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Michael Cooney

mc{at}michaelcooney.com

PO Box 278

Friendship, ME 04547 USA

POLITICS

FREEDOM! is the Republicans’ war cry. They want the:

FREEDOM! of the cunning to cheat the simple;

FREEDOM! of the rich to rob the poor;

FREEDOM! of Corporations to lie to customers and to sell them harmful products;

FREEDOM! to force their “religious” beliefs on others

...all of it, with no Government Interference.

Republicans rail against Big Government, as though it were The Enemy. Democrats should say, over and over, that Medicare is a Government program which Republicans want to get rid of. That Social Security is a Government program which Republicans want to get rid of. Etc. They should say that one of the reasons for Government is to protect folks from those people, mostly Republicans, who want them to be so poor they’ll do anything, endure anything, for a job.

Those rich guys who want to pay no taxes aren’t “job creators” -- that’s a big myth. What do they do with all the money? They start companies in China, play the stock market, which is no longer a place for “investing” in companies -- it’s a place for betting on whether a stock will go up or down in the next 22 milliseconds.

Money does NOT equal “Free Speech”; it equals BOUGHT speech. The first step in turning this country back into a Democracy is to get almost all money out of politics. Perhaps we need an amendment to the Constitution that says the only people who can contribute money to influence, in any way, voters, are live human voters in the district the candidate will represent. No Political Action Committees (PACs), no political parties, no groups of any kind -- if an organization wants money to go to a candidate, they can urge their members give some, but it may not collect and give any itself. And there should be a very low maximum contribution. And millionaires may only contribute to their own campaigns the same as anyone else. No more buying elections.

A major problem is that politicians are addicted to the money. They will talk forever about “election reform” but they don’t vote for it. Even state legislators are often owned by wealthy contributors and corporations, many from out-of-state. And, of course, the media would be against taking money out of politics because a whole lot of the money goes to pay THEM for ads. Addicts all.

No money for TV ads? Good! Ads are often misleading; all soft focus, or attack/innuendo about the opponent, with little or nothing about where candidates actually stand on issues. As a condition of getting a license, TV stations should be obligated to run debates between candidates.

Here’s what’s wrong with “Clean Election Funds” -- it’s the possibility of them giving our money to some crooks or nuts, just because they choose to run. If candidates want money they should have to raise it by getting small contributions from lots of constituents. Period.

Why don’t Democrats run against Republicans? By this I mean, why don’t they talk about what most Republicans stand for and against:

- Most Republicans have always been against Social Security. They called it a Communist Plot when Roosevelt first proposed it and have tried covertly (under the guise of “improving” or “saving” it) to get rid of it ever since. Or at least to “privatize” it so the banksters can gamble with your money.

- Similarly, most Republicans were against Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, etc., etc.

- What they’re for is less taxes on corporations and the rich, and fewer Government regulations protecting people. Most Republicans vote against environmental regulations, consumer protections, workplace safety regulations, minimum wages, etc.

- Even the “moderate” Republicans (the last of whom may be my senator, Susan Collins) vote almost all of the time with Republicans, even in important (to people who have to work for a living) matters, when their vote can go unnoticed.

- Republicans around the country are doing everything to keep people from voting. They pretend it’s because of “vote fraud” but it has been shown, time and again, that there is none. (A tiny fraction of 1% equates to none.)

- Republicans are against Education. (They want to abolish the Department of Education!) They do not want kids learning to think, because thinking people tend to vote Democrat. Republicans want kids to learn to read and write, memorize the facts we make up, take multiple-choice tests. (We supply the answers -- no thinking allowed.)

So why don’t Democratic candidates point this out (with appropriate facts, figures, voting records, etc.), and then say, “Ladies and gentlemen, vote for me because my opponent is a Republican.” (Is it because Democrats are accepting the same contributions from big corporations, etc. as Republicans? Get money out of politics.)

Why do working class people vote Republican? One reason is, if they ask a candidate why he’s against a raise in the minimum wage, his answer will be, “LOOK! There’s a couple of HOMOS going to get MARRIED!”

Why do so many right-wing organizations have the word “Heritage” in them? Is it because they’re nostalgic for the Good Old Days when most people were so poor that they would work for anything, under horrible conditions? Those Dear Bygone Days when there were no pesky Government Regulations preventing corporations from treating employees like slaves, polluting the air and water, poisoning the customers..?

“Small business” should be defined down. It seems to me that Republicans think small businesses are those with only a thousand employees. I think it should cut off at, say, ten. Or maybe it should be income levels -- give no subsidies to big oil companies, or Agribusiness farms -- just to farms which make less than...(something pretty damn small.)

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by superficial charm, pathological lying and a diminished capacity for remorse. Many psychopaths are drawn to business (where they become CEOs), politics and religion.


I can, and will, go on and on.