Why Give Extremists Like Brett Gurthrie A Free Pass To Reelection?

Ron Leach is a Iraq/Afghan War veteran and the Democratic Party candidate for Kentucky's 2nd congressional district, a stretch of central Kentucky from the suburbs southwest of Lexington through Elizabethtown, south to Bowling Green and Glasgow and west to Owensboro. The PVI is R+16 and Obama only took 35% against Romney. In 2012, the Republican incumbent, Brett Guthrie, won all 21 counties that make up the district, beating his Democratic opponent, David Williams, 64-32%. There wasn't a single county in which Williams did well. The district is not on the DCCC's map and the state Democratic Party isn't paying any attention either. But that doesn't mean Democrats and independents in KY-02 don't want to stand up against Guthrie's extreme right-wing record. Their candidate, Ron Leach wrote this guest post for us.

A tale of three voters and OUR Democracy for Sale
by Ron Leach

Three people arrive at their polling places to cast their votes:

A billionaire, who pays less than 15% in actual taxes (after legal deductions and favorable capital gains rates-- likely about 12%) is driven to a polling place in a limousine. He/she travels on streets constructed and maintained by tax dollars and, given more than a sufficient number of voting booths in his/her wealthy voting precinct, votes quickly and can get on with their day with the least bit of inconvenience . While briefly in the booth he/she votes for candidates who, although it was like pocket change to them, he/she contributed a very substantial amount of money to (an amount that would be life changing for most working families) in both the primary and general election campaigns or anonymously and unlimited through Super PACs. There may be no formal agreement but they fully expects their calls to be answered and their issues favorably addressed once the representative they so generously supported (i.e. sponsored) is elected or re-elected to office.  They can rest assured that they will be represented.

An hourly worker, who effectively pays greater than 15% taxes-despite living paycheck to paycheck (sales tax on almost every dollar, payroll tax on every dollar, state tax, fuel tax on a large portion of their earnings that go into their fuel tanks) driving in a 15 year old Escort that needs a new transmission very soon, wants to stop at his or her polling place and vote on the way to work but the lines of people waiting are too long due to an insufficient number of booths in their working class precinct. After work he or she stands in line as long as possible but has to leave without voting to pick up a child at daycare. He or she had little or no influence on who appeared on the ballet; having not even spare pocket change to contribute to a candidate of their choice prior to primaries and even if they did there would be no candidates who share their life experiences running because people like them are now too busy surviving in the era of trickle-down economics to run for office.

A homeless veteran of a long ago war, living in a homeless shelter or on the streets, walks to a polling place but is turned away because he or she has no photo ID. The country he or she served is no longer willing to grant them the right to vote. Although the 15th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" I guess those who are putting in place phony “Voter Fraud” laws across the country, obviously intent on limiting the number of votes from those historically not favorable to their sponsored candidates, can point out that it doesn't prohibit denying the right to vote for not having a photo ID. Add to this scenario the thousands of Kentuckians and millions of Americans permanently disenfranchised for missteps and mistakes long since paid for through the legal system.

The phrase, "One person one vote" was used in an important legal ruling in the United States, the Supreme Court majority opinion in Reynolds v. Sims (1964). The ruling required redistricting by state legislatures for congressional districts to keep represented populations equal, as well as requiring both houses of state legislatures to have districts drawn that contained roughly equal populations. Perhaps it is time for the Supreme Court to consider economic as well as geographic factors. Perhaps it is time for the Supreme Court to stop making rulings that give corporations personhood and billionaire’s unlimited power to sway elections. As the courts fail our democracy, it is time for a Constitutional Amendment unambiguously declaring that Corporations are not people and that money is not free speech.

Elections have become little more than a contest to see which party and their clandestine partners can raise the most money to flood airwaves with ads and, as trickle up economics works its magic, candidates who depend on contributions of regular people, cannot compete with candidates who represent billionaires and corporate PACs. Pocket change of those who have benefitted from trickle-down economics overwhelms what those victimized by it can afford to donate. The “money equals free speech” voice of a very few have effectively silenced the vast majority.

My father says "A house that is bought and paid for is a great and valuable thing to have, but a US House member that is bought and paid for is a grave danger that should be avoided."

I’m Ron Leach-- Candidate for US Congress. Please help me deliver the message to Washington that OUR Democracy is not for sale!  Help me be the voice for the silenced majority.  Please spread the word, contribute as possible, and most importantly-- despite the obstacles deliberately erected-- VOTE November 4th.