Checks and Balances(bipartisism) only words now?

My friend BH started this thread, it got me thinking. The first 6 years of the Bush administration had a stranglehold on the gov't and could pass legislation at will. Afghanistan, UN(yeah I know) sanctioned, Iraq, not. How's that working out? Let's ask the vets serving there.

Now we have Obama that's got virtually the same thing. Only needs 1 appointment to the SC and they've got the Judicial branch as well. This is a good thing?

The system of checks and balances is a part of our Constitution. It guarantees that no part of the government becomes too powerful. For example, the legislative branch is in charge of making laws. The executive branch can veto the law, thus making it harder for the legislative branch to pass the law. The judicial branch may also say that the law is unconstitutional and thus make sure it is not a law.

The legislative branch can also remove a president or judge that is not doing his/her job properly. The executive branch appoints judges and the legislative branch approves the choice of the executive branch. Again, the branches check and balance each other so that no one branch has too much power.

www.mcwdn.org...



The system is broken and whatever the gov. wants to do gets pushed through. No checks and balances. Why is this happening? The PTB are playing a game of "divide and conquer". Dem's don't listen to Rep's and vice versa. Is your vision of the country more important that the HEALTH of the Republic?

It starts with YOU. Disregard the media. ALL OF IT!!! THINK PEOPLE. What's best for the country, not what you're being fed by the PTB. They are in it for themselves, not you. Why would a thinking person allow themselves to be used in this manner? Use your brain not the MSM.

This is broken but it won't be fixed until the individual escapes the trap that the PTB have been using for decades. You have a beef with Bush? Obama? Clinton? Any of them? START LOOKING DEEPER. It's up to YOU.

This # has to end before the Republic does and it isn't that far away. Thanks for considering this, both Republicans and Democrats. Independents? Good luck.

Unfortunately, I think they are only words now. The health of the nation and the Republic has been put on the back burner in favor of what's good for the "party". The parties in this country are polar opposites and they read like a sports team. And it's even worse than that. What's good for the party is "winning".

Right now, with the political climate in Washington, if Obama wrote up a bill to outlaw abortion, the GOP would do everything in their power to shoot it down. And if the GOP wrote a bill to provide health care to all, the Democrats wouldn't pass it. All for the sake of winning.

Sadly, for that reason, I don't think a victory for the GOP in 2010 will do a damn bit of good. Because it will place a gridlock on any and all legislation. You think nothing's getting done, now, just wait till one party has the ball and the other has the bat. There will be NO GAME.

It's almost like the only way to get anything done is for one party or the other to have control. At least one agenda will get advanced.

I wish deep down in my heart of hearts the country would go back to the original laws.

But that won't happen.

Absolute power absolutely corrupts.

Originally posted by Tentickles
I wish deep down in my heart of hearts the country would go back to the original laws.

Oh, so do I! Imagine how well all of us ATSers would get along!

I still have hope that it will happen. But it will take an dramatic overhaul of the way Washington works.

reply to post by intrepid


When the day eventually comes for New Zealand to become a Republic we would be well served if Kiwis retained the Parliamentary system rather then run into the headache of having the Executive branch of government strangled by Parliament . The genius of Ronald Reagan wasn't the excessive deregulation which has contributed to our current problems but rather he knew to get a slice of the cake was better then nothing . Reagan knew that compromise was the way to get the most out of the system of Checks and Balances when it was operating as the Founding Fathers intended it to .

[edit on 3-9-2009 by xpert11]

Excellent thoughts!

As I see it, one of the major contributing factors to the poison pervading the political scene these days is that PROFIT has become essentially the only driving factor in far too many areas of life.

It is rare anymore for a corporation to consider anything beyond profit, and short-term profit at that.

Now before anybody gets too excited, I have no problem with a company making a profit... that's the whole idea behind capitalism, and it has proven to be a very effective economic model.

However, when profit becomes the ONLY driving force, then it has reached the point where it needs to be dialed back a bit.

Business entities ideally would have an honest concern for the welfare (not Welfare) of the communities in which they operate. And far too frequently they do not. I have seen interviews with recent business school graduates who stated right up front that their only consideration in business is to maximize profits of the shareholders. And they see nothing wrong with this.

And it is this attitude which leads to the Enrons, Haliburtons, Blackwaters and AIGs.

And this contributes to the poison at the political level because the profit motive has become primary there as well. And politics, again ideally, is an area where profit should not be in the equation.

But today, and for the last couple of decades, we have profit-motivated lobbyists working in DC with profit-motivated government employees (aka Senators, Representatives, Presidents, etc).

Each 'side', as it has evolved, has its own profit (and by this I mean profit ONLY) motivated reasons for pushing one agenda or another. And since profit is the one and only consideration, the real benefit of the Republic is left in the dirt.

And if left unchecked, it will mean the end of the Republic.

Sadly, this is not the kind of thing that can be legislated. It needs to come from within. Business leaders need to be able to say "I'm going to do X because it will benefit my community (be that community the local town, state, country or the world) even though it will reduce my profit."

Some of it can be legislated to remove the profit motive. For example, election funding can be changed. This idea usually results in spastic reactions of dismay, but consider how well the system is working now. Federal employees that are involved in legislation can be barred from having income other than their salaries. After all, the basic idea of government work is to SERVE, not to MAKE MONEY.

The profit motive can be removed from war, as well. The people who are on the front lines protecting this or any country are certainly not making any huge profit, they are for the most part there out of a sense of wanting to serve. This attitude does not exist so much in the various war industries.

We as a nation (speaking of the US here) need to take an honest look at how things are done here, and course-correct where needed. We need to do this without the knee-jerk reactions that normally accompany this.

"Public funding of elections?!? That's Communism!" or some such tripe. Given the reality of how poorly the current system is working, and how quickly it is trending towards the end of the Republic (this is assuming it hasn't already ended, for which there is much evidence to support), some honest self-examination would be of much benefit.

And given that fundamental change in philosophy - where profit is fine, but it is not the ONE and ONLY driving force - will, I believe, result in less polarization in politics, less war throughout the world, less poisoning of our own den, substantially improved quality of life and actual progression to realize our potential.

"There's something happening here,
What it is, ain't exactly clear....
Stop, children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down..."

Read Hostile Takeover by David Sirota.

Our media is owned by Corporate America.

They are nothing more than a mouthpiece.

Page 3

"Just as the mom and pop store in your town was bought out by the big corporate conglomerate, so has our government been the victim of a hostile takeover. Over the last thirty years, Corporate America has applied its most effective business tactics to the task of purchasing the one commodity that's not supposed to be for sale: American democracy. "

It's our fault folks, the rich and elite owners and CEO's are counting on you to keep watching dancing with the stars, listening to your ipods and reading your Mystery Novels.

Is anybody out there reading political books?

Everyone needs to educate themselves to the "rules of the game".

Hostile Takeover by David Sirota

Chapter 1 Taxes
Chapter 2 Wages
Chapter 3 Jobs
Chapter 4 Debt
Chapter 5 Pensions
Chapter 6 Health Care
Chapter 7 Prescriptin Drugs
Chapter 8 Energy
Chapter 9 Unions
Chapter 10 Legal Rights

Take the bull by the horns, put down that remote, that ipod that mystery novel and EDUCATE YOURSELF.

"They" are making the rules and you are paying them at the expense of you and your family.

You cannot afford to be uneducated as to what is going down.