3 ms·

Sad, but true it seems. There might be a difficult way out, but I don't believe we should accept this. One insight is that the framers of the US Constitution

by ballard 13y ago

Sad, but true it seems. There might be a difficult way out, but I don't believe we should accept this. One insight is that the framers of the US Constitution did not necessarily anticipate the current differences of today (even though the more some things change, the more these remain the same)... IMHO, USG needs: 1. The separation of powers could use a rebalancing to prevent the executive branch from wielding absolute autonomy, i.e., post-Henry VIII. 2. Campaign finance reform is a requirement. Congress isn't going to cut off their own campaign funding, except by sheer force of the people. Fund candidates equally with 50% matching public-for-private funds up to the absolute total limit for the seat. Then let the best message, hustler and money manager win.

adventured 13y ago
The concept of executive orders - particularly as it's being used in modern times - needs to be abolished. We need sunset provisions on most legislation, requiring laws / regulations to be renewed every X years or they disappear. There are now 175,000 pages of Federal regulations. They're adding thousands of pages per year on average. Who could possibly have a grasp of what's in that? Most of the politicians that passed Obamacare didn't even bother to read it, and I suspect the same is true of most of the legislation passed in DC (most of which is written by lobbyists). We need a strong separation of corporation and state, for the same reason we have a separation of church and state. They should not be allowed to corrupt each other; specifically noting that it works both ways. We need a drastic IRS overhaul. Filing should be no more complicated than filling out six or seven lines spanning the size of an index card. Most deductions, loopholes, etc should be abolished. All corporate welfare should go away, including in energy and agriculture. The ability to wage any type of war should require very specific Congressional approval, including limiting time and scope (requiring extensions otherwise). The ability of the executive to wage war without Congressional approval should be completely curtailed. The Federal Reserve should either be abolished or neutered (reformed substantially and weakened). Its power to practically do anything it wants to financially must be stopped. It has created three nation shattering bubbles in the last 15 years, and is brewing two more right now on purpose (with the stated goal to generate asset inflation). The Fed is singularly responsible for enabling the profligate spending and general fiscal irresponsibility that has gone on in DC the last 13 years. Without their willingness to fund it all by devaluing the dollar, the vast military industrial complex, spying programs, wars, and insane budget deficits would be impossible.

by ballard 13y ago

adventured 13y ago

The concept of executive orders - particularly as it's being used in modern times - needs to be abolished. We need sunset provisions on most legislation, requiring laws / regulations to be renewed every X years or they disappear. There are now 175,000 pages of Federal regulations. They're adding thousands of pages per year on average. Who could possibly have a grasp of what's in that? Most of the politicians that passed Obamacare didn't even bother to read it, and I suspect the same is true of most of the legislation passed in DC (most of which is written by lobbyists). We need a strong separation of corporation and state, for the same reason we have a separation of church and state. They should not be allowed to corrupt each other; specifically noting that it works both ways. We need a drastic IRS overhaul. Filing should be no more complicated than filling out six or seven lines spanning the size of an index card. Most deductions, loopholes, etc should be abolished. All corporate welfare should go away, including in energy and agriculture. The ability to wage any type of war should require very specific Congressional approval, including limiting time and scope (requiring extensions otherwise). The ability of the executive to wage war without Congressional approval should be completely curtailed. The Federal Reserve should either be abolished or neutered (reformed substantially and weakened). Its power to practically do anything it wants to financially must be stopped. It has created three nation shattering bubbles in the last 15 years, and is brewing two more right now on purpose (with the stated goal to generate asset inflation). The Fed is singularly responsible for enabling the profligate spending and general fiscal irresponsibility that has gone on in DC the last 13 years. Without their willingness to fund it all by devaluing the dollar, the vast military industrial complex, spying programs, wars, and insane budget deficits would be impossible.