I think most of us can agree that this election season and campaign was a disgrace, and there's no other way to put it, not worthy of our Constitution and our democracy.
We have to take control of our system out of the hands of the politicians and the 2 parties and put it back into the control of "We The People".
Here's my ideas:
1) Replace the electoral college with a direct popular vote.
No good will come of a Kerry gain in Ohio, and thus the electoral college victory, if he loses the popular vote by 3.5 million. That's a recipe for disaster.
2) Set up a system of uniform, countrywide voting process including ballots, mode of voting (touch screen, optical scanner, etc)
This system of having 50 different processes and sets of rules is killing us. We are not 13 colonies anymore and we have to face the reality that "state's rights" should not take precedence over national rights to a national election. The states can handle their statewide elections anyway they want, but there is no reason why anyone should be held hostage to someone's state rule.
3) Take control of the re-districting process out of the hands of the political parties and the state legislatures. What happened in Texas is a disgraceful exhibition of raw political power that will do nothing but create hard feelings, and downright hatred, for many years.
We should set up non-partisan committees similar to Iowa and have them draw up plans that can then be voted on the state legislatures.
4) Set up a non-partisan committee to handle candidate debates. This crap of having a 32 page document to control the debates was an insult to the American voter.
5) Remove the limits on campaign contributions, but have full disclosure of every campaign contribution and sponsorship of every political ad. Let's see who's really paying for things, who they bought, and how much they paid for it.
6) Bring back the "Fairness Doctrine"
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm
Under the guise of "free speech" we have talking heads spewing the worst type of political discussion that does nothing but demonize the other side to the point where you can no longer just disagree with someone politically, you have to hate their guts in the process. And the Limbaugh's and the Hannity's and the Beck's and all the rest of the rightwing talking heads are laughing all the way to the bank. And our divisions grow deeper with each passing year.
No matter how many times these talking heads claim that the "Fairness Doctrine" stifles free speech, the fact is we had free speech and honest political discussions long before rightwing talk radio. Our democracy did not start with Rush Limbaugh.
And that is just for openers.
We have to take control of our system out of the hands of the politicians and the 2 parties and put it back into the control of "We The People".
Here's my ideas:
1) Replace the electoral college with a direct popular vote.
No good will come of a Kerry gain in Ohio, and thus the electoral college victory, if he loses the popular vote by 3.5 million. That's a recipe for disaster.
2) Set up a system of uniform, countrywide voting process including ballots, mode of voting (touch screen, optical scanner, etc)
This system of having 50 different processes and sets of rules is killing us. We are not 13 colonies anymore and we have to face the reality that "state's rights" should not take precedence over national rights to a national election. The states can handle their statewide elections anyway they want, but there is no reason why anyone should be held hostage to someone's state rule.
3) Take control of the re-districting process out of the hands of the political parties and the state legislatures. What happened in Texas is a disgraceful exhibition of raw political power that will do nothing but create hard feelings, and downright hatred, for many years.
We should set up non-partisan committees similar to Iowa and have them draw up plans that can then be voted on the state legislatures.
4) Set up a non-partisan committee to handle candidate debates. This crap of having a 32 page document to control the debates was an insult to the American voter.
5) Remove the limits on campaign contributions, but have full disclosure of every campaign contribution and sponsorship of every political ad. Let's see who's really paying for things, who they bought, and how much they paid for it.
6) Bring back the "Fairness Doctrine"
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm
Under the guise of "free speech" we have talking heads spewing the worst type of political discussion that does nothing but demonize the other side to the point where you can no longer just disagree with someone politically, you have to hate their guts in the process. And the Limbaugh's and the Hannity's and the Beck's and all the rest of the rightwing talking heads are laughing all the way to the bank. And our divisions grow deeper with each passing year.
No matter how many times these talking heads claim that the "Fairness Doctrine" stifles free speech, the fact is we had free speech and honest political discussions long before rightwing talk radio. Our democracy did not start with Rush Limbaugh.
And that is just for openers.
