TJP

Political Experience or Expediency

By Byron A. Ellis, April 13, 2008

Politicians that claim that Americans are not bitter and frustrated with high gasoline and food prices, and lack of opportunities are not candid, or they have never pulled up to a gasoline pump or sought a rewarding industrial job.

Prewar regular gasoline price per gallon was approximately $1.50; wartime regular gasoline price per gallon in 2008 is as high as $3.50. Clinton’s NAFTA trade deal outsourced American jobs and now Clinton and Bush are pushing for the Colombia free trade: more outsourcing of American jobs and Americans should not be bitter, but rather foolishly happy.

Obama asserts that choices made by experienced and entrenched politicians have led to diminishing levels of satisfaction for Americans. However, experienced politicians want the voters to believe otherwise, that they should be happy with diminished living standards. Ironically, these same experienced politicians make millions of dollars advocating for the disappearance of American jobs and higher energy prices.

Experienced politicians know that voters can be easily led, that many have difficulty deciphering political double talk. Moreover, when voters recognized that they were misled, it is too late to reverse their choices. Furthermore, the experienced politicians keep voters confused by concocting language schemes, so the voters are continuously misled.

Voters were misled with the false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and once this claim was debunked, they were misled with the claim that Al Qaeda was in Iraq before the invasion, and now experience politicians are pushing the Iran in Iraq argument.

Similarly, they are being misled on the high gasoline prices, which the experienced politicians attribute to supply scarcity, and not to the war induced instability in the Middle East, which causes oil traders to bid up future crude oil prices, regardless of supply. Likewise, experienced politicians attribute the economic crisis to sub prime mortgages, when these mortgages,  are less than 15% of the total first lien mortgages, rather than to the government deficit. When private sector is in balance, where saving equals investment, any government deficit is reflected in an equal external deficit. According to the White House, the government deficit was $343,454,000,000.00 in 2007.

Political experience (expediency) is about baiting and switching; it is about telling the voters that the US is succeeding militarily in Iraq even when the facts are contradictory (see Martha Raddash interview with Bush).

Thus, for experienced politicians distortion, and embellishment, is the art of politics. It is, however, this political expediency that voters, particularly young voters, want to reject. But, the American political system is so stacked towards expediency that it requires more than one individual, or one group, to change it.

It requires Americans to identify and share common values, such as trade deals that provide opportunities to poor and middle class Americans, good and accessible educational, childcare, and healthcare systems, sound and effective transportation infrastructures, economic and accessible housing, and a good working relationship with the rest of the world.

During the upcoming election Americans have the opportunity to choose a candidate that can change the status quo; however, they can also choose an expedient candidate to maintain experience (expediency) over change. Whatever choice the majority of Americans make, all Americans will bear the consequences of the majority’s choice.

We’ve already seeing the consequences of choosing war (Bush) over peace (Kerry). The result is war, diminished disposable income, high energy and food prices, and a deteriorating economy.

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