The Gantt Report, By Lucius Gantt
No disrespect to Independent Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders but I disagree with his suggestion that all “billionaires” are basically alike and that wealthy, qualified Americans should not be allowed to participate in Presidential elections.
I say political candidate money doesn’t care who contributes it, doesn’t care who receives it and doesn’t worry about who benefits from the dollars.
Well, Bernie Sanders suggests that it’s a bad thing for the electoral process if so-called billionaires invest their own money to promote their own attempt to win an elected office.
Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Oprah Winfrey are said to be billionaires. Are they bad people? Would Oprah be a bad candidate for President?
Perhaps, but not necessarily because she has a lot of money.
Bad people make bad Presidents!
To suggest that all billionaires are like President Donald Trump is ludicrous and ridiculous.
Bernie rants and raves because one of his opponents, former New York Mayor and wealthy businessman Mike Bloomberg, has a ton of money and has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on campaign advertising.
Democratic Presidential candidates should be promoting themselves and their plans and their proposals and not taking pot shots at each other.
Don’t let Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg or any other Presidential candidate trick you, trap you, hoodwink you or bamboozle you with lofty ideas about Medicare for all, free college and reduction of educational debts.
Government programs cost money and Presidents don’t make or pass appropriation bills. Congress passes appropriation bills. The President signs or vetoes money bills, unless you’re like Trump who takes money from designated sources, like the military, and uses it to build useless walls.
Remember, Bernie Sanders is an Independent running for President in the Democratic Presidential Primaries. Even if Sanders is victorious in the primary elections, will Democrats and/or Republicans in Congress vote to pass all of Bernie’s legislative proposals?
I think not. That won’t happen in a Hollywood movie!
Don’t believe the candidate hype. Candidates will always say what they think voters want to hear.
Usually, it will take substantial tax increases to fund the grand ideas proposed by Presidential candidates. I don’t mind paying higher taxes for better health care but you may not want to pay the government another dime to do anything without knowing exactly what you will get in return.
Another thing is how Presidential candidates go back 10, 20 or 30 years to find something distasteful that their opponents may have done to use.
Black people have to understand that all “major” candidates in the major political parties are in the loop.
People you love like Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar have prosecuted African Americans that shouldn’t have been charged. None of the Presidential candidates have hired Blacks in decision making and purchasing positions. None support reparations for Black families that were victimized by America’s slave trade. All Presidential candidates are in the loop. At the end of the day they will endorse each other but they won’t endorse their Black supporters.
Candidates care more about getting elected than they care about you.
My advice to you is take your time when evaluating candidates. Historically, Presidential campaigns have been permeated with false promises to African American citizens.
Candidates that look good from afar are oftentimes far from looking good.
Too many times we’ve had to go to voting booths to chose a fox or a wolf and no mater who we choose, Black people still end up in the canine dog house!
Time will tell the difference between Presidential contenders and Presidential pretenders!
And, FYI, only two candidates that I know have spent money on advertising with Black media outlets at the time this column was written, Donald Trump and Mike Bloomberg. Others are merely talking loud and saying nothing about how much they love Black voters.
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.