BE INSPIRED, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Yes, I am one of those liberal optimists from the nineteen-sixties. But I now realize that dreaming of a perfect future does not help us here in the present. We are living in a world of fake messages about the economy, the environment and the character of our fellow Americans.

The fake economy is being pumped up by trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the rich. Trump just proposed another trillion to be paid for by over-burdened future taxpayers. With corporate tax breaks, stock buy-backs and monetary easing, the fake economy looks great. Unemployment rates are at all time lows due to all time low wages. Central banks around the world are buying American stocks. (https://lenews.ch/2018/04/04/the-swiss-national-bank-owns-more-a-class-facebook-shares-than-zuckerberg/) These fake stock prices will soon crash. "One trigger of a recession in 2019 or 2020 is a collapse in international commerce due to President Trump’s trade wars. That’s possible if China negotiations go south, ruined by competing egos and economic ignorance." (Forbes) Trump is playing his fiddle while America burns.

Our fragile environment cannot withstand our continued onslaught of burning fossil fuels and destroying our natural resources like forests, animals, water, air and land. We have the technology to transition to a sustainable environment that could save our planet and its natural beauty and resources. The immeasurable devastation to our coastlines due to climate change could break America.

The slanderous characterization of immigrants as being rapists and criminals is pure propaganda. This blatant attempt to divide us is actually working. Immigrants have always been the lifeblood of this country. They helped build our railroads, our skyscrapers, our space program and our agricultural dominance. Remember that all our ancestors were once immigrants.

Some people ask, "What makes America great?" The answer is in our Preamble to the Constitution:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, 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, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

We the people must stand together striving for a more perfect union. We have different beliefs, but we share the same values in our constitution. We have tried to establish justice for all. We are trying to promote the general welfare.

We can stop this downward economic spiral. We can secure the blessings of liberty to our posterity by being good stewards of the Earth. We can insure domestic tranquility by reforming our immigration laws in a more humanitarian way.

And one of the things we can do today is run for office. I urge you to experience this hard-won privilege of your citizenship. Start small in your local community. Run for Mayor or City Council. You can file at your local city office between June 3rd and June 7th. You can apply these constitutional values in your community.

Here is a simple message: one person can make a difference. That one person who thinks he or she is the only concerned citizen in the room can make a difference because he or she is not the only concerned citizen in the room. And they’re not the only person thinking about progress.

Chuck Goode, Chair, Washington County Democratic Party of Utah

chuckgoode@gmail.com 435-229-8950 DemsUt.com

CALL FOR CANDIDATES - Let your voice be heard! Many local incumbents are running unopposed. If you would like to file for any Local City Elections, the filing deadline is between June 3rd and June 7th, 2019. In St. George City Council- There are 3 positions (Ed Baca, Betty Arial, and Jimmie Hughes )-up for reelection. /$50 filing fee. $20,000 /Year salary. Ivins - Has 3 positions available. $25 filing fee/Keri 634-7705 Santa Clara has 3 position available./2 unopposed/ Chris 673-6712 New Harmony has 3 positions available./Doneva 590-0268 All Positions for each city need to be filed between June 3rd and June 7th.