Editor, Gazette-Journal:
The new election bill being considered by Congress (House Bill 1) which will allow ballot harvesting and mail-in voting nationwide is a terrible bill that threatens the integrity of our elections.
That is just the tip of a large and dangerous iceberg as it also mandates taxpayer money to be allocated to candidates on a percentage matching basis.
I personally believe that television networks and well-connected political consultants are already making plenty of money off of our election process. We do not need to add a political carnival.
Corruption in our nation has reached unprecedented levels and this will only add to that lamentable spectacle. I can think of several currently serving members of Congress who have been shown to have paid their lovers/spouses hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds as advisers or consultants to their campaign.
The American people should be outraged, but it is glossed over by media and ignored by the political establishment of both parties. The only conclusion to be drawn is that the political establishment in D.C. regards this as their due. House Bill 1 has so many flaws that it must not pass into law. If it does pass into law, the most profitable growth industry in America will be running for office, as there is no real accountability for how the money is spent.
Fixing this does not require a new law, it requires a change of attitude in D.C. This election bill also fails to mandate voter ID. One can never guarantee the honesty of an election if you do not verify who is voting. That is an obvious fact that can only be attacked by straw man arguments alleging racism and xenophobia which change the subject to an attack on a person’s worth as a human being instead of the issue of election integrity.
Challenging a person’s value is a slap in the face to the Declaration of Independence which states “all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.”
The current political environment is inspired by Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals,” which is a 200-page polemic of hate, envy and intolerance. It explicitly states that you never engage your political opponent in a debate, but that you must demonize him.
The last 22 years of American politics have been a disgrace which only Saul Alinsky could love.
Keith Ellenberger
Hallieford, Va.