For over a half century, Democrats and Republicans have taken turns at presiding over the economy, guiding and managing our national debt, deficit and social programs to the brink of bankruptcy. We have spent many decades switching seats but changing nothing. Both parties continue to debate how to spend money we don’t have and ignore the fiscal crisis we face. We have been repeating the process of voting for one or the other expecting different results, a process Albert Einstein called “insanity.”
There is no doubt that a majority of citizens disapprove of the path our country is on. Let me suggest a course of action that would make this election remarkable. Vote for candidates from a party other than Democrat or Republican. Non-incumbent candidates will have fewer ties to the established corrupt network of lobbyists, may have a different perspective of their role as representatives, may be innovative and offer new ideas. Whatever kind of government the new candidates create, it can’t be any worse than what we have now. If the new candidates are ineffective, we can replace them at the end of their terms. Elections and voting are the best tried and true means of term limits.
By reducing the number of incumbents that are elected, we are sending a message that no one in congress is indispensable. What is indispensable is our constitutional right to vote and elect those who will best serve their constituents.
Ed Konecnik
Flushing
