The 2010 elections, get out and vote!!

Get out there and vote, but first learn about the candidates even the ones you thought you knew, check their backgrounds, check their 'other' jobs, you might be surprised at what 'vested' intesterests some have and dont give me crap about "There is no one to vote for!"
There should be at least one candidate you could vote for, you just need to do the research first, there might be a great independent guy that you have not noticed, if not then get someone to run for MP, I bet you know someone who could do the job?
And I dont want to hear "Whats the point? He will never win!" FSS vote with your conscience, not because YOU want to win, voting for someone else 'because he wont win' is a pathetic excuse, if everyone who thought that, actually voted for who they liked, it would make a massive difference. It would also send a big message to the current incumbents.


Dont abandon your current MP though, if he does a good job, he may be Labour or Tory but if he does a good job, is it worth dumping him just for a protest vote? Do tell him you dont like the party politics, do tell him his party leader is a twat, make sure he knows you are only voting for him locally and not for his party.

We need to see how to change the way we look at our politicians, recent scandals about expenses (Funny that no one noticed when I was banging on about it in Feb 2008) the cushy lives and jobs after they leave, are all starting to make us sit up and think whats going on here? Politics used to be a vocation, now its just another job, is that the way we want politicians to see it? As just another job? All parties are starting to look the same, there are few differences now between the main two parties
But the general public will still wont make an effort, they wont get out there and question their MP's, oh some will, but not enough to make a difference, it is that lazyness that has always worried me, some dont even bother to vote, is this because they really believe it makes no difference or is it, as I believe, that they just dont care, as long as their little bubble carries on making their lives comfortable. People wont vote for a change that will inconvinience them or make them uncomfortable, never mind that the patches; that the current politicians are papering over the cracks with, wont last forever, at some point we have to a take a big fall to cure the ills of society. But we dont want it to be us, so lets keep pushing it back for our children to deal with it.
We have become a society of wasters, a society of selfish people who have lost the feeling of community, if we dont deal with it, our children will have too. So lets get out there and check out the candidates, lets take a good look at what we can do and what we can change, lets get together and discuss it, for we might find that the guy we wanted to for, but we belived was a waste of time cos he wont get in, is the guy we ALL wanted to vote for.

Make an effort for once, learn about the people who will be running your lives, with your money, before its too late (again).

A few thought on MP's expense's

Nearly everyone fiddles their expenses, this is to try and claw back a bit of the extortionate amount that the government takes from our hard earned money, now most will snatch back a few quid, but some corporations have such big lawyers who know the tax system inside out, that they pay virutally no tax at all. The MP's that have 'fiddled' their expense statements are only playing the game, BUT they fixed the rules, THEY know the law and had probably passed on the info to each other on how to get what they can.
Most of the claims that have surfaced are indefensible, this means they have commited fraud in my eyes. So what should be done about this? We cant just sack every MP, chaos would reign and leave the door open for some even more unscrupulous demons to creep in.

Firstly any MP who has blantantly taken the piss should resign and put himself up for re-election, secondly we should take a long hard look at any MP who has been involved. Thirdlywe need a review of the tax laws/rules as they stand, I would suggest that we have a 10% single tax band across the board, EVERYONE pays 10%, companies, big corporations, no expections, you pay on any earned income. Then disallow any expenses, you cant claim for anything!
But then you are only paying 10% in tax, why would you need to claim anything back? Think about it, how much it simplify the tax system, take a look at how much tax some of the big corporations pay in tax after allowances, dont take my word for it, look it up some pay 0% tax.
I think this is a viable idea that should be looked at... and I'm sure some more knowledgable people will shoot me down if my figures dont add up, but maybe this or a similar way of dealing with taxes would simplify the issues.