by Martin W. Schwartz

Created on: October 07, 2008

There is no value in voting anymore because the political process has been completely corrupted by special interests and their lobbyists and money. The promises made by political parties to the American voter are empty ones because no matter what they say during campaigns, when the time comes for elected officials to take an action, their interests lie not with the voter but with the elite few who are able to fund their campaigns and, as we have seen, their often lavish lifestyles.

Both the Republican and the Democratic parties owe their allegiance to often less than savory people, companies and unions, whose only interests are in perpetuating their businesses, their clients' businesses or maintaining their power over their membership. Think Enron. Think the Keating Five. Think Rezko. Think the Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska. Think Jimmy Hoffa. These are but a few examples of how our Republic and its politicians have been sold to the highest bidders, giving America at every level of government, from town highway superintendent to president of the United States, the finest officials that money can buy, who have absolutely nothing in common with the public at large, and who act accordingly.

If the American voter was really thoughtful, there would be a groundswell of demand for the imposition of term limits on all elective offices, local, state and federal. When this country was crafted by the Founding Fathers, the last thing they anticipated was the rise of a class of professional politicians who had lost all touch with the ordinary citizen. Had they foreseen the Pelosi's, Reid's, Bush's, Clinton's, McCain's and Biden's of our time, the Constitution would have had a clause that mandated no more than two or three terms for federal elected officials, and the states would have followed suit.

Until we get these deadwood officials out of office - if by no other means than simply not voting for any incumbents - we are doomed to follow the path of the Roman Republic, decline and fall, to paraphrase Mr. Gibbon's classic of the same name. So voting to keep in office 90% of our elected "representatives", is meaningless, and only perpetuates the corruption, arrogance and greed of our system.

I think I will stay home this election day and see if the public is really going to vote for real change - substantive, not slogans - or for the same old same old, after which they will return to football and celebrity watching.

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