The Power of the Veteran and Active Military Vote

by Ed Mattson

In my last article I talked about the need to VOTE. It is the most powerful tool the people have to protect themselves from the overreaches of government. At this moment in time, it is the only salvation for turning America around.

We have an apathetic nation, but also a nation that is a walking conflict with itself. We have a nation where the citizenry has access to so much and has grown to take so much for granted; that most have lost touch with what life is like for much of the rest of the world. If you have been around for more than 50 years, you have also seen a changing United States that has become frustrating. We are not the America left to us by that great generation that won World War II.

We have an out-of-touch government; a degradation of society where profanity and improper English is acceptable in many circles; where “integrity” is a word many of our politicians have forgotten; we have a deteriorating education system; a country where athletes who can’t add 2+2 make millions of dollars, get a slap on the hands for egregious violations of the law, are worshiped as gods, and yet haven’t got an once of common sense; and where all the liberty, freedom, and justice that the military and veterans have fought for all these years is slipping through our fingers like sand through a sieve.

Americans on the other hand still remain the most caring and giving people on earth. We are first to aid those in armed conflict; the first to go to the aid of disaster victims; and provide more humanitarian aid individually, than any nation you can name. Maybe that is the true meaning of “Americans”. As our nation has fallen into complete polar opposites with political parties unable to even have a civil discussion of our national problems, many of us realize we are sitting in deck chairs aboard the Titanic.

Washington has become utterly, and maybe irrevocably corrupt. The minute a politician is elected, even many of those with the best intentions in mind are so tempted by the “spoils of bureaucratic power”, that being re-elected becomes their only goal. The Lord’s Prayer is what every politician should have tattooed on his or her forehead…”lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”! Lobbyists, expense accounts, benefit programs, a bountiful retirement program, and unfettered access to a gratuitous lifestyle inside the Beltway, is what awaits the newly elected. Are we really to the point we can believe the same politicians and their pipe-dream political programs, promising everything to everybody, which have taken our great nation to the brink of financial calamity, are the ones who can solve the crushing financial debt estimated to exceed more than $60 trillion dollars in immediate debt and yet unfunded mandated debt.

“Everything is on the table”, some politicians say referring the deficit reduction plan…Right. If you believe that I’m sure you’d be interested in some property I have (underwater at a remote lake in Texas). Yet, we really do have to look at every government program with a skeptical eye. I contend we can do away with the worthless Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and my God…how does anyone justify the Department of Education with their miserable record of turning out kids who can’t even fill out a simple job application.

The recent report that there are 600 redundant and overlapping government programs with thousands of employees is probably the best place to start, but the government has its eye on the Department of Defense. The advance warning from Adm. Mullen made it clear big cuts are coming, possibly in military pay and veteran’s benefits. Certainly projects like the Osprey and other bloated contractor ventures can be either eliminated or trimmed substantially, put they need to keep their hands off what we were promised.

We need to put the budget-cutting emphasis where it needs to be. We as veterans and current military need to fight to save what was rightfully earned by our service. We need to put words into action. We need to exercise the power of the vote.

Yesterday several of our VT readers came up with a brilliant idea to get our 23 million veterans and 1.4 million active military to make there voices heard. Starting this week we will begin work on a new website (yet to be named), that by the next time the election rolls around, we will one location where veterans and active duty personnel can go to learn about the candidate and issues that will be on the ballot. It will be fair and balanced, give both sides to issues and candidates. We plan to use a WIKI format so other can assist. The task is too large on a national, state, and local election scale for any one organization by itself. With the help of fact-check and other mechanisms we hope to be successful in creating knowledgeable voters out of our band of brothers to get this nation back on a constitutional based government.

Ed Mattson

Following his service in the Marine Corps Ed Mattson built a diverse career in business in both sales/marketing and management. He is a medical research specialist and published author. His latest book is Down on Main Street: Searching for American Exceptionalism

Ed is currently Development Director of the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs-State Partnership Program, Fundraising Coordinator for the Warrior2Citizen Project, and Managing Partner of Center-Point Consultants in North Carolina.

Mr. Mattson is a noted speaker and has addressed more than 3000 audiences in 42 states and 5 foreign countries. He has been awarded the Order of the Sword by American Cancer Society, is a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow and appeared on more than 15 radio and television talk-shows.