How to Bring Democracy Back Home Again

by Bill Faber

The former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local.” But today citizens understand that the work of the Republican and the Democratic parties is devoted to using the people to the parties’ own ends - winning elections.

If political parties demonstrated a genuine commitment to the people and if the people could trust the parties, then many more people would join the work of the Republican and Democratic organizations. Much could be accomplished.

A political party truly committed to the people would not make taxpayers bailout the Savings and Loans in the 1980’s; would not permit a regulatory climate that allows an Enron debacle; would not support trade policies which shift millions of good paying manufacturing jobs to China; would not tolerate a tax code that favors the rich at the expense of the working class; would not squander a budget surplus; would not cut wounded Veterans’ benefits; and would not ignore single mothers’ need for good child care.

Is it any wonder that the people don’t join the work of political parties ?

And is it any wonder that a majority of citizens don’t vote? Yet citizens make a mistake when they decide not to vote.They relegate themselves forever to the sidelines. Here is a better way:

In Decatur, party leaders must teach the people that voting makes a difference in the citizen’s own neighborhood.Teach the people that politics

is more than a power grab - that politics means working with the other side, negotiating and compromising, and thinking about the other guy. Teach that community must be the way of politics.

The local Republican and Democratic parties must take the lead in three vital areas:1) safe streets for all our neighborhoods; 2) good paying jobs for Decatur and; 3) excellence in public schools. Because for the people, elections are a beginning not an end. Thanks for listening.