What’s REALLY Wrong with America
A commentary
Many people agree that the United States of America is a wonderful country. There is genuine freedom: Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly. This doesn’t mean that you can incite to riot, or perform a human sacrifice, or run to the store while you’re nude.
You can go out to get a job, and if you aren’t happy with it, you can quit. The government stands by to assist the less fortunate. Almost any American Citizen (with the exception of certain types of criminals according to state laws) can go cast a ballot if they are properly registered to vote. Yes, these things make America great -- but they also contribute to a growing problem.
We have eliminated “Jim Crow Laws”, poll tax, and the right to vote is not prohibited because you are not Caucasian, not male. You aren’t denied the right if you aren’t a land-owner. Yes, ANY citizen (non-criminal) has the right to vote -- any moron, idiot, or imbecile can cast a vote, whether or not they really realize what they are doing. You don’t need to know the state capitals, you don’t need to recite the 50 states, nor the preamble to the constitution. There have been some places in which they have registered their dogs to vote. (Citing the current “dog vs. People years” dogs could vote at age 3, human). Groups like ACORN register the dead, cartoon characters, and restaurants.
This leads me to conclude that the system is broken, and needs to be thrown out, rebuilt from scratch. And let’s start with some of the rules that should be laid down.
1) Show your I.D. This “No-brainer” is hotly contested. Some people claim that it is a “Hardship” on certain groups of people. It’s bull, since in almost every state you need to show an ID to open a bank account, cash a check, buy tobacco, guns, or alcohol. You can’t go ANYWHERE without an ID, really.
2) Make ballots UNIFORM. They should be readable by computer. Complete a Line with a black marker, or fill in a circle. No “X”, no circles around the names. Write-ins are permitted only if you fill in the circle or complete the line to the name. If a person cannot understand the ballot, any vote like that should not count. It doesn’t matter who it is for, it must not be counted. No contesting such ballots.
3) Uniform residency requirements. You must live in the district for at least, say, 45 days prior to the election.
4) Show some intelligence! Let’s put a “lowest limit” IQ on people who are voting. Let’s say, 80. The IQ should be placed encoded on your ID. If your IQ is less than the specified minimum, you can take a test to prove it is wrong. My own IQ is just short of “genius” level. Let’s allow smart people to vote. In Short: STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN’T VOTE.
5) Standard, federally mandated requirements for recounts. No more of this “state by state” business. Keep ballots under armed guard until the recount, and use only a completed trusted, completely investigated 3rd party agency. Neither side should be allowed to outweigh the other.
6) Party registration. Some states require this for primaries. If a registered Republican has a ballot that shows a lot of Democrats being voted, set the ballot aside, and verify with the person who is registered. This will eliminate a lot of the fraud.
7) American citizens ONLY! It’s astonishing that a non-citizen could vote, but it has been happening.
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Let’s lay down some rules for the candidates, too: No foreign money. This doesn’t mean “overseas”, although that is one definition. Don’t let someone in CA contribute to a MN election, don’t let a FL resident contribute to a campaign in NY. Simple.
COMPLETE disclosure of all contributions. Not just those over $25.00. An upper limit of $200.00 PER CAMPAIGN per person. If Mr. Jones is running, and Mr. Smith contributes, he is limited to $200.00 for that campaign. Mr. Smith might contribute to Mr. Todd, if Mr. Todd is running in a different campaign. Donate ONLY within your district!
Sign a code of ethics: No personal attacks, limit the spending, use the publicly funded system. You saw what happened when Obama flip-flopped, refusing public funding…McCain was constrained by budget, Obama kept spending and spending.
I’m almost tempted to say we should go back to the way it was meant to be: House is directly elected, Senate appointed by the House. Unfortunately, the problem arose in cronyism. Such is the problem with politics.
There is no hope for the U.S. Unless changes are made in the electoral system. By instituting the above changes, we can make this country the place it was meant to be. It will be controlled by the citizens, not foreigners. It will be controlled by the intelligent, not the stupid. It will be responsive, not mired in inertia.
Once again, the Government will be OURS, and we will be proud to be Americans.
I AM proud of my country, but could be even more so…It’s up to the Government, and the people, to change it for the better.
A commentary
Many people agree that the United States of America is a wonderful country. There is genuine freedom: Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly. This doesn’t mean that you can incite to riot, or perform a human sacrifice, or run to the store while you’re nude.
You can go out to get a job, and if you aren’t happy with it, you can quit. The government stands by to assist the less fortunate. Almost any American Citizen (with the exception of certain types of criminals according to state laws) can go cast a ballot if they are properly registered to vote. Yes, these things make America great -- but they also contribute to a growing problem.
We have eliminated “Jim Crow Laws”, poll tax, and the right to vote is not prohibited because you are not Caucasian, not male. You aren’t denied the right if you aren’t a land-owner. Yes, ANY citizen (non-criminal) has the right to vote -- any moron, idiot, or imbecile can cast a vote, whether or not they really realize what they are doing. You don’t need to know the state capitals, you don’t need to recite the 50 states, nor the preamble to the constitution. There have been some places in which they have registered their dogs to vote. (Citing the current “dog vs. People years” dogs could vote at age 3, human). Groups like ACORN register the dead, cartoon characters, and restaurants.
This leads me to conclude that the system is broken, and needs to be thrown out, rebuilt from scratch. And let’s start with some of the rules that should be laid down.
1) Show your I.D. This “No-brainer” is hotly contested. Some people claim that it is a “Hardship” on certain groups of people. It’s bull, since in almost every state you need to show an ID to open a bank account, cash a check, buy tobacco, guns, or alcohol. You can’t go ANYWHERE without an ID, really.
2) Make ballots UNIFORM. They should be readable by computer. Complete a Line with a black marker, or fill in a circle. No “X”, no circles around the names. Write-ins are permitted only if you fill in the circle or complete the line to the name. If a person cannot understand the ballot, any vote like that should not count. It doesn’t matter who it is for, it must not be counted. No contesting such ballots.
3) Uniform residency requirements. You must live in the district for at least, say, 45 days prior to the election.
4) Show some intelligence! Let’s put a “lowest limit” IQ on people who are voting. Let’s say, 80. The IQ should be placed encoded on your ID. If your IQ is less than the specified minimum, you can take a test to prove it is wrong. My own IQ is just short of “genius” level. Let’s allow smart people to vote. In Short: STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN’T VOTE.
5) Standard, federally mandated requirements for recounts. No more of this “state by state” business. Keep ballots under armed guard until the recount, and use only a completed trusted, completely investigated 3rd party agency. Neither side should be allowed to outweigh the other.
6) Party registration. Some states require this for primaries. If a registered Republican has a ballot that shows a lot of Democrats being voted, set the ballot aside, and verify with the person who is registered. This will eliminate a lot of the fraud.
7) American citizens ONLY! It’s astonishing that a non-citizen could vote, but it has been happening.
--------------------------
Let’s lay down some rules for the candidates, too: No foreign money. This doesn’t mean “overseas”, although that is one definition. Don’t let someone in CA contribute to a MN election, don’t let a FL resident contribute to a campaign in NY. Simple.
COMPLETE disclosure of all contributions. Not just those over $25.00. An upper limit of $200.00 PER CAMPAIGN per person. If Mr. Jones is running, and Mr. Smith contributes, he is limited to $200.00 for that campaign. Mr. Smith might contribute to Mr. Todd, if Mr. Todd is running in a different campaign. Donate ONLY within your district!
Sign a code of ethics: No personal attacks, limit the spending, use the publicly funded system. You saw what happened when Obama flip-flopped, refusing public funding…McCain was constrained by budget, Obama kept spending and spending.
I’m almost tempted to say we should go back to the way it was meant to be: House is directly elected, Senate appointed by the House. Unfortunately, the problem arose in cronyism. Such is the problem with politics.
There is no hope for the U.S. Unless changes are made in the electoral system. By instituting the above changes, we can make this country the place it was meant to be. It will be controlled by the citizens, not foreigners. It will be controlled by the intelligent, not the stupid. It will be responsive, not mired in inertia.
Once again, the Government will be OURS, and we will be proud to be Americans.
I AM proud of my country, but could be even more so…It’s up to the Government, and the people, to change it for the better.
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