Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

The title of this post is an oft used comeback against someone who says something you think is outrageous or at least insincere.

But many do put their money where their mouths are or at least where they silently want everyone else’s mouths to be.

I am speaking of the silent majority of political backers also known as lobbyists.

These days the more money some people have the more they want and they’ll do anything to get it.  And if it means hurting or harming a majority of others to reach their goal so be it!

The bottom line IS their bottom line and money is the way they keep score.
Today my newspaper showed three candidates running for county supervisor but a quick glance merely showed their photos and the amount of money they have collected in donations.  The subliminal message was clearly we do not need to vote because the man with the most will most likely win!  And sadly the trend of putting the worst man or woman for the job in place will most likely continue.

Of course power enters into the equation as well but without money you may find yourself powerless.

Grass roots movements are definitely not a thing of the past but certainly not as powerful as they used to be and that is by design.  And the designers are those in power and those with enough money to keep them there.

President Obama won his first election by obtaining an incredible amount of money with which he was able to get his message across.  He did this with a grass roots organization that collected enough small donations to make the total impressive even by today's standards.

You can be the smartest person in the world and have the best ideas for the most people alive but without money or backers with cash your message remains in your dreams.

The Republican Party is nothing if they are not deviously smart and they see how to keep or get power in America.

Most of the candidates on the proverbial right side of the aisle probably do not believe half the things they say or promote, at least one can hope, but they know their constituents do so they say them.

But the real problem in America today lies in the wallets of the wealthiest greedy power hungry few who spend millions like most of us spend quarters.

These quiet behind the scenes types are insidious.  They know how to dangle their bait in front of unscrupulous politicians afraid of losing a seat in Congress and thus having to actually work for a living!

Their money allows the words they wish to say to come out of their puppets mouths.

If every American of the so-called 98% group donated one dollar to the same cause it would amount to around $300,000,000!  That is approximately half the amount Sheldon Adelson threw away backing the Mittster in the 2012 Presidential campaign And he is promising to double it going forward!

Now admittedly he has only one vote and the 98%ers have around 200 million votes assuming everyone went to the polls next time so he could easily be outvoted but… (I left out those under the voting age.)

Let’s face it, there are too many among us in the country that have little knowledge of what is going on in government and many more who just don’t care.  Then there are the ones who actually believe the crap spewed by the puppets of Adelson and friends.  And his friends while not that many have wealth nearly beyond belief!

Take the Koch brother, Please!

The basically useless Koch boys inherited daddy’s business and starting from the humble amount of billions have been able to make even more billions in their effort to pollute the world. Their causes are generally bad ones for the future of mother Earth but they know they’ll be long gone before our children and grandchildren have to wear gas masks and protective clothing and move to higher ground merely to survive so they continue their quest for more money at all cost!

And they too donate and donate wildly.

One such donation was recently uncovered as David tried to block a PBS documentary entitled Citizen Koch.  An obvious reference to one of the greatest films of all time, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane which was about a ruthless wealthy man hell bent on having his views become those of the world.  The movie was a loosely veiled shout out against Citizen Hearst and clearly not a love note.
And with the money flowing the Republican Party has turned to voter suppression as an additional way to secure a long future in power for their wealthy backers.
In other words the more their money helps their mouths speak the less they listen to yours!
Be afraid - Be VERY afraid!

So how can we stop the creeping creepy creeps who flaunt their wealth and get their way by silently pulling strings in the public sector?

Well for one when we hear a politician say something odd or espouse a cause that may not be right for the majority of Americans we can look to see from whose mouth the words are actually emanating.  Follow the money back to its source.

Then ask yourself if you would want that puppet master to run your City or State or you America.

The answer will most likely be a resounding no!

Then use your hand next November and every November from now on to put your vote where your head is!