The midterm elections are finally over; well, almost, because there is still a runoff election later this year. It was one of the most interesting and boring at the same time with negative advertising beating out anything positive most of the time. The advertising was overwhelming with my telephone belonging to the politicians and not available for my use. I probably missed quite a few calls because I refused to answer it anymore. It rang twenty times a day and into the night waking me up many times. The mail was just as bad with ten to twenty large cards with political advertisements each day. The mail box was full. The television ads were constant, and because I live in West Virginia but receive Pittsburgh stations, we received double. Between Casey and Manchin, I have had enough negativity to last for a long time.
The ads this year were about very little that would actually work or help the US population. The Democrats’ constant chant was that the Republicans wanted to take away Medicare and leave people with insurance that did not cover preexisting conditions. The Republicans wanted to talk about the economy and that they were not going to take away medical insurance. There was no discussion about improving the delivery of medical care to people except for the socialist idea of Medicare for everyone, which is impossible because there is not enough money available in this country to pay for it. One politician answered the question of cost by saying “just pay for it.” She won her election, and many believed her. It is amazing that so many people vote for free things even when they know that they are not available. Socialism sounds good if you are on the take and don’t care who pays for it. We have put forth the idea that the so-called rich should pay the way for everyone else, but most do not know who the rich are.
The Pennsylvania election ads were mostly about the preexisting conditions and trying to scare people into believing the Republicans were somehow going to limit medical insurance if elected. I guess people believed it because the Democrats won but without any suggestions on how to better the medical insurance problems we have now. The Obamacare, which the Democrats are trying to protect, has caused many to be unprotected by insurance. And, most who want to preserve it have never had to use it. It has become unaffordable to many, and those who have bought it can’t afford to use it because of the high deductibles. Other than Medicare for all, the Dems have no other suggestions. The Republicans did not offer any solutions other than to repeal the Obamacare act and replace it with something else, which was not described or explained. It became clear that the lobbyists still have the upper hand and money is the driving factor rather than making health care available to every one of us.
The West Virginia election of a senator pitted Manchin against West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. The Manchin campaign advertising was completely negative with constant harping on the fact that Morrisey had, as a lawyer in the past, worked as a lobbyist for a pharmaceutical company that made opioids. Somehow, they tried to link him with the drug problem in the state and make him partly responsible for the problem. I could not understand why the Morrisey camp did not mention that Manchin’s daughter Heather, who is the CEO of Mylan Laboratories Inc., also made opioids in the Morgantown pharmaceutical plant and distributed them throughout the country including West Virginia. He did not, and he became the drug dealer running for the US Senate.
It was a repeat of the national election two years ago where most of the media were campaigning for the Democrats and refusing to bring any positive news about a Republican to the people through their outlets. There was a constant drumbeat for the Democrats every night during the news and only negative news about their opponents. Ideology has overtaken the reporters’ independence and understanding of what news reporting really is. News became opinion in most broadcasts, and the believability of the broadcast became impossible. Many nights I simply tuned to the cartoon channel and watched Tom and Jerry. Their plots are believable and it was a welcomed change. My country has lost its way, and most refuse to learn how we got here in the first place. This country was not founded on the premise of free stuff but rather the right to pursue each person’s dream through freedom to work and produce their own fortune. Taking care of each other was done through charity and not welfare, and it was never thought that those who worked harder owed part of their reward to those who did not want to work. We are paying people not to work and wonder why we have a problem with the many things that people do when they have idle time on their hands. Perhaps this is why pot legalization is being pushed so hard. If we all get stoned, it will not matter. At this Thanksgiving time, we should be reminded of the problems that the pilgrims had when they tried to live by a socialist/communist type of government. It did not work, and they had to switch to capitalism to get the colony back on track and provide enough to survive. We keep going back to the thought of communal living, but every time it has been tried, it has failed. Perhaps it is time that everybody just went to work and fended for themselves.
-30-