Vote for Joe

In the wake of a President Bush veto of legislation to provide $23 billion for water projects across the country, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio said he would work to override the veto, according to the Associated Press.   “We are facing a water infrastructure crises, and our national investment in water resources has not kept pace with our level of economic expansion,” said Voinovich.   The Southeast, which is currently experiencing a major drought, is having water problems of their own.   Ad hoc citizens groups, etc., are meeting to look at some of the problems, and solutions.   At one of these groups, a friend of ours, Tom Farmer, who is the Board President for the Coosa River Basin Initiative in Rome, Georgia, said:   “”If only we had such… passion for conservation.”   Mr. Farmer recommended that a Statewide Water Management Plan should be “strong in language, with clear and enforceable rules.”   I couldn’t help but think, is it a “water infrastructure” crisis we’re experiencing nationwide, as Sen. Voinovich postulates?   Or  are we woefully short on what Mr. Farmer in Georgia points out: conservation.   It’s my belief that  it is the latter.   During an interview on the We The People television show in Hibbings, Minnesota, I said our family of five share the same bath water to conserve.   (They used to do that in the old metal washtubs every Saturday night in this country.)   What’s more, we don’t take a bath or shower every day.   We have become so ‘antiseptic’ in this country that we think showering daily is a must.   It isn’t.   Also, our research across the country has intersected us with: people  who collect rainwater in barrels at the bottom of down spouts to water their gardens, etc., people who don’t water their lawns and have learned to live with less than green grass, and dare I say, even: brown spots; people who actually take GI showers; people who use waterless compost toilets; and, (Are you ready for this: “Super Water Saver Woman.”)   No kidding.   The other night at a Bible Study on Halloween night (“costumes optional”), one woman showed up as Super Water Saver Woman, cape, tights, the whole thing.  Among her ‘heroic’ strategies — and there were a number — she saves her shower water and buckets it into the toilet when it needs flushing.   And she doesn’t flush after every pee either.   (That in itself is seven gallons of water per: flush — in less you have a “low flush toilet.”)   Note:   The point to all this is that while millions of people in South America, Africa, Indonesia… search desperately for clean drinking water every day, we’ve become tremendously gluttonous when it comes to consuming water in America.   We should be conserving exponentially (our administration would propose water meters on every home and business) and taking the savings to help these other countries have more wells, sanitation systems, desalinization plants… so they, too, can have safe drinking water.   And it shouldn’t take a drought to get us thinking about conservation.   It should merely take a measure of spiritual principle — focused on social justice for all.

I have just finished Project Vote Smart’s “2008 Presidential Political Courage Test.”   The following is an example of another 100 word essay I wrote for the test, this one on “Social Security Issues”:   I told the News Gazette in Champaign, Illinois, that we would inspire programs to reestablish the elderly as valued members of their communities.   (This   is the essence of “social security.”)   We also believe the Social Security Fund should be a “lock box,” where the money put in isn’t diverted.   And we believe the SS Fund should be like paying into another insurance fund — the same as car insurance, health insurance… You only collect if you need it.   That is, if a retiree’s yearly income — from pensions, stocks, bonds… —  exceeds $70,000 (currently an arbitrary figure), then one wouldn’t be elibible to collect that year.   Note:   This would help keep the fund bouyant as more and more Baby Boomers move into retirement, and it would bring more of a measure of social justice to society.   And along that vein… Note 2:   Some friends from Georgia just got me a subscription to the Chersterton Society magazine: Gilbert.   In a review of the book God Has Not Changed, reviewer Chris Chan writes:   “Throughout these essays, Ellis (the author) makes it clear that God wants us to be good, chaste, honest, temperate, prudent, faithful, charitable, and hopeful, but He does not want us to be bunch of wussies.   [I would agree  with that.]

Since we’ve been back in Cleveland, I’ve been working on an extensive “2008 Presidential Political Courage Test” for Project Vote Smart.   Part of the “test,” is providing 100 word synopsis on various stances.   The following is my response to the category of Crime Issues:   I told the Rome (GA) News that our administration’s paradigm would be one of “Restorative Justice,” as opposed to dead-end warehousing of prisoners.   This would include creative and comprehensive rehabilitation (pyschological counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, education options…)   On the streets we would push for much more Community Oriented Policing, Citizen Patrols, Neigborhood Crime Alert progams, all of which we’ve looked at in our reserach trips across the country.   And on a systemic level when it comes to crime, we propose stepped up efforts to end poverty, heal the family, curb alcohol and drug addiction… all major contributors to crime.   Note:   For  an indepth look at  our position on crime…

We have returned to Cleveland for a pit stop.   Last night my daughter Sarah was reading from a book about the economy.   It noted that until the 1960s, hardly anyone used seat belts.   Then, thanks to consumer advocate Ralph Nader, seat belts became mandatory.   Interestingly enough, you’d think people would be safer.   Wrong.   Without seat belts people had a tendency to drive slower and safer.   With seat belts people started thinking they were bullet proof and began driving faster and more recklessly.   This, ultimately,  produced more accidents.   There are currently some 33,000 vehicular fatalities on the nation’s roads every year, and many more maimings.   (By comparison, we’ve lost about 3,500 soldiers in Iraq in the past four years.)   Our highways are war zones!   We just don’t look at it that way, because we are  motor vehicle addicts in denial…   Sarah and I concluded that speed limits should be lowered considerably (20 mph in the city and 40 mph on the highways), in tandem with seat belts still being mandatory.   With these speeds, most everyone would be so much safer.   People also  wouldn’t drive as much, which consequently would considerably curb global warming gases.   What’s more, people would start looking for jobs closer to home, which would curb global warming gases even more, etc., etc., etc…

average JoeOhio Tour cont:   We were told the Circleville Pumpkin Festival outdraws the Ohio State Fair.   So, of course, this was our next stop.   There were pumpkin rolls, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream (yuk), pumpkin cup cakes… The winning pumpkin  in the size category  was: 1,508 lbs.   Steroids?   After going through the heart of the festival passing out campaign flyers, I came across part of the parade route, which was  lined with chairs.   It was a couple hours before the parade, but some people were already seated.   So I walked up the street passing out more cards and telling them I was “…the early part of the parade.”   See, we don’t even need a highly-paid campaign strategist, or anything. Note:   A front page story in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette today noted that my campaign was, in part,  focused on global warming, world-wide poverty, and the decay of American’s inner cities.