The Buying and Selling of America

The Buying and Selling of Democracy

There was a time in American history when any person could run for President of the United States. Sadly, that time has come and gone.

Today, in America, you can ONLY become President, IF you have a trillion dollars plus. Okay, maybe not a trillion, but you better have several millions. So, here is the questions? What has become of America, the democracy of the people, for the people and by the people? Has it been sold to the highest bidder?

I believe that democracy is dead in America, and that we the people have stood by and watched it die. Not only did we stand by and watch it die, but we provided the coffin, the strychnine, and the burial site.

We have allowed a few very rich men (some were poor when they started out) hold democracy hostage to their greed and to their ambitions.

Without so much as a howdy doody, they put themselves up for sale, and we the people made the purchase. The supply and demand theory did not work. There was no shortage of supply, but the demand was made, and we the people with our blinders in place rushed out to make the purchase. We even stood in line for hours to make sure that we paid the highest price for our purchase.

Let's look at the current election. According to the New York Times:

Mr. President Barack Obama has raised $260,926,200. Mr. Obama ended March with 10 times the cash on hand as
Mr. Romney.

Mr. Mitt Romney has raised $122,024,185. The presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, Mr. Romney ended March with $10 million in cash.

What are they selling? They are not just selling themselves. They are selling democracy, the right to barter the United States of America to the highest bidder. The issues of this Country are not resolved, and yet we are all over the world telling others how to run their countries and fighting their wars.

Yes, there is a need for political strategy, and yes interfering in others affairs from time-to-time may be warranted. But, what I see, and many others like me see are the campaign ads that are negative, divisive, and downright nasty. Definitely not becoming a President of the United States. We the people have abdicated our responsibility to ourselves, our children, and our future.

If you can buy and sell the United States' government, then what else is left?

Neither of the men vying for office are bad men, but many of those who support them very well may be bad men. Where is all of this money coming from? We the working poor certainly aren't putting it out there, and we certainly can think of better usages for the money than those god-awful negative advertisements that are blowing up our televisions.

Take a look at our national debt http://www.usdebtclock.org/. Of course, it changes every second, but not in our favor. The negative continues to grow while we outsource jobs (thank you NAFTA); provide our citizens with less than the amount needed to take care of our families, and as we watch millions of dollars being poured into these two campaigns.

I wonder when we as Americans will say enough is enough? We do not want or need a presidency that can be purchased at any price, and definitely at the millions that could be more strategically used to save Americans.

What if one of these would be great leaders took their campaign bounty and used it to solve the unemployment issue? Or better yet, what if one or both of them decided to not buy this election and really give the people a choice by showing their conviction that America can't be purchased at any price and use their campaign funds to feed the hungry or even fund healthcare for the neediest in our society?

What an awesome gesture. Think what the news pundits would be writing. Better yet, just think what the people would be saying, and what they might do on Election Day.

I believe it is time for a change. It is time to make it possible for anyone in America to be able to run and hold office. Not just those with deep pockets.

Our forefathers never dreamed that the presidency of the United States would be based on how much one could raise in capital. Men of distinction who had a vision for our Country ran for office, and held that most important job without bleeding the American public dry!