The political silly season is upon us and it takes all my resources not to just give in to the temptation to just turn away.
Never has so much been said, by so many people, with such little significance. Nevertheless, it is important to not completely turn away and miss spotting the small amount of wheat among the chaff.
While I have always been a registered Democrat, they contribute their fair share to the lowered level of discourse we see today and I am quite disappointed with them.
But before all Republicans in Lake County give each other high fives and fist bumps over this remark, I want them to know that my biggest disappointment is the way in which so many Democrats have acted increasingly like Republicans.
The issues I”m talking about here relate to equality of opportunity and the economic priorities in our national budgeting process. On specific budgetary items our Democratic representatives usually do the right thing. I”m thinking now of the effort by Democrats to hold the line in cuts to social welfare that Paul Ryan would like to introduce.
I”m also very happy that Mike Thompson recently sponsored the legislation to stop insider trading in Congress, though it predictably later got watered down by others. But these small push backs just patch up the increasing number of cracks in government that are due to the ever increasing pay to play money in politics. Our democracy is suffering like it never has before in my lifetime because of this huge influx of money by corporations.
The effort to divert money to the already wealthy is disguised by Republicans with arguments that any such regulation will stop innovation and vibrancy in our economy and will foster dependency.
The poor and middle-class who believe those arguments are voting against their own interests. Many middle-class people who were not hit by the economic tsunami of 2008 wishfully think that things will, and are, getting better in this country without the need for fundamental change.
This is not true. Those who have escaped unscathed thus far, (I consider myself among them) may not survive the next storm. Unless we get money out of politics we are simply in the lull before the next storm.
We need to change how government works in this country, and we need to do it now.
Eric Habegger
Lakeport
