How can we regain control of our country?

How can we regain control of our country?

www.abovetopsecret.com

Mods this is an op-ed piece but I couldn't find the op-ed site.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I wrote this as a response to an op ed piece I posted just before the November election. Now since we are faced with an insufferable 2 year campaign for president facing us... the solutions I offer, a handful of many become increasingly more important. Feed back please. What can we do to stop this madness and take back America so it is for the people again?

I truly wish our system was different...that 3rd party candidates actually had a chance...the one and only one I have voted for was John Anderson for President in 1980 and I learned then that the powers that be love 3rd parties that don't have a snowball's chance in hell because they siphon away voters from their "opponent". The only way we can ever have a real chance to elect a 3rd party candidate for president is when there are 3rd party governors, and representives and Senators on both the state and federal level.

The way I see it the best things we could do to renew voting in this country is to:

(1) Federally fund ALL candidates (Republican, Democrat and independents of every stripe) from dog catcher to president and make it so that they become eligible after they have gotten X number of signatures on a petition...the more important the office the larger the number of signatures.

(2) Ban ALL other forms of fund raising or contributions to eliminate as much as possible the buying of candidates.

(3) Put a time limit on campaigning. 3 months is plenty of time...and that the nominating convention should be held immediately after the last primary and start campaigning immediately thereafter.

(4) Arrange it so that ALL of the caucuses and primaries are held over the same weekend so it is done all at once and taken care of...that would make planning conventions easier too....none of the s---t---r---e---t---c---h---i---n---g it out over months...get it done and over with. This perpetual
campaigning is for the birds.

(5) Move election day to a weekend, spread it over a couple days and make it a national holiday, and not a weenie one like President\'s day or Columbus day but a serious one like the 4th of July in which businesses actually close...how many of you have actually tried to leave early or go in late to vote? It is tolerated, barely, or at least that has always been the case in the restaurant trade.

(6) Repeal the Reagan law that did away with equal air time...so much of the poison that has infected the body politic can be traced back to that one act. And this has to include independents as well because if they cannot get their voices out there how can we ever have a real choice?

(7) There should never be a repeat of Florida in 2000 or Ohio in 2004...if the person in charge of voting is involved in a campaign of a candidate they should be required by law to recuse themselves or to step down...Ms. Harris and Mr. Blackwell may or may not have been guilty of rigging the votes in their states in favor of their candidate but their behavior certainly made it look like they did.

(8) Statewide and nationwide automatic runoffs should be required by law, no ifs ands or buts, if the election is closer than a set amount, say 1%. It shouldn\'t be an option some politician chooses, it should be a mandate and if there still isn\'t a clear winner, vote again until there is one.

(9) There should be a none of the above on every ballot and if none of the above gets the clear majority the parties should be required by law to go back and nominate somebody else, and continue to do so until a suitable candidate is chosen. This matter of choosing between evil of two lessors has got to stop.

(10) PAPER TRAIL...PAPER TRAIL...PAPER TRAIL. While they can still be burned out on the ranch like LBJ did in 1947, its still a hell of a lot better than nothing and trusting some companies word that their machines are safe and secure. Electronic ballot machines should never be bought but always rented so if some damned fool CEO of a company that makes them announces that they are committed to making sure so and so is elected (or re-elected as in the case of Diebold), their machines automatically disqualified for rental that election cycle. Better yet...arrange it so that the company that makes them is nationalized and a non-partisan federal oversight board is placed in control of it.

(11) And most important...put a media ban on ALL election results nationwide until the last and least polling station has closed.

I really think those proposals would go a long way to making our election process better...maybe not perfect but then anything is better than how it is done now.

www.abovetopsecret.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 13-3-2007 by grover]

With this insufferable political season underway... this question looms larger than ever.

Thankfully Grover, you never have had control of this country.

Look around you right now. Do we ALL have to live like that?

What are you talking about? They are merely suggestions to make our political process more effective.