Posted on 06/30/2011 11:27:07 AM PDT by Nachum
It’s going to take a civil war.
The price of enough rope to hang them all.
Very interesting post. Something to think about.
“The price of enough rope to hang them all.”
You beat me to it.
The price is actually free. All you have to do is make it known that if a Senator or Representative is going to be bought out by special interests, that you will be voting against them, come election time. If their replacement allows themselves to be bribed by special interests, then they get the boot. Eventually you will find somebody who is more focused on the business of the people than on winning their next election or carrying out the wishes of their large donors.
Great minds think alike, and all that jazz.
The problem with this, is that each voter is a member of at least a dozen ‘special interests’.
That is the reason why things are the way they are.
Will that actually work since Citizens United? Anonymous campaign ads by unrelated organizations ‘without the candidate’s consent’ and all...
I don’t think there’s any easy solution. Public financing only of campaigns isn’t pretty either, but I’m starting to think it can’t possibly be worse.
No it wont.
Step 1: elected officials that betray the public interest simply ought to be dragged out in the street and hung from the streetlights on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Step 2: a constitutional amendment setting term limits must be enacted.
Step 3: if there is difficulty getting the traitorous scum to get the term limit amendment passed...see Step 1.
At a minimum, we should require that all politicians wear uniforms like the NASCAR drivers. Then at least we could see who their corporate sponsors were.
Not more than $0.34 each (based on $16.99 per box of 50 rounds of 45ACP 230gr lead). I'm sure lower prices can be found.
What I’m saying is that I think that ruling allows politicians to be bought in such a roundabout way that there’s no way to really pin it on them.
No, no, no! The problem is not lobbyists, it is a huge, poweful government. Many of the lobbyists are there to protec their countries from the sleazy politicians. Remember when Hillary attacked “big pharma” or Wal mart, then suddenly she was given large donations or put on the board of a company and she shut up. Politicians blackmail companies (as do various groups and activists such as Jesse Jackson) into giving them $ and goodies. Congress is like the mafia. You have to buy protection or they will pass laws that harm your business.
“The tremendous inequality in income, wealth, power and opportunity which is distorting and destroying our nation all flow from the inequalities enabled by bribery and tax avoidance. The only way to fix the nation is to eliminate bribery (campaign contributions and lobbying) entirely, and eliminate tax avoidance entirely by eliminating all deductions, exemptions, loopholes, etc. State total income from all sources everywhere on the planet, calculate tax, done.”
This is pure nonsense. I can’t believe Freepers would agree with this. Inequalities are not caused by tax avoidance. This sounds like something Karl Marx would say. Zero hedge is interesting, but it can be disappointing at times. They have their share of people who are consumed with wealth envy.
How about just outlawing lobbying in its entirety?
Give life in a maximum security prison with no parole for offering anything of value including a favor, promise of a job, etc. to a public official or government employee.
And life in a maximum security prison with no parole for any public official or employee who accepts anything of value from anyone who is attempting to influence them or curry favor with them. No exceptions - not even a package of gum or a taxi ride.
A bit naive, sure, but what is the alternative? I live in a state where the governor has been bought by a home builder and his views over the years on illegal immigrants reflect it. I look at Congress, and I see companies that have been granted monopolies over TV and internet service in most major cities helping to write legislation or help shape policies that would restrict consumers of those services, and further cripple any chances at free markets. I could go on, but the point is that things will only get worse unless we wake up and start booting out everybody who is bought off by the lobbyists and major donors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.