On August 3, Fairvote Blog published this review of Theresa Amato’s book, “Grand Illusion: the Myth of Voter Choice in a 2-Party Tyranny.”
On August 3, Fairvote Blog published this review of Theresa Amato’s book, “Grand Illusion: the Myth of Voter Choice in a 2-Party Tyranny.”
http://www.listal.com/video/887957
Video of my Independent Green campaign for U.S. House of representative in Virginia’s 7th District.
Read the Amato book.
Loved it!
go to 1:07 seconds…;-)
How watered-down does representation have to be until no democratic element remains? Mickey Mouse window dressing reforms like those proposed by Amato won’t cut it.
It’s odd that alleged democrats have little or no interest in enlarging the size of the US House of Representatives so that the people can recover some measure of representation from the financial-military-industrial complex. But if the number of US Representatives cannot be increased by at least a factor of five, then perhaps secession is the best route to decentralize government so that there are at least five, six or seven houses of representatives with 500 members each from five to ten states in each of five or six or seven regional confederations.
OTOH, we could have just one global phony Congress with a couple of hundred members appointed by the financial-military-industrial complex.
While some fantasy about enlarging the Congress, secession, etc. to solve our political problems, I prefer to dream about campaign finance reform.
Here’s my wish list:
1) Allow only individuals with a social security number to donate to any candidate for public office at the national, state or local level.
2) Prohibit donations to campaigns by anything/anyone other than individuals with a social security number – PACs, unions, other campaigns, etc.
3) Prohibit donations to any candidate for whom the donor cannot ultimately vote, by reason of residency, in the primary or general election.
3) Raise the limit on contributions to any one campaign to $50,000.
4) Permit candidates to finance their own campaigns up to a limit of…oh, I don’t know…let’s say $50,000, shall we?
5) Require national campaigns to surrender unspent balances to the US Treasury general, state campaigns to their respective state treasuries, and local campaigns to the appropriate municipal authority.
6) Outlaw lending by banks, individuals or any other entity to campaigns.
7) Send sympathy cards to all the lobbyists who will then be out of a job, and to 70-80% of the office holders who will find that, for once, they will be opposed in their reelection bid. It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.
So I think that about covers it, with the exception of an amendment to the US Constitution to rescind the “freedom of speech” which was unwisely granted to corporations by the USSC in 1886 (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad.).
The robber barons screwed us then, and they continue to screw us now.
But alas, it’s only a dream…
Requiring contributors to be able to vote for the candidate would adversely affect the freedom of minors, and in some states, ex-felons. In McConnell v FEC the US Supreme Court ruled minors can’t be barred from making campaign contributions.
Oh Richard, you’re always there trying to dash my dreams.