It seems today more and more Americans are realizing that Government at all levels (Federal, State and Local) is NOT working for them.
The Disconnection and Divide between the Political Class and the average person has never been wider. The concerns of the average politician are much different than that of the average American citizen.
The current system of Government we now have is ineffective and does not meet the needs and challenges of the time and place where we are living. The career politicians, corporate lobbying, and special interests have created a one party system of government. Republicans and Democrats are all taking money and doing favors for the same people.
The contributions of a few hundred thousand or a few million dollars usually turns out to be money very well spent, when hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in tax breaks, direct money, and other government programs are established exclusively to benefit these very few large donors.
The problem with our system of politics and government is corruption. No person can be put in the places of such huge responsibility and immense power. All Human beings have needs and wants which must be satisfied. These include basic needs all the way up to gold t shirts and Ferrari's. There is no one who can be put into these situations and make decisions without the influence of these special interests. When money is received, we all feel like we owe something to someone.
To make the decision that is best for the majority of Americans politicians need to have a special shield from the influence and interests of lobbying groups. There are not many (if any) politicians who don't need the support from Big Money donors to campaign, and throw swanky fundraisers on the path to getting reelected.
The traditional sources of political funding is what keeps the wheels of crony capitalism and government hand outs turning.
There exists to me only two alternative solutions here:
(1) overthrow the government
(2) start a public funding campaign to pay the politicians to do work for the "average" person because no one works for free.
Lets look at option 1. Overthrowing the current government seems impossible to do because of the scope of the military. Any resistance would be met with deadly force. No matter how many weapons the resistance movement could amass it would still not be enough to compete with the Billions of Dollars we have all contributed for National Defense.
Lets say we did overthrow the US government today. Then the problem we face is Anarchy. Lets say we started clean and wanted to establish a new government, as our founding fathers had instructed us to do if the government became too powerful. That sounds simple enough. Except....
Now Anyone and Everyone would have an opinion on how to run the New Government. Since there would be no government, and no perceived Authority people would not know what to do with themselves. They may or may not follow the new government, and with its lack of history it would be hard not to overthrow it again whenever something did go your way. Overthrowing the current government seems impossible. It is a system that predates and supersedes many individuals and social institutions existence. It is also impractical. Lets consider option 2.
The Practical Solution for an Effective Government is for the Public to Fund a Lobbying Organization that contributes money directly to Politicians. Now when Politicians are making legislationthey are working elclusively for special interests groups and NOT their constituents.
If you agree that all Politicians are corrupt, then the only solution is to pay these people directly and have some type of voice in what they do. Now the general public does not have a voice or a vote on the majority of legislation produced by the very politicians they voted for. The American people seemed to forget that no one works for free. Why would they except their elected Representatives to be any different?
For a remarkably small sum of money, the Citizens of the United States could fund a general public lobbying organization to stand up for their interests. At this time I am unaware of any such organization that exists. The organization would vote on pertinent issues and craft their own legislation for matters it deemed important enough. The main purpose is to give the general people a real voice backed with real dollars behind it to compete against the special interests groups narrow agenda.
The Math:
If 50 Million people or about 16% of the 300 Million Americans gave $20 dollars per year to this Lobbying Organization we would have around $1 Billion Dollars to buy the influence and votes from our Politicians. With 435 Congress members and 100 Senators we would have over $1.8 Million Dollars to pay each of them! If anyone was too greedy to take our money and not vote our way they would be abolished from Politics in an orderly fashion.
We would be getting a tremendous bang for our buck in buying influence directly. The Amount of Corporate Contributions is tiny in relation to the benefits they receive. Giving away a couple Million Dollars to access Billions of Dollars in "Free" Government money that comes from tax payers and favorable policy is no brainier.
If you could pay $20 dollars today and eliminate government waste that would end up costing you thousands of dollars 3 years from now would you do it?
To Vote according to the wishes of this new organization is simple, fair and easy. The organization would have online votes where the majority opinion could be represented through our politicians actions. Now the politicians would be forced to be accountable to the average person.
There is no such thing as an honest politician. The nature of the game forces people to do favors for those who contribute the most money to them. We acknowledge these cold hard facts and do not believe they can be changed. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either a fool, ignorant or is fooling themselves.
People brought President Obama into the White House on his platform of Change. What Change can you expect when you dig around and see that the same Big Donors are funding Both Sides?
What change can you expect when no changes are made?
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