In 3 sentences or less; What is wrong in America and how to fix it.

[hang a left]

Politicians are owned by Big Money, Corporations, and Industry. We have to get money out of politics.

[ananda]

1. Yup

Repeat: Politicians are owned by Big Money, Corporations, and Industry. We have to get money out of politics.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Yep

[WilliamPitt]

3. I've never done anything in three sentences or less in my life.

Some would call that a flaw. :)

Hokay.

Overthrow Buckley v. Valeo. Overthrow Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad. Pick up the pieces in the aftermath and build a better nation.

[tatertop]

26. Don't suppose you want to fill that in a little bit

I am not familiar with those cases.

[WilliamPitt]

27. Damn

You're blowing my brevity. :)

Buckley v. Valeo = unlimited spending on campaigns amounts to free speech.

Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific = the enshrinement of 14th amendment rights for corporations, i.e. a business with the same human rights as a person.

The two together is 100% of the problem. Corporations beyond liability with millions and billions available to buy candidates and influence the process = a race of super-citizens with 10,000x more rights and power than you or I.

Of course, overthrowing these cases, particularly Santa Clara, would annihilate the global economy and bring on a Depression the likes of which we have never seen.

So there's that.

[northamericancitizen]

28. Maybe we need a Depression to restore some humanity in the System.

[WilliamPitt]

29. Easy to say

Not so easy to survive.

[willing dwarf]

31. There's already a huge % of people living depression style...

They sleep in squalid unlicensed boarding homes,or on the porches of public spaces... they shuffle round the city all day, getting an odd job here or there. They're in and out of mental hospitals, drug rehabs, prisons & half way houses. They haven't got the skills to make a living, or to engage in the debates in their communities.

They are the voiceless, faceless poor, and they are already living the reality of the dpression era. But those who have keep on getting more, and seldom notice or know how to help.

[tatertop]

34. Thank You.

[rman]

38. more on 'corporate personhood' here":

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/

especially
"Our Hidden History of Corporations in the United States"
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/history_corporations_us.html

[tatertop]

41. Thank you for the resource

[NNadir]

4. The American people are more comfortable with fantasy than reality.

We have to generate a responsible citizenry from a people ensconced in La-La Land.

[Blue_Roses]

17. BINGO!

:thumbsup:

"Leave It To Beaver," and "Mayberry RFD," is still fresh in their minds:eyes:

We're dealing with a population of people who can't embrace anything other than the next "reality" show. Ironic huh!

[NNadir]

25. Most of us don't want to acknowledge our own fault in this.

I for one could have done better. I should have done more.

[European Socialist]

5. pukes-get a heart. Dems-get a spine. Public-get a clue.

[readmylips]

6. Kick bush criminals out....next elections (I hope)...

Big money, corporations and industry: Elites, capitalists, economics equals democracy. That's the three-legged stool of democracy.

[junkiebrewster]

7. one word:

Bush.

[kurth]

9. Evil pig found evil moron to run for president.

Evil president and his gang proceeded to vandalize everything he saw. Evil deeds deserve impeachment, trial, and punishment.

[Peggy Day]

8. We need publicly funded elections, a fair media (return fairness doctrine)

and elections that are not partisan. How's that?

[BR_Parkway]

10. Elect true representatives of the people, not millionaires who have

no clue what it's like to actually have to earn a living.

Take the corporate money out entirely and make them pay taxes on their earnings, just like the citizens do.

Get opinions off the news channels, give us dry facts - not some 'expert' to tell everyone what they should think of those facts.



(not so hard, if you write long complex sentences)

[meegbear]

11. That's only 2 sentences.

[Taxloss]

12. Here we go:

Media concentration and a variety of social factors have hopelessly Nixonised your politics, rendering genuine political discourse near-impossible.

Your society is now hopelessly militarised, with church and flag replacing civil society, a deeply poisonous development.

"Fixing" this is near-impossible in the short or medium term, and will certainly require a far more effective force than the American left can currently muster, ready for a decades-long struggle.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

13. And that's the fly in the ointment,

how are we going to do that? Human beings have a way of circumventing everything. The whole reason corporate America owns the government is to make more money. They will never let go. It's funny. At one point the argument was that wealthy people made for better politcians because they had theirs, and couldn't be bought. (The Roosevelts for example).
Now it seems the Bush example is "I don't have enough, I must have more". Hard for me to imagine a way around this. Certainly argues for someone who embraces populist values. :shrug: I forgot about the 3 sentence rule :argh:

[leftofthedial]

14. Politicians are owned

by big money, corporations, industry and religiously insane nutcases. We have to get money and religion out of politics.

[willing dwarf]

15. Synopsis: We must address alienation from earth and from each other

America has abandoned the least among us. We need to unite for the rights of all. Corageously facing the reality of future where resources are limited, we need to becreative and courageous to find solutions that will do no harm to the earth, and all living creatures.

[thefloyd]

16. Hmmm

Citizens who believe everything media reports

Conservatives hiding behind the cross for political gain

Rampant greed, materialism

[garybeck]

18. could you imagine an politics without money?

it would be so nice. if politicians had to run on ideas, and not financial support?

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. I can sign on to that plus a new and improved fairness doctrine.

[No Exit]

20. Bush. Cheney. Repuke-dominated congress.

[seabeyond]

21. religion. our sheep need to wake up n/t

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

22. Campaign finance reform (real), verified vote, independent media

[Jed Dilligan]

23. Tax churches

Legalize pot

Stop using petroleum

[Junkdrawer]

24. The Dulles CIA, fueled by Saudi money, has reemerged as PNAC...

and they've formed a coalition with multi-national corporate interests to takeover our government and our military.

Solution: Paper Ballots, Hand Counted allows for the possibility of change. After that, many sectors for the economy, such as the media and energy, will need to be socialized temporarily to remove the corruption.

Frankly, I think I have a better change of hitting the Power Ball Lottery than any of the above happening, but history takes wild turns from time-to-time.

[kansasblue]

30. Citizens aren't paying attention, comfortably watching TV.

not paying attention or investing time in civic duties.


kb

[justiceischeap]

32. Career politicians, both Dem and Rep

need to demolish government as it stands and rebuild.

[SoCalDem]

33. Rich Corporatie toadies own and propagandize our media for their profit

Our METHOD and PRACTICE of voting has been undermined and corrupted so much, that we can never again know that the person "elected" is the person installed into office.

America has "come undone", and is more fractured/divided/polarized/disunited; whatever the issue, we have been "trained/conned" into thinking that there are only two sides, and ours is always correct; of course the "other" side feels the same.

[MadHound]

35. Spot on analysis

Corporate money has corrupted our entire government, both on the Democratic and the Republican side. However there is a way out of it.

Work for publicly funded election campaigns nationwide. In twenty three states this can be put up for a public vote via the initiative petition. In the rest, you will have to ram it through your state legislature.

But if we take election funding out of the hands of big business and return it to the people, we will go a long way towards curing the problems that we are currently experiencing. Rather than being beholden to their corporate providers, our political leaders will become beholden to the leaders set out in our Constitution, we the people.

[rolleitreks]

36. We're human. We're deluded. Seek truth, or a reasonable facsimile. n/t

[kweerwolf]

37. I can name (and solve) that problem in six words ...

Too many "christians" ... not enough lions.

(For the literal-minded and easily offended, please note the lower-cased "christian" enclosed in quotation marks is used to signify the wacko fun-D'uh-Mental-ists from the Christians who are true followers of the founder of that faith.)

OK ... so it took me six words and a long disclaimer. :)

[eeyore]

39. Here goes...

The Republican party is dominated by the corrupt, wreckless and evil.

The Democratic party has been too feckless and fearful to stand up to the aforementioned corrupt, wreckless, and evil.

Corporations have become a third party that is far more powerful than either the Republican or Democratic parties, and the corrupt, wreckless, and evil rat Republicans have abandoned their conservative values is favor of corporatism.

Solution: Dems need to lead the uprising against corporate Republican corruption, and if they are not up to the task they need to get the fuck out of the way and let someone else do it.

[Nimrod2005]

40. How about 3 words! not sentences:

Leadership - Education - Hubris.

[pberq]

42. The inability of most Americans to face up to the reality of 9/11.

Until that happens, we are living in a big lie.

See the work of David Ray Griffin for more info http://www.wanttoknow.info/050504davidraygriffin

[mandyky]

43. Professional corporate lobbyists need to be restrained

and regulated. Smaller government is fine as long as it is effective and produces desired results. We have to get religion out of politics somehow, too.