I believe in democracy. We in America don’t have one. Our government is slightly democratic, but so
flawed in its basic governing rules and procedures, that it doesn’t function
that way. It gives the effectivness of
some voters way more sway than the votes of other voters. A democratic goal is primarily thwarted by the
financial influence exerted on both sides of the aisle. Secondly, it is thwarted by herd mentality of
our two party system. Our ancestors
didn’t fight a revolution to make that the case. In the best democracy possible, each
citizen’s vote would count the same as any other. That should be our goal and if “we the people”
care about it … we need to make it so.
Largely, our elected representatives are not
public servants. They are Party
servants. Their goal is not improving
American lives or the nation itself. It
is improving Party power. To prove this
to yourself you need only watch the vote counts. Each Party accuses the other of voting like a
rubber stamp and in both cases it is true.
Let a representative use their own wisdom and conscience in deciding
their vote and they will be attacked and eaten by their fellow Party members. Examples would be Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema
for the Democrats or Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney for the Republicans. The voters of each herd mentality, you folks,
are all too happy to follow the Party leader’s lead. Wouldn’t it be a better world if both we and
our representatives thought for ourselves?
I would have no objection to a “filibuster”, 60% requirement to pass
legislation, if each representative used their own mind, without party
influence. It would bring about
meaningful debate and thoughtful votes.
60% is not an unreasonable requirement for changing a law or the
direction of the country. But two rubber
stamp groups, evenly split, will accomplish little. Our present government has been proving that
for decades.
So, what needs changing? Start by abolishing political parties and the
lobbyists who bribe them. Do away with
political action committees. The Supreme
Court, in their action called Citizens
United, corrupted the PACs beyond repair.
In a final election for any office the candidate must get the majority
of individual votes from those they represent. A president, holding a federal office would
receive the majority of the votes cast in the nation. In other words, let’s close the Electoral
College. States and voting districts
would only be responsible for counting votes, in a federal election, not
determining a winner. The same concept would
be applied to the office holders of a state.
To be elected, they would need the majority of voters in their state to
vote for them, in the final election. No
campaign funds would enter the state from outside of the state and only individual
citizens could contribute a limited amount to any campaign. No more corporate or union donations or any
other group donation. The ability to
make a small political donation should be a perk that only an individual
citizen has. “We The People.”
One more bad tooth needs pulling. It is the U.S. Senate. This is a group that is anti-democratic by
design. No one disputes the fact that a
citizen living in Wyoming (Pop. 581,075) has over 68 times the legislative
representation of a citizen living in California (Pop. 39,613,493) in our U.S.
Senate. Each state has but 2
senators. This may have been a good
design when the Constitution was written, but it has no relevance today. “State’s Rights” has grown grotesque. Any piece of beneficial legislation can be
stopped by this little unrepresentative group.
A two year term of office for a House of Representatives member needs to
be expanded to four year terms and the Senators need to be put on a bus out of
town. Let’s make ours a democracy, for the people and do it right.
(By the way
… when a nation decides not to pay its debts … the nation has failed. Why would we choose to fail?)
OUR
POLITICAL PARTY SYSTEM HAS OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS.
This I
believe, Old Buz 10/25/2021
Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com
