Election Reform

There are numerous issues to write about, e.g., the economy, the dieing middle class, our eroding infrastructure, our declining quality of life, health care, environment, education and on and on and on. But if you think about it, all these issues revolve around one central axis, namely our government and the policies of those who hold public office. We have gotten where we are because those who are elected to public office have chosen to cater to those who have paid the most for their elections. And those who are elected, and their political clones, will continue to get re-elected year after year after year until we reform the system that enables them.

Reform, you say? Is that possible? How can we change the system? Let me tell you first how we can't reform the system and why. First, letters to our elected officials don't work. Second, rallies don't work. Why? Because the politicians know that their livelihood depends on raising money for the next election; and in order to do so, they must curry favor with the big spenders who are frequently not citizens of their districts. Finally, third parties, write-ins and failure to vote don't work for obvious reasons. So, if we want to reform the system, we must first rid ourselves of the paid, professional politicians that currently occupy government. And that we can do – at the polls.

Reforming the system can only be accomplished by voters at the polls. Americans must divorce themselves from party politics and reject the propaganda. The first step would be to defeat all incumbent politicians and bring in an entirely new crowd. A good second step would be to impose single term limits which would eliminate the need for re-election campaign financing. A good third step would be to eliminate most of the perks that go with public office. And a good fourth step would be to eliminate the seniority system. But politicians are unlikely to impose those conditions on themselves because for most, public office is a good life and no one wants to give it up. But voters can make it happen – at the polls. It simply means that all of us must vote for the candidates most likely to defeat the incumbents at each election.

Some argue that their politicians must be kept in office because of the seniority system which brings favors to their districts. But in my last blog, I pointed to a one term senator who accomplished much with no seniority. Furthermore, the seniority system is a bane to good government. There is no good reason why one district should be favored over others. This country was, after all, established on the basis that all are created equal. So if all elected officials are freshmen, that will level the playing field so that all have equal say in governing and equal opportunity at the feeding trough.

A Truly Sad Story

    We all hear how corrupt our politicians are and how our confidence in our Congress is at an all time low. But here's a situation where you have someone in Congress who has truly kept his word and has truly voted his conscience, not his party ticket, and now we are about to lose him. Why? Because he is keeping his word. That person is Senator Jim Webb from Virginia. Senator Webb is not a professional politician. He is a retired Marine who ran for the U.S. Senate, won, and is now planning to go back to private life. He promised Virginians that if he were elected to the Senate he would serve one term only; and he is keeping his word. That is a true mark of integrety; that a man will do what he says he will do. How many times do we see that in the politicians who are voted into office?

    As much as I would like to see Senator Webb re-elected, my heart tells me he is doing the right thing. Think about it for a moment. Without the need for money for a re-election campaign, he can clearly vote his conscience and tell the party, the lobbyists and all the others who would buy his votes to go to hell. That is a monumental advantage he has over all the professional politicians. Furthermore, with six years in office, Senator Webb accomplished much. And his biggest accomplishment is proof that you don't have to have umpteen years seniority to accomplish things for your constituency. That alone is as big an accomplishment as all the other politicians put together.

    Yes, I worry a lot about who will replace Jim Webb. It will probably be another corrupt, cynical, run-of-the-mill politician whose campaign promises will be like almost all the others – disingenuous; and whose votes will be like almost all of the others – for sale to the highest bidder. But I'm afraid it must be so. At least until Americans pull their collective heads out of the sand and quit drinking the “Kool-Aid” we will be saddled with status quo: “the best politicians money can buy”.

Where do we begin?

This blog is going to be a random collection of thoughts about our current politico/economic situation, how we got here and what, if anything, can be done to improve it.  Clearly, over the past thirty years, the living standards of the average American have declined and the prospects for the futures of our children and grandchildren are looking bleak.  Two generations back, it was normal for parents to believe that their children and grandchildren would be better off than they were.  Such is no longer the case and except for a few privileged families, coming generations are likely to be worse off than we are.

The middle class has been eroding continuously over the past 30 years while the privileged class garners an ever increasing share of the national wealth.  As of 2007, the top 1% of households owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth and the top 20% owned 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).  Prior to the latest economic crisis, the U.S. had the greatest inequality of wealth in the industrialized world; and the effect of the recession has only worsened the wealth inequality.  There is presently no equalizing force to counteract the increasing inequality of wealth.  Left alone, we will ultimately become a "banana republic", a two class society consisting only of the very few rich and the remaining poor.  

So how did this happen; and what, if anything, can we do about it?