Errors in American Politics

1. 83

   Whitney05posted 14 years ago

   What is wrong with American politics and government and what reforms do you propose?

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   1. 71

      Ralph Deedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Government financing of federal, state and local election campaigns would be a big improvement.

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         Texasbetaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I love that Ralph. We need to disallow private financing of campaigns, limit the time by which a candidate can campaign, and eliminate all tv ads.

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   2. 60

      JOE BARNETTposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      ending lobbyists, obama tried this, was somewhat successful. if we find that politicians are lying or trying to create desention, public flogging. there are no wmds. the people that they relied on for this advise, the experts said no wmds. now we have over 5000 dead young american corpses.he should be at least publicly flogged. if you don't think dead is bad(and for nothing)go try it for awhile. tell me what your friends and family think!
      
      if we could just get truth and participation in politics forcing both sides to openly discuss and compare as opposed to saying no to everything.

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2. 72

   Reality Bytesposted 14 years ago

   Centralized Government trying to determine what is correct at the local level.
   
   The people that live within a community have much more awareness of the needs of their community, then bureaucrats can from a thousand miles away.

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   1. 71

      Ralph Deedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You mean like air traffic control, illegal immigration control, drug safety, fraud against investors, banking regulation, national parks, mining and oil drilling on government lands, regulation of public utility monopolies, prohibition of employment discrimination, interstate crime, environmental protection and so forth?

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      1. 60

         Doug Hughesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I will tell you, Ralph. Twenty years ago I lived in North Carolina - they ranked in the bottom in academic scores, as evaluated by the CAT, the standardized test which was administered nationwide. This poor rank continued year after year until NC corrected it. They quit administering the national test. (They came up with their own test, which showed dramatic improvement every year - which was, of course a fraud.)
         
         The Department of Education, standardized testing, and aggressive planning for strategies to improve with methods that work is the MOST critical single thing we can do for this country - and the DOE is at the top of the list for teabaggers to abolish.
         
         'Local control' is code for protected, sanctioned incompetence without accountability.

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         1. 60

            Ron Montgomeryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            
            
            Don't forget segregation.

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         2. 60

            weholdthesetruthsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Anyone who believes superior thought and ideas comes from the Central Committee should be institutionalized until they regain contact with reality.

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            1. 72

               Reality Bytesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               
               
               I can be contacted through my profile page.  Just Kidding

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            2. 0

               Texasbetaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Who mentioned the Central Committee? I see only you.

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      2. 72

         Reality Bytesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         Unless these activities cross State lines, which some of your examples do, Then YES exactly!

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         1. 71

            Ralph Deedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            They cross state lines and international borders in many if not most cases.

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            1. 72

               Reality Bytesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               If they fall across State lines then it would fall under the jurisdiction of a central government.

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3. 83

   SimeyCposted 14 years ago

   I simply don't have enough words to tell you fully, but to summarise some points:
   -Too much mud slinging on campaigns.
   -Too much partisanship
   -Not enough Parties
   
   While the tea-party is shaking things up a little, I'd like to see a new party as a legitimate third party - similar to Britain - that way we could actually get a hung government and see dome real compromise and negotiation when new laws etc are created...

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   1. 72

      Reality Bytesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      That's what she said

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   2. 71

      Ralph Deedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      And too much money sloshing around in Washington.

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4. 74

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I have no real problem with globalization but I'd like to see the federal gvt or even state gvts create more incentives for corporations that HQ in the US and bring back manufacturing jobs.
   
   Even better, give tax incentives and loan guarantees to Mom and Pops that will do the same thing.

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5. 59

   writealreadyposted 14 years ago

   They treat us as if we are children.
   
   Their motivations are to gain more power, influence and get re-elected.
   
   Their decisions are influenced by bribes...oh...I mean campaign contributions.
   
   They consider themselves to be above the law.
   
   They spend money like drunken sailors. (No offense to drunken sailors intended.)
   
   Solution - Vote against any incumbent. Even if you agree with their political views.

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6. 60

   weholdthesetruthsposted 14 years ago

   Let me count the ways:  or, maybe not.  It would fill the entirety of all hubpages put together. 
   
   To shortcut that, all the things that are wrong in DC are specifically the crossing of the Constitutional limits on Congress and the rest of the Federal Government. 
   
   Social Security
   Welfare
   runamok regulators and the alphabet soup of agencies
   attempts to meddle in energy, education, etc.
   Debt almost beyond comprehension
   The power to control things attracts the attention and efforts of those involved to try to influence regulators ( corruption)

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7. 68

   alternate poetposted 14 years ago

   Government and its controls gets bigger because, like any other business, its natural tendency is to grow and expand into new areas.
   
   In my opinion, ALL the various arguments here miss the point completely.  The government should be a mechanism for protecting the people.  Not some people, ALL the people.  When government gets entwined into the system it cannot help but grow, become unwieldy and a victim of the system it tries to compete in.
   
   There may be valid criticism of the Chinese government in other fields and the way it operates but one issue stands out in relation to this argument.  The Chinese way is to do nothing until it has to and then it 'fixes' one thing at a time. As an example - and not as an argument for anything else - the Chinese government 'broadcast' with some statements in the paper and in the news that it was going to act against online pornography.  A few months of talking and then it shut down every porn site in China and confiscated all the equipment and handed out fairly minor jail sentences, but jail nonetheless.  Lots of publicity and one decisive short action.  The problem would appear to have been fixed in that there is no easily accessible online porn.
   
   Chinese govenment clearly is 'involved' in things but not through trillions of overt and covert little rules and regulations and interferences.  This is not an argument about ideology, just an example of how 'limited' and decisive action can be better than the creation of thousands of new offoices full of useless people poking into every little aspect of the workings of society.

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   1. 60

      weholdthesetruthsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      yes, oppression by jail and massive police suppression is always effective at squashiing the people.

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      1. 68

         alternate poetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         You have just described the US - cowering in its homes and jails filled to bursting.  You should really try to gain some kind of education before spouting about about which things you clearly know nothing.

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      2. 0

         Texasbetaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hmm...like for profit prisons and allowing the prison lobby to become the second largest in Washington? Sounds like the US right now

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8. 67

   Greek Oneposted 14 years ago

   The combination of the 19th and 21st Amendments has resulted in a 50 per cent increase in the number of intoxicated voters casting ballots each and every election.
   
   Evidence of this phenomenon can be seen in the Presidential election results of 2000 and 2004
   
   Clearly both Amendments need to be repealed
   
   

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9. 68

   alternate poetposted 14 years ago

   At the base of American politics the fault is trying to sustain the US as a dominant force in world affairs - with all its unfair trade advantages and the aggression that accompanies it.  When the US as a culture understands that joining in the world game as equal partners is advantageous to all its citizens it will naturally shed all the ridiculous b@ll@cks that mimics political action.

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10. 0

    BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

    The main thing that's wrong with American Politics is something one of our founding fathers said,I can't remember who off the top of my head,but I want to say Benjamin Franklin. Anyhow someone hit the nail on the head way back when by predicting this,"The beginning of the end of our political form will be when beaurocrats realize that they can sway votes to gain monetarily for either them or their constituents". Exactly what has been going on all over the country since all political parties figured this out. This is what bred the landscape of seedy politicians,buy offs,lobbyists and big business buying policy. This will never change as the government is now the largest employer in our nation and to scale back too quickly would drive us into a further recession. The parties jockeying in the news is a ploy by all politicians to run a continuous bait and switch puppet show that unfortunately the masses fall for again and again. Personally I got kicked out of civics class in the 9th grade and was no longer allowed to attend for the rest of the year for telling the teacher he was a foolish sheep if he wasn't able to see that our REPUBLIC (that's right REPUBLIC,as the word democracy never appears in the Declaration Of Independence not even 1 time)had been turned into a slow moving socialism where we were conveniently being fooled to think we were actually free.

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