"American distrust of the U.S. political system is at an all-time high. Many of us are concerned about the dysfunction in Washington and whether things will ever get better. Politics is an industry and the two dominant competitors do everything in their power to focus on serving their supporters and the special interests of those supporters."Politics has become a profitable industry with an aggressive business model, just the sort of thing both Hamilton and Madison warned us against in the Federalist Papers.
$2.8 billion -- that's the direct revenue to the parties in 2018, as listed here. Separately, corporate players spent $1.6 billion on lobbying the politicians in hope of gaining some advantage.
The two-party system of politics today is a competitive business focused on dominance, not on comprehensive progress for the benefit of the nation. Recent stalemates in congress with party-line votes in critical issues illustrate that one aspect of the dilemma. Demonizing has replaced debate, and there is little public awareness of factual material. Misleading and deliberately false accusations are what the public is offered. Need examples?
Do we believe this is good, or perhaps otherwise?
What we want:
- Practical solutions that solve our nation’s most pressing problems
- Legislation that advances through Congress
- Broad-based buy-in from voters
- Respect for the rights of all voters
Helpful changes we might consider ...
- term limits
- lobbying and corporate influence boundaries
- again entrust federal agencies to research and recommend policy according to national priority and accepted standards
- a published federal agenda listing issues, priorities, and goals objectively
- prioritizing community security, education, and health above tax breaks for the wealthy
- separation of news from propaganda would be helpful, as the former law provided
- accountability for false statements and misrepresentation, a standard we require of our children, would be appropriate as well
- reigning in the finance industry and removing the 'transfer of risk' instruments, reasonable constraints abandoned in '97
Any others come to mind?