Happy New Year! Politically speaking, you either got the Christmas gift that you wished for or a lump of coal and either way; you are headed into a brand new year. As for me, I got a lump of coal. And I don’t know about you but I don’t think that it’s going to be a happy new year either.
If you love red you got Christmas in November but if you are like me and prefer blue then you got a lump of coal. If you are a Democrat who voted this past November and still received a lump of coal then you are justified in feeling down and out and disappointed. If you did not vote then there is no room for you in this boat; you belong in the pity party boat!
It is bad enough to be in the down and out and disappointed boat but although it has sustained damage and is taking on water, at least those on board are working hard to pump out the water and repair the damage. We have great expectations of repairing the damage and moving forward from November and eventually claiming victory. Those in the pity party boat, however, only have a slight glimmer of hope and urgently need to dawn their life vests and hurry into the lifeboats. They have only themselves to blame for their predicament because they did not vote.
Those Republicans who did not vote in November but received the gift of a Republican victory rather than a lump of coal should not feel good or comfortable about accepting their gift. As a matter of fact, they should feel very uncomfortable about even attending the victory party since they know that they were not a productive member of the team but simply somehow managed to fool Santa. I am not sure what to call it but they should be in a separate boat from the rest of the Republican revelers just like the pity party Democrats are in a separate boat from the down and out and disappointed Democrats.
Although the damage has already been done I hope that those pity party Democrats are salvageable. I hope that they can be made to realize that they have a responsibility not only to themselves as American citizens but an overall responsibility to America to stay informed and vote. I also hope that those non-contributing Republicans who slinked into the Republican victory party unnoticed will come to realize this same responsibility.
Republicans in Washington are once again saying that they have a mandate from the American people to change things since they now have full control of congress. So if you were not able to afford healthcare coverage for you and your family before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed and want to go back to being without insurance, the Republicans have vowed to continue in their effort to repeal it. If you are against an increase in the minimum wage, the Republicans will work to assure that there is no increase. If you are against equal pay for equal work, once again, the Republican Party is the one for you; and the list goes on.
If you are a Republican who wants to keep the healthcare coverage you got via the ACA, happens to need an increase in the minimum wage, have a spouse or significant other who would benefit from equal pay for equal work, or are someone who lives in a state where Republicans are blocking the expansion of Medicaid simply because they want the ACA to fail thereby denying you the opportunity to even purchase healthcare that you could afford under the ACA, then you have got a problem with this new Republican majority.
However, you must accept the probability that this problem is of your own making if you are one of those Republicans who slinked into this Republican victory party. This does not necessarily mean that you should have held your nose, swallowed hard and voted for a Democrat; although a Democrat would better represent your interest if you fit into the category mentioned above.
What it does mean is that, had you voted, you might have had an impact on electing a different Republican from your state to fill that seat who would have better reflected your best interest and perspective on these issues. There is no guarantee that the person you voted for would have been elected but at least you would have made your voice heard.
All politicians are already jabbering about the 2016 elections and those who are considering a run to become our next president are continuing to put their political machines into place and fine-tune them. This likely means that they will focus even more on the big money donors and pay even less attention to the 99-percenters until after the 2016 elections are completed.
Whether or not you voted in the 2014 midterm elections and whether or not you like the direction that the newly elected Republican majority congress takes us in over the next 22 months, we can and should make our voices heard through our votes in November 2015.
For far too long politicians have taken voters for granted because too many of them feel that we are uninformed and can easily be influenced by sound bites during election cycles. Inundate the airwaves with these sound bites, they reason, and they will be elected; all else will be forgotten.
We must prove them wrong by showing them that we can and will be informed and that it will take more than sound bites to win our votes. To the greatest extent possible, everyone – whether they are Democrat, Republican or Independent should always vote because this makes our Democracy operate more effectively and smoothly. And always remember, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!
Eulus Dennis