Problems in our country that need to be dealt with?

Why should a good congressperson that people actually want in office be forced to resign becuase the vast majority of Americans are apathetic and refuse to vote the crappy members of congress out?

I am against career politicians as a whole - it makes for a greater focus on campaigns/reelection, so I am really just stirring the pot here.

But it irritates me that we would in affect legislating a solution to apathy. But I guess that is a better solution than me getting screwed every election because greater than 50% of the population can't be bothered to get informed and vote.

/rambling...

 

Ask Katrina victims.

Change 13th to 2nd and I am with you.

 

In no particular order.....

-Ending corruption in all levels of government
-The economy, namely the deficit and job creation
-The environment...we're pissing it away at warp speed
-Dependence on foreign oil...root cause for many of our problems
-Disaster planning, at the federal, state and local levels

 

Ending the shameless exploitation of animals which is on par with the suffering of slaves, Native Americans, etc. Haha, no need to drag that one up just as it's dying down. I can tell your list is a little on the conservative/libertarian side, so here's a shot out to big government.

1. The environment. There are umpteen billion problems going on right now that aren't being addressed from waste dumping on indigenous lands, to coal-fired power plants, to renewable energy. I really wish that our government would make a strong commitment to a more ecologically sound country.
2. Gay marriage. I wish we would just end state-sponsored marriage, give everyone civil unions and let peopl have basic rights such as visitation, inheritance, etc. regardless of their sexual orientation.
3. Wiser use of our military. It burns me up that Bush would talk about ending the reign of a "student of Stalin" while genocide raged in Darfur. I would be floored if someone would step up to the plate and honor the "never again" pledges we made after the Holocaust and Rwanda.
4. Education. We need to finally make a commitment to real education. No child left behind is a joke. If we really care about kids having a fair shot regardless of where they're born we should be willing to invest what's needed to make the education system respectable.

 

Agree with all that and

Create a National Health care system that all Americans can take part in.

 

How about Bush asking his oil buddies to actually reinvest some of their profits that their corporations are earning into rebuilding their companies and infrastructure around some other source of energy. In other words, turn the oil companies into another form of energy company so that we can quit our land grab war in Iraq for oil and still employ all of the people that earn a paycheck from these corporations.

 

Repeal the 13th Ammendment? You want to make slavery legal again.

 

I agree. Good call.

 

That way, his slaves can do his taxes!

 

The only way to end the current Radical Islamic terrorist threat against our nation is to end our nation's dependence on foreign oil.

 

I think he is talking about the 16th Amendment. One question though? How is government suppose to do anyting without tax? Are you suggesting a national sales tax?

 

Fossil Fuels Set to Become Relics, Says Research Group

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20050928/wl_oneworld/45361195801127935317

 

1. Federal Reserve Bank (the financial choke hold)- or any form of a central bank system.
2. Two party system- Reps and Dems (political choke hold)
3. Government Debt- see #1 above (economic choke hold)
4. Federal Government- (civil liberties choke hold)
5. Churches-too Americanized (religious choke hold)

Amercia is hanging itself.

 

Government runs off of debt not taxes.
Taxes pay the interest payments to wealthy bankers.
Get rid of the IRS, the income tax and tell the Anti-American wealthy bankers they can get their interest from China if they want any.

 

FWIW I am as against Gay Marriage as anything I can think of.

 

What is your opinion on Bullard4Life's suggestion earlier in this thread? End state-sponsored marriage, give everyone civil unions and let people have basic rights such as visitation, inheritance, etc. regardless of their sexual orientation

 

Out of curiosity, why? Is it because you don't believe that people of different sexual orientation don't deserve the privileges that come with marriage e.g. tax breaks, partner health benefits under company plans, vistiation rights, adoption, inheritance, etc. Or is it because you think it assaults your conception of marriage?

If your opinion is the former then I don't know if I can say anything that would change your mind. If it's the latter, then I ask why do we need to cling to state-sponsored marriage? Marriage as a word creates a connotation of religious beliefs and practices. Why does government have any role regulating or endorsing such a practice? If we allowed marriage to be somethign that churches endorsed instead of governments would you be against equal protection under law for gay couples? To me, it's far better to let individual churches and religions make the decision on marriage than to allow the government to continue to take sides on what is largely a religious issue.

 

Couldn't agree with you more on this one. I really wish we could move past the single-member district winner-take-all system. A system based on plurality simliiar to what's used in parliamentary systems would allow greater party diversity and for people to seek candidates that they can identify with more often rather than always choosing between a giant douche and a turd sandwhich. It sure would be great if we could see Ralph Nader and Pat Robertson facing off on the Senate Floor. Power to the people!