Is there a reset in this political game?

(Part 1 of 4)

With the US Presidential campaigns toward the finish line slogging,
It certainly seems appropriate on that to be blogging.

With the Presidential political campaigns finally nearing an end now that the third and final debate is over, let’s see where things stand.

We’ll talk about each of the two principal candidates in turn.

Before getting into that, though …

We must ask a very important question that should drive choices:
What should America be?

The US Constitution and Declaration of Independence set up a nation establishing human rights and freedoms which became the standard for other nations to follow. Unfortunately, we have lost portions and are in the process of losing more of that high standard.

In addition, Lincoln’s point at Gettysburg about America being a government of, by, and for the people seems to elaborate on these. This concept seems optimal for providing personal freedoms and preventing government abuses while still protecting the nation and its people. Unfortunately, that type of government seems to be perishing. And it’s not perishing from outside entities. It is perishing from within.

If the US were truly an independent and great nation, it would be manufacturing much of its own products – things like appliances, cars, electronics, and so on. Instead, much of that has been going and continues to go outside our borders, as in the recent Carrier/United Technologies move to Mexico.

Many CEOs and others are much more interested in the bottom line for themselves, their companies, and their stockholders than the welfare of the nation that provided them their freedoms and the ability to do what they do.

Such actions have caused the nation to become unbalanced.

America still has the remnants or vestiges of being a great country, but we are losing our integrity and our greatness.

We are headed for one or more of the following:

1) Another economic collapse
2) A corporatocracy or oligarchy
3) Ochlocracy (mob rule)
4) Anarchy
5) A last resort multinational or world war
6) A type of maybe uncivil war

We may touch more on the following individual issues in later comments, but just bring them to light now …

The US needs a change in direction to preserve our freedoms, environment, economy, and stability.

Democracy has some inherent problems.
One is summarized in part by Benjamin Franklin’s prophetic statement that “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” This is happening today, not only with many of the people, but with lobbyists who buy off legislators.

There are other problems, but they must be the subject of another blog.

The US is under threat, not only from violent terrorism, but economic and technical efforts from both internal and external entities.

With the tremendous US debt, approaching $20 Trillion by supposedly official estimates (much more is claimed by others), how long can the nation remain viable?
If one assumes that there are 320 million Americans and that these would be collected via income taxes, each person would have to pay about $62,500, or a quarter million dollars by a family of four, to recover from that debt.

Only the millionaires and billionaires can afford to pay that. And their payments would account for only a very small portion of the total amount. With an average wage of $48,098, most of us would be taxed more than we make in a year. Some would be put into a situation like some young people face with student loans.

There is no reasonable way that amount of debt can ever be paid back, given current and even the most optimistic projected future conditions.

The only saving grace for us is that the US Dollar is currently the primary world reserve currency. However, other nations or groups of nations are trying to change that. And how long can the Federal Reserve effectively print money before we end up in a major inflationary situation where these other nations are successful.

The recent successful hacking and denial of service attacks of various computer systems demonstrates our vulnerability in a broad spectrum of areas – from losing personal and company information and access to utilities.

But back to this year’s Presidential election ….

The Presidential duties according to the Constitution include:  US Constitution
1 – serve as Commander in Chief of the military, and of state militias when called into service
2 – make treaties with the advice and consent of two thirds of the Senate
3 – appoint ambassadors, judges, and other government officials
4 – provide a State of the Union report

These are what we expect a President to do.

Presidents have assumed other duties, including legislative, since the Constitution was approved. These are carried out via Executive Orders.

Most concerns about the Presidential candidates deal with the first and third Constitutional duties and the later assumed duties.

Someone told me something a while back that seems appropriate about the Presidential contest this year.
There is a day in September which is called “dogs in politics day”. He said it was meant to “celebrate” the dogs (the four-legged kind) of Presidents, but he had a different take.
It goes like this: (nothing against the 4-legged variety – they can be great pets and friends)

We have two dogs running for President this year.
One is a vicious pit bull who’ll bite you if he doesn’t like your looks.
The other is a greedy bitch.

If this wasn’t so true, it would be funny.

But let’s look at both candidates – starting next time in Part 2.

Note:
All information is from available public sources. We don’t have or claim any inside information. We just have what any average voter could have to work with in trying to make a decision. We’ve tried to rule out unsubstantiated information. But we have interlaced some opinions.