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1) Does this piece of legislation help or hurt my ordinary constituents?
2) Does this proposed legislation benefit all my natural constituents, or just a few?
3) Is my decision in any way influenced by multinational corporate lobbyists? Am I taking their word on legislation because I have not sufficiently informed myself of the issues?
4) If this legislation before me involves tax relief, does that tax relief go to the rich and powerful, a corporation, or to the ordinary people? Should I not vote in favor of the Constitutional mandate "of the People, by the People, for the People?"
5) If a proposed bill is before me for consideration, should I recuse myself, or vote against it because I have taken campaign funds from a corporation which may benefit from my vote if I vote in its favor even if I do not personally believe I have been influenced by its help in my election or re-election? Am I voting for the people and corporations who supported me with campaign funds, or am I voting for the people who actually put their votes in my column on election day, even if they could not send me money for my election?
6) If I say I am for a "strong defense," is my intent to genuinely ensure the safety of all my constituents, rich and poor, or am I using a catch-phrase to avoid admitting that I am a captive of the military-industrial complex?
7) Do I have the strength of character to speak truth to power, even when I am one of the powerful?
8) Do I have the strength of intellect and will to call, in public, stupidity for what it is, regardless of the party speaking it?
9) Do I have the determination to inform my constituency of a simple fact: that war always hurts the poor, and never hurts the rich?
10) Have I sought office for self-aggrandizement, or to use my position to further my own views, or have I sought to use my office for the benefit of the least of my constituents, those without power, without wealth, without hope, and to bring justice to the broadest part of my constituency?
I recognize that in each of the above questions, the interests of the ordinary people of this country are at odds with the wealthiest and most powerful in this country, and that I am an arbiter of those competing interests through my legislative vote, and I pledge, always, to ask myself these questions before voting on any bill, and to always favor the interests of my true constituents, the ordinary people of my district, county, state, nation and affirm that campaign money is never the vote which installed me in office, and never will be. I will always favor the interests of the least of my constituents first, and the interests of the wealthiest of my constituents last.
How many of you would expect your representatives, local, state and national to sign such a pledge?
Why not send it to them and find out? Ask them to sign it and return it to you. If they will not, perhaps they do not need your vote in the next election. Perhaps there are candidates in your area who will sign it and deserve your support. Sometimes it's as simple as that.
Cheers, all.
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