All politics are local.....

Well, I have been missing in action over the last few weeks. Therefore, I haven't posted a blog in some time. Of course, the world did indeed keep on ticking during my absence. We have experienced everything from Halloween to Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" book release (did anyone catch her on Oprah? If you didn't, you missed a treat) to a tragic shooting at Fort Hood to even another election cycle. A little over a year ago, Americans elected a brand new president and decided to drive down that road aptly named Change. The election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president was in one word.....amazing. The feeling that many people had is still hard to capture in words even today. A year later, we have recently gone to the polls yet again. However, the climate was very different. As I went to cast my ballot on Nov. 2nd, I was able to walk right in with no lines. I was in and out in under 10 minutes. I couldn't help but feel a certain sadness at the low voter turn out yesterday. I understand that the majority of people felt no need to visit their local polling place given that the office of president is not up for grabs this year. However, I couldn't help but ask the question, what about our local governments?

The phrase, all politics are local, is an understatement. Just about everything that directly affects us and our communities is determined by local government. It is true that funds for schools, roads, transportation, etc. do come from the federal government. However, it is generally one's representative in Congress fighting for these monies. I recently received my property tax bill, and I was welcomed with the news that taxes have indeed increased (an interesting phenomenon considering home values have been on the decline). These increases were necessary for Atlantans to get back necessary services such as police and fire that had been decreased over previous months due to budget cuts. Now, the obvious cause for these cuts is the economic recession with which our country is currently plagued. However, another reason for these budgetary cuts comes from financial mismanagement of city funds. The out going mayor of Atlanta has been an asset to this city. There are many problems that she chose to tackle head on such as the massive sewer problems that exist in Atlanta. However, Atlanta still faces major problems when it comes to crime, transportation, and our public hospital (Grady). Going into the Nov. 2nd election, all the candidates main focus was crime in the city of Atlanta. Every debate or town hall meeting centered on the increase in crime in the city (although, there are some reports that show a decrease in overall crime in the city which makes me wonder if there are just certain segments of the city being targeted that weren't before. Things that make you go hmmm....).

Going into election day, Atlanta had 4 serious contenders for the office of mayor. 3 of whom were black and 1 white candidate. Atlanta is a very interesting city in that residents of the city still maintain communities that from the outside looking in could be considered segregated. However, there are those few communities interspersed throughout the city that enjoy a fairly integrated existence. This city still very much views politics along racial lines. For the past 35 years, Atlanta has had an African-American mayor. For the first time, in a very long time the white candidate for mayor is the front runner and appears as if she will indeed be Atlanta's next mayor. The last hurdle will be the run-off election scheduled for December 2nd. Mary Norwood (the white candidate) will square off against Kasim Reed (the black candidate who no one suspected would rally on to be in a run off). Mary Norwood has served on the Atlanta city council for a number of years before her mayoral bid. Kasim Reed serves in the Georgia State Senate. The question for many Atlantans is who is the real "change" candidate. Does Mary Norwood represent change simply because of the color of her skin? Is Atlanta ready to truly embrace a white mayor again? Does Kasim represent change because he hasn't been involved in city politics like his opponent? Should the new mayor reflect the changing racial demographics of the city? These are good questions, but are they really relevant in the grand scheme of things. As a resident of Atlanta, I am most concerned with discovering which candidate has a true vision for my city. I want a mayor who will address the problems that I mentioned earlier and work to find solutions to these problems. Ultimately, these are the same issues that will continue to affect all residents of Atlanta. Therefore, why such a low voter turn out on election day? As citizens, we must become engaged with our local political processes. Last November, the country started down Change Road. Now is not the time to decide to take a detour by not participating in elections. To residents of Atlanta, we have another opportunity to get back in the driver's seat come Dec. 2nd. For everyone else, your time is coming soon. If not in the near future, then November 2010 is only a year away.

It's all about the Benjamins, Baby!!

It is most definitely all about the benjamins this week for America's leading financial institutions. Only one year after being on the brink of collapse, these companies are back and with a vengeance. It was reported this past week that America's financial corporations posted record profits in the billions of dollars. To a certain extent this is great news, the banks that many Americans depend on to purchase homes, attend school, and in some cases make payroll are out of the red. Surely, we should begin the discussion on how people are going to save their homes and go back to work and school, right? Wrong. It appears that these companies are deciding how they will dole out bonuses to the top executives. Now, there is nothing wrong with bonuses being given for a job well done. However, in this scenario, the government gave a bail out to a number of these corporations. Therefore, "we the people" gave money to help save the bank's butts so I would like to know where exactly our bonus is? It still amazes me that the top 1-2% of people in this country hold the vast majority of wealth. I definitely believe that those who work hard should be rewarded, but there has to be a limit to the greed at some point, and there are plenty of people who work extremely hard everyday who make a pittance for a living.

Therefore, the question becomes how do we distribute the wealth in America more equitably? I don't have a concrete answer for this question. However, it seems to me that we have to start with stricter regulations on companies when it comes to lending. These companies have made billions of dollars. Yet, it is still hard for the average American citizen who may actually have a good credit standing to receive a loan much less someone who is on shaky ground. If banks aren't lending the money, where exactly are all these profits going outside of employee salaries and benefits? These financial institutions should be required to start lending again or suffer the consequences, and this time they should be forced to be responsible in their lending practices. Banks were major players in creating this economic crisis, and all of sudden, it seems like they will be able to just walk off into the sunset billions of dollars richer. Meanwhile, Americans are losing their homes and jobs every single minute of every single day.

Another solution to this problem of unequal wealth distribution would be to change America's current tax system. I will not focus much on this topic since it is a blog unto itself, but it is time for Washington to take a long, hard look at how taxes are being paid in this country. The next president who proposes a revolutionary idea in changing the current tax code could possibly find him or herself residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Currently as voters, all we can do is prepare ourselves for a tax hike in the not to distant future. Finally, we have to also take responsibility for holding Wall Street's feet to the fire. Ultimately, if we wanted to bring Wall Street to it's knees, we could. As a collective group, Americans could simply refuse to utilize credit cards, pay off existing loans, and refuse to apply for any new loans. Can you imagine an America where everyone saves and pays out right for things such as cars, furniture,etc? Oh wait, there is no need to imagine this world, you only need to take a trip back in history.