“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” – Plato
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 51
Why You Should Vote
America is in decline. Colorado is in decline. Our nation is on the path to disaster, and the proximity and magnitude of that disaster increases with every day that the Democratic Party holds the reins of power.
Using human flourishing as our moral goal and standard of value, we have objective evidence to see how well or how poorly we are doing. That evidence is found in measures of economic performance. Energy prices reveal how much we are paying for the clean, cheap, reliable energy that powers our lives. Economic and market data show how our modern economy is performing. Labor statistics show how many people are working. Government receipts and deficits show how fast the size of government is growing.
In the table I present below, you can see that by almost every measure, things are worse today than they were the year-end before Joe Biden (D) was inaugurated, and you only need to watch the news to see that things are getting much, much worse by the day. I haven’t even addressed crime, which is especially bad in Colorado and is the direct result of policies enacted by the current ruling Democratic tyranny.
You should vote because this election gives us an opportunity to not only send Joe Biden (D) and his ruling gang a message, it also gives us a chance to put a real brake on the accelerating decline of our states and nation.
Energy
Thanks to the Democrats’ war on American oil and gas, fueled by their maniacal belief that we humans cause climate change, energy prices are skyrocketing. The price most directly noticeable by the average citizen – gasoline at the pump – has increased by 75% in Colorado and 56% nationally. The cost of the natural gas you use to heat your home went up by 152%. The price of electricity – 41% of which is provided by natural gas – went up by 26% in Colorado.
These increasing costs mean that families had less purchasing power for other things – like food and clothing – after paying for the energy they need to stay alive in the modern world.
While the Biden administration and the Democrats are doing everything they can to kill the American oil and gas industry, they are sucking up to vicious foreign tyrants to increase their oil production. It defies logic and common sense.
Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW) is the measure of the health of America’s publicly traded companies. As the table shows, the value of the companies that make up the DOW declined by 6% from before Joe Biden took office to this last quarter-end. This means that everyone who holds any of their assets in the stock market is, on average, 6% poorer than they were. It’s worse for the NASDAQ, which has declined by 18%.
It’s not just the uber-wealthy billionaire class who is affected by this. Everyone is – if you have investments in the stock market, you are affected. If you have an IRA or a 401K, you are affected. And, incidentally, you will be adversely affected if any of their hare-brained schemes like taxing transactions or capital gains goes into effect.
Speaking of 401K’s, the value of your 401K has declined by 14% since the end of 2020, thanks to the cumulative inflation rate of 14% during that time.
Economy and Labor Force
If you watch a TV that’s tuned to one of the money stations like CNBC (as I do), you are seeing a lot of red these days. That’s because markets are falling, inflation is raging and the Consumer Price Index has increased by almost 500% since December 31, 2020 – which means everything you buy is more expensive. The value of the Gross Domestic Product has only increased by $1.3 trillion during that time, with the rate of increase declining by 109% from the end of 2020.
In fact, the only good economic news is that unemployment remains low and has recovered from the post-COVID highs at the end of 2020.
Government
About the only thing growing in America these days is government. Local, state and the federal governments are all ballooning as they take more power and more of your property. U.S. government revenues, 92% of which came from individual, payroll and corporate income taxes in 2021, have grown by 18% to $4 billion. Individual income tax receipts increased by 27% during the same time frame.
While the budget deficit shrank, the national debt – which is the legacy we are leaving to future generations – has grown to over $24 trillion, roughly the same amount as our gross domestic product. Higher interest rates mean that ever-increasing amounts of our tax money and borrowing will be going just to cover the interest on this massive debt.
To put this in the context of the family budget, our national debt is like a family whose credit card and other debt is equal to the value of all their assets. The interest alone would be crushing, and this family would soon be declaring bankruptcy. With nations, it’s called “sovereign default” and we are surely heading there.
Between higher energy, housing, and other costs, coupled with rising inflation, working people (the people Democrats claim to be for) all over the country are facing tighter and tighter budgets, with elected Democrats clamoring for more taxes, fees and “premiums”. Instead of cutting government spending, all they talk about is exponentially increasing it. There is not enough money in the world to pay for all their silly ideas.
They Crazy
Why should you vote Republican? Because Democrats are insane. Is that a strong statement? Maybe. But if you define insanity as “Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result” as Albert Einstein supposedly said, or if you define it as being disconnected from reality, as I do, it is clear that the Democratic Party and the so-called “progressives” who run the party are way out there.
I admit this is a harsh indictment. But let’s be real: today’s Democratic Party is not the same as the party of FDR, Truman, JFK or even Bill Clinton. Today’s Democrats are full-on socialists who are trying to impose their woke, reality-denying dystopian worldview on the rest of us through the coercive force of government.
Democrats are demonstrably wrong on virtually every issue facing our states and nation. Whether it is national security and America’s role in the world, the climate and energy policy, the economy, minimum wages and labor laws, which bathrooms people should use, crime and punishment, or many other issues, Democrats are EXACTLY WRONG.
At a time when our country faces rising foreign threats from China, North Korea, Russia, Iran and other bad actors on the world stage we need serious, intelligent and responsible leadership. What we have is a demented old man and a ruling party that literally cares more about killing the unborn and mutilating children via “gender-affirming care”. They care more about “the climate” than they care about protecting our modern life. They care more about driving our economy into the ground via higher taxes and regulations than about growth and prosperity. They believe that your children belong to the State. They believe that government is the answer to all of life’s problems. Warning: a government big and powerful enough to solve all of life’s problems is big and powerful enough to take everything from you – including your life.
Why You Should Vote Republican
Everyone who is legally qualified to do so should vote. Over time, I’ve heard reasons why people don’t vote. Below are some of those reasons and my responses.
“My vote doesn’t count.”
Response: Yes, it does! You as a citizen and a stakeholder in this country have a moral obligation to be informed and to participate in the government that we have established and given power to. As Plato said, those who are not “into politics” are doomed to be governed by their inferiors.
“The election is rigged.”
Response: The Left cries “voter suppression” and the Right cries “voter fraud”. Yes, both have existed at some time and some place throughout America and her history. But to use this as an excuse to not vote is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If the election IS rigged, not voting won’t do anything to change that. It just further affirms the victory of the cheaters. If it isn’t, then the result is the same: the Democrat wins.
“The candidate is a RINO.”
I guarantee that no candidate for office will ever be 100% in agreement with you on every issue. There is room for differences of opinion and approach even between people who share the same moral views, philosophies and values. But to not vote for someone, as an example, Joe O’Dea, because he isn’t Ron Hanks is basically a vote for Michael “Do Nothing” Bennet (D). Democrats WANT you to not vote and will work to paint Republican candidates as RINOs.
With some exceptions, it’s better to vote for a person with whom you are somewhat aligned than failing to vote and allowing a person with whom you are completely not aligned to win. Follow the 80/20 rule.
“They all suck. I’m voting for the Libertarian.”
A variation of the RINO objection, this might as well be a vote for the Democrat. While I love the libertarian party and what they stand for, the cold reality of life in America is that we have a two-party system and voting for libertarians just gets Democrats elected. Sorry. This is just my observation from studying several close races over the years (see Sidebar).
Sidebar: Reid/Franken/Obamacare/Dodd-Frank
In 1998, incumbent Harry Reid (D) won re-election in Nevada by 401 votes over the Republican candidate. The libertarian in the race, Michael Cloud, received 8,129 votes. I’d argue that most of those votes came from libertarian/conservatives and John Ensign (R) would most likely have won without Cloud in the race.
In Minnesota in 2008, after a recount (where the Republican had actually won), Democrat Al Franken was certified as the winner by 225 votes. Third party “Independence” and libertarian candidates drained off 451,428 votes, likely throwing the race to Franken.
What happened in 2010? When Democrats had full control of the federal legislative and executive branches, they passed the disastrous bill known as Obamacare, along with several other bad bills including Dodd-Frank.
The Progressive Advantage
In Colorado and throughout the nation, the progressive Left has a permanent infrastructure devoted to winning elections and gaining/maintaining power. I wrote about this a few years ago, and it’s even worse today. Republicans, especially in Colorado, face significant headwinds because the Democrats own the mainstream media, social media and have a cadre of committed activists who are willing to donate money and knock on doors to support their candidates. For this reason, every vote for a Republican truly does count. Every dollar donated to a Republican makes a difference. Every door knocked for a Republican can turn the tide.
When it comes to money, it’s even worse. As I also wrote about, Democrats significantly outraise Republicans, and their Issue Committees rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it from out of state, to promote their agenda. It’s truly not a fair fight.
Through October 23, Republicans are at a 2.3x disadvantage when it comes to money raised. As for the Issue Committees, I’m certain that over 50% of that money is to support progressive causes and ballot initiatives, and that a significant amount of it came from a few large, out of state Democrat dark money donors.
Conclusion
Republicans are not perfect. Far from it. But they are generally better than Democrats because they hold to some vision of limited government and fiscal responsibility, and it’s up to us to elect them and hold them accountable.
You should vote, and vote Republican, because Republicans who stay home elect Democrats. Put differently, in any race, not voting for the Republican is effectively the same as voting for the Democrat.
Let’s face it: I don’t want anyone to vote for Democrats because they are the party of misery, suffering, identity politics, decline, and failure. Vote them all out.
Think about the kind of state and country you want to live in. Then get out and vote for Republicans up and down the ballot.
For how to vote on Colorado ballot initiatives, see the following voter guides:
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