Two Habits That Make YOU A Bad Voter

I'm not saying you have these habits, but if you do, please stop immediately. And friends don't let friends act this way, either!

Habits of Bad Voters
1. You get ALL your political news from one source.
2. You don't realize the U.S. budget has two simple components.

Let's start with #1. This would make you a bad voter because you could be getting all the WRONG facts from whatever your one source of news is. This holds true whether you get your news from Air America or Fox "News" or The Daily Show.

Here's an example. There is nothing wrong with watching Fox "News" as long as you realize it's mostly conservative opinion. Believe it or not, that is NOT fact. And any good American voter should get all the facts before hopefully coming to a decision about public issues (instead of being just another bs slinger). Otherwise, you're hurting us all.

There is irony in the fact that this is generally a conservative problem (not entirely, though, don't get me wrong). These are the same people who say that we need checks and balances in government, thus you should be voting conservative right now regardless of how you feel so that no one party has too much power. Well, how about getting your information from more than one source? You know, like your own checks and balances? Duh.

Habit #2 I just can't understand. Listen up, cause I'm only going to say this once. The government's budget is just like your budget. There are two parts -- revenues (money coming in, i.e. tax receipts) and expenses (money going out, i.e. program spending). Details are complicated, but overall it's easy.

So when someone's trying to sell you "tax cuts for all" it sure does sound nice. I certainly want a tax cut for me. But it also means taking away revenue, which has the EXACT SAME effect on the budget as spending more.

The easy way to NOT get into these habits is as follows. First, get all the facts from each side. Go right to the source and find out what each side is saying, don't rely on what other people tell you secondhand. Then, carefully weigh the effect on the budget and who the proposal helps/hurts. YOU can have your own opinion. Just because you haven't heard a news person say it/blog it/twitter it, it doesn't mean you're wrong!

Lobbyists Kick Your Ass Again

Remember way back a few months ago, when the words "too big to fail" were usually accompanied by a snarky tone and a look of anger? Back when we needed to overhaul our financial system so that tax payers don't have to bailout banks again? Hey, sorry suckers -- now that the stock market has made its recovery and big banks have paid back TARP, nothing needs to be done. Taxpayers should just prepare themselves for the bailout that will surely follow the next financial crisis. At least, that's what you would think, based on the way Congress is dealing with the situation.

Naturally, any bill that pushed derivates onto regulated platforms was on Wall Street's "Do Not Do" list. So their lobbyists worked overtime, particulary on the "New Democrats," which is a group of so-called "fiscally conservative" Democrats. The New Democrats got worked over by the lobbyists and of course the regulated platform got scrapped. Back to the same-old, same-old.

Congress also talked about creating a national consumer protection agency. How protective will it be? Well, the original House bill called for states to be able to implement their own, more strict regulations. Of course, big business didn't like that, so they again went for the New Dems and got language included that allows federal regulators to override state consumer laws. And the new group wouldn't oversee nonfinancials like real estate and automotive companies. Screwed again, people. This supposed consumer protection group is turning into a stamp-of-approval-for-whatever-the-hell-businesses-want-to-do group.

The Senate couldn't agree on anything in regards to reform until recently and they say they won't have a bill ready until the spring, at least. Wall Street lobbyists must be overjoyed! Plenty more time for them to lobby and fight against anything that will help taxpayers.

We need to remind our Reps and Senators that taxpayers ARE paying attention. Contact your Congressional Representatives TODAY. Tell them to show you they have the courage to support YOU, the voter and taxpayer, instead of being the dupes of Wall Street.