By DONALD WILLERTON

I’m always happy during an election year. The LADailyPost, for example, has been a continuous stream of encouraging, positive descriptions of how our Congressional representatives have been productive for New Mexico. In fact, since Oct. 13 of last year, there have been (about) 108 citations of Tom Udall, 96 for Martin Heinrich, 41 for Ben Ray Lujan, 16 for Michelle Lujan Grisham, and nine or so for Steve Pierce. In every picture, the smiles are broad and the eyes are beaming.

Why start counting with Oct. 13? Because that’s when the LADailyPost reported a national poll that confirmed that, for the first time ever, the majority of American voters would, if they had the power, replace every single member in both houses of Congress. The level of political disgust had never been so high.

But, only a year later, I’ve forgotten the Veterans Administration scandal, Lois Learner and the IRS scandal, the almost $18 TRILLION dollars of debt, the Secret Service scandal, the SEIU scandal, the over 100 million people on government assistance, the flood of immigrants across the borders, the sequester, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Gaza, the lack of transparency in the White House, the Obamacare launch fiasco, the food stamp explosion, the 200 golf games, the Obama cellphones, Eric Holder, the Republican lawsuit against the President, the … well, all that stuff.

And then there’s the money that shows up in an election year. Again, adding up just the amounts reported in articles in the LADailyPost, since last Oct. 13, New Mexico representatives in Congress have delivered
(about) $440 million to the populace, with (about) $340 million coming in the last four months (which is interesting, since Congress hasn’t been in session the last two; I guess they were just holding them back for some reason). If the other 49 states are getting proportionate funds for this election season, well, everybody must just be feeling swell.

I do wish I could forget, but I cannot. I can’t get rid of the anger that America is being held hostage by the very government that was designed to protect it. I can’t help but feel that we are all being manipulated by
hidden agendas, wealthy donors, vast political machines, and value-empty politicians who are concerned only with getting reelected. I see an America where idealism and patriotism and religion and intelligence are being derided and marginalized, and political correctness is replacing authenticity, truth, and honesty. Why is America now striving for the lowest common denominator?

It’s time for a change. We need to recalibrate. Vote them all out.