Day 19 - Citizens Pledge

Unique Pledges To Date: 1
List available upon request.

Pledge Introduction:
     I'm writing this pledge for one simple reason: to reaffirm power to the citizens.  It is a very simple concept, we, as voting citizens, sign this pledge.  The pledge will state that we, as voting citizens, will not vote for any politician in a federal position (and perhaps eventually on the state level) that does not sign this pledge or that signs and breaks the bindings of the pledge. 
     As for the politicians, this pledge is very simple.  They are signing to pledge to do 3 things:
       1) Not sign any other pledges endorsed by the Citizens Pledge
       2) Always place country before party
       3) Release financial donor information upon request

CITIZEN'S PLEDGE

I, _________________________________,  sign this pledge acknowledging that I will not vote or support any candidate or politician that does not sign this pledge with me.  By signing this pledge I believe that the commen good of the country and its citizens should be the only focus of an elected official.  I sign this pledge understanding that my name will be available for public view in relation to this pledge and the following sections:

SECTION 1

Section 1 identifies this pledge, the Citizen's Pledge, to be the only pledge I will commit to as a citizen in public office or seeking a public office position.  I understand that this pledge, the Citzen's Pledge, is my commitment to those that have and will support me in a public office role.

SECTION 2

Section 2 identifies that no party takes precedence over the needs of the country and its citizens.  This does not prevent Citizen from creating and supporting legislation that backs their political views.  This section is intended to prevent purposeful and willful misconduct against their country that is is legally and/or ethically wrong.

SECTION 3

Section 3 identifies that as a citizen in or running for a public office any donated funds for that purpose will be disclosed, willingly, upon the request of any citizen of the country.  I understand that I am not legally obligated to this, but willingly do this for the benefit of transparency and honesty.

Day 1 - Battle of the Budgets

Ok, so today I am frustrated by something.  Before I jump into it, let me first explain my political perspective.  I am, by nature, a liberal.  I believe in spending money in R&D for safer, newer technologies.  I believe that the "more fortunate" should help the "less fortunate", because in the end, we are all human beings.  However, I do have a conservative side to me.  I was born and raised catholic, went to all my classes, church every Sunday, heck I'm even confirmed.  I believe in the GENERAL laws/guidelines that religion has "bestowed" us as a society.  I believe that there needs to be responsiblity and sound decision made when expending money, just as I have to do with my wife and our family.  I am totally against the use of unions, in their current form.  I, as most, believe they were needed to establish some fundamental worker's rights, however, they have become bloated and obsolete, and in my opinion, cause a lot of today's current corporate outsourcing.

All that being said, I have a major issue with what is happening in DC right now.  I know there are always arguments and disagreements.  I know the health care bill has it's flaws and I know that the current (before the Republican takeover in the House) administration has done some unnecessary spending.  However, I am completely taken back by the proposed budget from the House!  I mean, the thought is, spend less money, keep government out of our lives, and let small businesses grow and hire.  But that doesn't seem to be what they are fighting for... and here are my points of contention:

1) We continue tax cuts for the wealthy:
        -OK so this, even though I am not sure of the actual outcome, may have SOME merit.  If you give tax cuts to the wealthy, they will have more money, which in turn SHOULD trickle down to the "less monetarily endowed".  There are a whole lot of "IFs" and "SHOULDs", which makes me skeptical, however, we'll let this slide.

2) Defund Planned Parenthood and begin pushing Pro-Life bills throughout various areas in the country
       -This is where I start getting lost.  If the idea is to keep government out of our lives, then why push pro-life?  Wouldn't pro-choice be the belief of people who actually believed that government should stay out of your life?  Also, defunding PP??  I mean, this valuable resource helps thousands of people (I'd say millions, but I really have no hard numbers).  Heck, there were times I'd run in and grab a handful of condoms, isn't that necessary?  Doesn't that help people from having to make the difficult decision of pro-choice/pro-life?

3) Moving on... all of this is absolutely useless!
      -None of this is going anywhere... House says a bunch of stuff, Senate gives them the finger... It is all SYMBOLIC!!  Seriously??  So for the next two years, I'm going to go to work and just talk about everything I am going to do, the extremem measures I'll take to do it...but I won't actually DO anything.  Let's see how well that fairs...

Anyway, I'm done with this, it's frustrating and annoying.  Look, believe in God, believe in old world ideals, but this isn't the 1800s anymore.  The world is moving forward, we need green technologies, we need new technologies, and we need to accept that Catholiscism has no place in our government, it has place in your home.  As far as keeping government out of our lives?  Sorry, it's not going to happen, large masses of people need some organization and somebody driving the bus and only a transparent, coherent government will make that happen, otherwise we might as well institute the Mafia in our local towns.  It may sound like Socialism, but it is what it is.  This country was found on moving forward with new ideas, not falling back on old ones.