“Yes, I can join you immediately, but if you need Linda, it will take her a few days to wrap things up at home.”
“That will be fine. We’re headed to your hometown, Chicago. I think that would be the perfect place to introduce you as my running mate. Apparently you’re well known there.”
“Well, I certainly am among the prison population.”
I liked this guy immediately.
“No one outside of Chicago knows you, and the only way that is going to change is for you to jump in with both feet.”
Ben handed John the same stack of paperwork that I had been given on my first day. “Read this --- particularly the part about prison reform. You’re going to give the address tomorrow night. Since you were a DA, this should be right down your alley.”
I certainly hoped he would understand the stuff better than I did.
John’s eyes grew wide, “Tomorrow? Really?”
Ben nodded.
“Then I’d better get to work!”
The venue for John’s coming-out-party in Chicago was the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
Paul Ford had leaked the news that there would be an important announcement and, as had been the case for the past few weeks, the place was packed.
When I had first joined the campaign, Ben Foster was just a blip on the screen, but his message of reform had captured the interest of the public and the attempts on his life had made him a cult hero of sorts. Probably not the outcome that his detractors had hoped for.
Gallup polls had shown Ben gradually creeping up on the Republican and Democratic candidates. The latest poll gave Ben 20% of the voters with the other two guys running neck and neck.
I got the same goose bumps that I always did when I heard Paul bellow, “Please welcome Benjamin Franklin Foster, the next President of the United States!”
Ben took the stage and John waited in the wings.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know, I am the candidate for change and reform. A few weeks ago, I promised to sweep the graft and corruption from the FDA, the CDC and other government bureaus. Tonight, I will demonstrate to you that my promise is more than just political rhetoric.
“Tonight, I will introduce to you the man that will be my vice president. Unlike previous administrations whose VP’s are nothing more than figureheads and tragically, have become fodder for late night TV comedians, my vice president will have a very important role in my administration --- he will be the new sheriff in the city of Washington whose job it will be to root out those who have taken the bribes and perks from the giant corporations and put the American public at risk.
“So my message tonight to the bureaucratic fat cats who have become pawns of big business is that your days are numbered.
“With ten years service in the District Attorney’s office right here in Cook County and with ten years service as a Director in the FDA, the man I am about to introduce certainly has the qualifications to clean up the mess in Washington.
“The man I am about to introduce is certainly no stranger to the citizens of Chicago. His tenure in your city as District Attorney earned him the reputation as being tough on crime.
“Please help me welcome your home town hero and the next Vice President of the United States, John Little!”
The crowd roared their approval as John took the stage. The two joined hands and lifted them high in the air as the audience applauded.
This was indeed a defining moment in Ben Foster’s bid for the presidency.
When the applause died down, Ben spoke again, “Just so that you will know that I mean what I say when I tell you that John will have an important role in my administration, John will be addressing you this evening. Tonight’s message is no different than any of our previous messages --- it is about change --- change and reform, and I ask you to keep an open mind.
“Our current system is flawed and not working. Change is never easy. Change is often like pruning a bush that has grown unwieldy and cumbersome. The cutting and reshaping often looks harsh and excessive, but is essential to the growth and health of the bush.
“Please give your attention and support to the next vice president, John Little.”
John came to the podium amid another round of applause.
“When I was your District Attorney, I gained a reputation as a ‘law and order’ DA. During my ten years, hundreds of offenders were taken from the streets of Chicago and placed where they could no longer be a threat to society.
“While this was the appropriate thing to do for the welfare of our community, unfortunately it contributed to another growing problem in our country --- the conditions in our prison system.
“Consider this, with 2 million inmates, the U.S. already has the largest prison population in the world. Even China, which we consistently condemn as anti-worker and totalitarian, has a half-million fewer prisoners. With only 5 percent of the world's population, the United States has a quarter of the world's 8 million prisoners. Over the last decade, the prison population has increased by 840,000 and some experts believe that the number of people locked up in the U.S. could double in the next 10 years.
“The cost of incarcerating these offenders is staggering, running in the billions annually.
“An example is the State of California. The state spends just over $50,000 to house an inmate in prison for a year and at the same time just over $7,000 a year is spent educating their children.
“Even with these staggering figures, our prisons are overcrowded and in some cases are not even providing the basic necessities of life for the prisoners.
“The answer to this dilemma will require the citizens of the United States to change their views of the prison system. For most of us, we feel a sense of relief when we read that an offender has been sentenced to prison, and trusting that the person will no longer be a threat to society, we go on with our daily lives thankful that we no longer have to deal with the problem. But the problem is still there --- we just choose to ignore it.
“If there is to be reform in our prison system, we must embrace it and view it as a resource rather than an ugly tie that our aunt gave us for Christmas which we hide away in the bottom drawer of our dresser.
“Billions are spent housing prisoners and other than getting these people off the streets, there is absolutely no return on that investment.
“Able bodied men spend their days sitting in 6 x 12 cells when they could be making a contribution to society.
“Let’s put these men and women to work!
“Yes, I know that there are opponents to the notion of a prisoner workforce, but as yet, these detractors have not come up with a better solution.
“As a District Attorney, my interpretation of the law is that when people break the law, they owe a debt to society. In our present system, they are not repaying this debt but adding to it to the tune of fifty grand a year!
“I have heard the arguments against a prison workforce, one being that we cannot force a prisoner to work. That’s true. We certainly will not take a whip to them if they refuse to cooperate, but consider this, if you buy a car or a house and incur debt, what happens if you don’t make your payments --- interest is added to the balance of your loan. These people owe a debt to society and if they refuse to pay, then the interest penalty will be one day added to their sentence for every day they refuse to work. Fair is fair. I love the statement from an old TV show, ‘Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time’.
“Another argument is that a prison workforce will take jobs away from men the workplace. If that is the case, then why, when our country is mired in double-digit unemployment, is there work that is not being done?
“A few weeks ago, I heard Ben talk about putting the unemployed and able-bodied welfare recipients to work in our cities repairing houses and cleaning vacant lots. There is so much of that to do that we could keep thousands busy for years to come.
“Please don’t envision the old chain gangs of decades ago. There are safe and hum
ane ways to make this work.
“We have parks and rivers and highways that are being neglected and the people that could help maintain them are sitting in tiny cells.
“Another saying that I love, I see on billboards advertising the United Negro College Fund, 'A mind is a terrible thing to waste.' Well, to me, a human being is a terrible thing to waste and that’s exactly what we are doing when we lock these people up and throw away the key.
“When the prison population becomes a productive part of our society, money will be available to build more facilities geared toward the work program, relieving the overcrowding we have today.
“It’s a win-win situation.
“Ben Foster has promised reform and change, but you can’t have change and maintain the status quo. If you like the system the way it is right now, then vote for one of the other guys, but for the first time in a very long time, you have a viable choice. You have a candidate that is willing to break some eggs so that we can have a beautiful omelet.
“Are you ready to break an egg with us today?”
The crowd rose and applauded.
Ben and I had switched places while John was speaking and I joined him onstage taking his hand and lifting it high in the air.
I have to admit that the moment was exhilarating. It was something that few people ever experience and I was glad that I was part of it.
CHAPTER 13
The next few weeks flew by in a whirlwind of activity.
We cris-crossed the country with Ben and John giving speeches in hotels, convention centers, football fields and shopping malls.
Ben was one of those enigmas that you see occasionally --- you either loved him or hated him, but you certainly couldn’t ignore him.
His supporters heralded his unconventional ideas for change and reform and his detractors labeled him a wild-eyed radical that would lead our country into ruin.
His most outspoken critics were from opposite ends of the economic spectrum, the very rich and the very poor.
The wealthy, fearing that their bottom line would be put in jeopardy by his reform measures, spoke out in radio and TV interviews and paid for expensive newspaper ads giving reasons why his radical ideas were impractical and just wouldn’t work.
Welfare recipients and some of the unemployed were outraged to think that they might actually have to do something to earn the government checks that they cashed every month.
When word of Ben’s prisoner workforce made its rounds through the prison system, it found both detractors and supporters.
Some prisoners were thrilled to have the opportunity to leave the confines of their cells while others told Ben to stick his stupid idea where the sun didn’t shine.
Ben’s greatest support came from the middle class and that thrilled him to no end. One of his greatest fears was that the hard working middle class was rapidly disappearing, and that the gap between the haves and the have-nots was widening.
The rich seemed to be getting richer and the number of people on the public dole was growing every month.
His reforms were aimed at strengthening the average American and rewarding the work ethic that had made our country great.
Ben jumped 5% in the Gallup poll the week after John Little was announced as his running mate and two weeks before the election, he was carrying 30% of the vote and trailing the other two guys by just a few percentage points.
On October 19th, Ben was in Florida attacking the U.S. Tax System.
As usual, he didn’t pull any punches in his on-going quest for reform.
I had been tied up with some administrative stuff and Ben was well into his speech when I arrived.
“The U.S. Tax Code started with 504 pages in 1939 and has ballooned to 17,000 pages of tax regulations today. That translates into 5.5 million words, many of which are inconsistent with each other.
“Billions of dollars are spent each year on tax lawyers and accountants just to figure out how to interpret the darn thing. The sad part is that the IRS doesn’t even understand it. In 2008, a survey was done which revealed that IRS employees answered your questions wrong 10% of the time, and when they make a mistake, guess who pays the penalty ---- you do!
“It is so complicated that 59% of all Americans have to hire a professional to file their return!
“The tax code MUST be simplified. My pledge to you is that----”
Just then Paul Ford burst into the room waving a piece of paper.
“Whooopie! We’ve made the big time at last. They won’t be able to ignore us now!”
“Really, John.” I said. “Just what are you so excited about?”
“Ben has been invited to debate the other two candidates on national TV!
“We get to do a real, live presidential debate!”
This was exciting news indeed.
The Democratic incumbent and the Republican challenger had debated several times during the previous months, but Ben had been noticeably absent.
The other two candidates had been content to go after each other, totally ignoring Ben, hoping that, like a bad cold, he would just go away.
But Ben didn’t go away.
In fact, as his numbers in the polls grew, it became increasingly difficult to ignore him.
He was now no longer the ugly stepsister left at home without a date --- he had been invited to the prom.
The other two candidates had protested vehemently about Ben’s inclusion at this final debate before the election, but the public outcry had been so great that the networks had refused to broadcast it unless he was included.
I hated having to go out and shake hands. I wanted to be in the room when Ben heard the news, but duty called.
When I returned, the atmosphere in the room was jubilant and everyone was gobbling big pieces of chocolate cake.
Ben sure knew how to celebrate.
Paul summed up the evening when he said dryly, “Well, you’ve pissed off the bureaucrats in the FDA and the CDC, the IRS, thousands of welfare recipients, and half of the prison population. You might as well piss off the president too.”
The debate was to take place at Harvard University since both of the major party candidates were Harvard graduates.
The atmosphere on the campus on the appointed evening seemed more like a three-ring circus than a presidential debate.
I had thought that security was tight when our little group traveled, but now that the president and his main challenger were in town, it looked like the secret service outnumbered the students on campus.
As the magical hour approached, everyone in Ben’s entourage was on pins and needles --- everyone that is, except Ben.
His demeanor was calm and reflective.
Win or lose, his appearance on national TV with the two major party candidates was the culmination of months of hard work and a personal victory, but more than that, it was a victory for the American people who, at last, had a viable alternative to the candidates that had been shoved down their throats by the powerful political machines.
I personally saw it as a major victory for Lady Justice who, up till now, had not only been blindfolded but hog-tied as well by the political system.
The tone of the proceedings reminded me of the movie, Revenge of the Nerds, where the jocks, the cool guys on campus, ruled the day and the poor little geeks were pushed into the background.
It wasn’t difficult to see who were the jocks and who was the geek.
As was typical in previous presidential debates, an MOU or Memorandum of Understanding had been negotiated prior to the debate outlining how the event was to proceed.
It was no surprise that Ben had little input into the process and was basically handed the Memorandum that the two cool guys had negotiated.
Paul Ford was furious, but Ben shrugged it off saying, “Don’t sweat it. I’ll handle it. Everything will work out just fine.”
The format that had been negotiated was different than in previous debates where there had only been two participants.
Each candidate, beginning with the president, was to have an opening question that he could deliver to any of the other candidates.
It became obvious very quickly that the intent of the Republican and Democrat was to quickly discredit the upstart and put him in his place so that they could spend the rest of their time attacking one another.
The president fired the first volley, “Mr. Foster --- actually I have to call you that because you have never been a governor, a senator or a congressman. With absolutely no political experience other than as mayor of a small town in Montana and with no law degree, why should the American people think that you have the qualifications to lead the most powerful nation in the world?”
Ben’s reply cut right to the chase, “Thank you, Mr. President, for pointing out to the voters that unlike you and the governor, I am neither a lawyer nor a politician.
“In fact, if you were to stop the man on the street and ask him what were the two most distrusted and reviled professions, lawyer and politician would be at the top of their list. Those two positions are the fodder for countless jokes. A voter sent me an email saying, ‘How can you tell if a lawyer or politician is lying?’ The answer was, 'Their lips are moving.'
“While both you and the governor are proud to bear the titles of lawyer and politician, I, for one, am thankful that I do not.
“And for the record, Mr. President, nowhere in the Constitution is there a requirement that a candidate running for president hold a law degree --- unless, of course, you have made that a law by presidential decree without judicial or congressional debate or a vote of the people. You do seem very adept at doing that.”
Ben ended his remarks with a polite smile, but when the camera panned to the president there was an entirely different expression.
The Republican took the next shot, “Mr. Foster, there are many issues that the voters must consider this year and you have been silent on some of the more important ones. The voters have the right to know what your position is on gay marriage. Are you pro abortion or do you support 'right-to-life?' Are you in favor of gun control? Please address these issues.”
Lady Justice and the Candidate (Lady Justice, Book 9) Page 11
