Apathetic Voters

by Mary Cedeno, Town of Royalton

I was a little annoyed and slightly appalled as I was listening to the radio while driving in to work this morning.  Why is it that so many people have the voyeuristic urge to peer into the lives of celebrities, but can’t bother to take the same amount of time to research their presidential candidates?  It’s mind boggling.

Some people would rather hear about what starlet is pregnant, who’s dating who and what happened on the latest “reality show”.  Why they are not interested to know the facts that directly impact their lives is beyond me.

It’s really no wonder why the radio stations feed these Hollywood tid-bits to the public, rather than giving them facts about the local economic and political situations that affect taxpayers.  While taxpayers were scrimping and trying to figure out how to pay for the gas to get to work for the next week, the AIG executives, whose company was on the verge of bankruptcy, until the taxpayers bailed them out, were partying and attending spa treatments, to the tune of $400,000….AFTER the bailout!

How did this happen that Americans have become so apathetic?  It’s no wonder that they missed the fact that President Clinton was the one who relaxed the regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and that in April 2001, right after he got into Office; President Bush is the one who first sounded the alarm that something needed to be done with Fannie & Freddie because of “potential problems”.  It’s also no wonder that these complacent Americans did not take the time to learn that it was the Senate DEMOCRATS who fought against regulating the housing market, against the insistence of the Republicans.  Who knew, since it wasn’t part of the morning Hollywood interest segment (although it would have gotten their attention), that Mr. Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee was literally “in-bed” with Fannie Mae executive Herb Moses.  It’s no wonder at all that no one was listening in 2005 as the Republicans again attempted to get some regulation on the banking duo, and during hearings, Mr. Frank, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Waters, and even our own Chuck Schumer fought against it.  During those hearings, Barney Frank stated "These two entities—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—are not facing any kind of financial crisis".  The Democrats went on to reprimand the republicans for wasting their time on these subjects.  It was Mr. Chuck Schumer who stated there was too much regulation on Wall Street, and that there was nothing wrong with the housing market.

But folks in our town apparently don’t care about such things; they simply listen to main-stream media and follow along like a lost driver on a snowy highway following the taillights of the car in front.  Where is their outrage?  They should be screaming from the top of their lungs about this financial fiasco that theses politicians helped to put us in.  But no, they only see that Bush is in the Whitehouse and their favorite talk-show host or hostess insists that it’s entirely his fault, so it must be so.  And for Nancy Pelosi to stand up in front of America and lie about whose to blame for this financial crises with such vulgarity is just plain wrong. 

Mainly I think, Americans are tired of war, and the world has made it perfectly clear that this is “Bush’s war”.  And so anything the liberals throw at Bush is sticking.  But John McCain is NOT Bush.  Make no mistakes about that.  Americans don’t have to follow these liars over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings.  Seek the truth.  THEN vote.

Barriers in Our Political System

Sometimes local politics can be more difficult to wade through than national politics.  Candidates are often endorsed by multiple parties – there’s no such thing as “double-dipping” in the sense that was implied since “double dipping” means going back to the same well twice!  I put my paperwork in to become a Republican just after the presidential primary, and it was only a month ago that I received a call asking me to run for Town Council. 

However, the People’s business is not about Democrats or Republicans.  It IS about doing what’s best for the residents of the Town. Most people, including myself, have voted for Republicans, Democrats and Independents, based on who we believed was the better candidate for the job.

Does a Party endorsement mean you’re only going to work for the people who endorse you?  No.  Those elected serve ALL people, including some of whom don’t even belong to a party or who may not even vote.  The ideal candidate is one who gets the ultimate endorsement, the vote of the people, and he or she serves ALL the people not a particular party. And when I work for the people I will represent the interests of all my constituents the best I can.

Since I started attending and participating in the Town’s Board meetings as a concerned citizen, and now as a Planning Board member, I have worked with all the members, without ever asking what their party affiliation was! And the current members of the Town Board support my run regardless of my party affiliation because I am able to work with them, and my input adds value.