Question: How much are you willing to give up to get one thing you want? This is probably one of the most dangerous things single issue voters do and Politicians love you for it. This is how 1.9 trillion dollar bills get passed only to find out 89% or more of those bills had absolutely nothing to do with the reasons why (possibly) you yourself supported it. You got a fraction of what you actually supported and 89% of what you didn’t. Most of which you had no idea was even in the bill. Think it was worth it? At this point, does it matter? Any rational human being would say no. But it appears rationale and common sense plays little to no role these days in the way we make up our minds on choices we make regarding elections. I just published an extremely long article titled Are Americans That Stupid? addressing this so I won’t do it here. If you have not read it yet, please take the time to do so, you won’t regret it.
Example: Let’s say you support abortion rights. OK – ask yourself, how far do you support them? No limits? Right up until birth? On demand for any reason? You see, it’s not enough just to say you believe a woman should have the right to an abortion especially now when she is making a decision for not only herself, but another life as well. But the candidate you’re considering voting for doesn’t just support abortion— he wants no limits, on demand, for any reason abortions. Aspects abort abortion you don’t agree with. Do you still give that candidate your vote or find someone else?
Example: We’ll use abortion again only this time, you have a candidate who believes the same way you do. Perfect! You know who your voting for, right? Maybe. But wait, you also learn that they want to implement cashless bail resulting in soaring crime rates as we’re seeing in other cities and states who have done the same. The question now becomes— in order to get what you want regarding abortion rights you agree with— in doing so, will result in skyrocketing crime where you live worth the trade off? Let’s see— abortion rights you agree with but may not affect you personally on one hand and skyrocketing crime throughout your entire state on the other. Hmmm, perhaps there might be a better choice so you keep looking.
Example: You have a candidate you agree with on abortion rights and crime. Two for two, can’t get better than that! Well…… now you find out this candidate supports teaching kids CRT in public schools. He also strongly supports young students changing their gender identity without their parents knowledge or permission. The candidate supports teaching 8 year old girls how to masturbate and handing out condoms to fifth graders. The candidate also supports gender affirming surgery to children meaning irreversible. Hysterectomies and mastectomies for young girls and chemical castration for young boys without the maturity to make that kind of life altering decision in the first place. Decisions decisions….
I could give more examples but do I really need to? You see, this is the main problem with being a single issue voter. It’s like being handed a pie. The first slice is delicious but the rest of it tastes like shit. And that is the pie you’re now forced to eat for the following two, four and six years.
I know what you’re thinking. OK Basket, if everything you just said is true, how do I make the best decision for me as a voter? Simple: Treat it as you would when making a decision whether or not to enter a relationship. Business or personal. When you think about it, it all pretty much works the same way. It all boils down to what you can live with. How much weight you give to that which is important in your life which can be affected by those you’re giving your permission to affect. Regarding relationships— don’t forget to order my book The Instructional Guide to a Great Relationship with a Basket of Fish (a man) now available on Amazon. (Sorry— whenever I get a chance to plug a book, I take it).
Example: There’s a great app you can download on your phone. It does everything you want flawlessly. And to top it all off, it’s free. So you download it counting the seconds for it to finish so you can immediately install it. As you’re installing this seemingly wonderful program, you come to the permissions page. You find out that by installing this program, you are giving access to your entire phone. Pictures, audio, video, your location, search history— everything. And in the fine print, you also find out they can do whatever they want with any information they retrieve. Well, now that wonderful program doesn’t look so wonderful as you quickly cancel the installation.
Example: You begin seeing this girl. She’s attractive, the sex is great but the word on the grapevine is that she could be a vindictive bitch should you ever piss her off. But you’re not experiencing this side of her now. You’re then told that in order to continue seeing her, you must commit at least two years of your life to her and no one else. Could be as high as four to six years. Well, you think to yourself. She is attractive and the sex really is that good. And just as long as you never piss her off, everything should be fine. Seeing as you’re not really sure exactly what angers her, do you take the chance? You may be seeing what you consider to be flaws but damn— the sex really is good. But what could the ramifications be should the day come when you do piss her off? No sex? She spreads lies about you? Ruins your reputation to the point where you lose your job? All plausible outcomes indeed should that unfortunate day ever come. That won’t happen to me- you declare as you sign on the dotted line.
Example: You’re a single Mom with two kids. You meet a man who on the surface seems to be everything you’ve been searching for. Sure, there are a few differences. You love to dance, he would rather not. He’s attentive but not quite as attentive as you’d like him to be and he’s not the most romantic man in the world. Outside of that, everything seems to be as perfect as one could ask for. Then you hear from some friends that he’s not too fond of kids and can be somewhat verbally abusive if he drinks too much or becomes angry for whatever reason. As in the paragraph above, in order to continue seeing this man, you must commit to two, four or perhaps as much as six years of your life. No one else. He does appear to be a great catch and you’re confident you are the one who will fix his few remaining flaws. Do you live with the flaws he has including the ones you’ve only heard about? Remember, it’s no longer just about you. You have your kids to consider as well. Do you sign now or seek out someone who might be a better match?
Final example: You have the job opportunity of a lifetime. The kind of work you’ve always wanted to do. Great pay, great benefits… but there’s a catch. The job is 1500 miles away but fear not. It’s a great location and your moving expenses will be covered. The problem is that you’re not quite sure how to break the news to the individual you’ve been seeing for the last six months and you’re also not 100% sure if you’re going to like living in a new state. Now, in order to get this dream job, you have to sign a two, four or possibly six year contract with the corporation. You weigh out all the pros and cons and you eagerly take the job making sure to take that person your seeing to a great dinner so you can break the news gently hoping they’ll understand.
Federal vs. State
Interesting, isn’t it? Look at most any candidate in National elections be it Democrat or Republican and what do they both have in common? They go on and on about issues they can do virtually nothing about on a Federal level. Two hot-button issues that come immediately to mind are crime and abortion. Voting for any candidate solely on these two issues would be the same as throwing away your vote. Why? Glad you asked. We’ll take them one at a time.
Abortion:
Now that the Supreme Court has thrown all things abortion back to the jurisdiction of the states, contrary to popular belief, there is no way on the face of the earth there will ever be a law codifying or banning abortion. Not now, not 10 years from now. It’s a non-starter. There will never be enough votes in the Senate to pass it. You would be a fool to think otherwise. Whatever your views on abortion, best to steer those views towards a state Representative or state Senator for they are the only ones who can affect change either way on abortion. Just as long as the Governor doesn’t veto it. Any candidate who clammers on about abortion as a prime reason to vote for them for US Congress like Lindsey Graham or John Fetterman are doing nothing but blowing smoke up your ass. Do not vote for any US candidate who uses the abortion issue as their main talking points unless you agree with their stances on issues they actually are able to do something about. And by the way, as you’ve most likely noticed from the graphic on the home page— I have a new article coming soon on the abortion issue. Keep an eye out for it.
Crime:
Unless Congress votes to make all violent crime federal crimes, don’t expect any US Congressional candidate to make any major changes regarding crime in general. Sure, they can try to vote for a gazillion dollars to spread throughout the states to refund police but think about it for a second. For as long as I can remember, it was the responsibility of local and state governments to allocate funds to pay for law enforcement. Democrat cities pulled the scam of the century with their decision to de-fund police. It really was pretty clever. They begin to remove or reallocate millions and in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars away from their law enforcement budget. What happens next? Crime stats go through the roof. Who would have thunk it, right?? But fear not – the Feds will come to the rescue by sending hundreds of millions of US taxpayer dollars (not that particular state’s mind you) to re-fund police. The part you’re never told about is all that money comes with conditions which for the most part, just creates more crime, not less.
While the rise in crime makes for great talking points for those running for US Congress, if you who are unfortunate enough to live in these crime ridden cities and states really want to see major changes— then it would be in your best interests to focus your attention and vote towards those running in local and state government elections.
You see articles written, segments on TV and the like talking about the Best and Worst. Best cities to live in, worst states to live in… etc. You see cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York where people can’t get out of there fast enough. Why? Well, it sure as hell has very little to do with who their US Senators or Representatives are. It has everything to do with their state and local legislators including Governors, Mayors, DA’s, AG’s, Judges and Sheriffs. Who you vote for in local and state elections will determine the overall health of your city and state. Remember that.
Regarding National Issues
Top on the list should be energy. Energy affects just about everything and for that reason alone, (well, add the border crisis if you’d like)— there shouldn’t be one Democrat holding national office. All that money Democrats voted for with basically a party-line vote? Seriously? Odds are the American public will never know where that money went or is going. That being said, the democrats stance on energy will trash what’s left of this country and it’s economy should they be allowed to continue. Why? I dare you to watch the video that accompanies my article The Cold Hard Truth About the Manufactured Energy Crisis. All the reasons are there. Deny it all you want when you hear about the deaths due to either the lack of or affordable energy sure to happen this winter.
The mistake that many voters make is they fail to differentiate between what’s local, what’s state and what’s federal. Shithole cities like the ones mentioned above didn’t become shithole cities by accident. Can you blame their downfall on the politicians? Perhaps partially but the real blame goes directly to those who voted them into office. Full stop, end of story. If you voted for them, it’s on you.
So yes, there are questions you need to ask yourself before you vote.
1. Are issues you’re concerned local issues? Statewide issues? Or national issues? Figure that out and vote accordingly.
2. You never get everything you want. How much value do you place on issues you deem important and what are you willing to live with once you’ve figured that out?
3. No matter what a politician says in a stump speech what is the likelihood he or she will be able to accomplish them? Use common sense. Just because it may sound good, doesn’t necessarily mean it is good or that it can even be accomplished by the candidate in the first place.
It should come as no shock or surprise that the United States has taken a nose-dive directly into the toilet over the last eighteen months. And as much as democrats refuse to admit— the reason behind this nose-dive is due to a Democrat controlled Congress with a brain-dead puppet in the White House. Blame whoever you like but there’s no denying this fact. Therefore, common sense tells us that if this is the case, voting for any democrat for national office would be a detriment to the United States as a whole. That is of course unless you’re WOKE or a socialist and you prefer open borders and all that comes with it, more free money with reckless spending and record inflation as a result with continued promises of universal healthcare which have already proven to be disastrous from attempts in the past.
One thing we can be sure of is that everything which has transpired over these last eighteen months is night and day compared to the previous four years and I find it extremely difficult to imagine this is what the majority of people here in the US actually want. At least that’s what 78% of the US is thinking according to the polls. But, here we are and we only have ourselves to blame and like it says in the graphic, when it comes to elections— buyers remorse does not exist.
And that my friends is the point I’m making. First, you have to look at the big picture. What’s important to you and what you believe to be the best way forward for you, where you live and the United States as a whole. Assign value to issues most important and weigh them against the choices you’re given in selecting and individual who you’re about to give permission not only to represent you but vote on your behalf on issues that could affect your way of life and the lives of those around you. Equally important, consider unintended consequences. What’s the worst that could happen if the candidate you’re about to vote for wins. It’s the stuff you’re not aware of which can cause the most damage. Again, as it says in the opening graphic: When it comes to elections, buyers remorse does not exist. You’re stuck with them and to quote Rod Stewart saying I wish that I knew what I know now won’t change a blessed thing.
This is no longer the time to be complacent as it might have been in the past. The differences between Democrats and Republicans are far too great. That might change in the future but not this time around.
Remember that song from The Rolling Stones? In this instance I will edit probably the most famous lyrics in history to…
You can’t always get what you want,
but you get what you vote for.
Make wise choices— think before you vote.
