Smedley Darlington Butler

Smedley D. Butler born July 30, 1881 was probably one of the greatest American heroes that you’ve never heard about. What made him such a great American hero wasn’t the fact that he served his country as a Marine, the many battles and wars he fought in, or all the medals he received, including two medals of honor. Or that he stuck by the veterans when they marched on Washington to lobby for the bonuses they were promised. Several veteran were killed when the cavalry disbanded the veterans using gas.

What made Smedley such an American hero was the fact that even though he was at odds with some of the things the government was doing/did he never lost sight of what it meant to be an American. So when some wealthy businessmen approached him to lead an army of veterans to overthrow the United States Government and set up a fascist government. Not only did he say no, he exposed those who wanted to destroy American freedom. The media (owned by businessmen) reported the story as a hoax, even though an investigation found evidence that confirmed Butler’s story.

It is my opinion that Smedley Darlington Butler should have a national holiday in his honor, and that holiday should be the first Tuesday in November. Everyone should get the day off work and be strongly encouraged to vote. What is more American than voting?

Change (I Want To See)

Our politicians don’t seem to represent the average person in the U.S. anymore. They are worried more about keeping their jobs than they are about doing their jobs. (Don’t they always accuse each other of being out of touch with the real America?)

I have come up with a solution that I think will refocus their (politicians) attention back to doing their job (and keeping them in touch) and in the process will fix the economy and bring back the attitude that made America great.

Since our politicians are suppose to represent us, shouldn’t their pay also be representative of ours? In 2007, the median household income rose 1.3% to $50,233.00 according to the Census Bureau. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States).

My plan is simple, politicians get paid based on the median income. Right now the current salary (2010) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. Senate Leadership:
Majority Party Leader – $193,400 Minority Party Leader – $193,400. House leadership: Speaker of the house $223,500 Majority Leader – $193,400 Minority Leader – $193,400. (http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm).

I know they will argue that better pay gets better people (same argument big business CEO’s make). There is a difference between good pay and over pay. Seems to me that the latter gets greedy people not good people. Remember the saying: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I also believe that those who seek power are those most likely to abuse it.

There is also the argument that they (politicians) need to live in D.C. and back in their home state. Well to this I say “Barracks” or some other type of basic government housing and for traveling back and forth I say “Coach” tickets or the upgrade comes out of their own pocket. Remember they are really just “public servants” who suffer from delusions of grandeur.

I will no longer listen to or believe their hype: “The other party is destroying or will destroy America”.  “That candidate is a Washington insider and will continue abusing the system”.  “I am an established politician who knows how to work with the system”.  “This election is the most important election”.  And for post elections, one of my favorite”, ” the people have given us a mandate”, (there are many more).

I know that there is no way they will take a pay cut and I know they will do what it takes to keep their jobs (and not really do their jobs). I also know that the greatest thing about America is that the real power is in the hands of the voters. So if enough of us get together we can change our world. I myself have taken a personal oath that I will no longer vote for any politician that has had 3 terms or more. And if I don’t like the candidate of the other “major party” there is always a 3^rd party candidates to consider.

If a politician’s pay was tied to the median income the middle class would start to grow. The economy goes as the middle class goes. To quote Henry Ford: “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible”. Once when asked why he pays his workers so much Henry Ford replied, “someone has to be able to afford my products”.

Ranked-Choice Voting

This year (2009) Minneapolis, MN is switched to a new method of voting (for local elections). Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV)  also known as Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV).

The way it works is: (Taken from an article in the Southwest Journal) In single-seat races, RCV relies on a 50 percent-plus-one rule. What that means is a candidate wins when he or she gets 50 percent of votes plus one. If no candidate reaches that off the bat, the runoff process eliminates the lowest vote getter off of every ballot. The ballots that marked that candidate as a first choice then instead have their second choices counted. That process continues until one candidate hits the 50-plus-one mark.  (link for the whole story) http://www.swjournal.com/index.php?publication=southwest&page=152&story=14559

I really liked the fact that I had more choices but I didn’t like the extra research I had to do to learn about all the different candidates. As an example I’ll use the fact that there were ten challengers to R. T. Rybak (our Mayor).

After going through the process I really hope that RCV becomes the national system of voting.  I for one am tired of the two party system where the two parties spend more time fighting than working.

Throw Away Vote (Take the Poll)

 

Normally, one would think that its not the right time for this post. In Minnesota (as of today) the Senate race still isn’t settled, which is part of the reason I’m writing this. A couple weeks ago, at a party, a friend mentioned that he voted for the “third party candidate” and someone commented that he threw his vote away. Over the years I too have been told that I’ve thrown my vote away just because I didn’t vote for either of the “main candidates”. Like my voting for candidate “C” made candidate “A” lose to candidate “B”. To that I say Bull!  If they don’t earn my vote they don’t get my vote (but I still vote). So I thought I would say here in this post what I have been telling people for years. I believe that everyone who is eligible to vote should vote (there really are no excuses). The only votes that are thrown away are the ones not cast. If you don’t like the democrat or the republican candidate then don’t vote for them,  if you don’t like anyone else on the ticket (“third party”),  write a name in. The more votes third party candidates or write ins get the stronger the message is to the main parties that we are not happy with them and that they need to change. In my opinion it’s time for the politicians to put the people above the politics of their party. If they do not and if everyone would exercise their right to vote, Mickey “Freakin” Mouse (or some other fictional character) might end up winning a few elections (I would like to see the candidates explain that one).