by Mike Vecchiarelli
Now that history’s been made with the victory of President-elect Barack Obama, we can start looking to the future, optimistically waiting for the change Obama has promised the world. The Democratic majority in Congress is also hard at work preparing for Obama’s inauguration. However, in the days after the election, Obama and Democrats are not the only ones making changes. Republicans are as well. If you’ve followed the news at all this week, you know that the Republican Party is attempting to regroup after its crushing defeat at the hands of the Democrats.
Clearly, Republicans need to respond to their lopsided loss of the presidency, but the problems they face run party deep, as they also need to address staggering majorities in both House and Senate, and their loss of what seems like countless national, state and local seats in this year’s election. And, like with all things new or revamped, the first thing Republicans are trying to strengthen is their image, rather than their core. Priority one is looking for a new face to symbolize the leadership of a revitalized Republican Party. As Republicans distance themselves farther and farther away from George W. Bush, they are attempting to create this new image with fresher politicians like Gov. Sarah Palin, or retired Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell. But, is this the right strategy?
Although, I believe Sarah Palin will have a future in Entertainment (and maybe, but hopefully not politics), she has proven herself to be somewhat of a pariah for the Republican Party. And, as experienced and capable as Colin Powell is, he did throw all his support behind Barack Obama. So, where does the Republican Party find its new leadership? Perhaps they should look towards ideology, as well as brand awareness. As crazy as it sounds to the casual political follower, and to the dismay of the mainstream media, the Republican’s best shot is to look towards someone with revolutionary ideas. They should look towards Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
Whether you love him, hate him, or are asking yourself right now who he is, those who automatically dismiss Paul truly don’t know the man. The cynicism his name generates is more a Pavlovian response or lack of education rather than genuine opposition to his stance on issues. If most voters took the time to listen to Paul’s ideas, most would probably be surprised at how much they agree with the man. It is said that, to hear Ron Paul is to want to support him, the problem is the mainstream media doesn’t cover him, so you don’t hear him. Granted, you probably won’t agree with every single thing the man says, but is there a person that you agree 100% with on every issue? I hope not. Personally, I can’t deny that in trying to get back to the roots of the U.S. Constitution, Ron Paul is indeed a revolutionary thinker.
The problem is, if following the U.S. Constitution is revolutionary thinking, then the citizens of this country need to step back and look at how we have gotten to this point. And if the way this country is run is so far from what the framers of the Constitution originally intended, I’m not sure if anyone, Ron Paul included, can change the direction in which we’re headed.
Our system of government has become so corrupted by politicians and their corporate masters, that discouraged Americans no longer learn enough about government to differentiate how it runs and how its suppose to run. Americans assume that we have a two-party system, with differing views, and we’re supposed to vote for the lesser of the two evils that best represents our interests. From the get go, this is a defeatist mentality. Choosing the lesser of two evils is still not a good choice.
The problem with this system is that neither party puts the interests of the American people first. In this age in which we are living, corporate America, banking interests and political action committees run the show, by pulling the strings of most politicians, Obama included. It’s just a shame that we get our news from either Fox News Channel or CNN, both networks whose CEO’s and major shareholders have vested interests, which are represented by one party or the other. You don’t really think President-elect Obama is going to make his own Middle East foreign policy, do you?
The system is flawed and it needs to be changed. The problem is the two-party system is designed to maintain the status quo. Neither party is who they claim to be. On the one hand, is the Republican Party, who is supposedly the party of small government and lower spending. But how can you have a government of low spending and wish to carry out war after war? Especially one in which our budget surplus has been spent into oblivion and we have taken loans from every nation that would allow us to.
To all the Republicans reading this: The Republican leaders in the US are not real Republicans. They are extreme right wing evangelic neo-conservatives, posing as traditional Reagan Republicans. The root word of Republican is republic, as in America was established as a republic by the founding fathers. Every day we say “I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands,” but do we slow down enough to consider the word. A Republic is a nation in which the supreme power rests in its body of citizens, an ideal state according to Plato. Democracy is a tool of the Republic, not what the republic is or could become or what should be spread to the rest of the world. We have lost sight of this, and so have our elected leaders. The only true Republican figure whose values serve to preserve our American Republic and uphold our Constitution and Bill of Rights is Congressman Ron Paul. The unfortunate thing is that his message is suppressed even within the Republican party because he’s not with the agreed upon and established agenda, as it was established by the liberals, conservatives, corporations and their propaganda machines (the corporate mainstream media).
The most important issue for most Americans right now is the economy. As Ron Paul says, to bring about real change that can benefit the U.S. economy, look no further than the Federal Reserve System. The government has the ability to create currency and regulate the value of money, but instead chooses to outsource this critical power to a private corporation – the Federal Reserve, which is about as federal as Federal Express. But the Federal Reserve does not simply give the government money, they create it out of thin air (backed by nothing mind you, certainly not gold or silver) and than the Fed loans it AT INTEREST to the US government. This creates a system of endless debt, one that can never be paid off. Why never? Well, the amount of money in circulation is the amount the Fed created. The amount owed by the government to the Fed is the amount they created plus interest. So, from the beginning, there is more money owed than there is in existence. Huh!?!
So, how do we begin to pay a loan that can never possibly be paid in full? Well, naturally, like any predatory loan, you start with the interest. This interest is paid off using the Federal Income Tax on Individuals like you and me, Joe Taxpayer – 100% of what is collected to be precise. The Fed chairman and members are not elected by anyone, they are simply appointed like monarchs. In other words, it is ultimate nepotism, people known and chosen by each other, with minimal superficial input from the President. They hold meetings in secret to discuss the future of America, and are no longer obligated to disclose the minutes of those meetings. Shouldn't government be transparent?
Yes, your federal income tax goes straight to paying off the debt on government loans. It does not go to roads, schools, highways, the military, social security or Medicare or anything else you think it might go to. Those programs are either paid for directly as a separate tax on your income or paid for by gas taxes, tolls, property taxes, state sales tax, business entity taxes and corporate income taxes. What is certain is they do not come from your federal income tax, which forcibly removes 30% (on average) of your hard earned salary or wages from your pocket. But don’t stop paying those taxes. In fact, you better hope you pay those taxes on time (which are unconstitutional since it is a direct tax that isn’t apportioned back to the states) because if you don’t pay your federal income tax, the IRS will come, and they make mob bosses look like fairy godmothers.
Yes, this is the true America we live in. While people are stuck calling certain politicians communists or jingoist, they don’t realize that the very candidate they support is even more corrupt. We get so passionate without truly understanding the essence of what we’re getting so passionate over. Our government needs to be redesigned to best work for us, the working class. It needs to be fair. I don’t think Ron Paul is necessarily the answer, but I think American people are, and his ideas address the root problem, the cause not the symptoms. Americans no longer question authority or even expect accountability by their elected officials, and that needs to change. Ron Paul’s ideas are certainly the best out there amongst the Republican Party. If they’re looking for a new direction and a new face, his would give them their best shot.
But our current model of American democratic capitalism is failing us. One percent of the population is making more than 25 percent of all the money made in this country. Things don’t seem to be trickling down like we heard they would from the Democrats. This is the land of opportunity. I don’t want to be handed anything, certainly not the benefits of just a trickle from the richest 1 percent. I want opportunity, a fair chance to make it on my own, without the government’s hands in my pockets. Why does the fed need to keep printing money (Well, it’s not even printed anymore, it’s just a number in a computer that is manipulated up and up and up)? If all the existing money is still out there, then where did it go? Where is all this money they create, that none of us seem to have? Where is the $750 billion they created that was used to nationalize private industry, I mean the money used to bail out corporate industries?
Somebody has all of the money and it’s not the individuals loosing their homes, jobs and retirements; it is banking institutions and private bankers and the corporations they deem worthy to succeed and they’re just going to keep getting more, until they own us all. The system is flawed, and we need to stop educating ourselves through the mainstream media and start to follow the money trail. Things don’t seem right in America because they aren’t. It doesn’t start with the government, it starts with us asking questions and demanding truth! How much are we willing to take? Are we mad enough yet? Are we going to keep taking these blatant affronts to our lives, liberties, and pursuits of happiness? The last time 1 percent of the population made this much more money than the rest was in 1928 when desperate citizens worldwide began turning towards opportunistic national leaders, and we all know what happened after that . . . A Great Depression, and an ensuing World War. How long will we stand by and allow history to repeat itself?
There is no greater icon in town than our beloved city clerk Alan Jepson. For most of his life Jepson served the town of Milford in various offices, including the duty of our Mayor. 
