PURPLE POLITICS

Remember 2008?  =)  Wouldn't it be nice to to have those good ol' days back?  Three years left on a successfully-negotiated contract, that guaranteed 4 scheduled pay raises not including any cost-of living increases.  

Now, we're (hopefully) 2 months away from a new contract.  But much has changed on the political landscape.  Both on the state and national levels, the Republican/Tea Party influence is rampant.  The combination of the 2006 election, where Republicans were voted out based on their support for the Iraq War, and the election of Barack Obama in 2008, had many pundits declaring the death of the Republican Party and its ideology.

In 2009, the very-well-funded Republicans mounted their comeback in part by the emergence of the Tea Party and the media's nonstop coverage of them.  We all remember the rage-infested townhall meetings throughout the 2-year debate over healthcare reform.  Along with the paid actors in the townhalls, there was also a troubling increase in hate groups, random public shootings like the Holocaust Museum and Representative Gabrielle Giffords, and Presidential disrespect like never seen before.   

Surprisingly, this type of behavior appealed to a large enough percentage of Americans that it resulted in the election of many Republican and self-proclaimed Tea Party candidates in November 2010.  They were motivated and went to the polls.  At the same time, the Democratic and Independent voters who turned out to vote Democratic in 08 did not in 10, largely due to the disappointment in the "change" they received compared to the "change" they were promised during the campaign.

As a result, the Republicans/Tea Party/Blue-Dog Democrats now control the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania and nationally.  Republican, now synonymous with conservative, ideologies include cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations (separately and simultaneously), limiting government regulation on corporations/business, at the same time increasing government regulation on middle-class and poor people, and social policy that continues to discount the rights, and struggles therefore, of minorities of all kinds.

A recent study also finds that the brains of liberals and conservatives are actually physically different.   

"Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology."

So although those who supported the election of President Obama thought they were sending a message by not turning out to vote in 2010, we now are reaping in 2011 what has been sown by this political misjudgement.  

America is historically apathetic, when it comes to voting. We struggle every four years to reach 50% participation for a Presidential election.  Local elections are a more telling answer to the question of the level of apathy and, quite frankly, the ignorance of a large majority of US citizens.  Poll results for elected officials, who most directly affect individuals, struggle to reach 35%.  It could be the fluoride in the water, one's individual rat-race, education level, culture, drug use, or general disinterest. 

Regardless of the reason, lack of political participation is lack of political representation and has just as much importance in your everyday life as the relationship you have with any financial institution.  Remember, it's the politicians who make the laws the financial institutions must follow.

It's important to understand how politics affect you.  An uneducated voter will allow the techniques of "election-politics" to achieve their intended results: get the politician re-elected.  Blindly voting and not voting are essentially the same thing.  Personally, it may seem that an individual vote doesn't make a difference.  But those who subscribe to the political idea of "personal responsibility," by definition do not exercise their rights in such a manner.  They vote.

Is it coincidence that welfare recipients (as a demographic) are registered to vote at a smaller percentage than billionaire-CEO's?  The most successful in this country are aware and active in, and unfortunately many times within, politics.  That's fact.

There seems to be a highly-organized agenda being executed by the newly-elected Republican and Tea Party Representatives.  Under the guise of balancing state budgets, they are attacking collective bargaining with the goal of eliminating it.  But when specifically asked how much money will be saved by doing so, they are forced to tell the truth: "it doesn't save ANY." 

We need to be educated on these issues.  In order to effectively oppose the policies, we need to understand where they are coming from and why they are coming.  Unions, and their members, are undoubtedly the most organized of Democratic supporters.  African-Americans are the second-most loyal.

The African-American vote has already been successfully attacked through the campaign, lead by Fox News Channel, to dismantle ACORN.  Like many of FNC's smear campaigns, they lead with outrageous stories and never followed up.  They continuously replayed the fake, edited video of a pimp applying for financial assistance until it became a false truth.  Never mentioning that the attempt to defund ACORN, specifically, was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. 

It's time to start paying attention to Politics.  It's the biggest part of being American.  It's our responsibility to hold elected officials accountable.  If not us, who?  We have a multitude of evidence that proves they will not act with any level of integrity on their own.  

We also cannot feel secure by simply opposing Republicans.  The Democrats are now beginning to commence the union-busting legislative procedures.  This can currently be seen in Massachusetts. 
  
Point being, no matter which Party is in charge, or even which Party you personally voted for, without the Constitutionally-directed accountability of the voters and citizens, they will be corrupt.  Making it even worse is the too-close-for-comfort relationships between our politicians and corporations.  


It's our collective responsibility to keep those who (supposedly) represent us working for our best interest and the common good of all citizens.  Without it, they will not.