FIX THIS! No more "the system obviously works because nobody was beaten with a cane" excuses. [View all]

[TrollBuster9090]

Does anybody remember this golden moment in Satyrical Theatre after the economy was nearly wrecked for the second time in three years over the Debt Ceiling Crisis? Harry Reid took to the Senate floor and told us to cheer up, because your Government isn't really as dysfunctional as you think. After all, nobody was beaten nearly to death with a cane, the way Charles Sumner was in 1856.

So, apparently, THIS is the high water mark for a dysfunctional government, and there's no reason to be upset over the one we have now?



Sorry, but like you, I don't think that's good enough. As we race towards the 'fiscal cliff' (simultaneous tax increases and spending cuts during a recession...aka the worst of both worlds) there will be only a small window of time when Barack Obama will have LEVERAGE over both chambers of Congress.

The President has chosen to make his last stand, and use this leverage over the idea that the wealthy should stop getting a free ride, and pay more to support their country. He needs to add three more things to the list:

1. Voting Reform.
2. Campaign Finance Reform, and
3. Reformation of the Senate Filibuster rules.

I don't want to see ANY Democrats giving the pathetic excuse for a voting process we now have a PASS just because A) Obama got re-elected IN SPITE OF Republican State governments throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the path of Democratic voters, , and B) Maybe next time WE'LL control the State governments, and we can do the same to them.


1. The Voting System is BROKEN and needs to be REPAIRED!

It's EASY! Congress has the power to regulate voting in Federal Elections (look it up...it ain't another stupid 'States Rights issue.') Simply get the Treasury to print up PAPER BALLOTS with serial numbers on them, that can be counted by optical readers. Then mandate a certain number of voting stations and machines PER CAPITA in each district. NO BALLOT INITIATIVES ALLOWED on the Federal Ballot! If states want to screw around with ballot initiatives to flush out their favorite voters, that's fine. They can use all the ten page ballots and crooked Diebold voting machines for that, but it cannot intrude on the Federal PAPER ballot, which will be kept around after the election for recount purposes. If the serial numbers on the ballots don't match, you know there's some fraud going on. Early voting periods and absentee ballot requirements will be mandated by federal law, too, so they're the same everywhere.

2. Campaign Finance Reform might be a bridge too far this time around, but it can at least be used as a BARGAINING CHIP. ie-asking for BOTH donation limits and complete transparency (naming donors, and not allowing PACs to operate as charities or money laundering operations), and then 'settling' for the latter.

3. Again, as a BARGAINING POSITION, push for elimination of the Senate Filibuster and then 'settle' for a RETURN to the way Senate Filibusters USED to work. ie-if you want to filibuster you literally have to hold the Senate floor until you drop from exhaustion. If that method was good enough for the Civil Rights legislation battle of the 1960s, it's good enough for issues now. Yes, that means Republicans wanting to filibuster Democratic initiatives in the Senate will have to be prepared to stand on their feet for 20 hours, with a bursting bladder, reading names from the phonebook; and Democrats will have to be prepared to sleep in their offices for a month with the expectation the GOP will call a surprise vote during a filibuster. SO WHAT? So you have to put a little PASSION back into your law making. It's about time somebody shook up that comfortable old boys club anyways.

We've got both TRADITION and HOLLYWOOD on our side. The public will ACCEPT a return to the traditional filibuster.