I have been thinking that an explanation of where we are and
how we got here is missing from the electoral conversation that is being
communicated in this country. I see
Senator Bernie Sanders sticking out of the pack in this regard. This is good for us, but bad for Senator
Sanders. You see, Senator Sanders is not
liked by the people who are in power behind the Mass Media, Wall Street, Military
Industrial Complex, and the Government/ Law Enforcement/Correctional Service
sectors. They are vehemently against
Bernie Sanders from becoming the President of the United States of America. The reason that they hold this position is
money and power, not political ideals.
It is very simple, Senator Sanders stands against the systematic agenda
of enriching those who are already disgustingly wealthy and powerful.
If Bernie Sanders is elected President, he will call for the
people of the United States to stand up and demand that their elected officials
to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court case. He would guarantee that the bill that
overturns the decision would be signed in to law. The mass media, who are owned by very few
people; who seem to be on the boards of competing media companies, would be the
largest loser if the Citizens United decision is overturned. Even if you put the political considerations
aside, the Citizens United decision is profitable for the media. In the 2012 election, Political Action
Committees paid $653 Million in advertising in mass media. Do you think that this election would be any
less? I would not bet on it. The media was supposed to be the invisible fourth
column of checks and balances designed by our founding fathers. If the media has a financial interest in our government
being owned by a few rich corporations and people, then that protection is
gone.
The Military Industrial Complex has different reasons for
not wanting a Sanders Presidential administration, loss of both money and
power. The American Defense budget is
$585 Billion. There are approximately 2,118,000
men and women in uniform today. The
defense budget is one of the easiest means that an elected official can reward
rich contributors. I suspect that this
is the reason why there are so many hawks in the race for President this
election. The elected officials ensure
that military contracts are awarded to the companies that are corporately owned
by those contributors. The elected
officials ensure that there are M-1A1 Abram tanks being produced even though
the United States inventory has approximately 10,000 of the main battle tanks
at $8.53 million apiece. During the Gulf
war we lost only one tank in combat with another main battle tank. But we are still churning them out. This situation is benefitting the politicians
and defense contractors who protect this form of waste.
Another example of this wasteful spending is the F-35 joint
fighter. Each F-35 costs $769 million,
the production run is scheduled to be 52 units at approximately $1.5 trillion for
the program. This seems like a lot of
money for a weapons system that requires a human being to pilot it in a hostile
environment. In a Sanders administration this type of spending would be
cut. Senator Sanders understands that combat
missions seem to be less risky with remotely piloted and unmanned aerial vehicles
than a single manned aircraft that risks a human being’s life and costs more
than the annual budget of the NASA programs at Langley.
Then there is the ability to fill those 2,118,000 billets in
the military. If Senator Sanders were
elected to be President, he would use his bully pulpit to enact federally
budgeted college education. If college
was within the reach of the average American high school graduate, then the
post 9/11 GI bill loses some of its appeal to low income and disadvantaged high
school graduates. The military would
have to find new ways to provide an incentive to high school graduates to enter
military service. Budgetary focus would
have to be based on personnel retention and development rather than shiny new
weapon systems that neither save lives nor make our military readiness any more
effective. Our current defense budget is
greater than the other top ten countries combined. Can we afford this kind of spending in a
world that is getting smaller and more connected?
We all know why Wall Street has no interest in a
Sanders Administration. It all comes
down to bottom line and that bottom line belongs to those in the top 1% of the
top 1%. Americans work hard. Americans are generally patriotic and
kind. Americans are not very involved in
the political system. We often depend on
someone else to make these decisions.
This inattention has had some serious and negative consequences to our way
of life. Senator Bernie Sanders has
asked that Americans make a priority out of understanding and participating in our
political process. Since the 1980
election, the American family has seen its bottom line shrink and
disappear. Many more families today are
not in the middle class, but in the lower economic class. Both parents work. No one is home watching the kids. Is this an American value? Should both adult members of 95% of the
families work 35-60 hours a week just to provide a decent living for their
family? Should rent, energy, and food
prices increase as they have since 1980 without wages rising to meet them? Is this an American value?
As goes Wall Street, K Street follows. Our government is corrupt, lopsided, and
completely unrepresentative of the American people. In this primary system the American people have
begun to understand that their influence and power is not what it used to
be. We now understand that two private
organizations make the most important decisions that our country makes. The Democrat and Republican parties are not government
entities, but private organizations that are easily bought and sold. These organizations weaken the people’s
decisions and strengthen the corporate agendas that pay the parties to
play. This is the same model that the lobbyists
use once the elections are over. If a
person would sell their integrity for an election, then selling a vote that
hurts his constituents is far less a stretch.
I know, there are always compromises that must be made to come to consensus. The problem is that when decisions are made
based solely on keeping the status quo, then the connected will win and unconnected will lose every time.
In closing, can the American people afford to have Senator
Bernie Sanders as President of the United States of America? Or, can the powers that be, prevent Senator
Sanders from becoming President of the United States of America? We will see who is really in control of this
country by how this election pans out. Either
way, it really doesn’t matter because the youth seem to understand that we need
a change and are willing to work for it.
Senator Sanders’ greatest supporters are the youth. They are the future and no matter what you
hear or read about them, they are hungry for change. It may take a couple of election cycles, but the
issues that Senator Sanders is voicing in his campaign are not going away after
this election.
