Why I believe America needs accountability, transparency and a government that works for the many—not just the few.

Maybe that’s not the way I’m supposed to start something like this, but it’s the truth. I’ve reached a point where worrying about who might be offended, who might disagree with me or who might decide they know what kind of person I am because of my politics just isn’t as important anymore. There are things happening in this country that bother me deeply, and I don’t want to sit quietly and pretend they don’t. So, here’s My Take on the 2026 Midterms

This isn’t about hating Republicans. It isn’t about hating people who voted for 45/47 but I’ll be damned if I use his name. They have the same right to their opinions and their vote that I have to mine. What I’m talking about is something bigger than red or blue.

I’m talking about America.

When Power Becomes More Important Than People

45/47 is a convicted felon. Those aren’t insults I’m throwing at him. They’re part of the public record. He is also the president, because that’s what happened in an election.

But winning an election doesn’t make a president a king.

That’s the part I wish more people would remember. The United States was created with a constitution, three branches of government and a system of checks and balances. The people who built this country understood something about power: once you give too much of it to one person, getting it back isn’t always easy.

Congress has a job.

That job isn’t to protect a president because he happens to belong to the same political party. Republicans in Congress have a responsibility to their constituents and to the Constitution just as Democrats do. When something is wrong, somebody needs to be willing to stand up and say so, even when doing it might cost them politically.

Instead, everything I’m seeing looks like loyalty to a person and a party rather than loyalty to the country.

That’s where my concern about corruption begins.

Who Is This Country Really Working For?

Corruption doesn’t always look like somebody handing an elected official an envelope full of cash. Sometimes it looks like political power becoming so valuable that people will do anything to hold onto it. It can be money, influence, favors, access or promises made to people who are being asked for their votes.

That’s why I pay attention when I hear promises about sending Americans money.

We’ve heard him talk about returning tariff revenue to Americans. Now we hear him offering Americans $5,000 if they keep Republicans in power this midterm. More bullshit and we know it. Don’t be fooled.

Meanwhile, We’re Paying the Bills

While Washington argues about power, the rest of us are living in the real world.

Go grocery shopping and tell me you don’t notice what things cost. Fill up your car and tell me the price doesn’t matter. Sit down with the monthly bills and try to make everything fit.

That’s where politics becomes real.

We’re constantly hearing about tariffs and how other countries are going to pay for them. But the tariff itself is collected from the American importer. Businesses may absorb some of the expense and suppliers too. But in the end, you see what we have. And that’s the American family standing at the checkout counter paying the bigger portion of them.

We Are Not the One Percent

That number keeps coming back to me.

Ninety-nine percent.

Most Americans aren’t billionaires. We aren’t sitting on enormous investment portfolios or calling Washington because we need a favor. We’re working, paying taxes, buying groceries, filling our cars, paying rent or mortgages and trying to keep our heads above water.

There is nothing wrong with being successful. There is nothing wrong with making money. The problem begins when wealth buys influence and ordinary people start feeling like their voices don’t matter as much.

The needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few.

That line from Star Trek has always stuck with me because it says something incredibly simple. A government should not be structured around making life better for the people who already have everything while everyone else is told to wait.

The many matter.

The 99 percent matters.

And when government decisions start making ordinary people feel like they’re always coming last, people have every right to be angry.

Then There Is ICE

That anger isn’t limited to the economy.

I’m tired of watching ICE raids and seeing immigration enforcement become a source of fear in communities. Yes, America needs borders. Yes, immigration laws matter. A country has a right to enforce its laws.

But enforcement doesn’t require us to lose our humanity.

There are families involved in these policies as well as children. There are people who have worked here, built lives here and become part of communities. We can have a serious conversation about immigration without treating every person caught in the system as though they are somehow less human.

That’s something I don’t think we should ever lose sight of.

America can enforce its laws and still have compassion.

Those two things aren’t enemies.

I’m Tired of America’s Endless Wars

The same question comes up when I look overseas.

I’m tired of watching America pour money and resources into conflicts overseas while people here struggle to afford groceries, gas, housing and health care. There are times when America has a responsibility to stand with its allies, but that shouldn’t mean writing a blank check or sending our resources into another conflict without asking what we’re accomplishing, what it will cost and where it ends. The men and women who serve this country deserve better than becoming part of a political chess game, and American families deserve to know why their tax dollars are being spent and what we’re getting in return.

I’m not saying America should turn its back on the world.

I’m saying there should be limits.

There should be questions.

There should be a serious conversation about what America’s role is, what our objectives are and what the cost will be before we send American money, weapons or people into another conflict.

And I’m tired of America’s seemingly endless commitment to fighting for Israel being treated as something Americans aren’t allowed to question.

Israel is an ally. I understand that. But so is Canada and many more countries.

That doesn’t mean Americans have to surrender their right to ask how much we are spending, how that support is being used or whether there should be limits. Caring about Israeli civilians doesn’t require me to stop caring about Palestinian civilians. Condemning Hamas and terrorism doesn’t mean I have to stop caring about innocent people caught in the middle.

We should be capable of holding more than one thought in our heads.

The Epstein Files and the Question of Trust

Then there are the Epstein files, and this is where the question of trust becomes even harder for me.

Americans have been promised transparency. There have been releases, redactions, disputes and continuing questions about what information remains unavailable and why. People want to know what happened, who knew what, and whether everyone involved is being treated by the same standard.

I’m not asking for conspiracy theories. I’m asking for accountability.

If records cannot legally be released, explain the reason. If something can be made public, then Americans deserve to know why it isn’t. And if political officials are delaying or blocking legitimate efforts at greater transparency, that deserves scrutiny too.

The standard shouldn’t change because somebody has a powerful friend or belongs to the right political party.

Truth shouldn’t have a party affiliation.

And Then There’s My Health

For me, all of this eventually comes home in a very personal way.

My medical insurance.

I’m not frightened of politics. I’m not frightened to say what I think. What frightens me is losing the medical insurance I depend on after everything I’ve been through.

That isn’t an ideological argument when you need doctors, medication, tests, scans and treatment. You can’t tell your body to wait until Washington gets its political arguments settled. You can’t postpone being sick because your insurance situation changed.

That’s why health care matters so much to me.

And I know I’m not alone.

There are people all across this country who are one medical crisis away from financial disaster. Seniors are worried about medications. Families are worried about premiums. People with serious illnesses are wondering what happens if they lose coverage.

For those people, health care isn’t a campaign slogan.

It’s survival.

That’s the Tip of the Iceberg

There’s simply too much to cover in one article about why I’m voting Democratic, but here’s a list of some of the things I haven’t even touched on.

January 6 and the pardons. The attack on the Capitol wasn’t just another political disagreement. It was an attack on the peaceful transfer of power, and I have a hard time accepting that people who participated in it should simply walk away without consequences.

Attacks on the federal workforce. Thousands of federal employees have been pushed out or caught in massive restructuring efforts. These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. They’re people who provide services Americans depend on every day.

The dismantling of USAID. America’s foreign-aid programs have provided food, medicine, disaster assistance and humanitarian support around the world. Whatever you think of government spending, I don’t believe compassion should be treated as waste.

Environmental protections. Rolling back regulations designed to protect clean air, clean water and public health concerns me. We don’t get a second planet when we damage the one we have.

The Department of Education. The push to dramatically reduce or dismantle the federal Department of Education raises questions about what happens to programs supporting students, teachers and schools, particularly those that already struggle to get the resources they need.

Medicaid and food assistance. I’ve talked about my own health insurance, but millions of Americans depend on Medicaid and programs like SNAP to survive. Cutting access to those programs isn’t an abstract budget decision when you’re the person wondering how you’re going to afford your next meal or medical appointment.

Birthright citizenship. Trying to change the longstanding understanding of birthright citizenship through executive action troubles me because citizenship shouldn’t depend on the political mood of whoever occupies the White House.

Political retaliation. I worry about the growing willingness to use government power against people, institutions and organizations perceived as political enemies. Government shouldn’t be a weapon used against Americans because they disagree with the president.

The rule of law. This may be the biggest one of all. Laws and constitutional principles have to apply to everyone—including presidents, members of Congress, wealthy donors and political allies. If we lose that standard, everything else becomes easier to justify.

This Is What I’m Angry About

Put all of these things together and that’s when I get angry.

The feeling that ordinary Americans are constantly being asked to sacrifice, wait, trust and understand while the people with the most wealth and political influence seem to have a completely different set of rules.

That’s not the country I want.

And I don’t think I’m wrong for saying so.

What Happens in the Midterms Matters

That’s why the 2026 midterms matter.

This isn’t simply about whether someone has a red sign or a blue sign in their yard. It’s about who we send to Congress and whether those people are willing to do the job they were elected to do.

A president needs checks.

A Congress needs courage.

The American people need representatives who aren’t afraid to challenge their own party.

That’s particularly important to me when I look at the Republican members of Congress who have chosen to stand with 45/47 rather than stand up to him. I’m not asking every Republican to become a Democrat. I’m asking them to remember that their oath is bigger than him.

The same standard would apply if the president were a Democrat.

Power has to be questioned. Government has to be accountable.

That’s democracy.

I Still Have Hope

Here’s the part I don’t want anyone to miss.

For all of my anger, I haven’t given up on America. If I had, none of this would matter to me.

I wouldn’t care about the price of groceries. I wouldn’t care about health insurance. ICE wouldn’t bother me. Wars wouldn’t bother me. Tariffs wouldn’t bother me. Corruption wouldn’t bother me. The Epstein files wouldn’t bother me. Congress wouldn’t bother me.

The reason I’m angry is because I still believe we can do better and Americans can disagree without becoming enemies.

I still believe Democrats and Republicans can sit across a table from each other and remember that they are Americans before they are members of a political party.

I believe Congress can find a backbone and ordinary people have more power than they realize.

Most of all I believe our vote matters.

Why I’m Voting Democrat

So, yes, I’m going to vote Democratic in the 2026 midterms.

That doesn’t mean I think Democrats are perfect. They aren’t. They’ve made mistakes, and I’ll criticize them when I think they’re wrong.

My vote isn’t a declaration that one political party is always right.

It’s a decision about direction.

What I believe we need is a Congress willing to provide a real check on presidential power, regardless of which party occupies the White House. When questions of corruption arise, there needs to be accountability instead of political protection, and when Americans ask for answers, transparency shouldn’t be replaced with more political games. The people struggling with the cost of groceries, gas, housing and everything else shouldn’t feel forgotten while Washington argues over power. And health care needs to be treated for what it really is—a necessity of life, not a bargaining chip that can be used whenever politicians need leverage.

Most of all, I want the government to remember that it works for the people. Not the fucking president. Nor the billionaires, corporations or political parties.

So Here I Am

I don’t care where this lands.

If you disagree with me, you have every right to say so. If you’re angry with me, that’s okay too. I’m not asking you to surrender your beliefs just because I’ve expressed mine.

It matters when food and gas keep getting more expensive. When tariffs find their way into the prices we pay, and when politicians make promises about money that ordinary Americans are counting on. It matters when people ask for transparency and don’t believe they’re getting the whole truth. It matters when families live in fear because of immigration enforcement, when America becomes involved in another conflict overseas, and when billions of dollars are being committed abroad while people here are struggling to afford the basics.

And it damn sure matters when someone like me wonders whether I’ll be able to keep the medical insurance I depend on.

Those aren’t political abstractions.

They’re people’s lives.

Mine included.

If you’ve enjoyed what you read here, please subscribe to my email list at the bottom of the page. Consider making a small donation to help keep my website afloat at JustMeRic.

And check out my Amazon Creator Storefront. There you’ll see some of the awesome purchases I’ve made and recommend. Yes, I earn a small commission when you shop there.

You can also find all of my sites in one place on Linktree.

Real Talk