How could we improve the American Republic?

[Carmen813]

Personally, I don't feel that the Democrat or Republican party is the problem in American politics today. I feel the root cause is apathy among voters. We have disappointingly turnout for elections. For all our talk of democracy, we aren't one. We elect people who turn are expected to represent us. If the people elected are doing a crappy job, then it must be the voter who is at fault.

My proposal: A constitutional amendment to hold federal elections on the first Saturday of November. Tuesday sucks, no one likes Tuesday, to hell with Tuesday.

Thoughts?

Oh yes, and free miniature American flags for everyone who votes.

 

[Fear No Evil]

What difference would it made if it had 10 people vote or 100 million? We still would have gotten McCain or Obama.

 

[0marTheZealot]

Both parties put partisanship above what's good for our country.

 

[Ozoned]

Personally, I don't feel that the Democrat or Republican party is the problem in American politics today. I feel the root cause is apathy among voters. We have disappointingly turnout for elections. For all our talk of democracy, we aren't one. We elect people who turn are expected to represent us. If the people elected are doing a crappy job, then it must be the voter who is at fault.

My proposal: A constitutional amendment to hold federal elections on the first Saturday of November. Tuesday sucks, no one likes Tuesday, to hell with Tuesday.

Thoughts?

Oh yes, and free miniature American flags for everyone who votes.

My proposal: A constitutional amendment that requires candidates from opposing parties debate each other in puiblic while intoxicated at a level of at least .15

 

[xj0hnx]

Personally, I don't feel that the Democrat or Republican party is the problem in American politics today. I feel the root cause is apathy among voters. We have disappointingly turnout for elections. For all our talk of democracy, we aren't one. We elect people who turn are expected to represent us. If the people elected are doing a crappy job, then it must be the voter who is at fault.

My proposal: A constitutional amendment to hold federal elections on the first Saturday of November. Tuesday sucks, no one likes Tuesday, to hell with Tuesday.

Thoughts?

Oh yes, and free miniature American flags for everyone who votes.

I'd also add ignorance to the root cause, though maybe the apathy is what caused the ignorance. I think there is a very big disconnect between the voter and the politician. People have been screwed by government for so long that politics are just something that happens in DC every few years, and for the most part people don't see how it effects their day to day lives, which if something doesn't effect it, it matters less and less. Too much TV, too much work, instant gratification, and the problems with everyday life becoming more and more, and year after year having the "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" can you blame them? When was the last time a president actually kept a campaign promise? Bush's platform on his first campaign sounded great, what happened? According to Obama's campaign we'd be in utopia, what happened? Seems like since Kennedy(not that he was some white knight, besides the fact that he couldn't even get elected as a democrat today) the presidents have become bigger bags if shit every election.

 

[FoBoT]

more McVoters is NOT the answer

 

[Carmen813]

What difference would it made if it had 10 people vote or 100 million? We still would have gotten McCain or Obama.

I believe it would lead to better candidates, or for third parties to have a larger shot at winning.

 

[Schadenfroh]

(Note: some of the following might be applicable only to state laws)

It would be nice to be able to vote on Saturday.

I think not listing a candidate's political party on the ballot would be an improvement. Many vote straight down party lines, something I used to be guilty of myself. It might help independents as votes normally cast purely for D or R would likely be left blank.

I will likely catch hell for this, but I think that presenting a valid photo ID when voting would make voter fraud more difficult. The state would need to provide citizens with a "free" (to prevent a poll tax) photo ID after their eligibility to vote has been verified, with reasonable security measures implemented on the card itself.

Allow representatives 4-year terms with a max of 2 or 3 terms.

 

[Elias824]

Term limit for congressmen
I agree with the not listing political parties on ballots
Ill agree with doing voting on Saturday, or make it a national holiday
Do a straight up popular vote or something similar

 

[alphatarget1]

Why do you think having more uninformed voters will fix our democracy? The problem is a proper education (or lack thereof) amongst the populace.

I never understand having a bunch of volunteers knock on doors to ask someone to vote for a candidate. It is incredibly stupid.

 

[Jaskalas]

Thoughts?

You don't feel the two parties are the problem? I don't want to vote for either one of those corrupt sobs. Anger towards them IS the reason voters have apathy.

Two solutions are as follows:

Remove term limits for the President. If a good leader is found then they should not be removed against the will of the people. It would force parties to actually consider campaigning against their own President and to examine themselves instead of blindly bashing the other side.

Remove federal taxes and reallocate all of it to state taxes. States get to pay the Union which breaks the authority behind centralized planning in this nation and restores parallelism. Diversity is a trait that is absolutely required for any entity to survive. This would immediately defeat the corruption in Washington.

Well, it’s a start.

 

[Craig234]

To the party haters: We have parties because they are efficient politically. The founding fathers weren't crazy about parties, and then promptly formed two - the same basic structure we have today - as Adams and Jefferson became ideological opponents and everyone jumped on one side or the other. It's not clear how to avoid parties, and it appears to be a waste of energy to try.

The theory it requires of a universally well-informed populace making judgements about each candidate is so far from the real world as to be absurd.

We could do what more other democracies do with more diverse parties in a more parliamentary system, but do you really see huge benfefits to that?

To the term limit people: this has been answered ad nauseum but you are wrong, you would unwittingly screw the public interest badly, not getting what you want but rather handing over the little power the people have to the political machines to select the temporary and inexperienced office holders, who would be even more beholden to the powers who pick them - and without any obligation to the public for re-election. Forget it.

There is no great solution to get the public well-informed, voting for selfless politicians who care just abut the public interest.

What we can do is simply to recognize and counter some of the corruption that comes from concentrated power and wealth - removing money from the system.

As I posted in another thread recently, use your spending politically. Spend for things that make the country better, and don't spend on things that fund people who do bad.

Subscribe to some good independant media - magazines, documentaries, web sites, radio shows.

 

[ebaycj]

Let's start by getting them to be actually somewhat interested in what their constituents want.

Outlawing lobbying of any kind, outlawing special interest groups (swift-boat ads), and limiting political donations to $1000 per individual / organization, would be a good start.

 

[ebaycj]

Remove term limits for the President. If a good leader is found then they should not be removed against the will of the people. It would force parties to actually consider campaigning against their own President and to examine themselves instead of blindly bashing the other side.

This is ridiculous. These term limits are there to prevent the abuse of power. There is a reason they are in place, and should stay that way.

Remove federal taxes and reallocate all of it to state taxes. States get to pay the Union which breaks the authority behind centralized planning in this nation and restores parallelism. Diversity is a trait that is absolutely required for any entity to survive. This would immediately defeat the corruption in Washington.

This is not a bad idea at all.

 

[Kirby]

A bit of imperialism would bring in money without many negative effects to Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Taxpayer.

Social services funded on the backs of those too weak to oppose our power FTW.

 

[dullard]

1) Get rid of the parties the best we can. Sure, they'll always be around. But for many voters it is like choosing a Thanksgiving meal between eating (A) a roadkill carcass that has been rotting in the hot sun for 10 days or (B) that bit of cat vomit that is drying up on your floor. When voters dislike both canidates, you get apathy and low election turnout. The simple fix is just to eliminate the printing of R and D on the ballot. The long term fix is to end the flow of cash from the parties to the candidates (by public financing, or by a series of laws to try to stop their constant loopholes, I perfer teh public financing myself). We need to let 3rd parties be viable. The Rs and Ds should each split into two (which is almost happening already).

2) Rework the debates and other forms of advertising. That would be really simple (but the parties will resist). For example, you get equal air time IF you actually are answering questions directly. In a debate a balanced panel can cut off your microphone if you wander to your talking points instead of actually answering the questions. Bring back substance instead of fluff.

3) You have to make it easier to vote. Taking off of work is NOT possible for many swaths of our country. The poor can't afford it and the rich are too busy. Enhance the vote by mail (and actually count it even if the election isn't close). Allow online voting (but make everything transparent and open for security and trust purposes). Have a holiday on election day. Ban pay cuts for hourly people who take off part of that day. Etc.

4) Finally, now that you opened up the vote to far more people, close it back down to people who actually are interested. I know it'll never pass, but make people take a simple multiple choice quiz before their vote counts. If they don't even know where the candidates stand (see #2), then their vote doesn't count.

 

[Ausm]

Term limits for Congress and eliminate special interest groups lining the pockets of Congress.

 

[Carmen813]

Term limits for Congress and eliminate special interest groups lining the pockets of Congress.

Term limits imply that voters cannot identify corruption. Additionally, once you've been elected for your final term, what is to stop you from going batshit crazy? After all, you've already won.

As I said, the parties are reflective of the voters. They are the effect, not the cause.

As for the idea Jask posted about having the states collect taxes and then give them to the federal government, we tried that already. It was called the Articles of Confederation, and it was a miserable failure. The pendulum was too far the other way, causing the federal government to be too weak. Jask, could you clarify if this is what you meant?

 

[Ausm]

Term limits imply that voters cannot identify corruption. Additionally, once you've been elected for your final term, what is to stop you from going batshit crazy? After all, you've already won.

As I said, the parties are reflective of the voters. They are the effect, not the cause.

As for the idea Jaks posted about having the states collect taxes and then give them to the federal government, we tried that already. It was called the Articles of Confederation, and it was a miserable failure. The pendulum was too far the other way, causing the federal government to be too weak.

I don't think the majority of people who vote for members of congress know jack shit about their voting record and/or politics.

 

[Pens1566]

Eliminate corporate personhood in the context of campaign finances. Ban lobbying.

 

[ch33kym0use]

Ya gonna have to have some therapy.

 

[werepossum]

1. Photo ID to vote - and a twenty-four hour weekend election cycle.
2. Run-off elections if no candidate breaks 50%.
3. Term limits for Congress - twelve years ought to be enough for anyone.
4. Term limits for federal judges - twelve years ought to be enough for anyone.
5. Replace all federal taxes with the FairTax. The poor pay nothing, illegals and drug lords pay like everyone else, you get all your pay, American corporations have a tax advantage to offset our high labor costs, the states do the collecting, savings are not taxed at all, and best of all, everyone can see the tax rates; no more idiots saying "I don't pay taxes" because they get a small tax refund.
6. Restore the import tariff; when you import much more than you export, reasonable tariffs work. Set import tariffs, ownership restrictions, etc. to match each country.
7. Enforce respect the 10th Amendment. If you want to do something the Constitution does not allow, lobby to change it rather ignoring it.
8. Enforce our borders. Completely.
9. Differentiate between the Mexican landscaper or Jamaican cab driver or Cuban risking life and limb on a jury rigged truck-boat-truck, and the welfare mother, drug addict, or gangbanger. One group we want, one we do not.
10. Fix government education so that all children learn what makes America great. (Hint:It's not government.)

 

[JohnnyGage]

1. Photo ID to vote - and a twenty-four hour weekend election cycle.
2. Run-off elections if no candidate breaks 50%.
3. Term limits for Congress - twelve years ought to be enough for anyone.
4. Term limits for federal judges - twelve years ought to be enough for anyone.
5. Replace all federal taxes with the FairTax. The poor pay nothing, illegals and drug lords pay like everyone else, you get all your pay, American corporations have a tax advantage to offset our high labor costs, the states do the collecting, savings are not taxed at all, and best of all, everyone can see the tax rates; no more idiots saying "I don't pay taxes" because they get a small tax refund.
6. Restore the import tariff; when you import much more than you export, reasonable tariffs work. Set import tariffs, ownership restrictions, etc. to match each country.
7. Enforce respect the 10th Amendment. If you want to do something the Constitution does not allow, lobby to change it rather ignoring it.
8. Enforce our borders. Completely.
9. Differentiate between the Mexican landscaper or Jamaican cab driver or Cuban risking life and limb on a jury rigged truck-boat-truck, and the welfare mother, drug addict, or gangbanger. One group we want, one we do not.
10. Fix government education so that all children learn what makes America great. (Hint:It's not government.)

The only thing to add would be computerized redistricting for the house. No more gerrymandering from the left or the right.

 

[MovingTarget]

1. Remove political party listings from the ballot
2. Move voting day to the weekend or make a national holiday
3. Restore tariffs on imports
4. Strengthen congressional war-making authority (i.e. ban all "authorization for military action" nonsense and make them choose between either declaring war or not)
5. Weak congressional term limits (longer limits than potus as power is more distributed in the legislative branch than executive)
6. Mandatory civics and personal finance classes in high school
7. Single payer healthcare
8. Legalization of 'common' drugs
9. Verification of working status of ALL employees (government or not) and subsequent immigration enforcement
10. MASSIVE investment in scientific research and education

 

[JS80]

Four words: Less federal, more state.