Is our political system broken? Whew, is it ever! It’s in shambles! Let’s look at some of the brokenness. First, lawmakers at all levels continue to be
caught illegally feathering their own nests at the expense of the taxpayer. It doesn’t matter the party. A friend of mine opined that the Potomac River must contain a narcissistic virus which infects congressional members. Neophytes elected to clean up the mess in Washington
end up creating another mess. As an old childhood ditty reminds,
Same song, second verse
Could be better, but it’s gonna be worse!
And so goes the third, fourth, and fifth verses, ad naseum.
Rule by the Rich
Second, just in case there’s anyone left out there who
didn’t know it, a cursory view of our congressional delegation provides clear
evidence that, indeed, our Democracy has
been taken over by a rich gentry. Reportedly, one hundred twenty three members
of the four hundred and thirty five members of the House of Representatives have
at least one million dollars. The others aren’t far behind. And forty Senators are in what one report
called The Millionaires Club. Some of these gentrified rich kids got that
way in office. Doesn’t that make you
scratch your head in wonderment? Most
inherited wealth, which should lead us to question our penchant for equating intelligence with money. That’s an historical
remnant we need to get rid of! And fast.
Controlled by Lobbyists
Third, is there anyone left in this country who doubts the stranglehold
held on legislation by lobbyists! My
what mental gymnastics would I think that my phone call, letter, or email,
trump the will of a lobbyist who has been wining and dining my political
representative for years? And this
lobbyist’s organization consistently contributes thousands of dollars to my
guy’s campaign coffer. Good grief, the
whole political system, our so-called Democracy,
is about money -- soft, hard, and
laundered money. Why? Because raising
money is every politician’s major concern.
Is it any wonder that legislation benefits those who pony up
the big bucks? If you’re a
congressperson and the American Medical Association gave you $100,000 wouldn’t
you look favorably upon their legislative counsel and needs? Of course you would! If you didn’t you could kiss your re-election
sayonara. Or again, who would you allow into your
office? The person who contributed
$5,000 toward your campaign or the one who didn’t donate a dime? The big contributor, of course. And, whose needs will you respond to? Obviously, the heavy contributor. Yes, I remember the flap over Bill Clinton’s
group letting heavy contributor’s stay in the Lincoln bedroom. Who should any administration allow in any
bedroom? Their enemies? How much sense does that make? Folks, our government is all about money. It has been for a long, long time. Money controls this government. The rest of us, the hoi polloi, the middle-class and poor, why, we’re just pawns and
cannon fodder in this big money game we call, lamely, I might add, a Democracy.
In 431 B.C. a Greek named Pericles said a democracy existed when all the people had a voice in its
operation -- not a minority. How do we
fit this historical status? Barely half
the eligible voters show up. No dummies,
they evidently know the systems rigged and that all the campaign falderal is just meaningless gibberish. The inside
the beltway crowd doesn’t care a twit what the unwashed masses think or
need. It’s reported that approximately forty-four
million Americans can’t afford health
care. (There’s not enough space to
specify all such current political system
failures, but you can rest assured that our lawmakers allocate to
themselves lucrative retirement and health benefits that the majority of
American can only dream about!)
Dominated by
Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum
Third, most
thoughtful citizens realize the necessity of having political competition. A true Democracy
needs several parties. Yet, contemporary
party competition reminds me of my junior-high days. Few politicians, if any, seem to be able to
work together for the sake of the Nation. Republicans fault anything the
Democrats do when they are in office.
And, in turn, the Democrats fault anything the Republicans do when their
in office. Tit for tat. The really rabid members on each side either
don’t have any brains or they just decide to park them for political gain. Party
interest has eclipsed the Nation’s
interest in the minds of most party stalwarts. Each party demonizes the other. And Republican
and Democratic Party hacks are never able to admit screw-ups. Never.
It’s always someone else’s fault.
“My enemies are out to get me.”
Or, political front men just
flat lie; which is now called spin. Isn’t it wonderful that lying has become spinning. And each political group sits around
developing the best spins. “Yeah, let’s see what spin we can put on this.” Translated: “…let’s see what lies we can send
out that the gullible public will accept.”
Meanwhile,
we probably should be asking ourselves if we really want to export this stuff?
It’s not hard to see how the moneyed elites in other countries would
love it, but the poor? Come on, get
real. It’s broken!
A Fix-it Option: The
Black Box
Any lasting fix has to get the money out of the process. Under the existing system an honest political
candidate, running for office, basically says:
“Hi, my name’s Joe (or Susie)
Blow. I need you to give me some money
so I can go get me a job. And, by the
way, I won’t pay you back.”
But why should one
have to be rich or beg for money to serve in government? This has undermined our Democracy. So, I think it’s time we scrap the present
electoral system, parties and all, and try something radically different. Let’s
opt for something that is truly democratic.
And, no, I don’t believe it’s safe to allow the existing political
establishment to engineer any new process.
To do so is tantamount to allowing a bunch of thieves to design a new bank
vault!
I propose
we elect our leaders by putting all the eligible
candidates in a computerized black
box. Every four years the computer will
randomly select one person out of the
black box who will serve as president
of the United States
for four years. And another for
vice-president. But both are to serve only
four years. After four years these
people return to their former jobs. There
is, therefore, no need for any sitting president, or vice-president, to raise
any money for some foreseeable election.
There are no elections, and, therefore, no professional politician, no legal role for lobbyists, and no buying
of public office. Money is not a factor in the
equation. The presidency would be an
office for any ordinary citizen: rich,
poor, peanut farmer, rancher, actor, used car salesman, teacher, housewife,
beautician, grocer, professional wrestler, or whatever. This randomly selected average citizen will be far more likely to represent the interests
of all the people than what we’ve
been getting. This same process should be
used by states for choosing senators and representatives.
Why
not? What we’ve got isn’t working! It certainly couldn’t be worse.
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