fraction of a centimeter to the left. Their idea of compromise is where we leave the idea of real healthcare behind. We forget that nonsense about addressing income inequality, and stop pointing out that NO ONE can live on $15k a year. We need to give up the dream of having a comfortable retirement, and just keep pumping all the money those frivolous things would cost into the lifestyle of the morbidly rich few that deserve it.

I’m telling you this because there are some things worth all of us having, and after those minimum requirements are met, when you see that there really are resources and money left over after we have taken care of each other, well then we can let the morbidly rich figure out how to get their hands on what’s left. First things first though, and the first thing is not going to be our suffering so that some billionaire can have a 12th yacht, or a fourteenth mansion somewhere. Feel free to argue with me about this, but bring facts, I won’t be swayed by emotional diatribes, or logical fallacies. I’m an independent. I couldn’t possibly care less about the parties and their corporate agenda. What I do care about is people. I care about people and I intend to change the way you think about each other too.

Beware the people that believe freedom is a right. They don’t understand that real freedom is a responsibility, and those folk that see it as a right are afraid of responsibility, and will trade it off for security at the very first opportunity.

I have a great deal to be thankful for. It’s easy to forget that, when I’m caught up in the disappointments and petty setbacks of a mostly ordinary life. I am so blessed to know the love of my life, my wife, and the love and support of a close family.

I’ve heard it said the if it takes the fingers of more than one hand to count your true friends you have been blessed indeed and I have indeed been blessed with friends. You know who you are, don’t blush.

I’ll be printing these thoughts I wrote this morning. I’ll carry them around with me today, as I join my family for a meal and catching up on the successes, disappointments and petty setbacks of each others lives. They’ll probably wonder at me as they often do, curious as to why I keep looking at the paper in my hand and smiling. I probably won’t tell them that today, I will do my very best to keep how thankful and blessed I truly am in the forefront of my mind. Mostly because it’s going to be fun seeing how long today I can hang on to this warm fuzzy feeling, but, really it’s because my family is as crazy as I am and when I said we were close I meant in a clench sort way, a clench is close, isn’t it?

Happy Thanks Giving.

Tomorrow also marks the first day I stop being pissed off at the retailers that have been decorated for Christmas since before Halloween. You know who you are, we all saw you. Shameless.

Limit the choices to two and you can create a situation where a bad choice seems reasonable within the confines of that false dilemma. There are always more choices, but in American politics the two party system has devolved into manipulating us into only choosing between the two choices that preserve the lifestyle of the corporations and the morbidly rich.