Bernie Sanders, the tip of the iceberg.

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.