Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Thoughts On The Connecticut Primaries

Everyone won in the primaries that were expected to win, there were no big upsets.

It seems to me that there were two types of ads, one promising to over turn the status quo (If you elect me I’ll straighten out Washington/Hartford), never saying just the would cut or change. The other type was the attack ads, my opponent said back in 1972 that the sun revolves around the earth and now he is saying that the earth revolves around the sun… he flip-flops, so how can he be trusted! Or the one I loved, my opponent lives in a big house! One candidate promised that he would balance the state budget by cutting back on the number of state employees, freezing their salaries and not raise taxes. I read in one blog that said if you fire all the state employees, you would still have a billion dollar deficit, so just how is he going to balance the budget.

The other thing about this election was the public campaign financing, it seemed like all the millionaires sued over the use of public funding and lost. The millionaires didn’t think it was right to use public funding, that the other candidates should have to raise their own money. Then when candidates raised campaign funds, the millionaires boasted that they didn’t take PAC money. One millionaire spent around $20,000,000 to win the primary and vowed to spent another $30 million more to buy win the senate seat.

The way I think of politics is that there are two groups… the haves and the have-nots. Whichever group is in office tries to maximize their political clout for their group. When the haves are in power, they try to keep their wealth by giving themselves tax breaks and deregulating businesses. Conversely, when the have-nots are in office they tax the rich to give to the poor and regulate business.

I see the function of government as providing a safety net and protecting its citizens and the environment. I believe in the EPA and OSHA to protect its citizens, I believe in the SEC and the regulation of derivatives to provide a safe business climate that builds trust. If you are buying a bond and it is AAA rated, it should mean something, not like it did in 2008 where AAA bonds turned out to be junk bonds. I believe in J K Galbraith’s theory of countervailing power where the purpose of government is to balance the powers between business and labor, which is something that we have lost. Business right now, I think has too much power. I also believe in Keynesian Economics theory and d that is why I am against the TARP funds that bailed out the finical institutions. It was not Keynesian Economics; instead, it was designed by the “haves” (Bush II administration) to give money to the “haves” AIG, Morgan Stanley, GM, etc.

So I guess you can say that I am rooting for the “have-nots”

Update: 9:21pm
For the senate race the Republican winner spent $351.47 per vote. ($21 million and 59,749 people voted for her.)

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