CDZ Both Sides Believe the Other Has Brought Them to This...

[BlackFlag]

...and they deserve nothing better. A lot of people feel this way. What actions can the people in power take that could remedy that, without risking somebody even more partisan using it to sabotage things and take over?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

 

[frigidweirdo]

...and they deserve nothing better. A lot of people feel this way. What actions can the people in power take that could remedy that, without risking somebody even more partisan using it to sabotage things and take over?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

Partisan politics is destroying the US. Time for a REAL change. Time for Proportional Representation.

 

[flacaltenn]

...and they deserve nothing better. A lot of people feel this way. What actions can the people in power take that could remedy that, without risking somebody even more partisan using it to sabotage things and take over?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

And they are probably both right to some extent. Because having only 2 choices from the same powerful parties to vote for every ballot will CREATE that situation.. It's all about power and winning. There's no reason for citizens to fall for that.

NEITHER party performs regardless of how much power they win. They take passes on all the important stuff and just poke each other to death. And only 4 powerful party bosses totally control every action of Congress.

You want something more democratic? Stop the "winning". Get super qualified to not FEAR running for office and put them on as Independents or 3rd parties. Just about 10 of them would ruin the "party" that Congress has turned into.. Party poopers --- so to speak..

 

[BlackFlag]

...and they deserve nothing better. A lot of people feel this way. What actions can the people in power take that could remedy that, without risking somebody even more partisan using it to sabotage things and take over?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

And they are probably both right to some extent. Because having only 2 choices from the same powerful parties to vote for every ballot will CREATE that situation.. It's all about power and winning. There's no reason for citizens to fall for that.

NEITHER party performs regardless of how much power they win. They take passes on all the important stuff and just poke each other to death. And only 4 powerful party bosses totally control every action of Congress.

You want something more democratic? Stop the "winning". Get super qualified to not FEAR running for office and put them on as Independents or 3rd parties. Just about 10 of them would ruin the "party" that Congress has turned into.. Party poopers --- so to speak..

I think a constitutional amendment would be required to make 3rd parties competitive. There's a reason it all came down to 2 parties. Could the current makeup of the 2 parties possibly agree on an amendment? Absolutely not. And if a 3rd party did emerge, it would either be crushed or replace the 2nd party.

The 2 parties need to reconcile somehow. You see any possibility of that?

 

[task0778]

I am not too sure you're right about this, FCT. Getting people who are super qualified might be easier said than done, not only winnable candidates but pols with honor and integrity. LOL, does such exist and who's going to decide that? I suspect it wouldn't be long before a few less-than-scrupulous folks run as an Independent.

That's a lot of power in the hands of those 10 people, particularly in the Senate. These guys would have a lot of control over the other 90, which side wins or loses on a given issue would depend on who wins the bidding war for their votes. Are these guys going to do what's best for all of us or what's best for their constituents? How many will become more interested in their own careers, like most other pols in Washington? Should we bet the rent on whether at some of them will be 'bribable'? Some might actually be Dems or Repubs in disguise, pretending to be Independents but really aren't.

Maybe instead of a 3rd political party, we need a group of truly honest journalists who actually tell us the whole truth all the time. Or at least a fair and balanced analysis of what is going on. Right now we get a whole bunch of spin, and the truth gets hard to discern. Maybe we need term limits that we the people enforce ourselves; for instance, no matter who you are or who's running against you, Senators get replaced after their 2nd term and House Reps get replaced after 4 terms. Every time. The pols will never do it on their own, so we the voters need to do it for them. We vote them out, simple as that. If somebody doesn't get voted out then a price of some kind will have to be paid by their political party in the next election. Seems plain to me that Washington is not going to drain the swamp, so I think we need to do it for them. And if we don't do this stuff, then it's on us as much as them.

 

[flacaltenn]

...and they deserve nothing better. A lot of people feel this way. What actions can the people in power take that could remedy that, without risking somebody even more partisan using it to sabotage things and take over?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

And they are probably both right to some extent. Because having only 2 choices from the same powerful parties to vote for every ballot will CREATE that situation.. It's all about power and winning. There's no reason for citizens to fall for that.

NEITHER party performs regardless of how much power they win. They take passes on all the important stuff and just poke each other to death. And only 4 powerful party bosses totally control every action of Congress.

You want something more democratic? Stop the "winning". Get super qualified to not FEAR running for office and put them on as Independents or 3rd parties. Just about 10 of them would ruin the "party" that Congress has turned into.. Party poopers --- so to speak..

I think a constitutional amendment would be required to make 3rd parties competitive. There's a reason it all came down to 2 parties. Could the current makeup of the 2 parties possibly agree on an amendment? Absolutely not. And if a 3rd party did emerge, it would either be crushed or replace the 2nd party.

The 2 parties need to reconcile somehow. You see any possibility of that?

Don't need complete domination of the US Congress or State legislatures. If the 2 parties won't give way, you play for the people. Send a handful of independents in there that dont think or march or demagogue like the clones you get from the Brand Name parties. Even 10 in the House would likely be the "swing votes" on ALL actions. And the media and all eyes would be on them and their thoughts on the matter.

When the voting public figures out that 531 or the 534 members are completely irrelevant and interchangeable, because the 4 party leaders are pulling their strings --- THEN you'll get more Independents and then 3rd parties have a shot.

Congress does not need to work as is does (or doesn't) All of the rules, procedures, assignments, etc were things the duopoly INSTALLED to PERPETUATE a 2 party system. With THEIR 2 parties. They think that place is THEIR castle of power.

There's opportunities to make this fast and seamless. I wrote a guest editorial when he 1st declared about Phil Bredensen who just lost the Senate seat in Tenn . All his 1st ads were how INDEPENDENT he was gonna be and how he was gonna support the Repubs when they were right.

No he wasn't. Didn't fool anybody. He was gonna be Chuckie Schumer's bitch. Probably for the rest of his elderly life. So -- I laid it out. If he had declared as an INDIE -- I would have tagged doors for him. Folks would believe how independent he was gonna be. And I did the math for him. Would have lost maybe only 15% of the Dems -- because in Tenn, they could never find ANYONE with his political capital. Not even close. But he would have GAINED the equivalent of about 25% in the INDEPENDENTS. The people who are deciding these races after all. I believe he would have won..

Find 9 more like that -- send them to Washington to sit OUTSIDE the control of the parties. Watch things light up and hope spring again.. Easy peasy....

 

[flacaltenn]

Romney, Bredesen, Kasich, Gary Johnson, William Weld, Evan Bayh, Tom Vilsack.. Former governors ARE inclined to be independent. Go thru this list -- mark out the ones born before 1950 -- run some of the rest as independents in their HOME STATES as "favorite son independents" --- Watch the fireworks ensue.

List of living former United States Governors - Wikipedia

Call it the "state choice" movement. Allow some coordination and cooperation. But NOT build a party.

 

[flacaltenn]

...and they deserve nothing better. A lot of people feel this way. What actions can the people in power take that could remedy that, without risking somebody even more partisan using it to sabotage things and take over?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

Actually, folks will have to work harder at politics. The encounters Americans have now are virtually meaningless, because they are driven by partisan stupidity or pranks or taunting. And arguing these little tempests is hopeless since in 90% of the cases BOTH current major parties are guilty of the same. And in GENERAL -- all of the energy is spent of juvenile gotcha shit....

The complexity of life, taking into account the fields of economy, technology, social science, world affairs, EVERYTHING is now beyond trusting political hacks to manage it. We have a leadership crisis. And it's spiraling around the drain.

Most of our disagreements and chronic issues require bottom up and BROAD expertise and understanding to solve them. Not a "congress". Leadership has to come from the folks focused on solutions and adept at problem solving. Things like criminal justice reform and safety nets are really only addressed from the municipal levels UP --- not from the top down.

You need have as many experiments in the mix as possible. And that means decentralization of authority. NOT ANARCHY. But carefully crafted solutions that COMPETE for attention. Every citizen needs to stop salivating about destroying Repubs or Dems and start participating in the generation of ideas, concepts, models of managing the chaos of modern life.

It's a lot harder than the name-calling and phony spear shaking that we have now. But a lot of agreements could be had for cheap -- if people WORKED HARDER at the issues that matter..