To the editor,
History will undoubtedly prove, that the fast approaching 2012 election will be our most important one in decades.
Important not just on the federal level, but also on the state and local levels. If at all possible, get to know, on a personal basis, those individuals who are running for an elected office. Yes, that’s a difficult task as we observe candidates on the state and federal levels, but not impossible.
Be informed. Ferret out truth from falsehood, bias from non-bias! Be honest with yourself. Try to determine a candidate’s true character. Hillary Clinton once said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That same analogy can be applied to our election process. It takes a truthfully informed electorate, with integrity and love of country, to recognize and elect honest and intelligent politicians, who make decisions that are morally and constitutionally correct, and are the right ones for our country.
When getting to know candidates, beware of sugar coated words, fake manners, and hidden agendas. We do not need elected officials, on any level who have an axe to grind, who are vindictive, who want to get revenge on someone or something, and who may want the position for the feeling of power or for the money, or both.
As you know, the federal government, and some of the states, are spending immense amounts of money that they do not have. Our national debt is at 16.5 trillion dollars and expanding faster than we can count. That’s deep doo doo, and portends disaster for this country. Over 40 percent of the fed’s spending is with borrowed money, most of it from communist China.
Who is going to pay the interest on that debt, let alone the principal? Who is going to stop this spiraling national debt that will eventually (and soon) drop us off a financial cliff? We need elected officials, at all levels of government, that have the good sense to spend only what is necessary and only what we can afford, stay within a budget, and still save enough tax collections for a rainy day.
We can help do this at the voting booth, not just for our communities, but also for a more moral and freedom loving nation. Remember Zig Ziglar’s quote: “I can You can, We all can!” We have plenty of reasons, as a nation and as individuals, to be discontented with members of Congress and with our presidential administrations.
Oscar Wilde put it well when he once said: “Discontent is the first step in (the) progress of a man (person) or a nation.” Let’s become well informed, and let our voices be heard at the voting booth this November.
Don C. Carey
International Falls, MN
