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The Water Cooler
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Is our political system obselete? And if so, what's the alternative?
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<blockquote data-quote="Glocktogo" data-source="post: 2579901" data-attributes="member: 1132"><p>And this thread isn't about slavery or civil rights, so take that discussion somewhere else please. <img src="/images/smilies/smile.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>The fix? First, eliminate money from the political process. I don't mean the bogus campaign finance reform that was McCain/Feingold, I mean take ALL the money out. Let's say you want to contribute to the political process. You send your donations into the independent local, state or federal commission and it goes into a fund. Based on the registered voter population of the district for a particular political office, require a percentage of signatures on a ballot access petition (don't make it prohibitive, just enough to assure you have a valid, viable candidate). Once your signatures have been verified, you're assigned an amount of campaign funds that is equal to any other verified candiadate for the office. That's all you get to spend. Campaign funding may not come from any source other than the candidate. Any excess funds will be turned over to the general fund to go towards reduction of the taxpayer burden. </p><p></p><p>For the Founding Fathers, serving in office was considered a hardship in service to the country. That was time spent away from their businesses, farms or jobs. That was lost wages. These days you frequently see candidates spending more money than they will make for the entire term of the elected office. Shouldn't that raise a serious question? What's their motive for securing that office? It damn sure isn't in service to their constituents!</p><p></p><p>Next you need to eliminate lobbyists. One citizen, one vote, one voice. If you're the CEO of a business, you should receive the exact same consideration as the guy making minimum wage working for you when it comes to running the government. You can articulate that your concerns are the most imortant, but you shouldn't be buying a louder voice to bully the elected representative into seeing your needs above everyone else's. You should have a voice, not your money. If you can convince others of the merits of your case, THAT will magnify your input on the process. </p><p></p><p>After that, we need to institute transparency in government. If there's any critical use of technology, this is it. Every elected office in government should have a public access website, with optional email alerts. All the websites should be regulated, simple, functional and have identical layouts. That way it wouldn't matter whether you're checking on your city counselor, county commissioner, state house representative or member of the U.S. congress. You log in and immediately find what you're looking for. Every vote should be posted within one business day, regardless of whether it's a committee or floor vote. Have a comments box next to each vote for the elected offical to state why they voted the way they did, if they choose to do so. There should be a section listing each bill, along with information on where the official stands (author, co-author, sponsor, for, against, etc.). Each website should have a section where the registered voter (with authentication feature) has the option to comment as a constituent. There should be a separate area for non-constituent comments.</p><p></p><p>Excessive and undue influence in politics has crippled the system. The power must be returned to the individual citizen. Most don't want it and that's fine. Those of us who do want it, should have it. There's no excuse for the mess we have now. <img src="/images/smilies/frown.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" data-shortname=":(" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Glocktogo, post: 2579901, member: 1132"] And this thread isn't about slavery or civil rights, so take that discussion somewhere else please. :) The fix? First, eliminate money from the political process. I don't mean the bogus campaign finance reform that was McCain/Feingold, I mean take ALL the money out. Let's say you want to contribute to the political process. You send your donations into the independent local, state or federal commission and it goes into a fund. Based on the registered voter population of the district for a particular political office, require a percentage of signatures on a ballot access petition (don't make it prohibitive, just enough to assure you have a valid, viable candidate). Once your signatures have been verified, you're assigned an amount of campaign funds that is equal to any other verified candiadate for the office. That's all you get to spend. Campaign funding may not come from any source other than the candidate. Any excess funds will be turned over to the general fund to go towards reduction of the taxpayer burden. For the Founding Fathers, serving in office was considered a hardship in service to the country. That was time spent away from their businesses, farms or jobs. That was lost wages. These days you frequently see candidates spending more money than they will make for the entire term of the elected office. Shouldn't that raise a serious question? What's their motive for securing that office? It damn sure isn't in service to their constituents! Next you need to eliminate lobbyists. One citizen, one vote, one voice. If you're the CEO of a business, you should receive the exact same consideration as the guy making minimum wage working for you when it comes to running the government. You can articulate that your concerns are the most imortant, but you shouldn't be buying a louder voice to bully the elected representative into seeing your needs above everyone else's. You should have a voice, not your money. If you can convince others of the merits of your case, THAT will magnify your input on the process. After that, we need to institute transparency in government. If there's any critical use of technology, this is it. Every elected office in government should have a public access website, with optional email alerts. All the websites should be regulated, simple, functional and have identical layouts. That way it wouldn't matter whether you're checking on your city counselor, county commissioner, state house representative or member of the U.S. congress. You log in and immediately find what you're looking for. Every vote should be posted within one business day, regardless of whether it's a committee or floor vote. Have a comments box next to each vote for the elected offical to state why they voted the way they did, if they choose to do so. There should be a section listing each bill, along with information on where the official stands (author, co-author, sponsor, for, against, etc.). Each website should have a section where the registered voter (with authentication feature) has the option to comment as a constituent. There should be a separate area for non-constituent comments. Excessive and undue influence in politics has crippled the system. The power must be returned to the individual citizen. Most don't want it and that's fine. Those of us who do want it, should have it. There's no excuse for the mess we have now. :( [/QUOTE]
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