Background On the Issues
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The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. --Thomas Jefferson |
Obviously, a one-woman website isn't going to be the sifter and purveyor of the vast array of facts we need to know to cast an intelligent vote. First, there would be the herculean task of sorting out facts from the now exceedingly popular alternative facts favored by certain folks in the government and the media, not to mention the everyday citizens who, sometimes unwittingly, pass these stories along via Facebook or Twitter or plain old conversation. Fortunately, there are sites out there that provide well-resourced, accurate information, one of the most exciting of which is a relative newcomer called usafacts.org.
On second thought, perhaps exciting isn't quite the appropriate term unless you're a fan of numbers. What makes the site particularly interesting, however, is the way the numbers are broken out, based on the four purposes of government as stated in the preamble to the Constitution. Do you know what those purposes are? Can you provide the phrases that are missing in the following statement? We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, ............, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America. (See answer below) Usafacts.org, was created by Steve Ballmer, retired chief executive of Microsoft and now owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. According to the New York Times, after retiring from Microsoft, Ballmer decided to find out what we'd all like to know, namely what the government does with our money. As it turns out, however, on his site you can find out a lot more than just where the money goes and where it comes from. There's a lag time, of course, between what's happening and the compilation of statistics so at the time the site went live recently, most of the statistics were from 2014. Telling, nevertheless. For instance, in that year, shamefully, there were 3,629,000 referrals of child maltreatment; the average response time was 75 hours, and the estimated number of victims, 702,000. All that and much more is available in the section, "Establish Justice and Ensure Domestic Tranquility." Ballmer spent three years and $10 million, a combination of his own money and grants, to create the site with the help of academics, economists, and other researchers. There are many other sites full of facts, and it behooves us to find reliable ones and check them out from time to time. One of my goals on this site is to point out reliable sources of information as I find them, but you can do that as well as I can. Stay informed! It never ceases to amaze me how many people vote against their own self interest because they simply don't understand what the candidate they support stands for. Meanwhile, I'll post summaries of factual material under the "Issues" tab from time to time on topics of particular interest or controversy as time goes on. I make every effort to ensure that anything I claim to be a fact is, actually, that. If you find errors or want to comment, please feel free to let me know via the Contact Form below. The missing phrases (above): establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. |
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