Our Political System is Broken!

a reply to: WeRpeons

Just a few ministers (servants of the souvereign) to carry out the will of the people. No more oligarchy, pseudo-monarchy crap, they say it would be chaos because we the people are too dumb and selfish to know what's good for us. And we swallow it.
All important issues and discussions should be decided by the ones who have to bear the consequences, us the people. Not by as you correctly said those sucking the system dry to treat us like imbeciles.
We allow them to live in their crystal palaces. It just takes a stone....

a reply to: WeRpeons

So what are your thoughts about our system?

Pretty much the same as yours by the looks , it's refreshing to see somebody identify the problems with the system and propose common sense solutions to help remedy the problems.

Bravo.

originally posted by: madmac5150
First of all, President Trump did nothing wrong. This was a political freak show, intended to sway an election. With that out of the way...

The only way to clean up politics, is to throw out the lawyers.

Ban lawyers from running for office. That's the only real fix.

What Trump did was also political, and for the same reason, so you are also being partisan, and so it seems are around thirteen others at this juncture...and, you just proved WeRpeons opening surmise.

There's no hope then, just an awful lot of uniformed arrogance.

a reply to: WeRpeons
As Lumenari has already stated, our form of goverment is NOT a democracy. Read the constitution Article 4 Section4, or just recite the pledge of allegiance to yourself if you know it. We are a Republic with with some tenets of democracy written into our law.

The Electoral College, while not perfect, was put in place to prevent exactly what you espouse, majority rule.
The reason for the electoral college

In general, you have some good ideas and proposed solutions, but an understanding of our form of government would go a long way toward refining them. Good OP. S&F.

Here we go!!

First it was... "Orange Man Bad!"

Now..."the system is broken!" (because we couldn't "get" orange man!)

Ok that last bit is an absolute contradiction. If we allow our elections to be decided by the majority, than the most populous states (4 or 5 out of 50) would decide the elections. Then these people running to represent us only focus on those states because they are the game winners.


We're a constitutional republic.

1. Get rid of the 2-Party system. There should be no political labels, period. Let candidates run on the issues without any political affiliation or platform. This would allow candidates to speak their mind instead of following a political platform or being black listed by their affiliated party for not doing so. This would also stop politically bias news. There would no longer be a "political majority" and representatives and the President would no longer be able to point the finger at each other. They would have to negotiate in good faith on behalf of the American people without political party stamped on their foreheads.

You're gonna end up with cliques no matter what. And what would the size of ballots look like?! Also, how would this stp politically bias news? Would they not go from propping up one party to just propping up "their guy/gal"

2. Candidates should be held to only (2) terms in office. This would prevent them from siding with particular issues just to hold onto their political office. There would no-longer be "Career Politicians" who gain influence and power over other government representatives. This would give them a set amount of time to push their agenda for change and then "get out". If they knew they only had two terms to make a change, they would work much harder to do so. A political office would no-longer be looked upon as a lucrative career and a way to become a millionaire. Siding on an issue would no longer be tied-in with being popular with their base since their terms are finite.

Would they not then just focus on what's popular, and not necessarily whats good for all?

3. Take the money out of politics!! No more corporate and special interest donations. They should all become illegal. All candidates should be given a capped equal amount of free campaign expenses. Any campaign expense in the form of advertising, travel or venue, should be a written- off tax credit for those businesses that supply them. This should be looked upon as a civil duty to preserve an unbiased and level playing field for all candidates. The field of candidates would have to be limited depending upon early polling numbers or another form of reducing the number of candidates running for office.

I agree to an extent, but what about people like Bloomberg buying their way onto the stage?

4. A national spread sheet on a candidates stance on the issues should be posted and updated at the national, state and city level. It should be a concise yes or no, along with a simple sentence on their perspective. This will benefit voters who really don't follow the candidates positions closely and will help give them a clear perspective of where the candidate stands on issues that directly affects the voter.

Not every issue can be condensed down to yes or no and and a simple sentence.

5. Main issues that affect the majority of Americans such as healthcare, gun legislation, world conflicts and occupations that would put young men and women in harms way should be voted on directly by the American citizens at the voting booths! These issues are just too great to leave in the hand of a few politicians where many of them can't even relate to the average hard-working American.

You would trust the majority of those decisions to the average American, that likely doesn't keep up with current events, unless its about a celebrity death? That seems short sighted. And going back to number 1, what stops a biased media (you wont stop it) from doing what it currently does on certain issues?

6. The salary of these politicians should reflect the average wage of the majority of Americans. Their medical benefits should also reflect the average of most Americans. How can Americans expect these representatives to feel our pain and frustrations when their salaries and benefits are well above the average of most Americans?

They make around $175,000. Maybe instead you should be demanding to see their tax returns as to why some are sitting in congress with much higher net worths being career politicians.

7. A separate national public watch-dog group should be elected to keep tabs on our elected officials to make sure special interest and illegal donations are not going on behind the scenes. They should also be a check and balance to make sure our elected officials are upholding their oath of office and using office expenditures legally.

Who watches the watchers. If I were an extremely wealthy man wishing to push my agenda, what stops me from getting this watch-dog group on my side. These would have to be some perfect individuals, incapable of being bribed or threatened etc.

8. Remove presidential pardons, executive privileges, and vacationing travel expenses by Presidents. These Presidential privileges are being abused. Private businesses don't pay for their executive's traveling expenses and so shouldn't the American people. We don't elect dictators, so they shouldn't be abusing their office and using tax payers money for their own self-interests.

Well, if we go by your number 6, then we won't have a President traveling to G20 summits etc and taking a vacation on top of that trip, so that's cool.

9. Create an age cap for candidates running for President. You're required to be 35 years-old to run for President so there should be an age cap of maybe 62 to run for the office of president. The demands of the Presidency requires a sharp mind. We all know as the body ages, all our body systems decline. I feel anyone who would be in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal and able to give a command to strike another country, should be mentally fit. I'm 60, so it's not like I'm in my thirties just trying to attack the baby boomers. Just thinking realistically.

But not congress?

originally posted by: madmac5150
First of all, President Trump did nothing wrong. This was a political freak show, intended to sway an election. With that out of the way...

The only way to clean up politics, is to throw out the lawyers.

Ban lawyers from running for office. That's the only real fix.

Add term limits, and end lobbying.

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: WeRpeons
As Lumenari has already stated, our form of goverment is NOT a democracy. Read the constitution Article 4 Section4, or just recite the pledge of allegiance to yourself if you know it. We are a Republic with with some tenets of democracy written into our law.

The Electoral College, while not perfect, was put in place to prevent exactly what you espouse, majority rule.
The reason for the electoral college

In general, you have some good ideas and proposed solutions, but an understanding of our form of government would go a long way toward refining them. Good OP. S&F.

I seem to remember reading about that too. That 'democracy' was the last thing the founders wanted, the same applied to political parties.

a reply to: WUNK22

Burn it all down , new congress and senate and judges . State and Federal level

a reply to: Sookiechacha

It will go on for a long time , Democrat president and Republican house bingo Impeachment. If Trump wins and the Democrats hold the house we might see two or three more . Can a first term President who is impeached and removed from office run again ?

The simple response is,,,Because it no longer works for the people's interest.

a reply to: 10uoutlaw

Can a first term President who is impeached and removed from office run again ?

Yes. But, The House included a variable. Should the Senate vote to remove, they added a second vote as to whether or not he can run again. It would be a separate vote, after a vote to remove.

If Trump wins and the Democrats hold the house we might see two or three more .

Maybe more, if Democrats keep The House. Republican held 22 separate hearings on Benghazi. But, if Democrats keep The House and win the Senate, he'll be impeached and removed from office easily. Then we'll have 4 years, or so, of Mike Pence!

Who knows, Republicans might impeach and remove Trump if he goes too rogue, sine they would have Mike Pence, and he could run again in 2024!

a reply to: madmac5150

He didn't do nothing wrong? Wow, the president's own close advisers have stated to that fact, and he was the one who hired them, lol.

In the eyes of his Republican base he hasn't. Like I said in my post, if you're a fan of a particular sports team, you will never be honest when your team has committed a wrong. Trump has done everything to stop these witnesses from testifying. An innocent person doesn't do that! A president who is truly innocent of charges against him would love to prove those who are claiming him guilty wrong. Heck, the Senate Republicans hold the majority! If he was so confident republican senators would have found the witnesses lacked credibility, he should have been confident enough that he had enough votes to acquit him! What kind of democracy do we live in, when witnesses and evidence to the fact are refused to be presented in a court of law? No matter what issues you can agree with Trump on, (and I can say I agree with some things that he's done), the President is not above the law.

Let's just ignore the impeachment trial in which Senators refused to call witnesses to "PROVE" he didn't do anything wrong! Look at the lawsuits involving this President.

-List of Law Suits Involving Donald Trump List of Law Suits Involving Donald Trump

If that isn't enough to question if this President should stay in office, his policies are benefiting corporations and the wealthiest few at the expense of everyone else! The man who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth, refuses to expose his taxes, and has attacked many American values.

-100 Ways, in 100 Days, that Trump Has Hurt Americans

Can you honestly justify him cozying up with a dictator who killed his own uncle and brother? Or denied Russia influenced our elections after evidence to the fact? Or took the side of a Saudi Prince who put an assassination contract on a Saudi dissident, a journalist for The Washington Post? This alone is outrageous.

It's really a scary thought that some Americans like you can look the other way and ignore this President's ruthless character, outrageous lies and crimes.

Now if a Democrat President gets elected into office and they starts to abuse their power, the Republicans will have no right to complain and be outraged. Like the title in my post states "Our Political System is Broken."

a reply to: ketsuko

Well if you feel a government in which you pay a good percentage of taxes every year shouldn't give back to help it's citizens, than your shooting yourself in the foot. How many retirees would be outraged if they lost their Social Security or Medicare? These are the nation's most popular benefit programs and it's wholly government-run!

America use to be a leader in protecting and providing for their citizen's. Our Health Care system is causing American families to go bankrupt! Insurance companies and Pharmaceutical companies are clearly taking advantage of a basic need to preserve one's life. Every industrial nation has provided health care to their citizens. Yet America's healthcare system says if you're unlucky to have good health insurance from your employer, or if you can't afford to pay for it, too bad and your kicked to the curb and left to die! Sure sounds un-American to me! I would love to see how quick our government representatives would enact "Medicare for All" if they had poor medical insurance and they were paid salaries in-line with the average American.

We spend 1.6 trillion on our military budget. More than half of the 2nd place military spending of China! Much of that budget is spent on overseas occupations, and bases. Have you ever complain about that? Just think how much a quarter of that budget could help with financing a healthcare program in the United States!

We pay our politicians more than our Teachers in this country. Athletes, actors and actresses are paid more! This country should be making education a priority, yet we have teachers who have to work two jobs just to make ends meet! Our public school buildings are falling apart and we have people in charge of making decisions about education that have never taught or stepped foot in a public school classroom! Without a well educated work force, the strength and leadership of this country will fall to it's knees!

We've given universities a free hand to set their tuition and it's only created a huge amount of debt for young people. To think that massive school loan debt won't hurt our economy is just plain ignorant.

Government has a responsibility to provide important programs to protect it's citizens and to help educate it's citizens. After all shouldn't you or I get something in return for our taxes? Even having to pay higher taxes for a program like Medicare For All, it would still be a lot cheaper than paying $600 or more a month on healthcare premiums. Our government can call on their citizens to risk their lives for our country, yet won't provide needed healthcare for them.

Consumers are being taken advantage more today, than they ever were. Corporations are merging and reducing competition. Trump gave a huge tax break to the wealthy and corporation owners. Did we see any of it trickling down to benefit workers or the public, no! So without any type of regulation by government, corporate America can have a free-hand on screwing Americans out of their hard-earned money.

There are some things government should provide for it's people.

a reply to: Sookiechacha

I don't think the Republicans will lose the Senate . It wasn't personal but I was sure Hillary would lose because of her personality and her failure to lock down wisconsin and Michigan . I have that same feeling that the Democrats are going to lose the House . I see the Democratic party splitting soon , maybe not this election but for 2024 . It is going to be interesting to see which way it all shakes out .

a reply to: visitedbythem

Really? The GOP has blatantly ignored their oath of office by not giving Trump a fair trial by calling witnesses to "prove" Trump's innocence. Last time I checked I was living in the United States of America, not North Korea. If you don't see the GOP as being silent for not condemning trump for many of his actions and tweets, than I guess party politics is more important than truth.

I also find it extremely odd that Trump has personally attacked republican law makers like McConnell, Graham, Rubio, and Cruz, yet it seems like they're being paid-off to stay silent and kiss Trump's A$$. I'm sure you've seen the video of Graham calling Trump 'a f---ing idiot' and he's not fit to be president.

I think I can speak for the majority of people when I say... when you're character is personally attacked by anyone, most people don't forget that. They certainly wouldn't be inclined to consider you a friend, nor expect to have their back when they needed it when they said or did something wrong.

Who knows we may find out the answer down the road.

a reply to: Lumenari

Oh, excuse me were a republic...

A common definition of “republic” is, to quote the American Heritage Dictionary, “A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them” — we are that. A common definition of “democracy” is, “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives” — we are that, too.


Is America a Republic or a Democracy

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: visitedbythem

Really? The GOP has blatantly ignored their oath of office by not giving Trump a fair trial by calling witnesses to "prove" Trump's innocence. Last time I checked I was living in the United States of America, not North Korea.

You better ask somebody!

I also find it extremely odd that Trump has personally attacked republican law makers like McConnell, Graham, Rubio, and Cruz, yet it seems like they're being paid-off to stay silent and kiss Trump's A$$. I'm sure you've seen the video of Graham calling Trump 'a f---ing idiot' and he's not fit to be president.

Maybe they want to be on the winning team?

I think I can speak for the majority of people when I say... when you're character is personally attacked by anyone, most people don't forget that. They certainly wouldn't be inclined to consider you a friend, nor expect to have their back when they needed it when they said or did something wrong.

I do best when I speak for myself

a reply to: CobaltCPD

I appreciate your thoughts on this. I was actually hoping most responses would be like yours, instead i received political attacks which is not what my post was all about. Those attacks actually strengthen my argument that people can't set their political affiliation aside, and just realize we have a problem with our political party system.

It's really not fair that our representatives are the ones that vote for term-limits and their salaries. It definitely is a conflict of interest. What company in the U.S. allows employees to set their own salaries and the length of their employment, lol.

a reply to: IAMALLYETALLIAM

It's like a rich person trying to relate to someone living from pay check to pay check. Most of them become millionaires during their time in office! Their jobs should be temporary and not a life time career.

Their pensions are ridiculous and they should be abolished. Thanks for your thoughts.