Promises, promises
It's getting to be the time when noses are longer than Pinocchio's.
It’s that time of year. As I write this, voters across the border in Maryland are making their partisan selections (for the most part, since some local elections for school boards are nonpartisan) and by the time you read this tomorrow, we should know 90% or more of the winners who will go on to November. Over here in Delaware, the push is a couple weeks away after the General Assembly session ends next Tuesday - the filing deadline here is July 14 for a primary to be held September 15. We have the latest filing deadline and primaries in the country, and I have zero problem with that. In my opinion, the first should be last because I like the maximum time to consider all candidates, even though I have no role in selecting them as a member of a “minor” party. (But I do have the role in helping to vet them, at least on a local and statewide basis.)
So it’s time for my favorite political term, and that would be “invest.”
Sometime back maybe a dozen years ago, someone must have focus grouped a batch of terms for spending money with the word “invest” receiving the highest score. I say that because no government spends money anymore - nope, the taxpayers “invest” in whatever profligate spending catches the fancy of our elected officials this fiscal year.
We “invest” in schools only to see them get worse, with smaller and smaller prospects for true choice in the matter (i.e. money follows the child.)
We “invest” in green energy but wonder why “free” wind and solar power can be so damn expensive on our electric bills. On the other hand, when it comes to transportation the investment isn’t to speed us up with better roads and more lanes but to slow us down with roundabouts, “road diets,” and bike paths no one uses.
Without fail, in a thousand different ways, what we “invest” in is a bigger, more intrusive government at every level. And in the end, we are the investors because that spending comes at a cost to us: a higher gas tax here, an increased license fee there, more out of the pocket of the entrepreneur with a higher LLC application toll, and soon you’re talking real money. Yet they will turn around and blame a foreign war or a greedy businessman for making us all poorer - just send us back to office and we’ll make it right.
Fat chance.
I’ve said some variation of the following before, but there are two key reasons I could never run for a higher office. One is that I could never ask anyone for money to run my campaign, so I would have none besides what I could put in, and that’s not much. But more importantly, I’m too honest and I’d be the one to tell people that they need to stop having government wipe their bum. Government under me would be limited and Constitutional, but I know nothing would get done because 535 people whose re-election depends on fooling the people just one more time wouldn’t even give my ideas the time of day. Sorry, my communication skills aren’t on a par with those Ronaldus Magnus had.
In a way it’s good that I have two relatively low-key individuals serving me on a local level in Dover - I can say neither Tim Dukes nor Bryant Richardson wavers too far away from representing my interests overall. But the Three Stooges, on the other hand - well, you get it. They never saw a government overreach they didn’t like, unless it came from Orange Man Bad.
With millions and millions of dollars to spend and plenty of commercial time to be had, we’re about 2 months away from what will likely be the dirtiest campaign in history - at least until the 2028 Presidential campaign starts the day after the midterm election. If you thought I got burned out last time, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
And that’s a promise.
In the meantime, though, you can Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there.