Yesterday, I read this article in the Washington Post - "2012 Presidential Race: Expense Reports Give Peek at Candidates’ Priorities, Styles." Here's the bottom line quote from the article:
"Taken together, the candidates burned through $32 million for telemarketing calls, posh hotel rooms, makeup artists and myriad other expenses, even with the first ballots still half a year away."
Yes, Dear Readers, those who would convince you they should be your next president have - so far - spent thirty-two million dollars on efforts to win the 2012 election.
At a time when brain-dead intellectual zombies in Congress are beating their political chests and dragging the nation toward an economic precipice in search of trillions of dollars in budget cuts, politicians are spending huge sums of money on a quest for power ... in the words of Senator Mitch McConnell, to "make (Mr) Obama a one-term president."
What could the nation do with thirty-two million dollars? Help provide health care for children and seniors? Pay our teachers a decent wage and improve our schools? Support our police, firefighters, and other critical first responders? Help begin to repair our crumbling infrastructure?
No.
That thirty-two million dollars - and the many tens of millions of dollars that will follow them over the next year - will pay for annoying robo-calls, stupid and blatantly twisted television ads, hundreds of thousands of trashy roadside signs, and noisy, useless party conventions.
If you ever wanted an example of why the country is in the toilet, here it is.
When Shakespeare wrote the immortal line for Romeo and Juliet in which a disgusted, doomed Mercutio shouted "A plague on both your houses!" he wasn't talking about Republicans and Democrats, but but he might as well have been. I don't think I've been this disgusted with our political class in a long time ... and, as you know, that's saying something.
My grandchildren could benefit from thirty-two million dollars in schools, health care, clean air and water, and properly-funded public safety.
Instead, they'll get robo-calls, television ads, and yard signs.
A plague on both your houses, indeed.
Have a good day. Get really angry. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
I'm with you in this. It's super aggravating.
ReplyDeleteThre was an article the other day stating how much congressmen had spent on "free" mailings to their districts. Some of the new members, who scream the loudest about cutting the budget, spent the most. And guess what - just about every one of them said that it was it was justified spending "to inform their constituents" and had "nothing to do with trying to get elected again". These millions of dollars are drops in the bucket but many drops do a bucket make! They ought to take that money and do something useful, like paying off my (and others') mortgage!
ReplyDeleteHow about paying down the debt that will eat all our futures?
ReplyDeleteSo we get mad...what can we do about it? This is the political equivalent of the nuclear arms race and no one candidate is truly willing to step back from the trough of PAC money and the ads etc they generate. Who can take the first step and win anyway?
And I'll bet each one of those suckers are getting farm subsidies too.
ReplyDeleteThat is a ridiculous amount of money!
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for them all to break out in boils...They might have...no, that's just Newt Gingrich.
ReplyDelete