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American Government

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Caelestis, Jul 25, 2014.

  1. Caelestis

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    Doe anyone else really want to change the American government? I feel that congress in particular is pretty damn useless. They sit around and argue all day, not to mention the fact that the House is dominated the Republican party. I mean, what have they really done during this session? And they are about to recess.
     
  2. An Gentleman

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    I bet most Americans do.
    Liberals, conservatives, moderates, libertarians, socialists... you name it.
     
  3. Caelestis

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    I mean it worked almost 300 hundred years ago, but the system does not work in todays world
     
  4. Sabot Kitty

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    I wish it wasn't so dominated and influenced by [big] business. Did you know that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, of the total $6,285,557,223 that was spent in the 2012 United States election cycle, only 0.40% of the U.S. population contributed 63.4% of the funding? It's only getting worse with Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
     
  5. Caelestis

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    I know. And back when our government was founded, it was REGULAR people. Farmers, stonemasons, wigmakers, it was all common people who made up the government with a few scholars mixed in. Now, its all millionaires who want to make tons of money from sitting on their asses. I mean congress makes something like 3 million a year per person and they dont do anything with the power they are given.
     
  6. Data

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    The system still works as intended. There is equal representation, checks and balances, and a fair system of justice.

    Government is something that's needed, and in my opinion the American system is the most fair and the most modern.

    That said, term limits for Congressmen should be Constitutional Amendment #28.
     
  7. Sabot Kitty

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    Although the majority of our Congresspeople being millionaires today is shameful considering the likely causes, it started out bad too, with extremely limited enfranchisement.
     
  8. scub

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    in my opinion, the entire electoral college needs to be dumped. because in the end, these days voting for a president is meaningless.. as it's decided primarily by the states with most power rather than the people voting. in other words, elections these days are not won by the majority of votes, rather by a flawed point system. where am i getting at? well you end up with presidents most people didn't want to run the country, but won solely based on electoral votes. i think with the right president, both house and senate should be able to make comprises, many have done so in the past even when both senate and house are controlled individually by each party. if you're implying the problem is because the house is primarily controlled by the Republicans, you are wrong. again, this all boils down to the president.. he's the one dividing the parties. just my 2 cents.
     
  9. An Gentleman

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    Actually, the Democrats and Republicans used to have moderate,conservative and liberal wings. Too bad everything is so polarized now.
     
  10. Kat 5

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    Lets all just use Joshonomics.
     
  11. Aussie792

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    I don't understand how that could be true, given that the US legal and political system hasn't fundamentally changed since its creation, nor is it near the top of any democracy index; it's 21/25 (all 25 full democracies) on the EIU democracy index.

    It definitely could be worse, but that doesn't mean that it's not in need of reform.
     
  12. An Gentleman

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    >be on EC
    >know that greentext is the best thing since sliced bread
    >Joshonomics
    >become very confused

    Seriously though, what's Joshonomics?
     
  13. Hexagon

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    Yes, just about the entire world would like the american government to change.
     
  14. DMark69

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    We may not be at the top of the democracies, but that would be because we are not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic. I agree with term limits, and in fact since they cannot decide on anything because of the polarization, I think all 536 elected officials need to be thrown out so we can start over. For those who might need a refresher, that is 100 senators, 435 congressmen, and the president. for 536.
    The next issue I would make is that the max election money anyone could spend should be $1000, per election. That is enough to have a professional create a web page with your policies, and views. The news can report on it if they want, and the people can read the web page if they want and make an informed decision. At $1000, almost anyone could afford to run taking business,and the parities out of politics.
    Next fix, multiply congresses pay by their approval rating. For example the pay of a US Congressman today is $174,000 x approval rating of 7% = $12,800. That would make it in their best interest to keep the people happy.
     
  15. Kaiser

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    Even Thomas Jefferson believed in a little revolution. Of course, he also had an issue with religious and banking institutions. Kind of funny how, from back then to now, very little has changed.
     
  16. Aquilo

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    These would be my recommendations (for any state really):

    1. Stricter enforcement of separation between state and religion.
    2. Proportional representation instead of First past the post.
    3. Limit political donations to <50 euro a person.
    4. Enact stricter measures to keep business and politics separated.
    5. Make the central bank more independent from politics.
    6. Create more independent media:
    6.a Create an independent government subsidized media, with unbiased news.
    6.b Restrict the size of media empires and their connections with business.
    7. Restrict illegal assassinations and spying operations on (foreign) citizens.
    8. Join the ICC.
    9. Ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and some more treaties.
    10. Check state and federal laws on the part of the constitution which does not allow discrimination.
    11. Reform the education system. Freedom of religion, freedom of universities to make massive profits from their students and others 'rights' are not above the rights of children to gain a good education.
    12. Sign climate conventions.
    13. Legalize soft drugs and stop the war against drugs.
    14. Increase accountability for police forces, prisons and government.
    15. Create a fair territorial based tax system and close loopholes created by corrupt lawmakers. (Current size of US tax code ~5 bibles).
    16. Do not allow the USA government to act in a way against non-USA citizens, which would be illegal for USA citizens.
    17. Corporations are not people.
     
  17. Browncoat

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    Err, no, no it wasn't... it was founded by mostly rich, affluent men. Some that took an even less populous stand than others *cough* Hamilton *cough*. Frankly we were lucky to even get the Bill of Rights out of them.
     
    #17 Browncoat, Jul 26, 2014
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2014
  18. Mike92

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    There should be some changes, but I could list many reasons why Congress is the way it is right now. There isn't just one cause of Congress' dysfunction. However, the American people are definitely a big reason why Congress is a mess right now, and polarization.

    ---------- Post added 26th Jul 2014 at 01:50 PM ----------

    Definitely disagree with this.

    Term limits are popular among the American people, but in practice it wouldn't be a good thing, particularly in the House. When someone is first elected to the House, they generally have no idea about specific policy issues. For example, a new member of Congress with a degree in Political Science probably isn't going to know much about agriculture, and the same is true for a member who is put on another committee that works on issues that they have no knowledge in. Same goes for congressional staff that help work on policy. It would kinda be like expecting a lawyer to be able to be knowledgeable in the healthcare field. Many congressional staffers are young and just graduated college (and they get paid terribly). The new member of Congress and the recent graduates who serve as staffers cannot be expected to have in depth knowledge of the specific issues they're assigned to work on when they are first put on a congressional committee. But after a few years experience, the member and the staff start to learn more about the issues their committee works on.

    So if you were to add term limits - 8 years, for example - you start to lose members of Congress who started to acquire knowledge of the specific issues their committee works on, and you replace them with new members and staffers who generally have no idea what they're doing. We already have a problem with inexperienced staffers working for representatives to gain experience, and then becoming a lobbyist and essentially working "against" new young congressional staffers to make policy. In other words, term limits would hurt specialization and the quality of policy.
     
  19. AwesomGaytheist

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    For one, you need to get billionaires and their money out of politics, and two we need a Supreme Court that will base its decisions off the Constitution and not the GOP platform like the Roberts court does now.
     
  20. We need a multi-party system to represent everybody. I don't agree with everything the Democratic Party does and I don't think all conservatives agree with everything the Republican Party does.

    Term limits are KINDA good. On one hand, term limits allow new people to have a shot at being a congressperson and the congress would be more updated on the issues. On the other hand, some new people can be quite incompetent if they have little experience.

    I would support a parliamentary system. Sometimes, our congress should be dissolved to bring in more productive workers. Also, bad leaders could be voted out quite easily by no confidence.
     
    #20 anthonythegamer, Jul 26, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2014