Let’s play politics today……there is plenty of chatter but little dialog…….
There is a lot going on in this country, the good old US of A, you know that shining light of democracy that we love to point to as the cure for all ails?
Before I go any further….please if you want to attack this post do NOT use the BS of “we are not a democratic country but rather a republic and a representative republic at that…….if you believe this then everyone needs to cease the use of the words “democracy” and “democratic” (notice that is a small “D”)….it is that simple…..cannot have both no matter how much one desires.
One of the main tenets of a democracy is the free and unhindered elections and the right to vote. In the last years there seems to be a push to make voting more difficult……I am not talking about the elimination of the right just that there are laws that make it a wee bit more difficult to do so……another thing….please do not use the voter ID thing as a defense……that has nothing to do with what I am writing.
This is what I am writing about……..
The Presidential Commission on Election Administration has released its report and recommendations, and reasonable people everywhere rejoice. The bipartisan commission was formed by Barack Obama following the 2012 election, which was a bit of an embarrassment for a nation that considers itself something of a model democracy. Across the country (but mainly in urban areas and black and Latino neighborhoods), Election Day featured hours-long lines, broken voting machines, inaccurate voter rolls and confusing ballots.
“The Editors” of Bloomberg View declare the report “so resolutely practical that it’s hard to imagine its recommendations stirring much debate, much less controversy.” (They acknowledge that “not all politicians want to make it easier for Americans to vote,” but they fail to specify that that’s more or less part of the Republican Party platform.) Jeffrey Toobin calls it “an unexpectedly bold document.”
The commission’s key recommendations are eminently reasonable: Expand online voter registration, expand early voting, improve and modernize voting machines, and improve efficiency and alleviate wait times at polling places with better training and techniques that have been proven to work elsewhere. Everyone should be able to support all of this, and, best of all, the commission’s recommendations don’t require any federal action at all. They just need to be voluntarily implemented by state and local officials. And how hard could it be to convince state and local officials to make voting easier?
Okay, for Obama haters this will be a point of contention…….only because it is a presidential report….which is just silly……I have read many reports from many states and most of them have some sort of voting “reform” and most of them either want to close polling stations or lessen early voting or shorten the hours or……I am sure you get my drift here. None of these have anything to do with voter fraud…….they are attacks on the rights of citizens to vote……..PERIOD!
With this assault on our democratic right there is an idea that has more than a little merit……that is a new movement for Americans to embrace….a pro-democracy movement……
What would this movement detail?
One–get rid of cash! Citizen’s united must be repealed or blown up or whatever we have to do to rid the process of all that cash….it is destroying what little integrity we had……
Two–open up the voting process……..
Three–Prosecute ANY breeches in ethics!…..and that means even minor breeches. (Think Vitter, Ensign and the coke dude from last week)
Four–Make elected officials work at their job, not at making contacts……(force to work at least 150 days a session)
Five–If you truly want a democracy then go to a direct democracy where the people are involved at almost every stage…..
Without substantial change…..nothing will be repaired…the country will stay in the grips of those that we all profess that we dislike……as long as the money remains….so will be the buying of election….as long as the Congress works less than 150 days a year then no substantial laws will be enacted…..obstructionism will be the rule of the day……as long as the voter is being taken out of the equation there can be NO democracy and less representation…….
So ask yourself…..what has happened to our democracy?
