Despite flaws in the system like too much cash, voting is what is important. Be an informed voter!

I can't wait to vote for a candidate--and I don't care what party he/she belongs to--I am looking for someone who needs to point out the complete insanity of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get elected to public office. 

Money should not be the incentive for public service. Holding public office is not a get rich scheme, or at least it shouldn't be.

Why do people have so little faith in government?

Look at the obscene amount of money that is spent every election season. Look at the number of millionaires that make up the U.S. Congress. Money in politics is almost cartoonish! At least it would be if it wasn't so tragic. And, it harms us all! The first priority for public officials should be getting money out of our political process. We need more than lip service. We need reform!

Since I claim to be a lifelong Democrat based on policies, substance, and philosophy, I can assure you that it is not because I enjoy the countless emails, phone calls, and advertisements asking for money I don't have. It is infuriating that candidates require any more from me than my voice or my vote.

In these difficult days when corporations pay zero in taxes, the middle class is disappearing, people beg in the streets, and children go hungry, it is obscene to allow so much money to be wasted to win favor of potential voters. Do we really want to select leadership by awarding it to the highest bidder? The process to elect leaders who represent us in this Republic needs to be fair. Citizens United needs to be abolished.

We all need to pay our fair share in taxes because taxes support government services that are used by all. Taxes should not be favors for friends, family, and campaign donors. 

Nor should religious institutions be exempt from taxes beyond its normal charitable functions. Religious institutions have proven they cannot be trusted to keep their beliefs out of policy-making. That is not what our founding fathers intended as they proposed a strong separation between church and state. Corruption occurs when blurring that line. If churches want to be a business rather than a charity, they too should pay taxes. Simply advancing religion should not be a reason for tax exemption.

Health care should not bankrupt people. Perhaps some of those campaign billions could be diverted toward making health care affordable for everyone. People are living longer because of the advancements in medicine. That is good, but when so many seniors have to choose over their pharmaceuticals or food on the table, there is a big problem. 

Health care decisions should not be made by insurance companies.

Cannabis, a naturally-grown herb which has proven to have health benefits and been used by humans for eons should not be illegal. 

Women need to make their own medical care decisions. The idea that politicians decide what is best for women and their families is unthinkable.

Voting is the ONLY option we the people have to turn things around. It will not happen in one, two, or three election cycles, but we voters must be diligent. We have to do better. We have to be informed. It isn't enough to follow the loudest voices, especially in today's climate where lies are treated as truth for the gullible and easily swayed. 

We the people must all do our homework, at the local, state, and federal level. It is vitally important. We are electing people that affect every aspect of our lives. We must read and judiciously study the candidates. We must watch how incumbent politicians vote on all issues. We need to educate ourselves. With 24-hour news and access to every speech, every debate, every aspect of a candidate's record, we must ensure that we know who we are rewarding with our precious vote. Voting is our link to the democratic system. And it is vitally important.

Democracy will only work when we the people participate. We can only participate if we are informed. Change will come, but it has to come from us. We are the foundation of our democracy. The elected officials merely represent us. These people are not elite, regal, or royal. They are PUBLIC SERVANTS.

We need to elect leaders who will truly represent the peoples' interests and not their own. Money should have little to do with it. 

Change begins now. We must all be a part of it.

Voting is important; they are supposed to speak for us

Most politicians at the national level have proven to be vindictive, greedy, self-centered, and more involved in their own political future than in that of the country or their own constituents.

The politicians that are supposed to represent us don’t care what we think. Just write a heartfelt letter or call your congressman or senator to see how little they care what you think. Responses come in the form of mass-produced form letters that often times aren’t even seen by the addressee. Responses are handled by their staff and it is up to these unknown, unelected employees, who answer our questions or respond to concerns.

When I have been able to interact with my representatives, I’ve found the general attitude to be annoyance, as if the public is in the way, a barrier to their getting their work done. And their work hardly focuses on the public good or what the public cares most about; it focuses on cash donors with the bottom line being their own election bid.

To me, the problem is that politicians are supposed to be public servants. They are our representatives that do the public’s business. They manage the country in which we live in the government that is of the people, for the people, and most importantly, by the people. Everything they do, they do in our name.

Being a Congressman or Senator is not meant to be a life-long career. That has to change and the solution is term limits.

Imposing term limits as a policy would not be an easy task, since lawmakers would have to support legislation that would put the good of the country over what has become a lucrative career path with corporate kick-backs, deal making, and oh, so many perks. It would take some very open-minded politicians, the likes of which we have not seen in decades, to propose legislation that would bring about term limits.

If term limits are not possible legislatively, we, the represented, have only one choice. We, the voters can impose term limits ourselves. We have the option every two years for Congressional Representatives and every six years for Senators, to vote them out! Voting is our only tool, so we must use it wisely.

Voting is our only option.

When voters get no response from their representatives, we must resign to get rid of them. When we learn that our representatives are not worthy of the office they hold, we must resign to get rid of them. If our representatives choose their corporate funding sources over our concerns, such as what we’ve seen in the health care debates, we must resign to get rid of them.

When candidates lie to our faces, such as the Republican candidates that claim they will protect pre-existing conditions at the same time they voted or sued to end this provision in our health care insurance, as outlined in this story, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/upshot/republicans-pre-existing-conditions-.html, we must resign to get rid of them.

There are new examples every day of dastardly deeds unbefitting a representative of our government. If this is as bothersome to you as it is to me, remember that we can change things. It will take some time, but eventually, our leaders will get the hint. If the makeup of Congress changes every two years, it will become clear that if our public figures don’t do their job or don’t do it on behalf of the people that put them there, then they must go.

There are times we will be forced to elect the lesser of two evils

The lesser of two evils is not as bad as it sounds. Sometimes, the two-party system advances candidates that we consider unappealing. Instead of simply voting for a partisan, which is done all too often, become an informed voter. Don’t look at the party; look at the individual who if elected, will speak for you. Study what the candidates stand for. Hear their message, which does not include the hundreds of “attack the other guy” ads being run by way too much money in the political system. Do your homework. There are so many resources available today, at your fingertips.

Voting is one of your most important obligations as a citizen of this country. You will choose the men and women that speak on your behalf in this and other parts of the world.

Tuesday is Election Day. Do your part to make this country a better place. Vote!