Thought Question: is important that neither house of congress is badly unbalanced

[Chainfire]

The closer the opposing sides are in numbers, the easier it is for big money to sway issues to their own benefit. It is easier to flip two votes than ten, in either direction on any given legislation. The end result is that nothing of substance will ever get done, no changes to the current system are possible. Perhaps that is why we have both an MSNBC and a Fox news. If the sides are evenly split neither side can overpower the other so the war never ends and becomes more and more destructive by the day. Divide and conquer? The results of the political stalemate is that no social progress can ever be made and no one can challenge the power of the few to dominate the many.

While we are at war with each other, the fourth branch of government is looting us; big time.

[Hoyt]

1. So, what's the solution? Get out the Democratic vote is about all I see, especially short-term.

[Chainfire]

2. That, or course is the solution, or is it?

Does the citizen even have the ability to fight the influence of big money in politics? With enough money to spend, you can make a saint appear to be a sinner and a sinner a saint and it happens every day. In the end, advertising dollars rule. We are running around in circles, campaign finance reform is the obvious answer, but the 4th branch will now allow it, so we keep sending bought and paid for politicians to represent us, and when they get there, they have to spend most of their time raising money! We are no longer a Democracy, or a Republic, but a big privately owned business.

It cost about 20 million dollars to get elected to the Senate. Obama's campaign cost 700 million and Biden's a neat billion dollars... That is an abomination in a country that calls itself a Democracy. Elections are bought and sold and the average voter has no say in who gets the bulk of the money. No matter how dedicated a Democrat that I am, no matter how generous, I can't effectively influence what happens. If I pent every dollar that I made in a lifetime on a campaign contribution for the president, it wouldn't be enough to get the ear of the the Commander in chief for ten seconds. I have not missed a single vote since I came of age, over 50 years ago, but that is not enough.

I certainly don't have the answers, but I believe that at least I have a good handle on the question.

[Hoyt]

3. We did well in 2020. Campaign financing might make some difference, but there are still a

lot of rubes out there who will vote conservative, even if campaigns are financed totally by government.