Perceptions
If you found your way here, it’s because you also visited
“Along the
Way”, my personal blog.
Thanks for
taking the challenge to get involved on the political side. Before we continue,
I hope you’re registered to vote. [commentary] It is my firm belief that if
you’re not registered AND do not take full advantage of this wonderful
opportunity to express yourself, then you have no business whatsoever to
complain about government, elected officials, or current events related to
politics.
If you don’t care enough to
take the time to be a citizen, then I believe that invalidates your right to
complain.
You may not even have to get
dressed!
https://www.gottaregister.com/
One of my biggest pet peeves is many speak about what they
know or heard without first checking it out for themselves-and not just because
they heard it from someone who tickles their ears. Being a Christian, I rely on
the truth of my Bible, for guidance and direction in many areas of
life…including my rights as a citizen of the USA.
Having embarrassed myself in the past, I have
learned to follow the example of the
Bereans…mentioned
only once in all of scripture, in my estimation they had their stuff together
and didn’t take anybody’s word as “gospel”-even the Apostle Paul’s!
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the
Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined
the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was
true.
From this one brief passage, I’ve come to
the conclusion that I should take no one’s word as “truth” –and in politics
that means NO ONE! This being said, I
hope that my writing will inform, encourage discussion on the issues, and get
to the truth of a matter.
We all have perceptions (pre-conceived notions) based on our
upbringing, traditions, practical experience etc. Some of these are so ingrained, I think,
because we want to be accepted by our family, church or friends. Unfortunately, sometimes and especially in
politics this leads to divisions.
Needless to say, whether you’re left or right, Republican, Democrat or
Libertarian, you know how stark these divisions are in our government at the present time. In this Election year this is especially the
case as we are privileged to once again choose our leaders. My goal for this site is to provide
information without the spin of political rhetoric but only that which can be
verified.
Ground Rules
I will post links, articles and information (as I understand
it), that is unbiased, well-sourced, and really truly balanced. When I do speak
from a personal perspective, I will preface it with COMMENTARY so you know that
it’s my view. I gladly invite you to
submit reliable sources to further inform OR refute my view when I do comment
as well as alternative sources that may conflict with the information presented
for your consideration.
OK so what are reliable sources?
Anything that is non-partisan, has no agenda,
and may have additional references and sources.
Reputable long-standing newspapers, videos that FULLY portray the words
of a quoted speaker, news reports from primary networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox)
that have verifiable secondary sources. I will likely refer to many sources
that end in .gov which are classified as non-partisan (GAO and CBO are two) and
lastly, I LOVE
C-Span!
It can be dull, but with three channels it’s
a window into how government and public policy work.
I may refer to candidate and party sites as
these are generally pretty honest and grant a view into the minds and policies
of candidates and party platforms and philosophies
and allow us to make
up OUR minds based on our values when compared with the values of the candidates.
UN-reliable sources include any blog, video, or website that
is easily recognized as biased. For
sourcing, this includes all the cable news networks, and popular sites such as
Huffington Post, Grudge Report, and even Politico. I confess, I read some of these for
information but the bias is often there between the lines. Any commentators are off limits totally,
whether Rush, or Rachel, Hannity or Glen or Chris. We all know which “side”
each is on and these lend no truth or helpful information in themselves…but do
provide a lot of stuff to check out independently! And THAT my friend is my hope-that YOU will
do the research and not take these politicians on face value! After all, they want one of your most
valuable rights—YOUR VOTE! With the
internet, there is no excuse NOT to test these folks! Do the research! Be
informed! Don’t take what these folks (and their advocates) say at face value…learn
the truth. Whether statistics, or
policy, or law…there ARE unbiased sources out there.
Starter Resources
I’ve already mentioned C-Span’s website but I encourage you
to watch how our legislative branch works.
It can occasionally be quite entertaining and sometimes more exciting
than a hockey match!
House.gov – It has been said
that all politics is local.
As far as
the federal government is concerned, your local congress person is as local as
it gets.
This site has links that assist
in finding out who your elected official is (if you don’t already know) and a
link to their website which provides a lot of information regarding what your
guy/gal is doing for your district. You can even write them, petition them, and
maybe even set up a meeting!
Take
advantage of this…it is your right!
Remember, this person is YOUR “employee”
Your town, depending on the structure of city government,
likely has innumerable sites to get information about issues, make complaints,
and find out where the next city meetings are.
I strongly encourage you to get involved. It’s a great way to spend a free evening…and
may even open your eyes to issues that concern you.
Senate.gov – just like
the the previous site, except for one of your two federal senators.
Your state government quite likely has this
type of site as well.
In NJ we have an
Assembly and a Senate, as well as our governor.
Get curious and find out who your State elected REPRESENTATIVES are! Find
out what they’re doing to earn their pay… get INVOLVED!
All of the above should have links to current and pending
legislation. When a bill (a new law or
changes to existing law) is proposed, do a little research and don’t just “go
with the flow” but learn about what it says and more importantly, what it means
for you! Don’t just take their word as “gospel”
Go BEREAN on ‘em : )
http://cbo.gov/ -aka
Congressional Budget Office is where you’ll find (from their “About page”) “… independent,
nonpartisan, timely analysis of economic and budgetary issues to support the
Congressional budget process. The agency's long tradition of non partisanship is
evident in each of the dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates its
economists and policy analysts produce each year. CBO analyses do not make
policy recommendations, and each report and cost estimate discloses our
assumptions and methodologies. All CBO employees are appointed solely on the
basis of professional competence, without regard to political affiliation.”
This is a GREAT place for those of you who
consider spreadsheets and statistics FUN!
Gao.gov –The US Government
general accounting office From their About page: is an independent, nonpartisan
agency that works for Congress. Often called the "congressional
watchdog," GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer
dollars.
That should be enough to get you going IF YOU ARE WILLING!!!
Lastly, I freely admit that I watch MSNBC, and as the devoted
wife of a CBS NEWS employee I trust CBS for news. I also watch “Face the Nation”
and “Meet the Press” and shy away from Fox News.
That doesn’t mean that I accept as truth
everything said there! Two sites that I visit when I want to check something
out are
http://www.factcheck.org/ and
http://www.politifact.com/ They both claim to be unbiased and
non-partisan but I know many may doubt their veracity.
I go here primarily as a starting place
because most (if not all) of their articles and “fact check gauges” provide
more sources and research to further explore. It’s a GREAT starting place to
weed out the BS and come to an informed conclusion. And they’re great for “on the fly” verification
too!
I hope you’ll take the challenge I’m offering, suggest other
sites, comment on and suggest issues for further investigation and most of all
BE BEREAN and informed. [comment] My
view is that *I* pay these people and spent my precious vote to put them in
this privileged position of power and influence. In other words, they work for
me!!...and you, too!
I’ll post again in the next few days. I’m thinking that I will visit each of the
candidates websites where I will likely find their “policies and positions” on
the issues that concern us-and share what I understand to be where each one
stands. I'd love to hear your questions, investigate issues and what's current in the news! If there is any
particular issue you would like to see more information on. (i.e ACA, medicare,
etc) and I’ll do my absolute best to provide the information that I’ve
discovered. I would also like to hear where (and who) you go to for political information. I promise there will be NO BASHING!! Thanks and hope you’ll “come
again” : )
