Cindy Janicek

I believe that politics are a factional scheming for power and status within a group, and the members associated to a particular political group seek their own self-interests and are more likely to be biased toward their particular goals, and they may neglect to consider whether their decisions benefit the overall well-being of society. When people vote they are primarily voting for someone whom they perceive is going to give them a tangible benefit that will improve their day-to-day existence, but when the person they voted for rescinds on the promises and intentions made to voters, their trust in politicians is quickly diminished.

I have lost my faith in the American government because the character issue is gradually diminishing--politicians seem to be devoid of a conscience concerning government spending, crime and drug use have increased, and voting on a week day is one way that the political parties can control the voter turn-out. While one may deem it necessary to have a president who "understands the problems of people," I believe that a president who is devoid of ethics will not have a conscience to choose right over wrong, and it may hinder his ability to make decisions that concern the well-being of citizens.

The government spending in this country is astronomical, and our Congressmen act as though they are blinded by the colossal deficit that our government has incurred--the word "no" does not seem to be part of their vocabulary because government spending continues to soar. (The figure in now in the trillions of dollars.) There is currently a lot of careless spending in our government and the more we spend the more our taxes increase. As long as voters allow the government to continue to make increasing demands upon the taxpayers (in the form of higher taxes) the government will never get smaller; and, the only way to change this is to get rid of people in office who don't do their jobs because they are merely pursing their self-interests and serve no meaningful benefit to the people.

Drugs and violent crime go hand-in-hand because drug use among young people often results in criminal activity. The solution to combating drugs and violent crime is not rooted in passing more laws, but to electing people who are committed to strictly enforcing the laws.

Additionally, voting in this country is an inconvenience under the current structure--we vote on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and this time allotment serves to benefit the political parties. The people and groups who favor a particular party will vote at the polls, but a majority of eligible voters do not vote because of the time frame for voting at the polls. Our government would never consider opening the polls on Saturday because chances are good that there would be a larger voter turn out, and this could possibly sway the results of the election. If all eligible voters go to the polls it would have a tremendous effect on the political parties because when there is a significant number of voters, politicians will no longer be able to take the voter for granted. Also, an increase in the voter turn out will strongly indicate that people are more in tune to what is occurring in government, and that people are keeping a watchful eye on how their money is being spent.

The objectives that Clinton and Dole promote are not significantly different. Currently, there is no crisis that is causing dissension among people, and it is for this reason that I believe that Clinton will retain his presidential status after this election. Neither has Clinton done anything great, nor has he done anything bad, but he has proven that he is indecisive and he is not always honest. I'm not certain whether ethics plays a significant role in politics for the majority of voters because some people are intently devoted to a particular party, but I cannot easily dismiss Clinton's lack of ethics because (to me) anyone who is lacking in ethics is not a trustworthy person. I realize that people are human and no one is perfect, but when an individual holds a political office he should possess a higher level of standards than the average person because his actions serve as an example to others.