One Half a Billion...

Well gentle reader, I have on my Body suit of armor. Why? You see I am about to share with you something that makes me boiling mad.

What makes my blood boil? It's the election process.

On the Sunday night network news on CBS, they reported that just in the race for the presidency more than one half a billion dollars to date has be spent on just that race.

That's over $500,000,000 dollars spent in TV ads. And that is just for the office of the presidency. Not only that, it doesn't include money spent for posters, billboards buttons and bows and the beat goes on. All the rest of that junk including bumper stickers. Did I tell you I saw a couple of weeks ago a bumper sticker on an car for Kerry? No, of course I didn't, and I don't have the faintest idea of why I remember that. It must be my Alzheimer's, right? And that irritates me too.

One half a billion dollars. I can't even wrap my mind, what's left of it, around that number. Think about it and all the other monies that are spent for the local, state, and federal offices through out the country. 

Forget about the federal debt. That's another issue for another day or year.

What I am so mad about is how much all that money ... just for the office of the presidency has been spent to irritate the hell of out of us.

Stop now. Think about it. Do you know who is running for president and who is the president that is running for re-election. Well, do you? Sure you do. Even I do with Alzheimer's. So way spend all that money ... we already know who is running. And the worst part, now listen carefully. It ain't over. We still got, what, 5 or 6 weeks more plus the debates. After that we will hear all the reasons why one lost and one won. It's enough to pull your hair out. Well not me, because I don't have any hair only wigs. I guess I pull it off my chrome dome and stomp on it but it just wouldn't be the same. Sort of like a political advantage. 

Well I have digressed far enough. A half a billion dollars to date. That's a bunch of bucks.

When I think about the people who are losing or lost their homes and them trying to explain it to their kids it makes me so mad to think of all the money spent. I get mad when I think about the schools that are just trying to scrape by. I get mad when the elderly can't afford their medicine and have to make a choice between food or prescriptions. Lisa and I are in the "donut" hole as far as our drugs are concerned. We are "lucky", yet we spent thousands of dollars for medications just this year. That's just us. Perhaps you have experienced the same or worst.

Now I will admit a half a billion dollars ($500,000,000) in the big picture is not a lot of money. But in my way of thinking, and I do try (to think). Even this amount of money could be, again in my mind, be used better that to aggravate, Lie, and all sorts of other dirty advertising and be use to help people, food banks, and shelters.

Now before you call me nuts, and some of you will, I think there should be a limit set on each elected office in dollars and sense. I am also in favor of term limits. in all levels of government. If the President is limited to two four year terms so should every elected official be limited to a certain number of terms. Think about it...go ahead, take your time.  We have elected officials who have spent entire careers in their office and personal, I don't think we as taxpayers, are getting a fair shake for our tax dollar. Perhaps by limiting their terms and oh yes, the perks, and special insurances etc that they get they would pay more attention to you and me instead of the money PACs and cute little deals that are agreed too. You know, you wash my hand and I'll wash yours. You know how that goes. When I was growing up I had to wash my own hands.

If we look back in history we find that elected office was total different than it is today. There were no super PACs, no hand washing or lobbyists. Ah yes, lobbyists...special interest groups. If I read my history books right. most elected officials didn't make politics a full lifetime job. They meet to pass laws etc, then went home and worked their farms and performed their craft in order to support their families.  Those were the good old days. Today what have we got? Nothing but a lot of undefined plans, I'm gonna do this or that. What the heck is "this" or "that?"

Well, I feel better ... for the moment. But gentle reader we need reform our political system, but I probably won't see it in my lifetime. At least I have on my body armor on. So take your best shot. Oh before I forget, which I sometime do. In fact if the truth be known I forgot a lot of things along my twisted path called life.  

And now a word from my disclaimer: Any spelling errors, grammar, or punctuation error are the fault of Mr. Alzheimer or my editor Lindsay. I check this diatribe five times besides nobody is perfect, just look at our political folks they will tell you it's true. 

Gotta go, I always remember a moving target is harder to hit even though I am in all this body armor. Besides the first debate is Weds. And it hard to walk in all this armor...you know like the Tin Man.