This is our country — We The People! We Make America Great — not Donald Trump, not the Koch brothers, not the Mercers and not Sheldon Adelson. These people are trying to take our country back to 100 years ago and even beyond, to when women couldn’t vote and people of color were slaves, when unions didn’t exist and the democracy promised by our forefathers was controlled by oligarchs and their interests became the laws of the land. We’ve already fought the battle to end slavery, but racism still exists as the man in the White House fuels anger toward black Americans. He disrespects women and, if it wasn’t for the #MeToo movement, male abusers would continue to keep women subservient to their will.
It’s time we understood that the most important doctrine of this country is “All men are created equal”. That includes men and women, straight and gay, white and black, left and right, rich and poor, Native Americans and immigrants who come here because no other country alleges such creeds as ‘freedom of religion’ and ‘the right to bear arms’. Great as those features are, they have limits — separation of church and state, plus the Second Amendment doesn’t guarantee the right to own assault weapons — just read the conservative justice Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller — “We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms...that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of ‘dangerous and unusual weapons.”
It is worth noting that the NRA has tried three times in the last three years and been rejected in their effort to get the Supreme Court to rule that the Second Amendment provides for citizens a legal right to own weapons that belong to the military, such as the AR-15s. The students of Parkland, and others all over the country, have spoken and they will not be denied. This country needs to change gun laws, starting with a ban on assault weapons. We also need to begin preparing our citizens for a world that faces exponential change that will be so rapid in the coming years that the common people — the masses who have the power to vote and change their conditions — will face job losses that we and the rest of the world have never before seen. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots will replace humans in what is estimated to be around 40 to 50% of the existing jobs over the next 20 years.
It is sinful that Congress has burdened our children with student loans that will leave them in poverty while banks make money through interest that accrues as they struggle to make payments and find jobs that will not be lost by the coming future trends. This current administration has decided to ignore the science of climate change and turn the EPA into a faith based government institution. They believe God wants us to pollute and destroy our environment by doing away with regulations that now allow oil companies to burn their reserves while the tides around us rise.
Every community needs to become activists to take our country back before the Russians infiltrate our elections again. Vladimir Putin has shown his true colors by his recent boast that we are throwing our defense money to the wind because Russia has missiles that can destroy us and get through our defenses. As Maya Angelou stated, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” The national security implications of this are profound, yet the person in the White House chooses to tweet to Alec Baldwin instead of protecting our democracy and people from foreign invaders. Why doesn’t Donald Trump implement the sanctions against Russia that Congress passed overwhelmingly last July — (Senate 98-2 and House of Representatives 419-3)? What is he hiding and/or afraid of that Putin has over him?
The American people need answers and representatives that will hold their government accountable for a tax bill that puts our nation in over a trillion dollars more in debt, just to give huge permanent tax breaks to the richest Americans. The middle class and poor will see their small increases in take home pay cancelled in 10 years, but more than likely sooner, as Republicans prepare to take money from our safety net programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They will do this to make up for the shortfall they created to give their donors a Christmas present on the backs of ‘We the People’.
We need candidates running for office who have problem solving skills and will focus on what’s good for the majority, not the select few. I am a teacher running for Congress because, in the words of the late, great songwriter, Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man!