The Supreme Court, Corporate Political Contributions and the American People

Ok, I just couldn't pass this one up...

So the Supreme Court yesterday throws out limits on what corporations can contribute to political campaigns. While some folks are saying this is a good thing that will allow middle class candidates to raise copious amounts of campaign funds to run against incumbents that are dug in like a tic, I wholeheartedly disagree. If you think your vote means nothing now, just wait. If you think that candidates for public office have spent obscene amounts of money for an office that doesn't pay that much, just wait. If you think that candidates are bought and paid for now, just wait. This ruling will take our country down a path of corruption and greed that we have never seen - just wait.

I say that we need to borrow from Canada on campaign finance reform - limited amounts that can be raised, limited amounts that can be donated and limited time periods for running a campaign (try 8 weeks on - wouldn't that be a dent in the content for the 24-hour news stations?).

And while I'm at it, let's rant just a little about Senator-elect Scott Brown from Massachusetts. While I understand his basic message of lower taxes and less government, his questioning about health care reform is a bit puzzling. Now I understand that 98% of the people in Massachusetts are covered by some form of health care and that any added national program could be harmful to his constituents, but he has been elected to the upper house in Congress. If I'm not mistaken, this is where you debate issues facing the nation, not just your state. The problem with the partisan politics around health care is that no one is paying attention to the average, middle class citizen. Both sides are focusing on their fiefdoms in each state, some like Brown, only worried about their voters, continuing to create (or re-create) a system that doesn't foster true competition in the health insurance arena and makes sweetheart deals in order to keep the status quo which, HELLO, is not working. When are they going to listen??? Not as long as our elected officials can make a buck for themselves or their friends, we will EVER get any bipartisan legislation that can be good for all. At least that's what it seems like...

Now that I've worked myself up into a lather over this, my next question is, when will the American people wake up and realize that true service to us as a people is being compromised by the almighty dollar? When are we going to realize that we have created a de facto ruling class like jolly old England in the 18th century? When are we going to see that the constant eroding of the middle class through lack of education, lack of affordable health care, lack of true opportunity, is drawing us closer to an economy similar to Mexico with the uber-rich and the chronically poor?

Rulings like this recent one by the Supreme Court only exacerbate the serious problems of our country that will soon have us driving an old, used clunker of an economy trying to catch up to the souped race car that will be the Chinese economy. And we continue to saddle ourselves with an annual military budget of $700 BILLION. So much for capitalism and democracy when we can't hold back our own individual greedy behavior for the betterment of everyone.

Fixing Congress

I got this list of suggestions on how to fix Congress via email last week and thought I would pass this on - just because it is so right on. My comments are in italics.

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below:

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

No one should be a career politician. You are there to serve the people not yourself.

2. No Tenure/No Pension - A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

There already is enough money floating around the hallowed halls of Washington. It's not like they can't find work when their terms are up. They can contribute to IRA's just like the rest of us.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security: All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

This will make them vested in the plans that they create for the rest of us. Hey, they are supposed to be like the rest of us, so there is no reason why they can't participate in our programs. If they don't like it, guess what, they can change it but only for all of us.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

See my comments above.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

I have a better idea - if an incumbent is re-elected, their constituents get to vote on a raise of the lower of CPI or 3%. If someone new is elected, then they get a fixed, scaled pay rate determined by the electorate during the presidential elections every four years.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Maybe this will get them off the stick and create something that's worthwhile and not full of special side deals.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

If you are caught breaking the law during your term, you give up your seat. If you have been convicted of a felony (or misdemeanor in the past 10 years), you are ineligible to hold office.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11. The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

See my comment above about the electorate voting on salary scale every four years. This should extend to other contracts where members are given anything that the people have to pay for. After all, they work for us, we should be able to determine their compensation package.

If you agree with any or all of this, pass it on to whoever you think will listen.

The GJ Main Street Uplift

Ok, so people have sounded off in the You Said It column and with letters to the editor and I am just baffled. Are the residents of Happy Valley so short-sighted? Can they not look at the 7th Street and Colorado Avenue and see what huge improvements have been made? Can they not see the new buildings that have gone up on 7th Street? Can they not see that the businesses on Colorado Avenue are still there after months of construction? All this gnashing of teeth over Main Street really makes me shake my head.

Oh so long ago - back in the '60s, a group of folks got together and created what we know as Main Street today. I'm sure they had their detractors, but let's be real, they changed the face of downtown and made it a destination not just a jumble of storefronts. Yes, businesses have come and gone. I'm sure if you looked really close you will see legitimate reasons for those closings - not changing with shifting customer desires, not offering what the local community wants, getting priced out of the market, refusing to be open late or on weekends, rent going up, the shale bust - need I go on?

Bottom line: Main Street needs to have a consistent look with the other recent improvements. The businesses that are doing well will simply have to do what some have refused to do up until now, market themselves and get prospective customers to walk across their thresholds. Maybe this will be a wake-up call that the downtown folks need to really take their shopping park to another level. Cuz you know what? It's going to look great when it's done!