OpenGov - Open Government Brainstorm

See Electoral Reform.

Along with public financing for elected office, a secure, accessible-to-all, electronic infrastructure for the casting, collecting, and tallying of votes needs to be established and a reasonable period of time allowed for citizens to vote. This system must be able to be cross-audited by multiple independent auditors to ensure the veracity of the results.

with public financing comes the quandry, who is a viable candidate deserving of government campaign financing, and what amount to have available are found adequate. of course, with each candidate being able to use the same defree of money to operate their campaign, it becomes an excellent labratory to display the financial and management efficiency of the candidate.

so, while i am not opposed to public financing, it seems to open as many holes as it closes. if we agree to public financing, my recommendation is to allow it only for primary campaigns, to identify the viable candidates who will appear on the ballot ... and then default to the system below

unfortunately, we now have the best government money can buy

and to be sure, those with the money are using it to buy political influence

and that needs to be ended

there should be an absolute cap on the amount any REGISTERED VOTER can give, in any form to a candidate or incumbent

and here is the kicker. only those who are REGISTERED TO VOTE can donate. that eliminates corporations, lobbyist organizations, unions and foreign entities from giving money for favors

to make it even better, only those WHO ARE ABLE TO VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE should be eligible to make a donation to that campaign

so, that registered voter can donate to anyone who will be on their ballot. but the individual registered in california CANNOT donante to the candidate running for office in new york, since (s)he can't vote for them

REGISTERED VOTERS would be able to vote for anyone on the national ticket and thus those candidates could receive donations from all over ... but subject to the individual lomit and only by REGISTERED VOTERS

finally, all contributions MUST be made thru a federal agency established only to collect the money, disburse it properly and record the contributions for public view, identifying the contributor and recipient. after first cross checking to make sure the donation was from an individual who was registered to vote and who also was going to be able to have that candidate on their ballot. any money not given thru that transparent system would be found in violation and the candidate who accepted it found guilty of accepting a bribe

implement this practice and i assure you that the power of government will once again flow to the people ... where it should properly reside

Disengaging the ways money influences how people end up a representative, and how it could effect what they do after elected, is possibly the most important thing we could do.

You don't get Thomas Jefferson by putting a dollar bill on a string and dragging it through a trailer park.

2. Free Media Election Time: Four to eight weeks prior to any presidential, senatorial, or primary election, free media will be provided to anyone with the required signatures to run for office. Free and equal air time for all those who have the requirements to run for office. Equal meaning same amount of air time for all candidates with rotating order of appearance. For instance, each candidate will have a five minute daily spot on all channels, twice daily, one spot AM, one spot PM. The time slot must rotate as well, so as to not impact a show more then needed. Monday time slot 1pm following Monday slot 2pm and so on. Air time is defined as all television and radio channels. Regional channels will be responsible for local congressional candidate’s air time.

• This will not replace the current Democratic Party and Republican Party system; it will enhance the choice that we the citizens demand for these prized and sensitive offices. Traditionally only candidates who generate exorbitant amounts of donations could effectively run for public office. Only those with wealth or those who have sold their souls for wealth, could run for office. This adjustment to the election system will help remove special interests in funding and buying of our political system. This reform would help to open up debate on issues that are otherwise would not be mentioned in the old system of elections.

• A mandatory week after the vote waiting period to count, recount and verify the validity of every voter in each presidential election cycle. At the end of this week period the vote will be assessed as to the winner of the election, at that time any of the candidates my dispute sections of the vote where fraud may be perceived. Should an area of the election be determined to be fraudulent then a recount or revote in that district may commence and a further waiting period to an announcement may be initiated. FCC regulations to require free media coverage of presidential and senatorial candidates will be included in their license agreements, retroactively.

• The multiple election cycle process. At the eighth week mark before an election or primary election, free media will be provided for all candidates. At the fourth week mark before the election, a public secondary run-off-vote will limit the candidates to a smaller number. The November 4th general public election will ultimately decide the outcome of the election via public majority decision. The discussion to modify or do away with electoral vote system should be determined. Extra run-off vote dates may be decided, prior to November 4 determination.

• The monopoly of the current two party system has narrowed or limited congresses ability to be a check against the excessiveness of the executive branch of government. During George W. Bush’s first term of office, congress held a republican majority of yes men to the white house. The Republican Party is mainly concerned with two overriding ideals, lower taxes for the rich and increasing defense spending. Anything beside these two points is a side issue to this party. To confirm this fact, one only needs to ask this question, “Why would the president and congress vote to reduce taxes for the rich, twice, during a time of two wars.” Any sane man would say this is criminally negligent for a war time government to not ask its citizens to make sacrifices for the war effort in the period for which it was incurred in.

• Free media election reform would bring in more parties and more debate of real issues. The current two party system produces nomine leaders who stop talking about issues in fear that if they say anything it would only lend ammo to the other side. This is a silly system, where corporate funding influence often does buy votes from a limited candidate choice. The initial caucuses does provide a small range of party nominees to run for president, but this system also chokes’ out the independent candidates because they do not have the master list of party members to draw upon. A grass roots effort only works for the well organized two party system.

• Note: A single act of Congress to provide free media to anyone who meets election requirements could make our elections “unbuyable by special interests.” (Vidal, 2004)

• The definition of Plutocracy, ruled by the wealthy or power provided by wealth. This is the system of governance we have today in the United States of America. It costs far too much money to run for political office. In order to acquire such vast amounts of wealth, our congressmen must bend their knee, their ethics, and corporate promises to attain the financial backing to run a campaign. The soul that is left over after promising the world is a known commodity, we see it every day on the floor of congress. It is no wonder that once most president pass the Iowa caucus they ditch their platform of ideals and adhere to touchy feely speeches. The less campaign promises to the public the less they get nailed on them later when they cave to lobbyists.

Want to see the surplus money the US government and all states, local governments have? http://CAFR1.com and http://TaxRetirement.com

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