The Numbers Are Most Important

Yes, I am a registered Democrat. But do I always vote only for Democratic candidates? No. It depends upon the candidate and the issues at the time. Do I agree with the Democratic Party on every issue at this time? No. But I do agree with the party and its candidates on most of the important issues now facing our country.

The Democrats need to get a majority in Congress in order to tackle the following problems:

They would be able to do something about the high cost of healthcare for all Americans and particularly for the elderly by seeing that we are charged the same prices as citizens of other countries. They need to close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare Part D.

They would be able to do something about the high cost of healthcare for all Middle Class Americans.

They could work to slow or stop the out-sourcing of jobs overseas.

They could raise the minimum wage.

They could stop giving tax breaks to the very rich with the result of increasing the national debt.

They would be able to provide better security and stop selling port facilities to foreign countries.

They would ensure that there will be no privatization of Social Security.

They would work to have a better policy in Iraq by putting curbs on the Administration in power

Note: CEOs now make 411 times the pay of the average worker, according to recent calculations by the Institute for Policy Studies. In 1980 they made 42 times as much.

These are a few of the changes that need to be made. In order to be able to determine what issues are to be addressed and what items come up for a vote in the Congress a Party needs to be in the majority. It is the numbers that count most. A candidate from another party can be an exceptional person but when entering the voting booth remember that each representative or senator is counted when the majority party is determined. Personally, I feel that in local town elections the stand on local issues is more important than party affiliation. It is in the Congress of the United States that the numbers are so very important.

HAS FICTION BECOME REALITY?

I like to read action novels. A few years ago, after the cold war ended and before the terrorist threat by Muslim extremists became very real, writers were looking for new and exciting dangers on which to base their novels. In a few of these books international corporations were seeking control of our country, and possibly the world.

Today, in reality, these corporations do not engage in the murderous actions depicted in the novels, but use the more subtle techniques of lobbying, campaign contributions and lavish gifts to influence the makers of our laws.

Taxes on corporations and the rich have been reduced “in order to stimulate the economy “. The stock market has reached on all time high. But who has benefited? Instead of investing in our own country the corporations have used the money to build factories overseas. Wall Street investors are reaping profits while middle class workers have seen good jobs decline, wages reduced, along with diminishing health benefits. Middle class families are facing increasing debt and finding it increasing hard to finance a college education for their children to reach the “American Dream”

High gas prices were a burden on working Americans. Now, just before the election, the prices have gone down dramatically caused by the increased supply of oil and gas. Have the fuel corporations, happy with the current administration, manipulated the supplies in order to take this factor off the agenda of voters going to the polls? Will the prices go up again right after the election?

Wal-Mart is making it easy for its workers to register to vote. Is the corporation also encouraging them to vote for candidates favorable to big business? After all, Wal-Mart employees are not allowed to join labor unions.

But, most frightening of all, are the new electronic voting machines. They are manufactured by a large corporation, have software known only to that corporation, and most leave no paper trail so people can check on the accuracy of the results.

Is our country, and the Middle Class, already at the mercy of the large corporations? Is our democracy at risk?

Let Us Not Forget

The Republican Party wants us to focus on Nation Security issues for the upcoming mid-term election. They keep saying that they have made our country more secure from terrorists. I think this is false. Our invasion of Iraq, which was unnecessary and made us enemies all over the world, has made us less secure. It has created more tensions in the Middle East, and hampered our efforts to eradicate Quaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But now I want to focus on what the Republican Party wants us to forget. These are the issues that affect the daily life of all of us, as middle-class Americans. Members of the Republican Party are committed to privatizing Social Security if they maintain their majority in Congress. The Medicare Drug Bill has helped some poorer older Americans, but as fashioned by the Republican Congress, it has created windfall profits for its friends in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Many older Americans are now being faced by the infamous “doughnut hole” and they will have to pay the insurance companies their monthly fee at the same time that they pay full cost for their drugs. We need a Democratic controlled Congress to change this. Our country is being plunged deeper and deeper into debt. Our creditors, the Chinese Government, and rich Arab countries are buying up more and more of America. And yet, the Republican Congress keeps on lowering the taxes of the very rich with the lame excuse that it is helping the economy to grow. It is the large corporations that are doing well in this economy but the middle class has found that the good-paying jobs have been shipped overseas. More Americans are without health insurance as factories and businesses move overseas and jobs with pension plans and health insurance are vanishing. Even the minimum wage has not been raised.

I think that by electing Democrats to Congress we will be strengthening our security, and not weakening it. I do not agree with all them on all issues but I am sure that the middle class needs a change in leadership to address the problems created by the current administration.