WE NEED
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM & TERM LIMITS...
This is not intended to be the only answer to our political
conundrum. It is to help begin a thinking & planning process please
consider the following:
originally published September 2013
...March 25, 2020
I am not targeting any one political party because they are both bought & controlled by big money...
Democrats have the most compassionate values for America - but it does not mean we Democrats should blindly support them-we need to hold Democrats accountable as well as Independents and Republicans.
...We
desperately need to begin to work on these two key area of politics in America.
We need to get Corporations Out of Politics.
The following are some thoughts I
have...I would love feedback & suggestions because I feel I really need it,
I don't have all the answers, but
together maybe we can find some.
The following question posed by a gentleman on twitter got me to
thinking
@N_Rode As long as we're entertaining fantasies,
what about insisting that policy debates stay reality based. Is that too much
to ask?
my response....
NO! it is not too much to ask. It should be a given. I have become
so cynical about the ability of any politician, even my own party & who I
voted for, to be truthful about anything, I find myself making decisions based
who told the least offensive lies-and that is so wrong. The very least a person
that wants the taxpayers to pay his/her wages should be is HONEST. What
business or corporation would hire a "liar" or someone who lives in a
"fantasy world"? I suspect that if that company is not making movies
or in the entertainment industry...the answer would be NONE. So why do we VOTE
these people into office and pay them so well to lie to us, deceive us and not
do what is best for US The citizens of America?
POLITICAL TERM LIMITS
Being a politician should not be a lifelong career. It should be temporary employment at best. A longer single term, (6 years sounds reasonable to me) would mean no need to ever spend time that should be spent solving the problems facing our country with campaigning. It would mean a 40 hour work week, like most average Americans, that is 2,080 hours a year. Think what could be accomplished.. ...and I know people do not want to talk about ageism-but we must! We need younger candidates that look to the future...to be continued...
Benefits paid for should be on par with what is required of other employers.
Payment into a pension plan should be the same as other employers have. So much is deducted at the employees choice as to percentage with a % match by the employer.
Health Insurance should be provided the same as with other employers. It would not hurt to have the politician to pay for a portion of the insurance coverage. A lot of companies and public institutions pay for individual employee coverage with the employee paying a portion of the family coverage. I know that is the way it is done at the school district I retired as Bookkeeper from.
One term and they are gone from that position and they do not get to come back as a lobbyist. They get to go apply for another job somewhere else. Maybe then a healthy robust job market will become important.
Campaign Finance Reform
I know this is a biggie. But we must stop the ability of corporations and the wealthy from being able to buy our politicians. If an individual from Illinois want to represent Illinois as a Congressperson, then the funding for that persons campaign needs to come solely from the individual citizens of the area/district that person wants to represent. No outsiders (in other words keep it local) and no corporate contributors. Campaign ads should only contain the face and voice of the person running for that position and they should only be funded by their campaign contributions. The media needs to give candidates a set number of free ads for both candidates. A series of debates should be scheduled & supported by the media to allow candidates to get their message out. This would be a great way for the media to support our country.
Being a politician should not be a lifelong career. It should be temporary employment at best. A longer single term, (6 years sounds reasonable to me) would mean no need to ever spend time that should be spent solving the problems facing our country with campaigning. It would mean a 40 hour work week, like most average Americans, that is 2,080 hours a year. Think what could be accomplished.. ...and I know people do not want to talk about ageism-but we must! We need younger candidates that look to the future...to be continued...
Benefits paid for should be on par with what is required of other employers.
Payment into a pension plan should be the same as other employers have. So much is deducted at the employees choice as to percentage with a % match by the employer.
Health Insurance should be provided the same as with other employers. It would not hurt to have the politician to pay for a portion of the insurance coverage. A lot of companies and public institutions pay for individual employee coverage with the employee paying a portion of the family coverage. I know that is the way it is done at the school district I retired as Bookkeeper from.
One term and they are gone from that position and they do not get to come back as a lobbyist. They get to go apply for another job somewhere else. Maybe then a healthy robust job market will become important.
Campaign Finance Reform
I know this is a biggie. But we must stop the ability of corporations and the wealthy from being able to buy our politicians. If an individual from Illinois want to represent Illinois as a Congressperson, then the funding for that persons campaign needs to come solely from the individual citizens of the area/district that person wants to represent. No outsiders (in other words keep it local) and no corporate contributors. Campaign ads should only contain the face and voice of the person running for that position and they should only be funded by their campaign contributions. The media needs to give candidates a set number of free ads for both candidates. A series of debates should be scheduled & supported by the media to allow candidates to get their message out. This would be a great way for the media to support our country.
DO AWAY WITH ALL PACS
REPEAT..."No Corporate Contributors"
Which brings me to this section....
It is mind boggling to try and keep up with all the companies we buy goods and products from...those that are ethical, those that are not. It seems that we as taxpayers and consumers cannot count on companies to be honest, ethical and caring on their own. . Why do these companies have the money to spend billions of dollars lobbying, and spending to buy politicians instead of doing the 'RIGHT THING" Invest in your workers, invest in your country, invest in the Earth. Instead they choose to:
It is mind boggling to try and keep up with all the companies we buy goods and products from...those that are ethical, those that are not. It seems that we as taxpayers and consumers cannot count on companies to be honest, ethical and caring on their own. . Why do these companies have the money to spend billions of dollars lobbying, and spending to buy politicians instead of doing the 'RIGHT THING" Invest in your workers, invest in your country, invest in the Earth. Instead they choose to:
·
Exploit their workers
Paying their employees a living wage with health insurance and
vacation and sick day benefits and pension plan. All of these perks are
considered "cost of doing business " and will lower their tax rates.
·
Hide their obscene profits in tax shelters to
avoid supporting their country
Take the billions of dollars that are spent buying politicians and
and invest it in your country. Why not get your tax cuts at home rather
than hiding your money in tax shelters in other countries?
·
Pollute the Earth
Energy efficient investments are also a cost of doing
business and will lower your tax rate. If companies keep raping the
planet for obscene get rich quick profits and polluting the air, land and
water, their families and future generations will suffer too. Mother Nature has
a way of cleaning house. I think that process is already beginning.
The lives lost to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes ...etc...
It is time that we begin to demand better from these companies.
It is time we insist that our politicians do what is best for America and
not the bottom line of corporations. This means changes in the tax codes
and more vigorous funding of the budgets for the FDA and the EPA and
OSHA!
NONE OF THIS WILL HAPPEN IF
WE DO NOT START WITH POLITICAL TERM LIMITS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM- It all
goes hand in hand in hand.
