Voting early and often -- the Chicago way

Politicians like to tell us (and maybe even themselves) they run for public office because they have a need to serve their fellow man. You and I know that is pure unfiltered bullshit. If a prospective politician really wanted to serve his fellow man he would be spending his days helping out at homeless shelters, the Peace Corp, or the ministry.  Perhaps he would be a doctor, or offer legal counsel to the poor.

It is about the power. The men and women who want to represent you are in it for the money, the post-office perks and prestige. They are the same type of people who fancied themselves the lords and barons of regal societies. They imagine they know better than you. Most believe themselves better than you.

Why does Government grow and grow? No politician is going to give up the power. Oh, Democrats may fight with Republicans over policy nuances. Republicans may try to stymie Democratic Party goals.  Really it is about who gets the spoils. For the everyman who trudges to the polls to cast a ballot in hopes of a favorable result, we should temper our enthusiasm. It really is about who is going to screw you over the lessor amount.

Do you really think any politician will vote to rid the nation of the odious ObamaCare? There will be a token vote and various politicals will cast a vote aye or nay, but the result is preordained, worked out in backroom deals as sure as the antebellum debates over slavery. There may be a little less smoke in the air, but the public remains suckered. You see, a Big Government Program like ObamaCare offers a wealth (pun intended) of opportunities for politicians and their lobbyist friends. There will be payment offices to build back in the hometowns; administration offices and bureaucrats in every state. This is the  pork that gets incumbents  elected year after year. Nationally there will be boards and administrative positions to toss to the donors and their kin.

So We the People, who did not want it, will be burdened with the monstrosity forever. There will be a tweak here, and change there, but the ACA/ObamaCare weed will be planted firmly in our garden, stretching its tentacle-like roots under the flowers, the corn, the green beans; never to be uprooted. Then,  a decade or two later, the small government candidates will shout the big government candidates are trying to destroy Social Security Medicare ObamaCare. Really the candidate just wants to be able to change it to make his or her party more powerful. "To the victor goes the spoils" is true in politics as in war.

Cynical?  You bet. The problem is I am a willful child grown into an adult. I really, really do not like to be told what to do. I eschewed an opportunity to join the military when I graduated college for that very reason. In retrospect the discipline would have been good for me. In fact, my friends often tease me into doing something by saying "I forbid you to..." They know me. I am just contrary enough to do the opposite.Every law, every regulation chaffs me to no end. I do not want to be told what kind of car to buy. If I want a gas guzzler Hummer and am willing to pay for the gas, whose business is it? I want to decide the temperature of my house, what or whether to recycle, and what not to burn on my property. I want my McDonald's french fries fried in beef fat. I want to buy a quart sized Coke in New York. I want to sit on my deck and enjoy a fine cigar on a summer evening.

So off to the polls I will go tomorrow. I know my vote will be for the candidate less inclined to take from my my wealth and my freedom. I long for the candidate who says he will not vote for a single new law. That true man or woman of the People who will go to Washington or Indianapolis or even City Hall with the intention of repealing laws, not adding to the miles of laws already in the books. The money men and power brokers will never allow that to happen.

You see, there is one basic truth the Founders of our Nation knew full well. Government does not ensure freedom, it takes it. Every tax dollar is taken from me and you by force. Pay or go to jail. Every law is a piece of freedom.

Humans are but two legged sheep. Those who want to rule us sometimes use fear as a means to power. They threaten to take away our liberty or our very lives. Thwart the king and die. Sometimes they rule by providing us with our very sustenance. How many votes are bought with welfare checks?

Under a myriad of guises the would-be powers eat away at our freedom. In the end, The Who had it right:

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

But we cannot give up the fight. You must battle for every sliver of freedom. We get the government we deserve. You have to vote in the vain hope your candidate is the one who will slow the tide of statism. The only other option is to roll over and let yourself be sheared.

In the end, I will wake up tomorrow. I will have a wonderful family. I will survive an Obama or a Romney.

So will you.