Bring back our America

The people of Missouri are now living with higher prices on gas, groceries, and health insurance; an increasing gap between the rich and working-class; unnecessary foreign wars; hidden Epstein files; unpopular AI data centers; exaggerated culture war talk; government corruption and greed; political purging of high-ranking military officers; loss of respect from allies like Canada; cruelty towards immigrants; pardoning of Jan. 6 convicted rioters and wealthy white-collar criminals; anti-democratic Christian nationalism; attacks against freedom of speech and the press; plus a political strategy to divide us all.

Most of these problems have been caused or favored by the current Administration and the Congress it controls. Government words and actions are chaotic, dishonest, incompetent, and becoming more authoritarian. Our President talks and acts like a wannabe king.

But this November Missourians can start changing how our federal and state governments work and treat people. Vote only for politicians, REGARDLESS OF PARTY, who admit our country is off track, and who will fight back by correcting the damages done. Several actions such politicians can take are:

• Get more Americans to vote, and make it easier to do so; stop the White House from interfering with states’ Constitutional rights to run elections; oppose false and unproven accusations that elections are rigged; if they were, President Trump would not have been elected in 2024.
• Negotiate to end the Iran war, and eliminate most tariffs, both which cause prices and inflation to increase.
• Protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other so-called “socialist” programs, all of which help people and work well within our capitalist system; they are not communism as propagandized; restore SNAP benefits for hungry children; approve childcare programs; and work to keep rural hospitals open.
• Legislate to restore lower health insurance rates, especially those for the millions who have been priced out of needed Affordable Care Act coverages.
• Pass legislation so the wealthy pay their fair share of income taxes; one action is to increase the Social Security and Medicare taxable wage base limit, where today anyone making more than $184,500/year only pays 2.35% FICA tax, while those making less have to pay 7.65%. The resulting additional federal tax funds collected from raising the wage base limit to say $1,000,000 instead would also ensure the continuation of Social Security for our children and grandchildren.

The current Executive Branch and the Congress it controls have failed us. We need a change! Vote for new federal and state politicians who will take these actions, and other actions you may favor, to make our country and lives better.

Bud Bodey is a retired insurance agent, father, grandfather, and is now a Christian County master gardener and a volunteer at the Rotary Garden in Nixa.