One Week! Will Character Matter?

Wow! Kamala Harris is a good person. She cares about people and really does want to help others and make the United Sates an "even batter" place to live. I previously talked about her experience and qualifications to be President and there is no douybt in my mind that she possesses everything needed to lead our country. But her greatest asset is her character. She will look to help all U.S. citizens thrive in this economy. She is an expert in foreign policy and will build alliances with our allies. Finally, she will make decisions with ethical and moral foundations that will lead to more effective results that will benefit all U.S. citizens and global allies. I am proud of Kamala Harris and look forward to seeing our entire country thrive during her presidency!

Why Is It So Clear To Me?

I really do think I'm an average American. I love my country and I know the United States is GREAT now and is the envy of every country in the world. It is unbelievable to me that a candidate for President would call the country I love a garbage can. But that really happened and so many people in our country still support him. Based on the facts, Vice President Harris is the clear choice for me! Facts matter. Nobody thought our economy could have a soft landing after the total mess handed to the Biden-Harris Administration by Donald Trump. Unemployment was in double digits, inflation was very high and Covid was killing Americans with over one million people losing their lives. Unemployment is now at record lows and inflation and Covid is under control. The stock market is also at record highs and our nations infrastructure is being improved. Wow! You rarely hear any of those facts on any of the news networks. These facts simply touch the surface of why the choice for President is so clear!!! We are far from a garbage can and anyone who says something like that should never be supported by any U.S. citizen. We are a great country. Kamala Harris believes that and will keep us that way!

Two Weeks

Two Weeks I love our country. I'm not happy about many of the things our country has done in our history but I think our actions and accomplishments have far surpassed our shortcomings. But the Election of 2024 is so hard for me to understand. Kamala Harris stands for everything our country and the U.S. Constitution is all about. As a former District Attorney and Attorney General of California, she stood up for the "rule of law." She was an outstanding U.S. Senator and is Vice President of the United States and part of a Biden Administration that is the envy of the world. The stock market is at record highs, we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in our history, inflation continues to go lower and we continue to have the strongest military in world history. The polls show the election as a virtual tie. I scratch my head. Our country is thriving and people don't even recognize that. Our troops are not directly engaged in war and we are peace brokers in many parts of our world. People who support Trump are suually people who are doing well financially under Biden and Harris. It just doesn't make sense to me but with two weeks to go I'll hope that good people realize that the best path to a bright future really is to vote for and support Kamala Harris and the slate of Democratic candidates.

Democratic-Republican Platform Comparisons

I love politics. Politics, in my opinion, is the way that we lay out the policies that can help to make our communities, cities, counties, states and our country better places to live for all our residents. We have many great individuals who run for office and we have, for the most part, a two party political system that lays out the policy positions that voters can use to select the person(s) they will vote for. I'm going to lay out basic positions of the parties and candidates as we head into the 2024 election. I think that most of the policy positions are clear cut but invite anyone to identify and correct any of these positions that misrepresent in any way. I hope that information(and maybe my opinion) like this will help people use facts and logic to guide them in voting as opposed to blindly supporting a candidate or party that misrepresents, fabricates and lies to our citizens. Boarder Security Democrats Republican Seek bipartisan legislation that will develop a comprehensive immigration Opposed bipartisan developed legislation earlier this year because and boarder security law that would greatly improve boarder security. it might hurt chances of a Trump presiency. Social Security Have attempted to weaken it and reduce benefits. Democrats They are committed to keeping and strengthening Social Security. Ukraine Support Ukraine's efforts to defend itself against Putin's invasion. Cut off support of Ukraine and appease Putin Taxes Strengthen IRS so that it has the tools to do ite job. Higher taxes on the Much lower taxes on the very wealthy and modest decrease for middle class. Record high deficit. very wealthy and lower taxes on the middle class. Reduce the dficit.

Twenty Five Days

Twenty Five Days Food prices are high. Yep. They are. But "context" and "perspective" need to be essential considerations in determining who to vote for in 2024. I know that few, if any people, will even read this blog post. Heck! I don't even know if any people read blogs. But you never know so here I go. Former President Obama spoke in Pittsburgh last night on behalf of Vice President Harris. He brought up the point that he handed over a pretty good economy. He really did. The stock market was high, inflation was under control, interest rates were low and the United States was working with international partners to tackle the global challenges to help make our world a better place for all people especially people in the United States. The Affordable Care Act was all about helping all p[eople afford health insurance. Climate change was being worked on and he was leading the international community to stand up to Russia after the invasion of Crimea. President Trump really did inherit a good situation as he took office. Fast forward to January of 2020. Covid was at its peak. Dealing with Covid was a Trump disaster. We laugh about using bleach to get rid of the virus. But he really said it. The list of screw ups is too long for me to cover here but it led to record high unemployment, extremely high inflation, a nine trillion dollar deficit in his four years in office. Biden and Harris have lowered unemployment to record lows, brought inflation down and established a "soft Landing" that most experts never thought possible and is on track to reducing the defiscit in his four years compared to Trump. Are you better off now than four years ago? By every measure, most of us are and many still support Trump. Many are doing much, much better as the stock markets are at record highs. Yes! Context and perspective are critical as we decide who to vote for. Somebody might read this blog and consider these as we get ready to vote. That is my hope and I hope I'll take the time to do a blog a day until election day. I also want to thank anyone who might read this post.

Six Months Until Election Day

Democracies place the power of government into the hands of the citizens. We vote for our government representatives who make choices and decisions based on the people they represent. Elections allow citizens to vote and that can be challenging in the best of circumstances. But we really do have a very reliable and accurate system that allows legal challenges if the process is in question. That system worked in 2020. But once the process concludes and all legal challenges are exhausted, democracies require losing candidates to accept the results even though doubts might still exist. But that was not the case in 2020 when Donald Trump refused to accept the results and sparked an extremely high level of distrust in our elections. That distrust lingers as we enter the six month mark before the 2024 Election. In my opinion, the United States has the most reliable and accurate elections today in our history. I see it at my local polling place and I see it in the news coverage on reputable media outlets. But many people will not share my perspective and don't view the same sources of information. But isn't that how democracies are supposed to work? We differ in many views, perspectives and beliefs. I was so upset in 2000 when Al Gore conceded to George Bush. I was upset in 2016 when Hillary Clinton conceded to Donald Trump. Both had doubts about the results but eventully accepted the results. Democracies need that to happen for the smooth transition of power. That keeps our form of government strong and has led our country to be the most successful in the history of the world. But Donald Trump did not accept the 2020 results. January 6 followed. He has continued to seed spread lies about elections. He has absolutely signaled that the results in 2024 won't be accepted if he loses. Eighteenth century philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke once sted that "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing." Not accepting election results after all court challenges have been exhausted in our system of government under our constitutional rule of law is evil in my opinion. We have 180 days to stand up to evil.

Sources of Information

There has been so much damage to our country that has been caused by information shared by major media outlets and popular social media platforms that is absolutely not true. Responsible jouirnalism depends on getting the facts right and that is only done by checking the sources and making sure the sources are credible and the information is accurate. Then, and only then, should a story be published, broadcasted or posted. This has not been the case in recent decades. As a matter of fact, law suits have been filed and been successful when news outlets have shared informention that was not true. Part of one major network's defense was that it was a form of entertainment and not really news. The huge problem is that tens of millions of people do accept that network as their major news source. We, as responsible citizens, "must" take responsibility to make sure they have the "facts." This can be done by using numerous sources to gather information. We have to do more work if we really want good information to make our decisions on the hundreds of topics that we deal with in our lives. It really is necessary to have an educated and well informed electorate in order to have a strong and well functioning democracy. Facts matter. Let's do our part in making sure those "facts" are true before using that information to base our decisions.