More from Dennis C. Merritt www.denniscmerritt.com

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I have never been so emotionally affected by an election.  I was getting to a state of comfort, as Hillary was ahead in the polls.  Safe from Trump, I could cast my vote for Johnson/Weld hoping they make it to 5% to create a legitimate, government-funded third party for next time around.

And now the latest on the goddam emails.  And her numbers are tanking.  And she might lose Florida.  And Florida is key to a Trump victory.

OK, you say, vote for Hillary, and that’s what I’ve said I’d do in this case in the past.

How bad does that feel.  If I vote for Johnson and Trump wins, I’ll be one of those who wasted my vote and helped Trump win.

BUT, and here’s what I realized, BUT, if I vote for Hillary, and Trump wins, I’ll have wasted my vote which could have created a third party.  I’ll have voted to support the DNC to put up another candidate like Hillary next time around.  And for that to be my ‘only’ choice.

I feel much worse about the second scenario.

Why?  Well of course I’d much rather see Hillary in office than Trump, Trump is nuts.  And she would be more of the same that we’ve had.  And what is that same, to me?

That’s a government highly influenced by Wall Street.  Wall Street which caused me to personally lose $200,00o of money I earned over my life time and squirreled away for retirement.  Not money I made in the stock money, money I actually earned working.

Wall Street, which depressed housing prices so that my house in Asheville is very close to underwater.  Still isn’t worth close to what I paid for it at the peak.  I’d like to sell it and use the funds to buy something elsewhere, but it’s lack of value is standing in the way of my dreams.

So yes, I personally have been directly hurt by government the way it’s always been.

And did the government help the retirees, the people with the mortgages?  No it bailed out Wall Street.

Hillary seems very competent, and that competence will be used to continue to govern for the people pulling our financial strings.

I just can’t vote for her.  She’ll have to win this without me.

Johnson/Weld 2016, and with a better shot in 2020.

FROM DENNIS C. MERRITT: www.denniscmerritt.com

No way I’d want to see Trump as president, but he made some very good points about taxes.

He is a wealthy businessman, and took advantage of the tax code, just as every businessman, and probably most individuals do.  (How many homeowners refuse to take the mortgage interest deduction because it’s an unfair tax subsidy to the middle class, and oh, by-the-way, greatly benefits the banks lending that money?)

He makes the point that the loopholes he used were put there by the government, and they benefit the upper 1%, and the reason they’re there is because that upper 1% provides the funds that the politicians in charge need to get elected.

The implication being, is there any chance that a politician, who is part of that political establishment, will fight to change that?

This isn’t about Hillary.  It’s about any politician who is part of the current system of elected officials funded by large political contributions.

There is hope!

And it’s Facebook and it’s ilk.  Campaigns, such as Sander’s, Johnson’s, Stein’s, and, yes, Trump’s are funded in a large part by small individual donations.

Do you know what that means?  If one of those politicians gets elected, then, that politician will be beholden to his/her supporters, and they will be us!

I was very excited about Obama’s campaign.  He was funded by small donations, and those small donations gave him the support he needed to upset Hillary and win the Democratic nominations.  I gave!  I figured we owned him!

But major disappointment.  At the last minute he accepted large donations from Wall Street, to help him ensure victory over Romney.  He then failed to keep his promise to weaken the influence of lobbyists, and continued the Bush policy of bailing out the banks rather than the individuals hurt by the mortgage crisis.

Heavy sigh.

But still, there’s hope!  I give to small donation campaigns (Johnson/Weld this time).  It’s only a matter of time before we start getting politicians funded by small donations.  And they will change the laws that game the system towards the 1%.