The Trump vs. Clinton Dilemma is an American Dilemma
I have always been into politics. The board game "Hail to the Chief" was my favorite growing up. (At the age of 11 I could name all 50 state capitals. Today.....Hold on, let me try. Tell you in a second......43. Respectable, but an exercise that led me to kick myself over forgetting the capital of New Hampshire.) I love political dramas like House of Cards and The West Wing (another reason I should have known the capital of NH). When I was in college I majored in Political Science and nearly went to 50% of my classes. On Sunday mornings I tend to watch Meet the Press.
You get the picture I am painting here. I enjoy politics.
And I'll even tell you my political views. I am a fiscal conservative and liberal on most social policies. Our tax code is completely broken. Immigration is a problem that can be fixed with cooperation and better border enforcement/let's make sure we are monitoring student visas. I am pro-military, but also pro "let's not build crazy shit for the sake of spending money". Take a look at the article below:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2016/01/01/the-10-most-blatantly-wasteful-defense-items-in-the-recent-1-8-trillion-spending-bill/#7ca8d99c4570
While we are at it our VA hospitals should be second to none.
I want a government that is built for the people. Not Lockheed Martin shareholders. A government that understands that coal mining isn't the only way for hard working people in West Virginia to make a living. Guess what? We can build manufacturing plants in WV. A government where at the local levels we stop arming our police forces like a military. Where community involvement by police officers is the norm. A government that builds safe schools with well paid teachers. A government that doesn't offer to pay people for the rest of their live's after 20 years of work. (That is the ultimate in kicking the can down the road. Less pay now for a lifetime of pay when people are living to be in their 90's. I made sense when people retired at 65 and lived to be 72)
A government that fixes shit that's broken. We are not all that far removed from a bridge collapsing in Minneapolis. A large chunk of our roads and bridges were built in the time of FDR and Eisenhower. That was a LONG time ago. How about we take that 1.8 Trillion Dollars in wasted military spending and fix up a bridge or two.
Healthcare. Lord, where to start? ObamaCare - which in principal is rooted in the best of intentions - is not the solution.
The cost of a college education: Oh, I have an idea where to start. Stop building luxury dorms at state institutions and focus on teaching.
Guns. We have no need for automatic weapons and assault rifles for private use. There is no reason a rational person can't wait 5 days to purchase a gun and have a background check.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haeYj82a9f4
How about a middle class? Where has that gone? How do we get it back? There must be a level of American pride at the highest levels of business. But there isn't. There are shareholders and compensation packages to think of. If you wonder why our middle class is hurting look no further than this 2014 article from the Washington Post. The pay is going to the top.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/the-pay-gap-between-ceos-and-workers-is-much-worse-than-you-realize/
I suppose mostly it would be nice to see people in this country come together. Not to spar with poison on their breath, but rather to come to a compromise. The idea of being someone who can bring people together and work with a different party is now frowned upon. We need more choices. We need more than Democrat or Republican because this system isn't working.
I'm going to say it. We have two shitty candidates for office. One is a megalomaniac and the other can't seem to tell the truth. Oh wait, those terms are interchangeable for both of them. It is sad that we can't find someone better, someone honest, someone who doesn't necessarily want to be President of the United States, but feels an obligation to do so. Trump and Hilary both want this for themselves. I want to vote for the person who cares the other 300m people out there.
Find me the best of academics, business people, and civil servants. There are thoughtful, rational, and good people in this country that we would never consider because they aren't charismatic or prolific public speakers. I want someone who takes time before they act, who can process information rather than have an off the cuff, canned response and a faux smile.
Trump and Clinton can't be it. They aren't the solution. We look to billionaire's outside of them (Bloomberg and Cuban), but just because they are rich doesn't qualify them for the highest office in the land.
A note to Gary Johnson's campaign:
How has Gary Johnson not captured more attention as the only viable 3rd party candidate? Get on TV. Get on Twitter. Make a YouTube video. Come on guy!
So I'll vote this year. But it won't be pretty and I'm not exactly thrilled with my options given this great country and all of the brilliant people who live here.
I have always been into politics. The board game "Hail to the Chief" was my favorite growing up. (At the age of 11 I could name all 50 state capitals. Today.....Hold on, let me try. Tell you in a second......43. Respectable, but an exercise that led me to kick myself over forgetting the capital of New Hampshire.) I love political dramas like House of Cards and The West Wing (another reason I should have known the capital of NH). When I was in college I majored in Political Science and nearly went to 50% of my classes. On Sunday mornings I tend to watch Meet the Press.
You get the picture I am painting here. I enjoy politics.
And I'll even tell you my political views. I am a fiscal conservative and liberal on most social policies. Our tax code is completely broken. Immigration is a problem that can be fixed with cooperation and better border enforcement/let's make sure we are monitoring student visas. I am pro-military, but also pro "let's not build crazy shit for the sake of spending money". Take a look at the article below:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2016/01/01/the-10-most-blatantly-wasteful-defense-items-in-the-recent-1-8-trillion-spending-bill/#7ca8d99c4570
While we are at it our VA hospitals should be second to none.
I want a government that is built for the people. Not Lockheed Martin shareholders. A government that understands that coal mining isn't the only way for hard working people in West Virginia to make a living. Guess what? We can build manufacturing plants in WV. A government where at the local levels we stop arming our police forces like a military. Where community involvement by police officers is the norm. A government that builds safe schools with well paid teachers. A government that doesn't offer to pay people for the rest of their live's after 20 years of work. (That is the ultimate in kicking the can down the road. Less pay now for a lifetime of pay when people are living to be in their 90's. I made sense when people retired at 65 and lived to be 72)
A government that fixes shit that's broken. We are not all that far removed from a bridge collapsing in Minneapolis. A large chunk of our roads and bridges were built in the time of FDR and Eisenhower. That was a LONG time ago. How about we take that 1.8 Trillion Dollars in wasted military spending and fix up a bridge or two.
Healthcare. Lord, where to start? ObamaCare - which in principal is rooted in the best of intentions - is not the solution.
The cost of a college education: Oh, I have an idea where to start. Stop building luxury dorms at state institutions and focus on teaching.
Guns. We have no need for automatic weapons and assault rifles for private use. There is no reason a rational person can't wait 5 days to purchase a gun and have a background check.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haeYj82a9f4
How about a middle class? Where has that gone? How do we get it back? There must be a level of American pride at the highest levels of business. But there isn't. There are shareholders and compensation packages to think of. If you wonder why our middle class is hurting look no further than this 2014 article from the Washington Post. The pay is going to the top.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/the-pay-gap-between-ceos-and-workers-is-much-worse-than-you-realize/
I suppose mostly it would be nice to see people in this country come together. Not to spar with poison on their breath, but rather to come to a compromise. The idea of being someone who can bring people together and work with a different party is now frowned upon. We need more choices. We need more than Democrat or Republican because this system isn't working.
I'm going to say it. We have two shitty candidates for office. One is a megalomaniac and the other can't seem to tell the truth. Oh wait, those terms are interchangeable for both of them. It is sad that we can't find someone better, someone honest, someone who doesn't necessarily want to be President of the United States, but feels an obligation to do so. Trump and Hilary both want this for themselves. I want to vote for the person who cares the other 300m people out there.
Find me the best of academics, business people, and civil servants. There are thoughtful, rational, and good people in this country that we would never consider because they aren't charismatic or prolific public speakers. I want someone who takes time before they act, who can process information rather than have an off the cuff, canned response and a faux smile.
Trump and Clinton can't be it. They aren't the solution. We look to billionaire's outside of them (Bloomberg and Cuban), but just because they are rich doesn't qualify them for the highest office in the land.
A note to Gary Johnson's campaign:
How has Gary Johnson not captured more attention as the only viable 3rd party candidate? Get on TV. Get on Twitter. Make a YouTube video. Come on guy!
So I'll vote this year. But it won't be pretty and I'm not exactly thrilled with my options given this great country and all of the brilliant people who live here.
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