Letter to the Editor: Real change isn’t going to happen until we vote out money-grubbing politicians

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OPINION — You may have seen the recent poll that 70% of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. It’s hard not to be discouraged when children are being murdered in their classrooms, the climate is clearly changing, health care needs an overhaul and the people we’ve elected to do something, do nothing.

How can this be? Surely our elected leaders see the polls and talk with people. I believe the problem lies in the basic fact that they have great jobs with astronomical benefits and they want to keep their jobs at all costs. As with all things, follow the money.

Consider this: There are 535 members of congress. In 2020, the last numbers available, there were 11,533 registered lobbyists – 21.5 lobbyist for every member of congress. And then there are mega donors who contribute hundreds of millions, some over a billion to political campaigns. So, essentially, our elected officials don’t need us – the lobbyists and mega donors tell them what bills they want passed or blocked.

All our members of congress need and want is lots and lots of money to fund expensive campaigns. After all, most people don’t really look beyond TV ads and media appearances that cost a lot of money to compare candidates – especially in this era where most people just vote for their red or blue team.

So if we expect change, we have to change and vote some of these people out of office and work to restructure money in politics.

Ask yourself, who and which party consistently votes against reasonable gun laws? I own guns, and I support the right of my friends and relatives that hunt to own guns. But none of us have ever needed an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine to hunt deer.

Ask yourself who has consistently voted against climate change, even as we see record heat globally, forests burning, massive floods driving people from their homes?

Ask yourself who has consistently voted against health care reform? The United States pays 40% more per person for health care than any other nation in the world (USA $12,318 per person annually, the next most expensive is Germany at $7,383).

The difference is how much we pay for prescriptions, and other countries use a single-payer system. And yet, although our health care is far and away the most expensive, we rank 18th (behind Hong Kong) in the quality of our health care outcomes.

Both parties should be ashamed and humiliated by their decadeslong inability to shape and implement common sense immigration policies.

Bottom line: If we want change, and all polls show we do, we need to change the people embedded in this broken system that’s powered by the money of lobbyists and mega donors. The system is failing us while rewarding them.

Submitted by GORDON HUNTSMAN, Kanab.

Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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