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Reflections on what America needs. Many people are looking at the upcoming Presidential Election as a chance to bring change to our Country. While change can sometimes be a good thing, it's not going to happen with just a change in Administrations. For real change to come about in our political landscape, we have to start with Congress. A President, regardless of who he or she is cannot bring about real change by themself. It is impossible for a President to get any programs passed without the support of the Congress. This means support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

To effectively bring about change in how our Country is run, we need to start at that level. How many of our Senators or Representatives have held their positions for 20 or 30 years? When an individual, regardless of party affiliation, has been in their position that long, do they still have their constituents' interests at heart? Or are they so entrenched, that their primary concern is retaining their position and power? Let's be realistic, at some point every politician becomes power hungry and knows that the way to at least retain their power, if not increase it is to maintain the status quo. Committee appointments and Chairmanship are frequently based on how long an individual has held their position, and which party is in power. Talking about change is easy; bringing it about can be very difficult.

If the American voter really wants to bring about change in how our government is run, we need to start at the lowest level. Right down at our local level - how many of us don't make it to the polls to vote on a bond issue, school board position, or our local mayor? We often forget that these positions and issues are also part of our political process. And a vote in these elections are as important as, if not more so, than our vote in a national election. If we want change, then we need to start demanding certain things from our politicians, things like ethical conduct, personal integrity, personal accountability, and more. And if we're going to demand that type of personal conduct from our politicians, then we need to start demanding it from ourselves. Because, our politicians are going to conduct themselves the way we conduct ourselves. No better and no worse - we can't expect them to be better than we are.

If we really want to see change come in our Country, then we need to start taking an active interest in our school systems. We need to start paying attention to our communities, and the people who live around us. Years ago our neighborhoods were like extended families and we have lost that. To get the nation back on the right track, then we need to get that feeling back again. We need to return to the values and concepts that this nation was founded on. Until we get back to those basics then any changes we make are going to be superficial.

True change is not going to come from a political party, or a charismatic politician. True change, the kind that America needs has to come from the people. Its up to us to hold not ourselves but our elected officials accountable. Only then will America and its people see the changes we need.

Learn more about this author, Arthur Gibson.
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