No, but the NSA already has all the dirt its employees and managers need to blackmail every politician and every jurist in the nation (and most of the world.)
People who work in the political system’s halls of power are all corrupted by the experience. In no time at all, they are enslaved by the Panopticon’s lever-pullers.
Humanity is always ruled by scum.
Steve Hogan
December 8, 2014 5:48 pm
An excellent idea. A few more:
1. One term only for elected officials, then back to the real world. And no going from the House to the Senate to the White House. Choose one.
2. All assets are placed in a blind trust for the duration of the pol’s term. If we can’t insider trade, they shouldn’t be able to either.
3. All laws apply to government officials. No exemptions, no exceptions. If Obamacare is so fucking wonderful, they should “enjoy” its benefits just like the hoi polloi. Maybe they’d even bother to read the legislation before voting on it.
4. You can be elected or you can lobby. There’s a lifetime ban against going from one to the other.
5. If you work in the public sector, you are banned from unionizing and banned from voting. A blatant conflict of interest.
6. Any public sector worker should not be permitted to make more in wages and benefits than his private sector counterpart. These parasites should work for us, not the other way around.
Westcoaster
December 8, 2014 9:01 pm
I second your slate, Steve. Let’s put it up for a vote and start a movement! Don’t know ’bout you guys but I’m sick & tired of all the bullshit.
On another site I enjoy, Dr. Farrell’s gizadeathstar the regulars are discussing the possibility that some sort of AI “intelligence” has already taken everything over, running in the background, suiciding those who might get a clue of what’s really going on, controllling the markets, starting wars, etc. Check it out
7. Move the nation’s capital to Barrow, Alaska. That way, not many people would aspire to a lifetime in the capital.
SSS
December 9, 2014 12:40 am
@ Steve Hogan (and perforce Westcoaster) on your “ideas” …… my response in caps.
1. One term only for elected officials, then back to the real world. And no going from the House to the Senate to the White House. Choose one. NOT GONNA HAPPEN UNLESS THE CONSTITUTION SAYS SO. IN OTHER WORDS, NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
2. All assets are placed in a blind trust for the duration of the pol’s term. If we can’t insider trade, they shouldn’t be able to either. I THINK MOST, IF NOT ALL, FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIALS DO PLACE THEIR ASSETS IN A BLIND TRUST. IT SHIELDS THEM FROM SPURIOUS CHARGES SUCH AS THE ONE YOU CITED, INSIDER TRADING.
3. All laws apply to government officials. No exemptions, no exceptions. If Obamacare is so fucking wonderful, they should “enjoy” its benefits just like the hoi polloi. Maybe they’d even bother to read the legislation before voting on it. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DO NOT HAVE “SPECIAL” HEALTH PLANS. THAT IS A MYTH. AND THEY ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF OBAMACARE. ANOTHER MYTH. THE PRESIDENT DOES HAVE A SPECIAL HEALTH PLAN. HE’S THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. AS SUCH, HIS HEALTH CARE COMES FROM MILITARY DOCTORS. AND IT’S FREE.
4. You can be elected or you can lobby. There’s a lifetime ban against going from one to the other. I THINK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE REQUIRED TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT TO NOT ACCEPT A LOBBYING JOB FOR TWO YEARS AFTER THEY LEAVE OFFICE.
5. If you work in the public sector, you are banned from unionizing and banned from voting. A blatant conflict of interest. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IDEA IS, STEVE? A BLATANT, UNCONSTITUTIONAL PIECE OF SHIT. FURTHERMORE, HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT SOLDIERS ARE BANNED FROM VOTING. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
6. Any public sector worker should not be permitted to make more in wages and benefits than his private sector counterpart. These parasites should work for us, not the other way around. HOW’S THAT GONNA WORK? THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF EQUITABLE WAGES? OH, GOODY. JUST WHAT WE NEED. ANOTHER GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY FILLED WITH DRONES.
Guess how I voted on your ideas, Steve.
Sonic
December 9, 2014 10:17 pm
@SSS:
How is a soldier voting any different than a bureaucrat? Spare me your sob tale of their inherent nobility of purpose. I would add that anyone receiving largess from the state should not be allowed to vote for offices of the state. That would include politicians voting for anything other than the prescription of their office, a federal employee voting in a federal election, a state employee voting in a state election, or a soldier voting in a federal election. That would also include any welfare recipients. That would include a business owner/employee working at a business that has recieved a grant or contract from the government. When a soldier returns to civilian life he can vote again. When a politician returns from office to work a job or run a company then he could vote again. When a welfare recipient gets off the dole then he can vote again. When a company gets their money from the private sector then they could vote again.
Plain and simple if you are paid by the government then you shouldn’t be able to vote for the people that pay you. It does not matter at all for what you are paid.
Sonic
December 9, 2014 10:18 pm
*note by “company” I meant “employees and owners of a company”
SSS
December 9, 2014 10:51 pm
@ Sonic
You’re a special kind of stupid, aren’t you. Here. Do you see any exclusions on voting rights for government employees? These are all INCLUSIONS.
At least four of the fifteen post-Civil War constitutional amendments were ratified specifically to extend voting rights to different groups of citizens. These extensions state that voting rights cannot be denied or abridged based on the following:
Birth – “All persons born or naturalized” are citizens” of the United States and the U.S. state where they reside (14th Amendment, 1868)
“Race, color, or previous condition of servitude” – (15th Amendment, 1870)
“On account of sex” – (19th Amendment, 1920)
In Washington, D.C., presidential elections (23rd Amendment, 1961)
(For federal elections) “By reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax” – (24th Amendment, 1964) (For state elections) Taxes – (14th Amendment; Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections)
“Who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age” (26th Amendment, 1971).
Requirement that a person reside in a jurisdiction for an extended period of time (14th Amendment; Dunn v. Blumstein).
Unlike your elitist attitude on voting rights, I appreciate constitutional law. You, not so much. And may I add ever so gently ….. fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
Llpoh
December 9, 2014 11:25 pm
SSS – unfortunately, some things are having unintended consequences. Not EvERYTHING in the Constitution is working as planned. The framers certainly never foresaw the the redistribution of income we currently have, the enormous public servant base, the huge FSA. They would be spinning in their graves over that shit.
Put me in the damp that thinks fed govt employees and anyone drawing a fed government check of any kind should not be allowed to vote in fed elections, and itto for state elections. MAYBE I would make an exception for the military. But probably not, given the framers did not envision a standing army such as currently exists. The military, and govt, should be a fraction the size it is.
Allowing them to vote, along with the FSA, spells doom. It was never intended to be how it is.
The framers would never have agreed to this shit. We all know that.
Bea Lever
December 9, 2014 11:50 pm
SSS
You and I do not agree on what the framers foresaw. None of the excess in government in this country would exist if gold and silver were our money as defined in the Constitution. Fiat allows for bloated government. The central bank problem we have today is not a new thing, why do you think Voltaire said “paper always reverts back to it’s original value, zero.” Well, he said something very close to that.
Bea Lever
December 10, 2014 12:02 am
LlPOH
Above comment was to you not SSS, brain fart on my part. LlPOH , perhaps you would like the old practice of only land owners having the right to vote. That would leave out the FSA or at least most of them.
Llpoh
December 10, 2014 12:25 am
Bea – to let people vote themselves the property of others is wrong, no matter what anything or anyone says. It must be stopped.
Llpoh
December 10, 2014 12:27 am
Btw – I do not remember gold or silver being in the Constitution. It mentions coin money, to my memory.
Bea Lever
December 10, 2014 12:42 am
LlPOH
I’m not agin’ ya, I’m with ya. Yes, it must be stopped. Over half of households don’t pay taxes, that alone chaps my ass as I go to work each day.
Llpoh
December 10, 2014 12:43 am
Bea – nothing in the Constitution re gold and silver. Wanna try door number two?
Also, re voting, it seems reasonably clear that they never intended everyone have voting rights. It took 200 years for that to happen. States still have massive discretion there, I believe. I belive they could limit voting to certain groups if they so choose. Would be one hell of a legal fight.
Llpoh
December 10, 2014 12:45 am
Bea – i know. It is a horrible situation. No where to turn, as it is all going down the shitter. Your point re fiat is well taken. The right to borrow money should not exist.
Sonic
December 10, 2014 11:27 pm
@SSS
You know you sure do miss the point for one quick to call out my stupidity. Did I say “in the constitution” anywhere? No the fuck you I did not. In fact, I was amending the “slate” proposed in an earlier comment to be a stricter version. The gist was “here is a way to improve on what we have in order to try and fix something that is completely fucking broken”, but of course you are a bit too dim witted to pick up on that. The constitution, for all that it is being ignored wherever convenient, is a lovely idea based on an enormous amount of politicking. In the annals of our founding documents it is a far cry from the pure idealism of our declaration, and it is flawed in many respects. That is the result of much political dealings in the run up to ratification. It is still by far the best attempt at a government anyone has ever agreed to in human history. All that said the constitution is the same document that allowed us to make it to this point and is therefore unarguably deficient in some respects. I think it can be improved, and the comments I made above are one way I think it could be better.
So while you are fucking yourself, try hard, real hard, to pay attention. I know you intelligence types like to think you are good at that sort of thing, but it is crystal clear that you are not.
No, but the NSA already has all the dirt its employees and managers need to blackmail every politician and every jurist in the nation (and most of the world.)
People who work in the political system’s halls of power are all corrupted by the experience. In no time at all, they are enslaved by the Panopticon’s lever-pullers.
Humanity is always ruled by scum.
An excellent idea. A few more:
1. One term only for elected officials, then back to the real world. And no going from the House to the Senate to the White House. Choose one.
2. All assets are placed in a blind trust for the duration of the pol’s term. If we can’t insider trade, they shouldn’t be able to either.
3. All laws apply to government officials. No exemptions, no exceptions. If Obamacare is so fucking wonderful, they should “enjoy” its benefits just like the hoi polloi. Maybe they’d even bother to read the legislation before voting on it.
4. You can be elected or you can lobby. There’s a lifetime ban against going from one to the other.
5. If you work in the public sector, you are banned from unionizing and banned from voting. A blatant conflict of interest.
6. Any public sector worker should not be permitted to make more in wages and benefits than his private sector counterpart. These parasites should work for us, not the other way around.
I second your slate, Steve. Let’s put it up for a vote and start a movement! Don’t know ’bout you guys but I’m sick & tired of all the bullshit.
On another site I enjoy, Dr. Farrell’s gizadeathstar the regulars are discussing the possibility that some sort of AI “intelligence” has already taken everything over, running in the background, suiciding those who might get a clue of what’s really going on, controllling the markets, starting wars, etc. Check it out
I have one more, Steve:
7. Move the nation’s capital to Barrow, Alaska. That way, not many people would aspire to a lifetime in the capital.
@ Steve Hogan (and perforce Westcoaster) on your “ideas” …… my response in caps.
1. One term only for elected officials, then back to the real world. And no going from the House to the Senate to the White House. Choose one. NOT GONNA HAPPEN UNLESS THE CONSTITUTION SAYS SO. IN OTHER WORDS, NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
2. All assets are placed in a blind trust for the duration of the pol’s term. If we can’t insider trade, they shouldn’t be able to either. I THINK MOST, IF NOT ALL, FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIALS DO PLACE THEIR ASSETS IN A BLIND TRUST. IT SHIELDS THEM FROM SPURIOUS CHARGES SUCH AS THE ONE YOU CITED, INSIDER TRADING.
3. All laws apply to government officials. No exemptions, no exceptions. If Obamacare is so fucking wonderful, they should “enjoy” its benefits just like the hoi polloi. Maybe they’d even bother to read the legislation before voting on it. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DO NOT HAVE “SPECIAL” HEALTH PLANS. THAT IS A MYTH. AND THEY ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF OBAMACARE. ANOTHER MYTH. THE PRESIDENT DOES HAVE A SPECIAL HEALTH PLAN. HE’S THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. AS SUCH, HIS HEALTH CARE COMES FROM MILITARY DOCTORS. AND IT’S FREE.
4. You can be elected or you can lobby. There’s a lifetime ban against going from one to the other. I THINK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE REQUIRED TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT TO NOT ACCEPT A LOBBYING JOB FOR TWO YEARS AFTER THEY LEAVE OFFICE.
5. If you work in the public sector, you are banned from unionizing and banned from voting. A blatant conflict of interest. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IDEA IS, STEVE? A BLATANT, UNCONSTITUTIONAL PIECE OF SHIT. FURTHERMORE, HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT SOLDIERS ARE BANNED FROM VOTING. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
6. Any public sector worker should not be permitted to make more in wages and benefits than his private sector counterpart. These parasites should work for us, not the other way around. HOW’S THAT GONNA WORK? THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF EQUITABLE WAGES? OH, GOODY. JUST WHAT WE NEED. ANOTHER GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY FILLED WITH DRONES.
Guess how I voted on your ideas, Steve.
@SSS:
How is a soldier voting any different than a bureaucrat? Spare me your sob tale of their inherent nobility of purpose. I would add that anyone receiving largess from the state should not be allowed to vote for offices of the state. That would include politicians voting for anything other than the prescription of their office, a federal employee voting in a federal election, a state employee voting in a state election, or a soldier voting in a federal election. That would also include any welfare recipients. That would include a business owner/employee working at a business that has recieved a grant or contract from the government. When a soldier returns to civilian life he can vote again. When a politician returns from office to work a job or run a company then he could vote again. When a welfare recipient gets off the dole then he can vote again. When a company gets their money from the private sector then they could vote again.
Plain and simple if you are paid by the government then you shouldn’t be able to vote for the people that pay you. It does not matter at all for what you are paid.
*note by “company” I meant “employees and owners of a company”
@ Sonic
You’re a special kind of stupid, aren’t you. Here. Do you see any exclusions on voting rights for government employees? These are all INCLUSIONS.
At least four of the fifteen post-Civil War constitutional amendments were ratified specifically to extend voting rights to different groups of citizens. These extensions state that voting rights cannot be denied or abridged based on the following:
Birth – “All persons born or naturalized” are citizens” of the United States and the U.S. state where they reside (14th Amendment, 1868)
“Race, color, or previous condition of servitude” – (15th Amendment, 1870)
“On account of sex” – (19th Amendment, 1920)
In Washington, D.C., presidential elections (23rd Amendment, 1961)
(For federal elections) “By reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax” – (24th Amendment, 1964) (For state elections) Taxes – (14th Amendment; Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections)
“Who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age” (26th Amendment, 1971).
Requirement that a person reside in a jurisdiction for an extended period of time (14th Amendment; Dunn v. Blumstein).
Unlike your elitist attitude on voting rights, I appreciate constitutional law. You, not so much. And may I add ever so gently ….. fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
SSS – unfortunately, some things are having unintended consequences. Not EvERYTHING in the Constitution is working as planned. The framers certainly never foresaw the the redistribution of income we currently have, the enormous public servant base, the huge FSA. They would be spinning in their graves over that shit.
Put me in the damp that thinks fed govt employees and anyone drawing a fed government check of any kind should not be allowed to vote in fed elections, and itto for state elections. MAYBE I would make an exception for the military. But probably not, given the framers did not envision a standing army such as currently exists. The military, and govt, should be a fraction the size it is.
Allowing them to vote, along with the FSA, spells doom. It was never intended to be how it is.
The framers would never have agreed to this shit. We all know that.
SSS
You and I do not agree on what the framers foresaw. None of the excess in government in this country would exist if gold and silver were our money as defined in the Constitution. Fiat allows for bloated government. The central bank problem we have today is not a new thing, why do you think Voltaire said “paper always reverts back to it’s original value, zero.” Well, he said something very close to that.
LlPOH
Above comment was to you not SSS, brain fart on my part. LlPOH , perhaps you would like the old practice of only land owners having the right to vote. That would leave out the FSA or at least most of them.
Bea – to let people vote themselves the property of others is wrong, no matter what anything or anyone says. It must be stopped.
Btw – I do not remember gold or silver being in the Constitution. It mentions coin money, to my memory.
LlPOH
I’m not agin’ ya, I’m with ya. Yes, it must be stopped. Over half of households don’t pay taxes, that alone chaps my ass as I go to work each day.
Bea – nothing in the Constitution re gold and silver. Wanna try door number two?
Also, re voting, it seems reasonably clear that they never intended everyone have voting rights. It took 200 years for that to happen. States still have massive discretion there, I believe. I belive they could limit voting to certain groups if they so choose. Would be one hell of a legal fight.
Bea – i know. It is a horrible situation. No where to turn, as it is all going down the shitter. Your point re fiat is well taken. The right to borrow money should not exist.
@SSS
You know you sure do miss the point for one quick to call out my stupidity. Did I say “in the constitution” anywhere? No the fuck you I did not. In fact, I was amending the “slate” proposed in an earlier comment to be a stricter version. The gist was “here is a way to improve on what we have in order to try and fix something that is completely fucking broken”, but of course you are a bit too dim witted to pick up on that. The constitution, for all that it is being ignored wherever convenient, is a lovely idea based on an enormous amount of politicking. In the annals of our founding documents it is a far cry from the pure idealism of our declaration, and it is flawed in many respects. That is the result of much political dealings in the run up to ratification. It is still by far the best attempt at a government anyone has ever agreed to in human history. All that said the constitution is the same document that allowed us to make it to this point and is therefore unarguably deficient in some respects. I think it can be improved, and the comments I made above are one way I think it could be better.
So while you are fucking yourself, try hard, real hard, to pay attention. I know you intelligence types like to think you are good at that sort of thing, but it is crystal clear that you are not.