From "The Present (Insights)" Chapter: Reform Political System
Politics: Like everything else, our government has everything backwards and upside down. In a true democracy, the people are in charge, not the elected officials. Elected leaders are public servants and should do the will of the public. That is not happening now. The so- called public servants spend much of their time and our money serving themselves and their party or support group.
To fix the system, we have to make a few changes to the system. We will remove the incentive to be corrupt. Outlawing campaign contributions and favors has been tried and does not work, so we have to create a political environment where more money does not help in any way. We have to really level the playing field for everyone.
Every state has different procedures and requirements to get on the ballot. This makes it time consuming and expensive to get into a national election. We change it to make it easy to run for office for anyone who wants to run for office.
Webpage: All candidates will have to have a website that is in a form like all the other candidates. It will be an equal and uniform presentation of the candidates. When an election is coming up, an email is sent to everyone to notify them. You then would click on a link that shows you who the candidates are, and you are provided links to their websites that will tell you all about them. You can ask them questions by just emailing them. Every site will have a message board, so people can debate the issues and their proposed plans for us.
Vote on the issues: All the websites will be identical to each other, so we can see in black and white where the candidates are on the issues, and we can compare apples to apples.
The way it is now, it is a popularity contest; people vote more for or against a candidate’s personality than where they stand on the issues.
1
Debates: We will use the websites to narrow the field down to just a few people, and then we will have televised debates. The public will compare the candidates through televised debates paid for by the government. The problem with the debates now is the candidates are being allowed to avoid the questions, and this needs to be changed. If the candidates do not answer the questions, are evasive, or make a statement, they are penalized or kicked out of that debate.
Vote online: We will all be able to register and vote online. We will be given a security code when we register and/or use our social security number. People think that voting online could be tampered with easier than a ballot box at a fixed location. It is not true; anything can be fixed, especially ballots, because we have had hundreds of years to figure out how to do it and get away with it. The truth is, voting via the Internet can be much more secure. Voting has to be made easier to get a true vote. An online voting method would be the easiest, and it could be made secure by allowing it all to be seen electronically as it happens. A lottery would pick three independent auditing companies from all the accounting firms in the US to check the system’s integrity before and after every election.
Vote all at once: The way it is now, the Iowa caucus picks our candidates for president. No one in history has won that has not come in first or second in Iowa. It is monkey see, monkey do. Less than one percent of the US population picks our candidates. What is wrong with this picture? We have to all vote at once, or the people that vote first will influence the people that vote after them. The monkey see, monkey do effect can win elections. This is why we have to vote online for it to be fair. If people do not have their own computer, they can use a friend's, or they can go to the library and use the ones there.
Polls: We have to also ban popularity polls, because of the same monkey see, monkey do effect. Nothing should affect the outcome of an election except votes.
Where does the money come from? Politics takes a lot of money; where does it come from? The people that provide it are the people that control our country. The real power of the political office is getting to spend everyone’s tax dollars. You control the purse strings. If you need money to further your political career, which you do with the way things are, it is very tempting to make deals with people that build freeways and schools and other projects paid for with tax money.
2
Lobbyist: Lobbyists that work for special interest groups need to be outlawed. They now influence all government action by giving money to candidates directly and offering them lucrative jobs in the private sector. This subverts democracy. The way the system is now forces good people to make deals for money just to get in the race. It forces good people to be corrupt to be elected and stay in office. We need to change it so that it does the opposite and favors fair play. It is that simple. The sooner we change the system, the sooner things will change. As long as great amounts of money are needed to get into public office, the people that supply the money will be in charge. The people that supply the money will get laws passed to benefit them, and they will get our tax dollars. That is not fair, moral, or a true democracy. It is a corrupt system.
The media: Our reporters in the media are basically well intentioned people, but they do not report the complete truth when it comes to politics. Anyone that tries to loses their job or loses access to the candidates, so they help keep the secrets. They have no choice but to keep the money secrets to stay in the game. Again, the system indirectly forces people to be corrupt to be in the game. Everyone will be forgiven for what they did before the truth was revealed if they change when they learn the truth. There are no bad guys, just people that do not know the truth, people that have been misguided and given no good or fair options. The people in power can stay in power if they change their ways. Abolish the party system: We need to abolish the two party system. Everyone should be an independent. Powerful political parties subvert true democracy. The people do not elect public officials as much as democrats or republicans do. The way it is now, the people do not even pick the candidates; the parties do. We can only vote for the candidates that they give us. How is that a free election?
3
Divide and destroy democracy: The truth is, everyone is liberal and everyone is conservative. It depends on the issue. No one is totally a conservative or totally a liberal on every issue. The two party system is just a tool of the people in power to divide people and to corrupt and control our government. The two parties just make a conflict possible, and that conflict can be and is manipulated by the rich and powerful to control the government. It makes a true democracy impossible.
The powers control both parties. Money, organization, and political power is what decides who is elected to public office. If you do not play ball with one of the parties, you cannot even run a campaign that has any hope of winning.
Outlaw speechwriters: The candidates have to write their own speeches or speak spontaneously. This is how we find out who people really are. We do not want to hear what speechwriters say; they are not the people running for office. There will be no teleprompters at debates; only a few notes will be allowed. When our public servants are working with other people to resolve issues on our behalf, they will be winging it, so we need to see how good they are at doing it.
The new, high-tech way of running elections described above does not require the money and organization that a political party provides, so they are no longer necessary. Let’s get rid of them and all powerful special interest groups, and then we can have a true democracy where the people are really in charge.
With the two party system, only a few chosen candidates can run for office. Using inexpensive websites to promote candidates means hundreds of people can run for office, giving us a much greater choice. We would have eliminations to narrow the field until we have under ten, and then we go to the televised debates.
We have to take the money and access issues out to have fairness. The Internet and TV have made traditional political parties obsolete.
We needed the party system in the past, when candidates had to travel around making political speeches. They do not have to now, so we no longer need the infrastructure to support it. We no longer need expensive political conventions, the electoral college, or any of the other trappings of the political system. They all corrupt and subvert a true democracy. Technology has made all old style politics obsolete. Thanks to technology, true democracy is now possible.
4
Free elections: We can now make free elections really free and fair. When you register to vote online, you are automatically sent all the information on candidates, when election will be, etc. All you will have to do to get further information from different candidates is to search the net, and then press a button to vote for the candidate of your choice.
We should not let the traditions of the past in religion or politics hurt us. We keep the good things and delete those things that are no longer good.
Experience: Candidates are always acting like experience is important, that the most experienced politician is best qualified for office. The opposite is true. The longer someone is in politics, the better they are at politics, not better at running our country. They also cannot help but get deeper into corruption. If the candidate has been in public office just a few times before, it is a good thing, because we can see how good or bad they were, but newcomers can do the job just as well, and this has been proven true.
The most important things are honesty, integrity and intelligence, not experience. Candidates should spend their time figuring out how to make the public’s lives better when they get in office. They should not be spending their time figuring out how to make their lives better, raise money, and promise favors when they get in office, but they have to now to stay in the game.
We want the best leaders and managers in office, not the best politicians.
Take the politics out of elections: The current election system creates great politicians, wheelers and dealers, not necessarily great leaders or problem solvers. Our leaders are forced to spend more of their time making deals to get re-elected than running our government. We have to turn that around now.
The bi-partisanship between the political parties is paralyzing and corrupting our government. Republicans side with republicans, democrats side with democrats, and the party with the most members wins. The issue is secondary. Politicians do not vote on something’s merits as much as to empower their party or enrich themselves financially or politically. Politics should not have such a powerful influence on our government. It is an outrage, and it will destroy us.
5
If they do not want to play fair, do not play with them until they do. Don’t vote: People think voting is the way to change things; the opposite is true. The way things are now, there is no point in voting, so everyone should stop voting until the system is changed. If hardly anyone voted, they would get the message, and things would change; it would lead to real election reform.
It is going that way now. Fewer people vote now, because they know it does not matter; the game is fixed. We just have to take it all the way and not vote in any elections where one candidate has advantages over another or there is any BS.
Spiritual people recognize the truth when they see it and also BS. Can you imagine protesters with signs that just say “Don’t Vote”? It would be so shocking that it would get all kinds of publicity, and it would work for that reason.
We make voting mandatory for everyone when we reform our political system. We make it easy by voting on the Internet. People would use their social security number or driver's license number to prevent voter fraud. If people don't vote, the penalty could be a fine or loss of your driver's license.
Crooks: Everyone will be happy when things begin to change, even the crooks, because most crooked politicians really do not want to be crooks. They just think they have to be crooked to win, and they are right. Most people think the ends justify the means, because it works. Cheating works, and it should not. The reason even the crook will welcome a new, fair system is they are beginning to wake up to the fact that they are going to die along with everyone else if we do not make the change and make it fast. The survival of everyone depends on it.
The way it is now, the biggest hypocrites, liars, and best deal makers win.
We all lose: We have to change things so that honesty works, and everyone will benefit. Until then, the bad guy wins too often, and we all lose, even the bad guys, because the human race will not survive if things are not changed soon.
6
A candidate’s website will tell you all about them and what they will do if they are elected. Their platform on all the issues will be spelled out. What they plan to do, why they are going to do it, and when they will do it must be documented. This is the only way we will we be able to compare apples to apples and make a truly informed selection. As it is now, we do not know what we are voting for.
In the first round of eliminations, we should not even have pictures or the names of candidates, so people will only vote on the issues.
Accountability: Elected officials will be accountable for what they promise and do. Empowered watchdog groups will compare what they say to what they do or try to do. If they do not do it, they will automatically be removed from office without pay. The person that got the second most votes will take their place.
So-called spin doctors are socially acceptable liars. They're the worst liars.
It will be illegal to lie, deceive or mislead the public, even by private companies. Advertising on TV will no longer be able to tell the truth in small print. Small print will be outlawed. All public deception, especially by people running for office, will be outlawed and punishable by large enough fines and long enough jail sentences to stop it. They will also be banished from office for life.
It's not only legal to lie and steal from people, it is institutionalized. Earmarks will be outlawed. Adding pet projects to other bills is the source of a lot of corruptions. It is an obvious and outrageous flaw in our system of government. Anything that is going to cost taxpayers' money will have to be authorized separately and stand on its own merit. That way, we will have a record of who is spending our money and what they are spending it on.
Technology has progressed enough to end all unfairness in politics.
Transparent Government: Everything the congress and the senate does will be recorded by TV cameras and microphones, and available to be accessed on the Internet by any citizen at any time. The minutes of every meeting will be published on the Internet. Closed door hearings will be banned. We improve C-SPAN and notify all people automatically of any important bills being voted on. All citizens will get emails everyday to alert them of how their money is being spent.
7
Open book: Public office will mean just that. If you choose to get into public office, you must give up your right to privacy completely. You will have no private life at all. Everything you do, everything you buy or sell, and everyone you associate with will be made a matter of public record. We have the right to know what people we trust with our money and lives are doing. If people want privacy, they will have to get into another line of work. Public servants will have to log a written record of what they do everyday, just like a captain of a ship, and post it on the Internet, so that anyone can access it.
Watchdogs: Professional watchdogs will be drawn by lottery from the public, just like juries are now, and be paid by the government to watch what our political leaders are doing and to make a monthly report that will be linked to the public official’s website. Nothing someone does or says in public office will ever be deleted or not be available to the public. If anything is, they are out. We have to consider fixing a vote or deceiving the public the worst thing a person could do, and a conviction of the offense will result in automatic punishment.
Trust: You cannot trust anyone that does not know the ultimate truth, because they really do not know right from wrong. They wear two hats; one for the public and one for themselves. You can trust people that know the truth, simply because they know right from wrong. They know that helping others is helping themselves and the world we all live in.
Public servants: We have to take the profit and power motive out of people’s reasons for running for office. We have to make it the type of job that only people interested in helping and serving others will want.
High office isn't to play big shot and feed someone’s ego and wallet.
People more interested in helping themselves will get into some other field.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix
The people will run the country: Voting on the Internet will be so easy that everyone concerned will vote on any big issues, issues that will cost them money, or issues that affect their way of life. Public servants will just make the little decisions and do the day-to-day work. They will no longer be the big shots they are now, just civil servants, working for our benefit, not theirs. The age of the big shot politician is over. We will just have public servants.
8
True democracy: On the first day of the month, everyone can just go to a website that lists issues that are being decided, and you just can check ayes or no box to vote on what you want to happen. Everyone should do this every month, so the public will really be in control of what is happening. This is the only way to have a true and fair democracy, and we can do it now. Being involved in one’s own life is the way it should be and has to be, and it will be easy.
Written simply: All issues to be voted on will be written simply, so everyone can understand it. The pros, cons, and cost-benefit of something people are voting on will be explained in no more than one page. Things such as cost, how long it will take to do, and potential benefits and problems will be spelled out.
We will elect officials that are good at coming up with solutions to our problems, good at explaining the issues simply, and good at doing what we tell them to do efficiently and at the lowest cost.
Most public offices will only be paid a middle class wage and will have the same medical benefits that people that work for minimum wage receive. This will encourage people that want to play big shot and help themselves more than us to get into some other field, and that is the way it should be. Even high offices like congressmen, senators, and the president will just make two or three times the average middle class wage, and get the same benefits working people do.
This will do two things; it will just attract the right kind of people, people that want to help others more than themselves. People that just want to enrich themselves will go elsewhere. It will also improve the pay and benefits of the people at the bottom of the economic ladder, so that they can live a decent life.
Government of the people: All political leaders have to come from the middle class or lower. Fat cats should be disqualified from public office, because we can see how they live, and that they are overly interested in power and making money. We want to keep those kind of people out of public office.
A representative government must represent the majority of the people, and rich people are not the majority of the people. This should be obvious, but people cannot see it now. You can be rich or be a leader; you cannot be both and be representative of the majority of the people. Our leaders (representatives) have to live like the majority of people live to know the real problems of the majority of the people. This in and of itself will begin to change the world.
9
Taxes/government: Poor people should not have to pay any income taxes. The more money people make, the more they will be taxed, but not so much that it removes the motivation to make a lot of money. Tax laws will be simplified, so you do not need a lawyer to understand them. Complicated tax forms just benefit those that can afford lawyers, while they hurt everyone else.
Sales tax: Most tax revenue should come from sales tax, especially from junk food, alcohol, cigarettes, luxuries and any non-necessities. Higher taxes should be on anything that hurts people, or costs society or the environment in any way. For example, we raise the taxes on incandescent light bulbs so they cost more than compact florescent bulbs that use a forth of the energy. We tax gas guzzling cars so they cost more than hybrids, etc. We raise tax income and help the environment. It does not hurt the companies that make the old technologies, because they just start making more of the new technologies. It does not hurt the economy, because it creates more jobs to develop and manufacture the new products.
It is most fair, because the people that spend the most on themselves pay the most in taxes. If you don’t want to pay taxes, just don’t spend money.
Reverse the tax system: It would simplify the tax system; we would barely need an IRS. We just reverse the system. Why tax what you make? Why not tax what you spend? You need no tax forms or any BS. It’s the same amount of money. People spend everything they make sooner or later, so the tax base would be just as big, even bigger, because people could not hide what they spend like they hide income. It will just make the system fair and easy. Tell your congressman today.
Science of democracy: A new science needs to be created just to study how to make democracy work in the most efficient and fair way. Once we wake up, everything I say above will just start happening, and the past will be the past.
Once we get America’s political system right, we need to do it for everyone.
10
Please read "the Present" for the most updated and accurate explanation of the truth about life and death: https://www.globaltruthproject.com/single-post/the-present-truth-about-life
Comments