Tag Archives: voters

FEEL AS IF YOU’RE LOSING CONTROL? VOTE ANYWAY

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#voting #voters #elections #economics #politics #jobs #FinancialWellBeing
Voters feel as if they’ve lost control of their lives, and no politician(s) are going to be able to give it back to them.
That point was made during a discussion among Katy Tur, Catherine Rampell and Mark McKinnon on Tur’s show “The Moment” on MSNOW Sept. 22, 2026.
Rampell, an economics commentator on MSNOW, and McKinnon, a political consultant, were discussing how voters may react in the upcoming midterm elections.
The Republicans this cycle have made promises, but didn’t keep them. In past cycles, Democrats did the same.
With gasoline, grocery, housing and health-care prices skyrocketing, with employment prospects uncertain as artificial intelligence comes to the fore, it’s no wonder people are feeling as if they have no control over their lives.
In more cases, young people feel destined not to do as well as their parents financially. In past decades, the opposite was true in most cases.
When you have to buy clothes for work, gas up your car to get you to work etc., it may cost some people more to go to work than to stay home, if they work for low pay.
For these folks, hope isn’t going to cut it. Tomorrow will be a better day rings hollow. Becoming better off over time is, well, a fallacy – or, perhaps, fantasy.
Still, when evaluating whom to vote for, one has to rely on promises. When politicians break those promises, regardless of party affiliation, voters get discouraged.
When they get discouraged, a gut reaction is to not vote for anyone. But, almost every time, when one doesn’t vote, the result is disappointing at best, disastrous at worst.
Voting is an act of faith. Therefore, when voting, one has to assess the person’s record, affiliations and overall personality. As with many life choices, one has to choose something. Making the best choice sometimes is hard, but making a choice often is bold. Avoiding a choice is, well, chickening out.
All decisions have consequences. If no decision is a decision, it WILL have consequences. If you can stop the immediate bleeding by making a decision, that is bold.
Sometimes, voting decisions are based on having nothing left to lose. Though it may be tempting to make an emotional decision in the voting booth, it’s best to go into the booth armed with real evidence.
A good rule of thumb on which to base one’s voting decision: look at who is most benefiting from the status quo, and who is not.
If you are not benefiting from the status quo, vote for change. Certainly, if change comes, it may not be everything you want. But, if the status quo is not giving you much of what you want, change can be better.
The 1940s and 1950s are viewed by many as the best years for America. It’s impossible to go backward. It’s inevitable to move forward.
If whom to vote for is not a cut and dried decision for you, make the best decision possible. If it is cut and dried – at least in your mind – think about why that is.
To borrow from a Lee Ann Womack lyric, if you have the choice to sit it out or vote, I hope you vote.
Make a plan to vote, based on the rules in your jurisdiction. But, please vote. Don’t sit this one out.
Peter

IF YOU RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE, WHOM DO YOU SERVE?

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#officeholders #RunForOffice #RunForSomething #voters #ElectedOfficials
Many people run for public office because they want to serve the people who elect them.
They have many ideas how to improve their communities, cities, towns, states, school systems etc.
Sometimes, when they actually get into office, other influences come to the fore.
A leader who expects loyalty may emerge. As an officeholder, you may find that not working with this leader, and his or her priorities, can create a miserable life for you.
Secondly, you may not get all the funding, personnel and other assets you may need to fulfill your goals.
You have no control over how much you get, and how many people you can have.
You begin to feel that everything you want to do is in jeopardy, and your good ideas are nothing more than that – good ideas. You become discouraged.
But, you may also be motivated because a certain number of people voted for you, over others.
You can’t make excuses to them as to why you are not doing as you say.
You have to try to accomplish some of what you can, with what you are given.
You should report only to voters, not to anyone else.
If the leader asks you, or forces you, to do things your voters do not want, you should not fear him or her.
You should remember that if voters can see that you are working only for them, you should get re-elected if you choose to run again.
If the voters can’t see that you are working only for them, and the leader doesn’t like what you are doing, he or she may put up someone to run against you.
That’s when you have to realize that public office is a temporary job. You can keep it. Or, you can lose it through no fault of your own.
If you expect the job to be permanent, and leave only on your terms, you are in the wrong line of work.
You have to learn that losing an election is NOT the end of the world. Voters are fickle. The same voters who voted to elect you may decide not to vote at all. Or, they may be so influenced by the show your opponent puts on that they are persuaded to vote for that person.
As long as you believe you did everything you could, with what you had, for those who voted for you, you will sleep at night.
As a public official, you have to listen to your voters. Their opinions and stories should be instructions to you on actions you should take.
(Attention voters: Your public officials need to hear from you at all times.)
Public office is no walk in the park. It’s hard work. It requires integrity, honesty, humility and selflessness.
Those who serve in office without those attributes should not be there.
You have to listen to your voters, because you are working on THEIR behalf.
So, run for office if it suits you. Don’t run if it does not. If you serve your voters well, you are most likely to be rewarded.
Peter

WORKERS, CONSUMERS, VOTERS AND POWER

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#workers #consumers #voters #power #RobertReich
As a worker, consumer and voter, do you feel powerless?
Do you feel that the world favors those with more than you, and tramples you because you might be in their way?
Robert Reich, the former U.S. secretary of labor and current professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley – and a frequent commentator on TV news programs — discussed this in a May 3, 2015, column in the San Francisco Chronicle.
“A large part of the reason” that people feel their voices don’t count, “is we have fewer choices than we used to have,” Reich writes. “In almost every area of our lives, it’s now take it, or leave it,” he continues.
Companies are treating workers as disposable cogs, and most working people have no choice, he says. The once-powerful private-sector unions have lost much of their clout, he adds.
As consumers, we find that as companies merge and deliberately create fewer choices, we pay the price. “U.S. airlines, for example, have consolidated into a handful of giant carriers that divide up route and collude on fares,” Reich writes. In 2005, there were nine major airlines. Now, there are four, he adds.
Even in the political arena, there is less competition because so many districts have been gerrymandered to be safe for the incumbent – or at least the incumbent’s political party. “(More than) 85 percent of congressional districts are considered ‘safe’ for their incumbents in the 2016 election,” Reich says.
What’s the average person to do? Certainly circumstances have occurred that are beyond the average person’s control. But there is also good news: the average person can take advantage, if he so chooses, of ways to combat the apparent lack of choice.
As consumers, we can, as individuals, adjust our behavior to fight the put-up or shut-up attitudes of the companies that serve us. Using the example of airlines, there isn’t much an individual can do about delays, whether they be caused by a mechanical problem, weather or some other issue. No one would want to fly unsafely just to get to a destination sooner.
But, as an example, to combat the big airlines’ recent policy of charging a fee to check a bag, we can learn to pack more carefully, so that everything fits into smaller luggage that can be carried on the plane. On full flights, if people come prepared to carry on their luggage, airlines will ask that some of the suitcases and other items be checked. Then, they cannot charge you.
As voters, we can vote defensively, if we don’t like the ideology of the candidates most likely to win. How? If your state laws allow, vote in the primary of the political party whose ideology is generally opposite yours. Find the candidate(s) with records of statesmanship, i.e. working with the other party to get things done. Vote for those candidates, even if they would not be your choice in a general election. Negotiation and compromise are the essence of governing. The problem in politics, regardless of one’s political beliefs, is too much ideology and not enough statesmanship.
Finally, as workers, we need not to think of a job as the only way to make an income. There are many other ways out there with which people, regardless of education, background or skills, can earn substantial income without having to put up with an employer’s whim. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau
As for unions, they did wonders for workers and the middle class many decades ago. However, today’s global business world requires companies to have extreme flexibility and efficiency. Unions decrease both of those things, but years ago, productivity gains and other business progress occurred much more slowly. It’s best to presume that no matter what your job, and no matter how good you are at it, it will probably go away before you want it to.
In conclusion, Reich is largely correct about the state of the world, and our place in it. But, just as circumstances we can’t control can hurt us, the world has provided more options for those who choose not to tolerate those circumstances, and want to make their lives much better.
Peter