http://www.irishcentral.com/story/roots/ireland_calling/the-people-have-spoken-but-is-irelands-senate-still-relevant-227207801.html
CANADA IS PUSHING HARD FOR THE SAME THING.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-scott/abolish-canada-senate_b_4059697.html
MAYBE IT'S TIME AMERICA GOT RID OF ITS CONGRESS COMPLETELY AND SENT STATE REPRESENTATIVES TO WASHINGTON BY DRAWING LOTS!
NO CAMPAIGNS, NO CAMPAIGN FINANCING...IMAGINE THE MONEY WE'D SAVE!
EACH STATE WOULD SEND TWO REPRESENTATIVES EACH.
THAT NUMBER WOULD CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBERS RUNNING AROUND OUR NATION'S CAPITOL MAKING UNDER-THE-TABLE DEALS IN OUR NAMES.
[SEE VIDEOS AT END OF THIS POST.]
REPRESENTATIVES WOULD NOT BE PAID A SALARY, BUT THEIR BASIC NEEDS LIKE A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS, PERHAPS IN A BARRACKS STYLE LIVING ARRANGEMENT, AND 3 MEALS A DAY, EATEN IN A TYPE OF 'MESS HALL' , PLUS MAYBE A SCOOTER OR SOME OTHER GAS-SAVING MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION FOR AROUND TOWN WOULD ALL BE PROVIDED.
THEY WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO PHYSICIANS ONLY FOR TREATMENT OF ILLNESSES OR CHRONIC DISEASE, ALSO PAID FOR BY THEIR RESPECTIVE STATES.
EACH STATE WOULD PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THEIR REPS, OR LEAVE THEM TO EKE OUT AN EXISTENCE IN THE 'WILDS' OF D.C.
HERE'S HOW SELECTION WOULD WORK:
EVERY MAN AND WOMAN BETWEEN THE AGES OF 40 AND 70 WITHOUT A CRIMINAL RECORD AND WITHOUT A HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS THAT REQUIRED ONGOING MEDICATION WOULD BE ELIGIBLE TO HAVE THEIR NAMES PUT INTO A "HAT".
(The "hat" could be of a digital or virtual nature, whatever worked best.)
THIS WOULD GIVE THOSE UNDER AGE 40 TIME TO ESTABLISH THEMSELVES IN WHATEVER CAREER THEY CHOSE, START A FAMILY, IF THEY WISHED TO, AND BE ON GOOD FINANCIAL FOOTING BEFORE THEY MIGHT BE REQUIRED TO SERVE.
EACH PERSON WOULD SERVE JUST TWO YEARS, AND WOULD NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AGAIN AFTER THAT.
THE "HAT" WOULD BE CHECKED BY RANDOMLY SELECTED CITIZENS FOR DUPLICATION AND FOR CITIZENSHIP STATUS.
THEN THE DRAWING WOULD BE HELD ON AN APPOINTED WEEKEND.
SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT RANDOMLY SELECTED SCHOOL STUDENTS WOULD CONDUCT THE 'DRAWING'.
TWO REPS PER STATE AND TWO ALTERNATES WOULD BE CHOSEN.
IF ALTERNATES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO SERVE, THEIR NAME GOES BACK IN THE HAT THE NEXT TIME.
EACH STATE WOULD HAVE MEANS WHEREBY THE CITIZENS CAN LOG ON, WRITE IN, OR CALL TO REGISTER THEIR STANCE ON PENDING LEGISLATION. THESE CITIZEN INPUTS WOULD BE TALLIED WEEKLY BEFORE PENDING LEGISLATION WAS VOTED ON IN WASHINGTON. EACH BILL WOULD BE PUBLISHED FOR THE POPULACE TO READ IN FULL, AND ALL REPRESENTATIVES WOULD HAVE TO READ THE FULL BILL, NOT A 'SUMMARY'. THE REPRESENTATIVES WOULD BE 'LOCKED IN' TO VOTE THE WILL OF THEIR CONSTITUENCY, OF THE MAJORITY WITHIN THEIR STATES.
THIS WOULD PLACE GREATER RESPONSIBILITY ON EVERY CITIZEN TO BE INFORMED, AND TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO VOICE THEIR STANCE. HOPEFULLY, THIS WOULD STOP THE LAME EXCUSES THAT NO ONE REALLY KNEW WHAT WAS 'HIDDEN' IN A BILL, OR THAT THE BILL WAS 'UNAVAILABLE' FOR SCRUTINY.
THOSE TALLYING CITIZEN RESPONSE, THOSE DRAWING THE LOTS, AND THOSE CHECKING THE "HAT" WOULD CHANGE WEEKLY OR YEARLY AS REQUIRED BY EACH TASK.
IF WE ADDED THE REQUIREMENT THAT EACH PENDING LEGISLATION HAD TO BE READ ALOUD BEFORE THE ENTIRE GROUP OF REPRESENTATIVES BEFORE A VOTE, WE MIGHT SEE SHORTER BILLS, NOT 1000- OR 5000-PAGE MONSTROSITIES.
FOR THIS TO WORK, WE'D HAVE TO BEGIN EARLY IN A STUDENT'S LIFE PREPARING THEM TO POSSIBLY SERVE AS A REPRESENTATIVE TO WASHINGTON. NOT NEARLY ENOUGH COURSES ARE OFFERED IN AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ANYMORE, AND FEW CAN EVEN NAME THE MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CABINET, OR ALL MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT.
ARTICLES LIKE "WHY JOHNNY STILL CAN'T READ" POINT TO THE FAILING OF TODAY'S PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND SHOW THAT WE NEED TO RETHINK WHAT STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO KNOW BEFORE A DIPLOMA IS ISSUED.
NATURALLY, I ADVOCATE THE TRIVIUM-BASED METHOD OF EDUCATION AS OPPOSED TO WHAT WE LET PASS FOR EDUCATION TODAY, THAT WHICH WE CALL 'OUTCOME-BASED' EDUCATION, WHICH IS NO EDUCATION AT ALL.
NOT ONLY WOULD A RETURN TO TRIVIUM-BASED TEACHING YIELD STUDENTS MORE CAPABLE OF LOGIC AND DEBATE, MORE ABLE TO THINK INDIVIDUALLY WITH BETTER CLARITY, A TRIVIUM STYLE OF EDUCATION WOULD STOP THE USE OF EDUCATION AS A PROPAGANDA METHOD.
IT SEEMS THAT OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOOK ITS CUE ON 'MODERN EDUCATION' FROM ROME'S EMPEROR JULIAN ( 361-363 A,D.) WHO COMPLETELY TOOK OVER THE SCHOOLS OF ROME IN ORDER TO SWAY PUBLIC OPINION AGAINST CHRISTIANS. JULIAN THOUGHT OF HIMSELF AS "FIRST AMONG EQUALS", AND DEDICATED HIMSELF TO THE RETURN OF ROME TO WORSHIPING THE 'OLD GODS'. HE KNEW THAT AN OUTRIGHT ASSAULT ON CHRISTIANS, SUCH AS SOME BEFORE HIM HAD DONE, WOULD ONLY STRENGTHEN THEIR CAUSE, SO HE FOUND A WAY TO COVERTLY ATTACK THEM WITH PROPAGANDA TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS. ALL TEACHERS HAD TO BE APPROVED BY HIM, PERSONALLY. THIS COMPLETELY ELIMINATED CHRISTIAN TEACHERS AND CHRISTIAN-RUN SCHOOLS.
ANY AND ALL "STUDIES CONDUCIVE TO THE ACQUISITION OF ARGUMENTATIVE AND PERSUASIVE POWER" WERE ENDED. JULIAN NEEDED A NATION OF DOCILE SHEEP, NOT FREE-THINKERS. HE WANTED A NATION THAT THOUGHT AND BELIEVED AS HE DID. GRAMMAR, LOGIC, RHETORIC ALL BECAME TABOO SUBJECTS. HE LOUDLY PROCLAIMED "TOLERATION" AND "RELIGIOUS FREEDOM" WHILE CONSTANTLY CHISELING AWAY AT THOSE VERY THINGS. HE MADE IT 'TOLERABLE' THAT PAGAN PRACTICES WERE PERFECTLY 'MORAL'.
HOLDING TO MORAL ABSOLUTES WAS DECLARED INSANITY, AND THOSE WHO DID SO WERE LABELED INSANE AND DEMENTED. EVEN MENTIONING MORAL ABSOLUTES WAS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN IN ROMAN SCHOOLS.
WHAT JULIAN INSTITUTED WAS AN OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT ALL OUR CHILDREN ARE "LEARNING" UNDER TODAY. IT IS PURELY SOCIALISTIC, TOTALLY AMORAL, BUT IT IS THE ONLY FORM OF TEACHING THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL FUND.
OUR OWN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS CALLED THE TRIVIUM-BASED METHOD THAT GAVE US THE LIKES OF ARISTOTLE, PLATO, SOCRATES, MARCUS AURELIUS AND OTHER GREAT MINDS "UNPROVEN THEORY".
"The Congress declares it to be the policy of the United States that...this title builds upon what has been learned: [including]...The disproven theory that children must first learn basic skills [GRAMMAR & LOGIC] before engaging in more complex tasks [RHETORIC] continues to dominate strategies for classroom instruction, resulting in emphasis on repetitive drill and practice.... A school wide program shall include the following components: ...help provide an enriched and accelerated curriculum [RHETORIC BASED] rather than remedial drill and practice [GRAMMAR & LOGIC]."
[SEE http://tinyurl.com/k5jkenj ]
THIS IS LIKE SAYING ONE SHOULDN'T BE EXPECTED TO TAKE MEDICAL COURSES BEFORE DOING BRAIN SURGERY.
IT'S THE SAME AS SAYING WE SHOULD TRUST SOMEONE WHO NEVER WAS EVEN TAUGHT HOW TO DRIVE A CAR TO FLY US ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
AND THIS OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION IS THE REASON WHY OUR GRADUATING COLLEGE SENIORS CANNOT PASS TESTS GIVEN TO JUNIOR-HIGH STUDENTS 60 YEARS AGO.
The following were the Graduation Requirements at Harvard IN THE 1600s!:
| FIRST YEAR | SECOND YEAR | SECOND YEAR |
| Logic | Ethics | Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy |
| Physicks | Politics | History |
| Disputes | Disputes | Nature of Plants |
| Greek | Greek | Greek composition |
| Hebrew | Hebrew | Hebrew |
| Rhetoric | Rhetoric | Rhetoric |
Whatever a child learns, he learns by the Trivium progression, no matter what else one may try to impose upon the learning process. If you interrupt the natural Trivium progression of learning, you will create a learning dysfunction. Modern education interrupts the natural progression and creates learning dysfunctions. When you institutionalize a young child, you train him to look to his peers, and to his teachers, and to the government for authority and guidance — but not to his parents. This is anti-family social training. The child is socialized for the state and away from his parents. If you train a person in those disciplines which equip him for self-education, you will open all doors for him. The first and the greatest masters of any discipline of learning were all self-taught. Trivium-Based Education places value on knowledge, understanding and wisdom. It values teaching the student the skills necessary to learn on his own. It values making a person intellectually independent and self-reliant."
WE'RE TURNING OUT ENTIRE GENERATIONS WHO HAVE NO BASIC EDUCATION THAT AFFORDS THEM THE ABILITY TO BALANCE A CHECKBOOK OR READ AN ARTICLE AND TELL YOU WHAT IT MEANS. JOHNNY NOT ONLY CAN'T READ, HE CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF LOGIC, HE CAN'T DISCERN BETWEEN IMMORAL AND MORAL, AND HE CANNOT THINK FOR HIMSELF. WE'RE CRANKING OUT SHALLOW INDIVIDUALS WITH A MORE SHALLOW FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO BUILD A LASTING SOCIETY.
TAUGHT TO NEVER QUESTION BUT JUST GET RESULTS, JOHNNY DOESN'T KNOW WHY HE THINKS AS HE DOES, AND WITHOUT SOMEONE ELSE TO TELL HIM WHAT TO THINK, HE FEELS LOST, ADRIFT. HE CAN ARRIVE AT ANSWER TO A MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM, BUT LIKELY CAN NEVER TELL YOU HOW HE DID IT. HE CAN PARROT A PHILOSOPHY, BUT HASN'T A CLUE ABOUT THE HISTORY BEHIND IT, ITS FLAWS, OR ITS HAZARDS.
JOHNNY IS A SHEEP, SIMPLY FOLLOWING THE FLOCK. IF THE FLOCK WANDERS OVER A CLIFF, SO WILL JOHNNY.
SHEEP ARE GOOD FOR WOOL, AND FOR FOOD, BUT WHO WOULD COUNT ON A SHEEP IN A CRISIS? SHEEP SCATTER AND RUN HEADLONG WHEN FRIGHTENED, AND THEY ARE OFTEN AND EASILY FRIGHTENED. FEAR BLINDS THEM TO THE HAZARDS IN THEIR PATH. SEPARATED FROM THE FLOCK, THEY DON'T LAST LONG.
WHAT WE'VE BEEN 'ELECTING' TO REPRESENT US IN WASHINGTON FOR AT LEAST THE PAST 60 YEARS ARE SHEEP. WE SEND THEM TO REPRESENT US, BUT THEY ARE LOST AS LAMBS WHEN IT COMES TO USING LOGIC TO SORT THINGS OUT USING COMMON SENSE AND INDEPENDENT THOUGHT. BEING DEPENDENT BEINGS, THEY WILL 'FLOCK' WITH THOSE WHO PROMISE THEM THE BEST 'GRAZING', AND FEW WILL BUCK THE 'SHEPHERDS' THEY FIND WAITING FOR THEM WHO WAVE 'FOOD' IN THEIR FACES...MONEY TALKS, AND IT SPEAKS FLUENT "SHEEP".
WHETHER MOTIVATED BY FOOD (GAIN) OR FEAR, UNABLE TO APPLY LOGIC TO SEPARATE TRUTH FROM FICTION, OR UNWILLING TO GO IT ALONE, OUR 'ELECTEDS' ARE EASY PREY FOR ALL THE WOLVES THAT INCESSANTLY CIRCLE CAPITOL HILL.
ONCE THEIR OLD 'SHEPHERDS' (WE, THE PEOPLE) ARE OUT OF SIGHT, THEY SOON BECOME UNIMPORTANT, FORGOTTEN, ,LOST IN THE FOGS OF SHEEPISH MINDS.
BUT, BACK HOME, A STRANGE THING HAPPENS. THE OLD SHEPHERDS, SEEING THEIR FLOCK, THEIR LAMBS, STRUGGLING AND FAILING BEGIN TO SIMPLY SHRUG OFF THE TURNING OF THE SHEEP TO NEW SHEPHERDS. THEY CAN SEE THE HAZARDS AHEAD OF THEM, MAYBE EVEN WISH THEY'D TURN BACK, PERHAPS GET A LITTLE ANGRY AT HAVING THE SHEEP IGNORE THEM, BUT GRADUALLY THE OL SHEPHERDS JUST SHAKE THEIR HEADS AND WRITE OFF THE STRAY SHEEP AS LOST.
"YOU CAN'T FIGHT CITY HALL."
"YOU CAN'T FORCE SOMEONE TO DO THE RIGHT THING."
"POLITICS MAKES FOR STRANGE BEDFELLOWS."
AND THE SLIGHTED, REJECTED OLD SHEPHERDS MOVE ON.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE AND THEY'LL COME HOME, WAGGING THEIR TAILS BEHIND THEM."
"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves."~ Edward R. Murrow
WE COULD ELIMINATE ALL THOSE SHEEP GONE ASTRAY BY TYING ROPES ABOUT THEIR NECKS AND DRAGGING THEM HOME.
WE COULD THEN REPLACE THEM WITH A NEW BREED.
BEGINNING WITH REVAMPING OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, WE COULD REAR GENERATIONS OF CLEVER, FREE-THINKING, COMMON-SENSE INDIVIDUALS KEEN TO BE THE 'SOVEREIGN CITIZEN' PROMISED BY OUR ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION.
WE COULD RAISE UP A NEW SHEEP-LESS GENERATION OF WELL-EDUCATED CITIZENS DEDICATED TO DEBATE, TO REQUIRING LOGIC AND REASON TO PROVE TO THEM THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING FACTUAL, HONEST INFORMATION BEFORE THEY MAKE SANE, MORAL, RATIONAL, RESPONSIBLE CHOICES, AND WHO WILL ACCEPT NO SHORTCUTS AND NO SIDETRACKS TO RE-ESTABLISHING AMERICA AS A REPUBLIC, RESTORING HER CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOMS, ENSURING 'LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL', NOT FOR JUST A SMALL GROUP OF ELITE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAPPEN TO CONTROL THE MOST MONEY.
WE NEED LESS GOVERNMENT AND MORE DEDICATED, INTELLIGENT, FEARLESS CITIZENS TO SEE TO AMERICA'S NEEDS.
WE NEED HONEST REPRESENTATION, NOT LIP-SERVICE.
WE NEED PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON WHO CANNOT BE SWAYED EVEN A HAIR'S LENGTH FROM THE UPHOLDING OF OUR ORGANIC CONSTITUTION.
WE NEED INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT OPEN TO BEING BOUGHT, BEING SWAYED, BEING OWNED BY THE BIG MONEY.
WE NEED ONLY THOSE DEDICATED TO SEEING TO THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE, THE MEN AND WOMEN "BACK HOME" WHO ARE COUNTING ON THEM TO TRULY BE THEIR VOICE IN WASHINGTON, TO STAND AGAINST ALL OF HELL, SHOULD IT ARISE ON THE LAWN OF THE NATIONAL MALL, AND PLANT THEIR FEET AND MAINTAIN HONOR AND OATH TO SEE THAT THE GOVERNMENT UNDERSTANDS IT IS THE PEOPLE, AFTER ALL, WHO CALL THE SHOTS, THAT WE ARE THE PAYING EMPLOYERS, THEY ARE THE EMPLOYEES, THAT THEIR LIFE'S BLOOD DEPENDS ON US, NOT WALL STREET, NOT CENTRAL BANKS, NOT FOREIGN POWERS, JUST ON US.
EVERY ONE OF US, NO MATTER OUR STATION IN LIFE, WHETHER RICH OR POOR, OLD OR YOUNG, WHITE OR NOT, MALE OR FEMALE HAVE A RIGHT TO REPRESENT OUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, OUR HOMETOWNS, AND HOME STATES, IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND ON CAPITOL HILL.
OUR CURRENT METHOD OF CHOOSING OUR REPRESENTATIVES HAS FAILED, FAILED PATHETICALLY.
"WINNING AN OFFICE" HAS BEEN TRANSLATED TO HAVING THE BIGGEST CAMPAIGN CHEST, TO HAVING THE MOST MONEY TO BUY ADS THAT USE PROPAGANDA AND NOT HONESTY AND FACTS TO "WIN".
"THOSE WITH THE MOST MARBLES MAKE THE RULES. "
THAT HASN'T WORKED FOR AMERICA.
WE SHOULD ERASE THE CHALK BOARD AND START ANEW.
LET'S GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING, TO SOMETHING THAT WORKED WELL ENOUGH TO BUILD A NEW NATION FROM A HANDFUL OF IMMIGRANTS.
LET'S THINK ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO SPEND MILLIONS OR BILLIONS TO "GET ELECTED".
LET'S ALLOW ALL A CHANCE TO SERVE.
WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW IS A BROKEN, FLAWED, UNWORKABLE NIGHTMARE.
WE CAN REMOVE THE PROBLEMS.
WE CAN OFFER EVERY CITIZEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE, TO FIX THIS MESS, TO GET US BACK ON FIRM GROUND, TO PULL US BACK FROM THE BRINK OF RUIN.
I'D MUCH SOONER TRUST THE GUY WHO RUNS THE LOCAL BARBER SHOP TO REPRESENT ME THAN ANY ELITIST SHEEP PRONE TO FOLLOW A JUDAS GOAT OFF THE CLIFFS.
I'D RATHER GIVE JOE Q. CITIZEN A CHANCE TO MAKE MY VOICE HEARD IN WASHINGTON THAN SOME BLEATING SHEEP RUNNING AFTER GREENER PASTURES.
MY HAT IS OFF TO IRELAND AND CANADA FOR IMAGINING THAT THEIR SENATES ARE USELESS, CORRUPTED SHEEP PENS, AND FOR DARING TO TAKE STEPS TO CHANGE THINGS FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE....ALL THE PEOPLE.
HAD THE IRISH CITIZENS GONE OUT TO VOTE, THEY'D HAVE ELIMINATED A SOURCE OF FAILURE FROM THEIR GOVERNMENT.
IF CANADA CAN MUSTER THE VOTE, THEY MAY BE THE FIRST TO SET OFF ON A ROAD TO RECOVERY AND GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE.
WE CAN LEARN, OR WE CAN PERISH.
MAY WE NEVER PERISH AS SHEEP GONE TO SLAUGHTER!
FOR FURTHER READING/VIEWING:
http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/obe_tbe.php
http://www.nrrf.org/essay_Illiteracy.html
https://www.tragedyandhope.com/the-trivium-method-vs-the-classical-trivium/
http://mises.org/misesreview_detail.aspx?control=343
http://youtu.be/cO6FCubjXKM
The ORIGINAL book, "A Nation of Sheep", was written in 1961 by William J. Lederer.
I value it most highly.
"'Though this book is slightly outdated the message is still the same. We are a nation in decline because we choose not to be educated on what is important. We get the government that we deserve because we refuse to ask the tough questions of our representatives and fail to hold them accountable for what we need.'"
REPUBLICANS BRIBED BY INSURANCE COMPANIES.
MORE CONGRESSIONAL BRIBES!
BOEHNER ADMITS TO BRIBES, TOBACCO LOBBYISTS CHECKS HE PASSED OUT ON THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS!
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Boehner
THE ABOVE LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO A REAL EYE-OPENER ON BOEHNER!
http://www.examiner.com/article/did-john-boehner-really-pass-out-tobacco-bribe-checks-on-the-house-floor
"PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE"???? TO WHOM?
2008
US government accepts bribes (sex, cocaine, money, and jobs) from oil companies
A revealing talk on the amount of lobbying done within U.S politics that
corrupts the election process and puts corporations and businesspeople
before the needs of the American people.
http://youtu.be/kB40IPJZNt0
‘Corruption is legal in Washington’ – insider tips
Published : January 18, 2012 ,
<<Explaining how it all works, he describes bribing government
officials in order to gain political support for his clients. Having
served three and a half years in prison he is now a vocal opponent of
corruption in Congress.
“As a human being, if somebody gives you something, you feel gratitude,” he says.
“Even if you don’t deal with this person once right there, the issue
is: if you do something nice for me, in my heart I am going to feel a
little bit better about you. And that is the moment of the problem, if
you are a public servant.”
Abramoff insists the moment you offer a job to a congressional staffer you own him. “There
was no greater control that people could have over congressional
offices than to have the head of that office know that in a few months
he was going to come work for a lobbying firm,” he explained to RT.
”From that minute on, those people are focused on that lobbying firm
and their clients. And it is not just me – I see it all over town. It is
not something I invented, it is something I noticed. And it is
something I propose now to get rid of by banning people who work on
Capitol Hill or members of the Congress ever joining the lobbying
industry or the influence industry in America.”>>
The Supreme Court is poised to legalize corruption The 1976 decision in Buckley v. Valeo made government for sale and created the arms race in campaign financing by equating unlimited spending with free speech. The John Roberts court in 2010 made the system dramatically worse in its Citizens United decision, loosening restrictions and spurring wealthy donors to make hundreds of millions of dollars in independent expenditures. Now the court proposes to sell what remains of the government to about 500 people — the Koch brothers and their ilk, who have already filled the halls of Congress with tea party representatives, and liberal billionaires who will no doubt seek to make similar purchases.[SEE http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0424_0001_ZS.html ]
Jun 7, 2013
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/07/congressmen-come-and-go-but-corruption-is-here-to-stay.html
Seven years after moving from the federal capital to a federal prison,
former congressman (and top gun Navy pilot) Randy “Duke” Cunningham
(R-CA) is going home. Convicted of bribery for trying to sell defense
contracts for $2.4 million in cash and yachts, Cunningham was sentenced
to what was then the harshest punishment ever meted out to a
bribe-taking congressman.
So How Corrupt Is Washington, Anyway?
http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2012/02/so-how-corrupt-is-washington-anyway.html
This is not confined only to the financial industry. The entities that are thriving today are those that enjoy some sort of government favor.
Defense contractors and the war industry. The education and healthcare
cartels. Government employees and their absurd compensation plans.
Competition is low. Profit margins are high. And why do we keep having wars with countries with lots of oil (or heroin)? You know why.
The Inbred Corruption of WashingtonSeptember 11, 2013
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3065392/posts
They may understand that the federal government is bloated and they may understand that there’s a big problem with corruption in Washington, but can you make them understand that there’s a lot of sleaze in Washington because government has so much power?
They may understand that the corporate tax burden is very high and they may understand that American companies sometimes aren’t very competitive, but can you help them understand that it’s difficult for firms to compete because they’re saddled with high tax rates?
The second challenge is getting policy makers to do the right thing when doing the wrong thing means more money and power for the political class.
Let’s consider the problem of corruption. And I don’t just mean illegal corruption, though there’s plenty of that in Washington. I’m talking about the everyday graft and sleaze that is perfectly legal, such as when dozens of politicians are caught red-handed supporting legislation that would line their pockets.
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