No contract = no vote.
It's that easy to stick up for ourselves.
Let me explain.
Politicians value one thing above all others . . .
Job security.
These days they assure their job security by raising astronomical sums of campaign money. Most of this money comes from the rich and powerful, Wall Street, big banks, corporations, the 1%, the .1%, and the .01%. This treasure trove of tainted money allows the "sponsored" candidates to use all of the expensive mechanisms at their disposal to message voters, i.e. tell us what they think we want to hear, paint pretty pictures of the glorious future we will all share if we vote for them.
What if voters just said . . . 'No'?
That's right! What if we the voting public lay it out in no uncertain terms to these politicos that it's we the people who are in charge from now on -- not the deep-pocketed campaign contributors, the rich and powerful who presently fund campaigns and have turned our democracy into a form of legalized bribery? What if elections could no longer be bought?
It's up to us. We can ooh-and-aah over pretty campaign ads or . . . we can ignore them and decide for ourselves what's important. Hint: Just because a candidate stands in front of an American flag and looks lovely strolling through a park with a picture-perfect family, does not mean he or she gives one whit about you or intends to take your needs and wants into account when it comes to voting on bills in Congress.
What if voters said: "Well, your ads looks great, your yard signs are attractive, we love the billboards and bumper stickers . . . BUT we're still not voting for you!"
What good would all the campaign cash do if voters simply stood their ground?
What could the rich and powerful do if everyday citizens just said, "Enough is enough! You've had your turn. Now it's our turn to benefit from all of the riches and wonderful things this country has to offer! My congressman is not for sale."
Let's take it a step further. Squaring off and looking a candidate right in the eye . . .
What if voters said: "You know, you talk a good story. You make all sorts of wonderful promises, but for some reason when you get to Washington DC, you apparently come down with some acute form of amnesia. SO . . . while we sometimes like what you say, sometimes are confused by what you don't say, often scratch our heads wondering why you don't seem to get the messages we're sending you loud and clear, and are incredibly disturbed that things we want done never seem to get done, we've decided that from now on we're taking the guesswork out of all of this. We're putting in writing what we want done. It'll take the form of a friendly little contract between you, our elected official, and us, the ones who vote you into your cushy job. This contract will spell it all out in black-and-white. If you sign it, great! You've got our votes. If you don't, well . . . not so great for you. Because we'll find someone else who will sign it and vote for that candidate."
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how the candidate contracts work. It's that simple.
Toward the end of the previous article in this series, this appeared . . .
If you’re immediate reaction is . . . “Why, my congressman will never sign something like that!” . . . all I can do is jump for joy! It means we’re getting somewhere!
What am I saying?
Simple. The candidate contract makes everything clear. Either candidates are serious about doing their jobs, either candidates are serious about representing those who voted them into their powerful positions in Washington DC, either candidates are truly listening to constituents and promoting the things those constituents want . . . or they're not.
If your current "congressman will never sign something like that", it means one thing.
It means that despite all their campaign promises, all their stated good intentions, despite the happy-face rhetoric on their website and campaign literature, this person is not going to represent you or take into account what you want done. That's exactly what it means.
And I jump for joy . . . and you should too. Because NOW WE KNOW!
We know exactly where things stand . . . and we know exactly what to do.
We don't want this person in office. We know what will happen. This charm-peddler with the tooth-whitened grin will head off to the Washington DC bubble, forget all about us -- the people who elected him -- and do the bidding of deep-pocketed campaign donors, rich and powerful corporate plutocrats, and the swarms of guns-for-hire lobbyists who are like locusts in our nation's capital.
Good riddance to these sweet-talking shills!
As the expression goes: "Knowledge is power."
Exactly! And the knowledge and understanding of the true loyalties and commitments of the candidates running for office is our power!
It is the power for us to say: No more lies. No more empty promises. No more excuses. No more equivocation and double talk.
No contract = no vote.
Then . . .
Once we identify candidates who genuinely are on our side -- the ones who gladly sign contracts for the range of things the vast majority of us want done -- we unite behind them, a huge and unstoppable voting bloc of citizens who are determined to have true representative government -- real democracy -- in America.
Government of the people, by the people, for the people.
People power!
"Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy" was published middle of last year and is available worldwide from all the usual suspects:
Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1QJRiNZ
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1Cuq0du
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1BXnPcy
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1GpTTLq
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1OEI2xj
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/1B4DQCp
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1MGjDnN
"
Fighting for the Democracy We Deserve" was published this past September and also is available both in every popular ebook format and as a deluxe paperback:
Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1VMf2Ft
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1L9SdIC
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1JD1YAg
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1ZUJUpn
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1IX6rO4
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/22PXWLf
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1i7ISFM
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part VI
