By Matthew Dunn
For as
interested in politics as I am, I don’t always vote. Many times I find voting to be a waste of
time. It seems as though even when I do
vote I’m not tremendously excited about any particular candidate. As a person of the left, when I have voted,
I’ve always voted Democratic. I was
passionate about John Kerry in 2004, because I thought we need to get anybody
but Bush. However, it seems as though
the Democrats are really not any better.
I wanted not to believe this for the longest time, but the presidency of
Barack Obama, and the governorship of Andrew Cuomo have changed me.
Obama has been president now since
2008, and his two signature policies are right wing in nature. His health plan, was compromised from the
start, and gives a tremendous boost to insurance companies, which specialize in
denying coverage (this became obvious to me, after I was diagnosed with
leukemia. I was diagnosed at one
hospital that did not have an oncology department so they had to transfer me to
another. An ambulance was arranged for
the transport. The insurance company did
not pay for the transport initially, and it took months of fighting in order to
get that resolved.) In addition to this,
Obamacare as it is popularly known is known to have its roots with President
Nixon, and was also promoted by the right-wing Heritage Foundation. Obama’s other signature policies are in the
war on terror. Obama has expanded the
war on terror both with the amount of foreign attacks, especially by drones,
and also with the expanding national security state. Needless to say his talk of peace and
diplomacy seems to have gone by the wayside during his presidency.
Cuomo, now governor since 2010, has
also seemingly promoted a general right wing agenda. For years now on television the governor has
promoted a business plan that offers no taxes to businesses that move to New
York State for several years. He also
comes down on the side of right wing educational policies with his support of
charter schools and greater school testing.
So for these reasons and more I
will no longer be voting for the lesser of two evils. The Democrats will not get a dime of support
or any votes from me, until they start to pursue a genuine progressive agenda,
and not just mouth sugary platitudes.
The Green Party is the only party that is committed to environmental
justice and worker’s rights. I am
starting by voting for their candidate, Howie Hawkins, for governor this
year. He probably won’t win, and I may
be wasting my vote, but a vote for Democrats is a waste too.
If you are interested in finding out more about Howie
Hawkins and the Green Party you can visit this website.
