Consequences

Election time is about here.

I think there used to be a time where it made sense to vote for the person and not the party. That's what I did most elections, and still do in the local city and county offices. But at the national level, I don't think that works too well anymore.

Maybe you are influenced by all the flack and spin out there that successfully gave you the idea that it's time to kick out everybody. Maybe you think that means voting for the Democrat who wants the seat of a sitting Republican in your district for the Federal House or Senate.

Go ahead, vote for the Democrat, but make sure you understand what you're voting for.

Let me use the example of my House district. Baron Hill, the Democrat, was narrowly defeated 2 years ago by Mike Sodrel, a Republican owner of a trucking company from down south. Baron's what is known as a "Blue Dog" Democrat, and I have no idea what "Blue Dog" is supposed to mean, but it refers to a group of relatively conservative Democrats.

Baron's a bit more refined, a better public speaker, and sounds like a reasonable guy. But a big reason he lost his job last time around was that he voted way too often with the Democrats, which included voting the opposite way of what most Hoosiers want.

The reason he votes so often against his constituents probably isn't because he disagrees with his constituents. The reason is because if he dares defy his party on votes they deem important and demand unity from their members, they will punish him severely. So whether he likes what they're doing or not, he goes along to get along.

So if you like Baron and want to give him another chance simply because you're being told that Mike Sodrel's just a Bush lap dog, it will help the Democrats gain a majority. When they get the majority, they have already told us what they plan to do; understand, these aren't made up, but are what the Democrat leaders are actually telling everyone.

Their priorities if they get power are:

Impeach Bush
Pull out of Iraq
Shut down terrorist surveillance
Open the borders
Re-Institute the "Fairness Doctrine"
Repeal all Tax Cuts
Implement Major Initiatives Toward Slowing Global Warming
Pushing Gay Rights and Gay Marriage Legislation
Pushing Universal Government Healthcare Legislation
Defunding the Military
Pushing a Miriad of Social Welfare Legislation

I know there are some people who think everything on the above list would be fantastic. That's too bad, because those people haven't thought through the consequences of these actions.

I lived through the reaction to the Nixon impeachment that resulted in Jimmy Carter as President and a Democrat-controlled legislature. Believe me, if that history repeats itself, we all will suffer not only economically, but physically.

What happened under Carter?

Inflation was in double-digits
Unemployment was in double-digits
Mortgage rates were 16%, and peaked at 19%
Carter helped the Ayatollah Khomeini oust the Shah of Iran, and was rewarded with the invasion of the US Embassy in Tehran, where embassy staff were killed and held hostage.
Top marginal income tax rates were 80%
The "Fairness Doctrine" effectively muzzled any speech deemed irrelevant by the 3 TV networks. (Read Conservative speech)

I'm sorry for my college-age children, who will have to live a repeat of those bad old days. Fortunately, within a couple of years of Reagan taking over from Carter, the job market opened up, interest rates came down, taxes came down, the hostages were freed from Iran, and later the Cold War ended.

Some say maybe the American people need to suffer under a modern Jimmy Carter era to understand how good they have it now. Maybe so.

I just hope, if it happens, it doesn't last long.