A recent New York Times article stated that the upcoming 2024 election is not about the standard issues, like inflation or immigration, but is instead about the fundamental basis of our democracy, the smooth transition of power, which we hold so dear.

I don’t think so. If that were true there would be no way that Donald Trump would be a viable candidate for that election. But he is.

For many people in this country, that smooth transition of power means nothing. Consider three examples.

Imagine the family which dreamt of getting a home, but didn’t have sufficient income or credit history to qualify for a mortgage. The bank told them, not to worry, we’ll give you a mortgage, but because you’re financially strapped, we’ll charge you more interest than normal. (That’s sub-prime.) The fact that they might not be able to pay didn’t bother the bank, since they were going to sell the mortgage to another, larger bank. When this all collapsed, did Congress then help these people keep their homes? No. It bailed out the banks.

Maybe that same family had trouble meeting monthly bills, and relied on credit cards for short-term loans. The credit card companies were more than happy with this, and charged them, people who could least afford it, up to 30% interest. Elizabeth Warren went to Congress and said we need to put a stop to this usurious practice. Congress said no, the credit card companies are our friends.

Maybe that family doesn’t have someone working in a corporate job with a comfortable health insurance policy. Yet, a serious illness strikes in that family. It’s likely those medical bills would lead that family to bankruptcy, as it has so many. This supposedly racist country elected a Black man. Why? Because he said he was going to fix health care, except, he knew the president doesn’t make the laws, so he asked Congress to give us either nationalized health (a progressive idea) or individual free markets (a libertarian idea). He said it didn’t matter, just get us out of this corporate group insurance nightmare.

Did Congress do that? No. Instead it supported the most lucrative health care system in the world, and passed a law that said they wouldn’t be as bad, but still a lot of people would be uninsured, and, get this, if someone didn’t like the new insurance, they would be forced to buy insurance anyway (the mandate).

This congressional non-support for the people has continued uninterrupted through the Reagan/Bush (Republican) years, the Clinton (Democrat) years, the Bush (Republican) years, and the Obama (Democrat) years. Do you think the families mentioned above hold the peaceful transition of power between those administrations dear?

Or do you think they might feel the system is rigged against them? Do you think if the choices in the next election are between protecting our democracy and an individual who says the system is rigged, who says he understands because the system is rigged against him as well, and who promises to fix our government by strengthening the power or the president ...

The issue is a Congress that is filled with individuals who are beholden to the big money that funds their campaigns. If we don’t fix Congress, if Congress doesn’t change to work for the people, we’re likely to see the people use democracy to elect an authoritarian leader who promises to get around the law to get things done.

As I wrote this I just saw some posts from Elizabeth Warren. She is, exactly, working on legislation to get the money and influence out of Congress, to reform Congress where it works for the people. This is good stuff no matter which side of the political spectrum you are on.

Dennis Merritt lives in Shelburne Falls

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