Oh my Hell!! What on earth are they thinking!!

I read in the paper this morning that Meg Whitman who is running for Gov. of CA has now raised and is planning on spending 119 MILLION DOLLARS, which is a new record in the amount that has ever been raised or spent in a Gubernatorial race....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/15/meg-whitman-campaign-spen_1_n_718415.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/09/whitman-adviser-defends-campaign-spending-on-meet-the-press.html

WTF (in my mind that is "What the Freak")

OK, so not only is she planning on spending that to get elected as Gov. of CA, but the other candidate Jerry Brown will be spending Millions as well in order to "get the word out".

Do either of these candidates understand that when average hardworking citizens read this, those that are struggling with the downturn of the economy, loss of retirement pension values, increase fuel prices, struggling public school systems, and a whole host of other issues that we are facing... we as tax payers and citizens begin to think that they have lost touch with reality.

Hmmmm, maybe they have....

Let's say that Jerry Brown only spends half of what Meg Whitman is planning on spending. That is roughly 178 Million freakin dollars just to let us know that they want to be the next CA Gov.

OK, so here is an idea I have for a solution......

1. Put a cap on the amount that politicians can spend on campaigning. Make it a fixed amount. I don't care if it is figured into a budget that comes out of some tax funds. Keep it low, like an amount that would equal a decent salary, say 100K. Oh I can hear the rumblings now... "there is no way in this political area to get the word out for 100K, signage costs more than that, TV ads are expensive, radio ads are expensive".... Your exactly right!! If that was the budget they might actually have to get CREATIVE in getting the word out, or NEGOTIATE time on TV and Radio. They may even have to plan more DEBATES where they would be forced to really talk about their way of fixing the issues we have versus telling us how "stupid, incompetent, morally unfit" the other candidates are. Are we not looking to put people in office that actually have these skills? Are we not looking for candidates that can solve issues with effective programs and teamwork?
2. Let them fund raise, let them see if they can be in the record books for raising the most money for the issues they say they are going to fix. Just think if you could put all the rest of that money that these two are going to spend on campaigning, into the budget beleaguered public school system in CA. How many more teachers could be hired, how many more school building improvements could be made to schools that so desperately need it, how many more struggling students could get a more hands on experience with a teacher that cares and now has the ability to spend some quality time with kids because the student/teacher ratio for her classes has dropped from 35 to 28 or less.
3. Now take the funds that they are raising and begin putting them to good use, making a differnce in peoples lives, before we vote. Let the media (who is always looking for a story) cover these events and report on what these candidates are actually doing to improve and fix the issues we have. Let the candidates put these funds into meaningful projects and programs that can be sustained by the funds raised, and if elected, can put in place additional tax dollar or propositions in place to help sustain them even further, or increase their penetration into solving the issues.

Let's see them actually do something good for a change before we actually have to vote for them. I think that we would all like to see how effective a leader our candidates can be before we have to pick one. I would love to have the problem of having to pick from two or three really awesome, effective, compasionate, and caring candidates for a public office. This would also allow us to see how creatively they can solve the issues of the day without just throwing money at it. I agree that we have a lot of issues that need money to fix, but we have increasingly become a nation that feels that, to fix it, cover it with a money bandaid. This is going to bite us in the butt with the overspending of the budget and the increasing deficit that we are in. We are a nation that within a very short time, put the greatest minds we had on a goal of putting a Man on the Moon, and we did!! Not only that, we got him back as well!! China now owns probably more of the US than we do. This is because we have been willing to go into debt and place money bandaids on pressing issues for years and years. We have not had anyone really digging in there and actually solving the underlying problems, and this has got to stop.

That might mean that our next candidates are not the most beautiful, or hansome, not the most well known... they maybe average people like you and me, but would have shown by example their capabilities to lead, direct, inspire, and creativly solve our issues.

I am tired of only having to choose between the two or three that have the most money to spend to "get the word out", without really knowing anything about thier abilities to actually deal with the challenges that we face. I have met some people, very average people as to the view of the world, that are amazingly effective at solving problems, who can inspire people beyond what they thought they could accomplish. These folks have unique understandings of how to organize and implement solutions to complex issues at a moments notice.

I would love to hear from you.... Please post your thoughts.