And Now A Word From My Sponsors

Oh wait, I don't have any sponsors. Wow, I guess it's up to me to fund my own self-promotions of myself and my beliefs.

Now polititians have a much better deal. Politicians, on both sides of the fence, not only get money (through contributions) from individuals like you and me (i.e., registered voters) but also from PACs (political action committees) and 527 groups. Now I'm sorry, but for the life of me, I can't see how contributions from PACs or 527 groups can ever be considered ethical even for politicians!

Let's look at PACs first. PACs are made up of corporations and/or other special interest groups who have a special interest or cause they want to promote. Can corporations or special interest groups vote and are they affected by the rules of government like you and I? No. But, can they curry favor by contributing to a particular candidate or politician? Yes! Hey, come on now, isn't that what's called "buying a candidate's vote? In my opinion, no entity, except an individual citizen of the United States, should be allowed to contribute to a politician and then only within the $1,000 limit prescribed by federal election law.

To reiterate, current election laws allow for contributions up to $1,000 per individual voter but up to $5,000 for PACs! Hmmm, does this sound fishy to you too?

Now if this wasn't bad enough Congress finagled themselves a new, better deal. The new deal goes by the name of "527 politician","527 committee", "527 political group" or just "527 group". You see, while politicians may accept no contributions of more than $1,000 per election from an individual and $5,000 per election from a PAC they can also set up a politician 527, and now these members of Congress can raise unlimited "soft money" from individuals, corporations and unions. Come on now, isn't this a clear case of the inmates running the asylum!

Does anyone else find this situation detestable? Why isn't everyone up in arms about this? Are we too complacent, too complicit or just too damn lazy to care? My understanding is that the mighty Roman Empire fell under the weight of its own corruption and moral decay. Is that to be our fate as well?

There's still time to act. Get off the couch and make your feelings known, now!