Write Review
1,901,064 Total Reviews 3,249 New Reviews
6,267 Users Online

Politics and Religion

Willie. You're right about money corrupting politics.
dncphil 16 Reviews 3185 reads
posted

Reported by the L.A. Times, a big Obama supporter from the early days.

A big Dem donor just got a no-bid bid contract worth over 400 million for a small pox vaccine, even though it is not certain it will work and is more expensive that it was supposed to be.  This after the contracting specialists at the Health Dept were replaced because they were resisting company demands and the medical officer for the department said the projected profit of 180%, was "outrageous."

This is the change you were hoping for.

willywonka4u937 reads

There are many examples of money corrupting Democrats, and certainly Obama. The HMOs corrupted health care reform. GaG's industry is corrupting Obama with this new oil pipeline, that's being put on hold now. The finanical sector is corrupting the Obama administration with them making a deal to free investment houses of liability by charging them a tiny fine. It's universal and effects both parties.

This is what needs to be changed, and it's why cities all across America are being occupied. And from the police brutality we've seen, we know that the corporations don't want to give up their right to bribe public officials.

ReplyQuoteReport
pwilley2434 reads

Willy, seems like the only time you actually support anything to "stop" this madness is when it somehow is targeted at the conservatives.  I can't recall any time that you proposed or supported attempts to restrict libs from their handouts.  Just saying...

ReplyQuoteReport
willywonka4u906 reads

1) make all campaigns publicly funded.
2) amend the constitution to prohibit corporations from having any rights under the law.
3) enact a federal voter referandum law, that would allow voters to remove people from office at any time without having to wait 2 to 4 to 6 years.
4) allow voters to overturn federally enacted laws.
5) allow voters to enact their own laws.

ReplyQuoteReport
NeedleDicktheBugFucker2893 reads

in the OC.

Life's not fair that the LA boys got KGirls coming out their ears and dont have to drive crosstown to get em.

A weekly chopper flight from LAX to John Wayne should do....

ReplyQuoteReport
pwilley1803 reads

Posted By: mr.notrouble
in the OC.

Life's not fair that the LA boys got KGirls coming out their ears and dont have to drive crosstown to get em.

A weekly chopper flight from LAX to John Wayne should do....

ReplyQuoteReport
dncphil637 reads


Allowing voters to overturn laws is a good idea, but I don't know how practical on the fed level.  How often would you have national elections? What does it take to get a statute on the ballot to repeal?
Is there a limit per year?  Can voters repeal administrative regs.  There are thousand of those promulgated every years.

Also, allowing voteres to enact sounds good, but the same problems.  How many signatures to get on a ballot?  Unlimited number per year?  Also, non-legislators are even worse than legislators at writing laws. Look at CA.

When you say amend the constitution so corporations have no rights, what does that mean.  Can the police just enter a business that is incorporated and take their desks, computers, chairs, and light bulbs.  Do they have a right to property?  If a corporation is accused of wrong doing, do you have a trial, or do you just disband it with no hearing?  If you have a "hearing," does a witness have to testify, or can it be all anonymous accusations, untested by cross examination.

Posted By: willywonka4u
1) make all campaigns publicly funded.
2) amend the constitution to prohibit corporations from having any rights under the law.
3) enact a federal voter referandum law, that would allow voters to remove people from office at any time without having to wait 2 to 4 to 6 years.
4) allow voters to overturn federally enacted laws.
5) allow voters to enact their own laws.

ReplyQuoteReport
inicky461252 reads

isn't that the case in Cal. with Propositions?  I don't think that's worked out too well, has it phil?  I mean that seriously.  How do Californians of all political stripes feel about what all the Propositions have done?  I thought they were major factors in creating the mess that exists with the state budget today.

-- Modified on 11/12/2011 7:06:31 PM

ReplyQuoteReport
dncphil1667 reads

Yes. it is like CA, and it hasn't worked out well.  I thought that is what I meant by "sounds good, but not realistic."

Everyone in CA agrees that it is a mess because of too many propositions.
Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Posted By: inicky46
isn't that the case in Cal. with Propositions?  I don't think that's worked out too well, has it phil?  I mean that seriously.  How do Californians of all political stripes feel about what all the Propositions have done?  I thought they were major factors in creating the mess that exists with the state budget today.

-- Modified on 11/12/2011 7:06:31 PM

ReplyQuoteReport
willywonka4u796 reads

...but I think it's workable.

I think national elections, as we know it today, would remain the same. But for this to work, and work well, we should remove the standard 2 year waiting time for democracy to function.

Here's how I envision it working. Congress passes a law that's unpopular. Let's just say it's the new health care law to make Phil happy. :)

If voters in a district in Arkansas (or any state district) want to overturn that law, they go online to a gov't website (call it people.gov or something), say they want to repeal this law, and put it up for a vote. Every voter in that district gets an email to vote on the question. If a majority votes to repeal, the measure is approved, and the question is forwarded to all other Arkansas state districts. If the majority of the state wins, the question is then passed onto every district in the country. If a majority wins around the country, the law is repealed. You can set up a toll free phone number for this to work for the people who don't have internet access.

So, it wouldn't matter when someone wanted a law repealed. You wouldn't have to wait until election day. A law could be repealed very quickly, and without going through the trouble of collecting petitions, or even standing in line to vote.

As for writing laws, you have a good point that it's not easy to do without formal legal training, so I think it's a good idea to have a non-partisan organization set up to help voters with this. I envision a "help voters write laws" office (for the lack of a better term) in your local DMV or public library all across the nation.

Phil, the corporate rights aspect of this is a bit of another discussion entirely. I think we ought to limit corporate rights significantly, but that's not to say that we should limit the rights of human beings who work or run corporations. I just have a problem with "artificial" persons being given rights of any kind.

ReplyQuoteReport
pwilley862 reads

Well, in a perfect world with good intentioned people striving for a common good, some of the ideas seem OK.  But IMHO, we are approaching the point where our voting population is just about equally split between conservative/liberal.  More and more folks are becoming increasingly extreme in those beliefs.  Hence, our stagnate Congress, our constant recycling of POTUS.  Polls fairly evenly split over most issues.

If we were to embark on a new form of Government as your suggestions would require, perhaps another concept should be thrown into the mix.  Perhaps it is time to split the USA into two separate countries... Let's say C-USA and L-USA.  Or, perhaps even more beneficial would be a breakup of the USA back into 50 individual States, alla Soviet Union (sort of).  Most States are fairly entrenched in their beliefs be it C or L.  So, probably this makes the most sense.  Now we've just gotta figure out how we distribute the military arsenal and probably need some right of way leases for port access by the inland States.

Obviously, not very workable solutions, but if you consider where we seem to be at the moment in our political crosswinds, I would argue that's equally unworkable as well and therefore even these extreme suggestiions may in the end become sensible.  

ReplyQuoteReport
Post Reply Back To Forum
Register Now!