Nothing will happen until your vote carries weight

[Ugnmoose]

We are taught from early on that we Americans have a government of the people by the people and for the people. Sounds good - except in reality it is a bunch of horseshit.

When was the last time your Representative (Congressman or Senator) ever asked for your opinion on how he or she should vote? You say never! Why is this? Aren't we the ones that put them in office and pay their salary. Why aren't they fully accountable to us, their constituents.

I'll tell you why. Because the whole political system that has evolved in this country is flawed and in desperate need of overhaul.

IMHO here is what needs to happen - but won't until we demand it and put up viable candidates who are electable and will make it happen.

1. Term limits - maximum 2 terms for Senate and 4 terms for the House. This prevents this outrageous seniority system whereby powerful chairmanships are awarded based upon seniority - and people are afraid to vote their reps out because they might lose some clout for their home state or district.
2. Reform the voting system (not this HAVA crap they tried to pass off as reform). Much has been discussed about this on DU. But for sake of brevity, we have put the necessary safeguards into the system to insure its integrity and to make sure that everyone who wants to vote has that vote properly cast and counted.
3. Outlaw any form of quid pro quo payments from lobbyists to reps in any form or fashion. In other words get the frikkin bribe money off the table. Make the penalties for violation of these rules - serious fines and real jail terms. This is an outrageous violation of the public trust.
4. Require that every Congressman and Senator poll their constituency on every bill. Let them use their liberal franking privileges for this. And make them post to their websites the results of the polling and how they voted. We need a scorecard to make them fully accountable.
5. Limit the amount that can be spent for primaries and campaigns. And have this paid for by the taxpayers not outside interests. This should be a finite amount for each race. So for example, if $500,000 is budgeted for a House seat and there are two candidates, they each get $250,000, if three candidates they each get $133,333 and so on. Eliminate any form of corporate contributions either hard or soft dollars, including PAC's. This gives each candidate a level playing field. All candidates have the same amount of money to spend. This would encourage everyday people to run for office, instead of some of these wealthy scoundrels that can self finance their way into office by spending a small percentage of their personal fortunes.

The above are just a few but very important changes that need to happen. I think that Howard Dean knows this very well which is why he created DFA and is trying to reform the party by recruiting grassroots candidates that can compete at every level. We need to support efforts like this. If we marshall our financial resources we have the power of numbers working for us. Small donations from alot of people add up to alot of money. Those that want to perpetuate the system as is, hope we stay divided and dispersed. They hate the Internet and all it stands for because it enlightens and motivates people to take action. These are things they fear most. They want to kepp us all a bunch of mushrooms, by keeping us in the dark all the time and feeding us bullshit as fertilizer. Don't let them. The only way we can make our government of the people, by the people and for the people, is if we take an active role in reforming it. That should be the number one goal of the Activist Community longer term. It won't happen over night, but it will happen if we make it so.

Peace and keep the faith.

[leftstreet]

1. If we could get 2-5, would we really need 1?

Would term limits be necessary?

[Ugnmoose]

2. I believe so

We should not have career politicians. We need people who desire to serve and are willing to give us some of their time to do so. We don't need people to get fat dumb and lazy working at the government trough. I think term limits assures that we will have a constant source of new blood coming into the system. New blood means new ideas, new enthusiasm, and most important of all no political entanglements.

[MazeRat7]

3. One vote will never mean squat... but its a nice thought.

This, for better or worse, is a representative democracy. Only collective groups, with voice to our representatives, will ever receive attention. Hence why money talks and the rest of us post on message boards.

However, I would argue that giving 250M Americans a "voice" would lead to 250M different suggestions of how to run things. Look at DU as a prime example...when was the last time there was consensus of action ? So where do you draw the line ? How do you find a balance between the two ?

Today, the reality is corporations fuel our capitalistic society. Without that fuel, we as a nation are destined to join the Roman Empire in the "was once a contender" hall of fame. So if you want to change the system, figure out how to implement a truly "democratic capitalist society" where corporations (the money interest) and human beings (the fuel for that interest) can co-exist with no intersection. Now that is a tall order!!! In the mean time.. I'll keep working on nuclear fusion and a cancer cure.... *grin.

Seriously, your points are well taken..but your recommendations are more about treating a symptom and not the cause. IMHO.

MZr7

[Ugnmoose]

5. Capitalism run amok

Capitalism is inherently greedy. But there is healthy and unhealthy greed. Healthy greed is one based upon doing well by doing good. In other words, businesses prosper because they make good products or deliver beneficial services to the consumer, and in so doing provide a liveable wage to those people they employ that help them produce those goods or services. Unhealthy greed is what capitalism in the U.S. has become. It is based solely on generating profits for those that own and run the businesses and does little else. Why our system is so flawed is that there are no safety nets in the system to make sure that the capitalists are pusuing healthy greed. The reason is that the politicians who make the laws and who are supposed to protect the citizenry (their constituents) are riddled with conflicts because they must pander to the capitalists who fund them. Get the corporate bribe money out of the system and you take away any reason for the pols not to do their job. It is very complex and this response only addresses a part of the problem. As I stated above, much more needs to be done.

[Kansas Wyatt]

4. The U.S. Government has been perverted & manipulated into...

A corrupt tool for the corporations and the ruling wealthy elite*.

* Note: Republicans know this, and that is why they have projected the word "elite" onto the Democrats as being "liberal elite" or "intellectual elite." It provokes an outrage from many Americans, because they are sick and tired of being screwed by the wealthy "elite" through their own government. Republicans continue to get overworked and propagandized Americans to think that they are voting against the "elite" by voting against the Democrats, and Democrats fail to educate Americans who exactly the Republicans are representing (wealthy elite).

Wake the Hell up Democratic politicians, the Republicans are beating you with their own disrespect for 'We The People.'

When the money is removed from campaigns and candidates must rely on their own merit of representing their constituents, then the United States will start getting back to it's originally intended form of government.