Ohmigod, Troll, we agree on something! It was bound to ahppen one of these days.

With few exceptions, politicians are wealthy people who have typically been born wealthy. That's because getting nominated for an election requires personal connections. And that's because getting elected takes tons of money. And that's because many voters are sheep who just show up and vote for the names they recognize, making advertising more important than issues to a campaign.

Er, that's a lot of issues to tackle to clean up the political process. Where to start?

I'm not against rich people or think that we're ever going to get rid of poor people. But it seems unconscionable in a country as rich as ours that we have people dying of malnutrition, dying of exposure because they have to sleep in a park, unable to afford basic medical care, or having to make the choice between buying their kids' medication and buying their kids food. It's wrong.

I don't think private or religious charity is the answer because it just doesn't get the job done. No matter how well-meaning and well-organized the charity, they just never have enough donations to service all the people they need to. And we'll cut back on government programs of aid -- ones that work -- yet they'll raise my property taxes to help pay for the 24% pay raise the city council voted themselves when they are already making well above the average salary.

It's wrong. Period. We are not some third world country that has a hard time feeding anyone -- we throw out huge amounts of food and plow under fields for market reasons. Basic food, shelter and medicine is something we CAN provide for every citizen. It's do-able, and wouldn't cost half as much as we've spent on bombing empty Afghani mountains this year. But again -- where to start?

Why is there no War on Hunger? No War on Homelessness? War on Mental Illness? War on People Dying of Perfectly Preventable Diseases That Couldn't Afford a Doctor?

Is it because no one gets rich off off distributing second-hand clothing to folks who can't even afford Goodwill?

/rant off