We the People

(Here's a speech I'd like to hear from a Democratic leader during the campaign of 2006.)


It is past due time for We the People to take back the administration of this great nation. I say "take back" because control of the destiny of this land has been hijacked by a group of individuals and special interests who represent not We the People, but them the overreaching elite: the multinational corporations, the energy industry, religious zealots, Wall Street fat cats, and the privileged members of the hyper-rich.

If We the People were truly in control of things, would we have allowed all the years since 2000 to go by without even attempting to fix the healthcare crisis in this country, with over 45 million Americans trying to survive without any health insurance and at least that many with low-cost coverage -- practically useless to most families due to the unreasonably high deductibles? Would We the People have allowed this shameless condition to persist in the wealthiest country in the world? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People know there’s a better way!

If We the People were truly in charge of the ship of state, would we have allowed cronyism and corporate favoritism to replace the merit system in the appointment of federal agency heads? Would we have approved a political hack like Mike Brown to head up FEMA, the nation’s first line of defense against disaster? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People need to find a better way!

Would we have appointed corporate lobbyist after corporate lobbyist to be in charge of regulating the safe and supposedly fair-handed administration of our nation’s mines, and forests and food and drug companies, entrusting our God-given clean air and water to bought-and-paid-for individuals who have for years fought for the nonexistent right of their corporate clients to maim the country’s environment in a headlong stampede for higher profits? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People must find a better way!

If We the People were truly at the helm of this proud democracy would we have rammed through tax cut after tax cut, massively benefitting the top 3% of our population – those making over $200,000 per year – whose incomes these last 20 years has more than tripled anyway, depriving our national treasury of one trillion dollars over the next 20 years so these fortunate wealthy could live even higher on the hog? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)

By the way, that’s 1000 billion, or, put another way, one million million! And all this at a time when we are not only involved in an expensive war, but facing huge deficits from Social Security and Medicare for the retiring Baby Boomer generation. Would We the People have emptied the treasury and so endangered our financial stability to make rich people richer? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People have to find a better way!

And, speaking of the national debt, let us clearly remember that in 2000 this present group inherited a situation from the Clinton-Gore administration where the country was creating a large annual surplus of over 100 billion dollars annually. Not only did these Republicans disperse that surplus, they immediately went on a wild spending spree with our public monies, mostly of corporate giveaways and tax breaks, rewarding their campaign contributors and, combined with the aforementioned tax cuts and a go-it-alone, poorly planned war, proceeded to add over one trillion in national debt to our economy, a bill that future generations will be saddled with. So, I ask you, would We the People have done that to ourselves and our children and grandchildren? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People need to find a better way!

If We the People were truly running this country, would we have filled the Executive Branch with fossil fuel executives, let the oil, gas and coal companies write our national energy policies, then defended them while they gouged hard-working Americans at record-setting levels of unbridled greed? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People absolutely need to find a better way!

And just at the point in history when science and technology is experiencing its greatest boom ever, here at home and around the globe, would We the People have become anti-science, distorting and discouraging vital research into disease prevention and life extension through the use of curative stem-cells? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)

Would we have scoffed at our best scientists, and the worlds’ best scientists, when they warned us of the looming crisis of global warming, while cutting funds -- as they did during their first five years-- for the National Academy of Sciences, while slashing money for the sciences in general? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)

During the Clinton administration the U.S. was comfortably number one in most areas of scientific endeavor. Now, after these past six years of neglect and outright abuse by the Bush administration, we find ourselves between 5th and 17th in many major areas, important fields like computer science and stem cell research. Would We the People have done that to ourselves? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
We the People must and shall find a better way!

Finally, if We the People had been in real power these past six years, would we have allowed Congress, once one of the world’s most respected institutions, to be reduced to a corrupted pay-to-play den of iniquity? (Audience responds, "NO!!!)
Together, We the People need to seek and find and establish once and for all a much better way!


But first we must get out the vote for all our Democratic candidates, candidates who represent We the People, who will enact into law the will of the vast majority of Americans, citizens who desire a government as good and decent and honest as they are, a government which responds to the legitimate needs of the suffering, which stands against the despoilers of our environment and the conscienceless purveyors of overpriced gasoline and predatory credit practices and deadly tobacco products, polluters and purveyors who for the past six years have done successful business with a sell-out Republican majority.

Together and united for the Democratic Party, We the People of the United States can navigate a much better way into the future. We can form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Together We the People can and shall do this!
Thank you!!