Reading time – 57 seconds . . .
The Forbes 400 was recently posted and we are told that the 400 richest people in America are worth about $2.29 trillion. That is more than the bottom 150 million Americans combined, or about half of all Americans. And that $2.29 trillion is up 13 5% over last year. Your wealth increased 13.5% over the last 12 months, too, right? Let’s look at this another way.
The television and radio ads that end with a candidate saying, “I’m [CANDIDATE NAME] and I approved this message,” are paid for by the candidate. If you don’t hear those words – and that accounts for the vast majority of the ads that are pumped into your head – the ad was funded by outside money through PACs, Super PACs and 501(c)4 organizations.
These outside money message manipulators have already spent over $390 million in this election cycle to twist your brain and, more important, twist the brains of low information voters. What that means is that people who aren’t tuned into politics and are just going about their lives are hearing misleading, false, disingenuous, just-this-side-of-outright-fraudulent messages and they don’t know it, so they get manipulated. They aren’t aware that they are voting against their own best interests. What you know is that they are voting against your interests and against your vision of what America should be.
About those outside money groups – 94% of the money they spend to twist voters’ brains comes from just 200 fabulously wealthy people and corporations. Now, why would these rich people contribute all that money?
Because doing so means that they keep on getting richer. They get what they want, but you don’t get what you want. You don’t get gun safety legislation, a climate bill so we stop hard boiling our planet, legislation that would create good paying jobs, healthcare reform, student loan reform and issues all the way down to pothole repair.
If that isn’t okay with you, you better do something about it. You better vote on November 4 for people who will legislate for reform. You better bring your disengaged neighbor and your crazy brother-in-law to the polls with you. You better volunteer at a call center to remind voters to show up and vote.
The big money people have a really big megaphone and they know how to use it. That means that we small money people have to band together and collectively overpower the big megaphone people to make your American dream possible for you and your kids. Watch this.
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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue. Please help by offering your comments, as well as by passing this along and encouraging others to subscribe and do the same. Thanks. JA
Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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2 Responses to I Just Want You To Know . . .
Don Zwiers October 29, 2014
HOW CAN I MAKE MY VOTE REALLY COUNT FOR ME?
We are getting ready to vote in November and I have no way to know who is going to be on the ballot I will be handed when I vote. My present ballot is different from my neighbor across the street. I have 5 minutes to make my vote count the way I want.
With today’s technology and the Web; why can’t the county clerk provide the city of Joliet a copy of the ballots Joliet residents will be voting from and put it on their web by Precinct? Then we can see it a couple months ahead of time. Also, when a citizen decides to run for an office and they do everything needed to qualify; have them fill out a questioner; telling the public who they are, why they are running and what they want to do different for the voters, to get elected. This questioner will also be posted on the city web; free of charge. The candidate doesn’t have to spend a dime and has the right to update his own questioner, any time they feel they feel it’s needed.
Now I have my voter registration card and precinct number; I can see who I will be voting for and what they want to do. I can now have a real discussion with my neighbors about the same issues we will be voting for. Voter participation becomes something more than just voting; we are actively involved and can actually talk to our local candidates. We also have the questioner of all the candidates I will be voting for. If a candidate doesn’t have his questioner on the web; how can I vote for nothing?
The state of Illinois election board hasn’t responded. Why Not?
Frank Levy October 6, 2014
Given what is a stake in this election (the Supreme Court, voting rights, wage equality, marriage equality, school funding, SNAP and healthcare benefits, and the list goes on and on…) I absolutely DO NOT understand how any liberal, progressive, or democratic voter would not be voting in this election. It is inconceivable to me that any democratic candidate could lose their election – even in the most deeply red state. What in the world are voters thinking about that they are not counting the days until they can go to the polls and vote out the conservatives, Republicans, Libertarians, and Tea Party crazies? I can only comment that we get the country we deserve, the country we elect.