[quote=njtosd][quote=CA renter][quote=njtosd][quote=CA renter]We need viable write-in candidates. Even better if we could eliminate the party system, altogether. People should vote for individuals, not parties. If a person is too lazy to do the research, then they shouldn’t be voting.
Of course, publicly funded elections would be the best way to go. I would LOVE to see the end of money driving politics, though it would be very difficult to enforce, even if we had publicly funded elections.[/quote]
Some of the biggest money driving politics is in the form of the media. How do we get rid of them?[/quote]
A total media ban, with the exception of completely fair, publicly-funded debates, where all candidates have an equal voice.
There should be no commercials (including commercials disguised as news) when it comes to candidates or parties, IMO. There should be a completely open, public (publicly-funded) venue for people to get all the information they could possibly need to make informed decisions. A public website and/or TV station — along the lines of CSPAN — should work.
What are your thoughts?[/quote]
Publicly funded suggests that whatever political party was in power of those pubic funds would have a fair amount of control over the message. And who gets to decide that something is “fair”? Both CNN and Fox (at least) claim to be unbiased – ha! I agree that it would be great if there was some way for candidates to be presented without the support of special interests. I just don’t see any way of doing it. The special interests are very motivated to exert control (I vote as an independent, by the way, so I see special interests on both sides of the political divide) and they’re like bugs – they will find a way in one way or another.[/quote]
When I say “publicly funded,” I mean that it’s paid for by public funds, but not controlled by politicians. And ALL candidates and issues would have to have equal access and equal time. No parties would control it, and no money could control it. It would have to be 100% transparent and the people in charge would be public employees, not public officials, who are fully accountable to the public.
But I would agree with you that they (special interests) are like bugs and that they would find a way in. I’ve only been involved in a tiny little sliver of the political world, and it’s been very obvious from my relatively minor experiences that special interests are endemic to politics…things are essentially controlled by special interests. There are too many back doors, and even if we were to officially get money out of politics, those interest would still find a way to get in (offer jobs to spouses, friends; favors through third parties, dirty money, etc.). But we definitely need to do something about the corruption of our government.
But has there ever been a government that was not corrupt? And if there was one that came close, how long did it last?
