Article: The Reform That Enables All Other Reforms

This year has come and gone. In its wake are left cherished memories, chance encounters and new friendships as well as sad goodbyes and broken relationships and promises kept and promises forgotten. Like every year that has come before, it has left an indelible mark, a permanent footmark on our perception of reality as we try to comprehend the events that have taken place, and desperately try to organize these events into a scenario that we can understand, one that makes sense. Thus, with information that is incomplete, as well as tools for understanding out of reach, try as we may, the average American will have a hard time trying to understand and categorize this violent year as anything but sanctioned mayhem, with no point, and no conclusions reached, with the promise of more of the same to mark the new years arrival. This New Year, like all the years that have come before it, will start out with renewed sense of determination that comes with every new beginning. It's as if we take this time of the year, and close the door on the last 365 days as if they are over, left to the dark recess of history, which in a way they are. This perspective of starting over seems to satisfy a human need to close past events out and start again fresh, as if we can actually do that. There will be resentments and remorse, hatreds and revenge that will follow us into the New Year unabated. We talk about the year we are marking with the authority of someone that has learned something, someone with new perception's of life that were gained by witnessing the events of the old year, but in reality... we haven't learned anything, and by not learning, we are condemned to repeat the mistakes of yesterday, today. To amazement and astonishment, this President seems not to understand nor comprehend anything about the course he had led this nation on. Either he is intellectually incapable of making rational assessments, or he is privy to things that we don't know, and he is leading us into something that only he and his "inner circle" are aware of. In reality, both of these explanations warrant removal from office. The only other recourse that he has, is to explain to the American people what it is exactly he is trying to achieve with this schizophrenic foreign policy. If it is solely for profit and power which is what I believe, of course he won't come clean. If it is for some other reason, then he should make it known to the opposition, someone like Sen. Kennedy or Sen. Boxer who can then tell us that the President is really acting in out best interests. I sincerely doubt it though. If that were indeed the case, he would have done this long ago. Besides this abhorrent foreign policy and this war, as well as dealing with potential adversaries such as Iran and North Korea, the people of the United States want different reforms in government. Many people want universal heath care, or an increase in the minimum wage. Some want the repeal of the Military Commissions Act and Habeus Corpus restored. The citizenry are concerned with gerrymandering, taxes, eminent domain as well as our elected leader's unresponsiveness to the people that voted them into office. People are tired of "business as usual" on Capitol Hill and want a Congress that legislates in the best interests of the electorate, "the people". The more that I read about these problems, the more disenchanted I become with my fellow citizen's priorities. I don't want to put anyone down, or cast aspersions on anyone either. What I believe...no, what I know is, we will never, ever have true reforms until we start with The Reform that Enables all Other Reforms. That reform is campaign finance reform. Unless we implement that, unless we publically finance all election campaigns, we will never get rid of the what is stopping us from getting these reforms passed in the first place, corporate and special interest campaign money. This is the "grand poobah" so to speak. The elephant in the living room, the hidden family secret, the real reason that Congressmen and Senators don't respond to their electorate, the people that put them in office, the billion dollar payoff to government , and the way the elected officials keep their jobs; corporate and special interest campaign money. This is not something that cannot be overlooked any longer. Even though Proposition 89 did not pass in California, there are people there that are trying to put it into place on the local level. I really don't believe we have the time to wait on this. We need a Bill that allows for Clean Money Campaigns. We need to take the corporate nazi's and the special interest goups like the pharmaceutical and oil industries out of government. This doesn't need to happen in the future, it needs to happen now, before we have no democracy left. Before the corporate nazi's start another war. Before they finance McCain's bid for the White House. Before they pick our new President! Please, please, please. If you do anything for your country this year, please support campaign finance reforms. I have pledged my life to it. I have pledged my life toward campaign finane reform because I realize that Campaign Finance Reform is the Reform that Enables All Other Reform!