Looking for Leadership or "How Democrats are funding the Bush Regime."

[aztc]

I hear democrats saying we need to get rid of this Bush administration in 2004. I agree, but I understand the Republicans will have $200 million dollars to use in the 2004 campaign. How will democrats meet that funding challenge?

About half of that $200 million dollars will come from democrats, and here is how. Every time we buy petroleum, or products reliant on it, we are funding the Bush administration and supporting his biggest backers, the petroleum and defense industries.

Vote with your wallet.

If we could convince democrats to drive less, and at more moderate speeds, they would reduce their petroleum consumption by 20% to 50%. If the 50 million registered democrats would do this, they would reduce the petroleum industries income by at least $2 billion dollars each month, for a total of at least $32 billion dollars in the 16 months we have before the 2004 election.

What sacrifice will we make?

What sacrifice are we willing to make to get rid of the Bush Regime and elect an administration that will shift funding from the pentagon and petroleum industry to schools, the elderly and children? Are we willing to slow down our driving a little bit for these things?

What sacrifice are we willing to make to prevent the Bush regime from keeping its stranglehold on our economy, which it does by exploiting our addiction to petroleum and high speed driving? What sacrifice are we willing to make to stop the military industrial complex from waging war on every country that has significance to the petroleum industry? Are we willing to slow down our driving a little bit for these things?

Looking for Leadership

What is needed now are leaders willing to stand up and make a commitment to reduce their personal consumption of petroleum by slowing down, taking fewer trips, using public transit and walking or riding a bike instead.

What is needed now is leadership willing to take a Train instead of a Jumbo Jet Airplane to reduce petroleum consumption on a "per-passenger-mile" basis by 50%! Is there a leader that will make the point by taking his campaign on the road via the grossly under-funded National Rail System instead of using the obscenely subsidized Jumbo Jet Airplane system, stopping in each town to speak to the people who would elect that leader?

What is needed now are leaders that are willing to sacrifice the illusion of power and the thrill of speeding along in a private vehicle at the highest rate of speed possible, in favor of the public benefit of slowing down or even taking public transit? Instead of a convoy of SUV's guzzling petroleum to haul around the secret service and staff, how about bio-diesel powered buses for our national leaders?

What is needed now are leaders that will show others that it is ok to slow down a little bit, and that it isn't a big sacrifice to take a few extra minutes to get where we are going.

The Big Payoff or "What's in it for ME?"

The result of this small sacrifice will be to reduce the amount of funding available to the petroleum warlords, but that is not all! It will also put at least $2,600 a year back into the annual budget for the average family of 5, or at least $528 for individuals. We will help lower traffic fatalities by 7000 to 10,000 each year and therefore reduce insurance rates. Plus, we will reduce wear and tear on our vehicles, resulting in lower maintenance costs, and longer service life before replacement is needed. Emissions of C02 will be reduced by 150%, N0x by up to 30% and PM by 10% to 30%.

There is NO downside or "Isn't a Mile-A-Minute fast enough?"

An average five mile trip MAY take 1 1/2 minutes longer. A 30 mile trip MAY add 5 minutes at the reduced speeds. I say MAY because some studies suggest that increased accidents due to high speeds actually have a time penalty as we wait for the wreckage to be cleared and our time is consumed in hospitals and doctors offices. Racing to the next red light will not speed up our trip - most signal systems are timed to allow a certain rate of progress, no matter how quickly we get from one red light to the next one. This is simply a requirement to allow cross traffic to pass, and realistically cannot be overcome.

What if we don't find any leaders to do this?

If we haven't got any leaders that are willing to "lead-by-example" and use less petroleum on a personal level, then we have no one but ourselves to blame when the Bush Regime retains control for another four years, because they will have been funded by us every time we fill up with their products at the local gas station, and refuse to moderate our consumption by slowing down, walking or riding a bike, taking public transit and saying no to the energy hog airline system in favor of an efficient National Rail System.

Leaders!

Your followers are waiting for you to lead! Show them your courage and make a public record of YOUR pledge to obey existing speed limits, never exceeding 55 MPH, and urging restoration of the national 55 MPH speed limit. Make your commitment now at: http://www.petitiononline.com/drive55/petition.html

Visit www.drive55.org for more details and the facts to back up statements made here

[unhappycamper]

1. Do you have a link to this article? TIA n/t

[aztc]

2. Does it need one?

I am not sure I understand - do you mean a link where this is also online? Does it need one? I wrote it and have posted it on other sites, is that what you want?

[unhappycamper]

3. "Never mind" he says, in his best Emily Latulip voice. . . .

Your post was very professional, and I incorrectly assumed you had copied it from somewhere. Posting original is always welcome here at DU.

My bad.