No more wars, no more money party

An easy recipe but we've been locked out of the kitchen. A former foreman once told me "you Americans cannot survive without waging war just as you must always have your enemy." Today, I can't help but wonder if that man really knew just how perfectly he hit the nail on the head with that sentence. It's true. Just think about it for a while. The money party is at work keeping us at war and they're constantly working at persenting us with a new enemy.  To better understand all this, it's essential that we do a little reading. History has it. Let's begin with what Wikipedia has to say about The Permanent War Economy. Let's then look at the chart of who's who in military spending. Allow me to quote Chomsky for a change ;

After World War II, most economists and business leaders expected that the economy would sink back to depression without massive government intervention of the kind that, during the war years, finally overcame the Great Depression. The New Deal had softened the edges, but not much more. Business understood that social spending could overcome market catastrophes as well as military spending, but social spending has a downside: it has a democratizing and redistributive effect while military spending is a gift to the corporate manager, a steady cushion. And the public is not involved. People care about hospitals and schools, but if you can "scare the hell out of them," as Senator Vandenberg recommended, they will huddle under the umbrella of power and trust their leaders when it comes to jet planes, missiles, tanks, etc.
( from Chomsky on the Permanent War Economy
by Merlin Chowkwanyun for Infoshop & Left Hook Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 )

Who are the supporters, what's in it for the USA as a country and where does it end ? You don't really wanna know, do you ? I know for a fact that many regular authors here on this webspace are either blind to this or they are systematically working at keeping the wool right where it is, namely over our eyes. It's an old recipe, older than many of us. Nothing new. There is is only major party with two wings and this party has no real function except to keep the wool where it is and has been for the past five or six decades. 

For your further entertainment. 

by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments) on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 6:58:26 AM
 

Thanks for making those points...we agree on the war economy

The only job growth as of 1995 was in the public sector, federal primarily and it was mostly war related. We've been suckered time and again. Would we have gone to Gulf War 1 had people know that the "babies were ripped from their cradles" was uttered by a Kuwaii diplomat's daughter who never saw any such thing. Well, yes we would have but if all the lies were unmasked, we'd never have gone to Viet Nam, Iraq 1 and 2 and all of those adventures in between. But it's a rigged game.

The corporate media is nothing more than a front man for the war planners. They do it shamelessly just as they tell us that there are "two sides to every issue," i.e., climate change. Actually it's beyond a war economy, it's a death generating, world ending scheme at this point, unintended becasue the fools perpetrating it will suffer a common fate with the serfs.

You're right on the one party theme. Here's a snip form the initial Money Party polemic:

"It is not about Republicans versus Democrats. Right now, the Republicans do a better job taking money than the Democrats. But The Money Party is an equal opportunity employer. They have no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests. Democrats are as welcome as Republicans to this party. It’s all good when you’re on the take and the take is legal."

The only good news is that people all over the country in places we'd normally not suspect, are fed up and talking about it.

I think lots of people should write about the money/war party, non stop.

Also, thanks for the post to digg!!!

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 7:45:06 AM
 

Brilliant!

Great idea - let's send out the contract to all our represenatives that are campaigning and ask them to sign it before the election!

by Judy Ramsey (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 86 comments) on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 12:05:39 PM
 

Maybe some news organization should send this out

and ask if they'd sign it.  Simplify it a bit, see what they'd say.  They'll ignore us, unless they get a lot of mail.  Whatever happens and whoever is serving, there needs to be a message - you work for us, we're watching and if you take money for the benefit of specific individuals in any form, youi're done.

What a concept;)  Thanks for the kind comments.

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 6:48:42 PM
 

Citizen Amendment 7 – Elected and Appointed Officials

If you want Congress to Represent YOU instead of Special Interests, Vote YES for the Citizen Amendments.

Get your FREE copy at www.citizenamendments.org 

Citizen Amendment 7 – Elected and Appointed Officials

When a candidate files to run for an office they shall, at that time, make available to the public all arrests, convictions, and outstanding warrants. Anyone who is appointed to an office shall make the same disclosures.

All Elected and Appointed officials shall be subservient to the voters and shall represent their constituents and no one else. The constituents shall be represented before any political party concerns or desires. The congress and state legislatures shall be composed of representatives of the people and not representatives of a political party.

All States shall allow write-in voting for Federal and State Offices.

The people shall be allowed to cast a vote for a President and another vote for a Vice-President.

If a person qualifies for the office of President or Vice-President in one of the States then those names shall appear on the Ballots of all the other states.

All elected offices (Federal and State) shall have a vote for “Someone Else”. If someone else gets the most votes, than the other candidates will be eliminated and a new election will be held with other candidates. The State procedures for replacing a Congressperson will be followed if a new election cannot be held before the services of the vacant office are required. If necessary, a temporary President and Vice-President shall be selected by the various States using the original Amendment XII of the Constitution.

All elected officials (Federal and State) shall have only earned income from their government office wages during their term in office. All their (Federal only) other sources of income shall be controlled by blind trusts. No elected or appointed official shall accept remunerations from any other source.

All elected and appointed officials shall list daily in the public record all people with which they have had contact. It shall be posted on the Internet. Immediate family members are excluded, but if they hold a position within a company or the government it must be noted in the public record at the time of taking office and whenever there is a change.

All elected and appointed official’s trips shall be listed in the public record and posted on the Internet. It shall include the reason for the trip, its cost, and who paid for it.

A person is guilty of Elected or Appointed Official tampering if the intent is to influence an Official's vote, opinion, decision, or other official action expected of the Elected Official, if they attempt to communicate directly or indirectly with an Elected Official other than as a constituent or as a representative of the constituents. Before any communication takes place, the person shall present a list of the Names and Addresses that E (He/She) is representing. Elected Official tampering is a felony and shall be grounds for charges of Treason. Any Elected Official that communicates with an unauthorized representative will be barred from all government offices for life. Any communications with non-constituents shall be done in open meetings. This does not apply to an Elected Official’s contact with other Elected or Appointed Officials. The representative of the constituents shall be a citizen and resident of the same state as that of the constituents being represented.

Only registered eligible voters (constituents) shall make financial contributions or provide aid in obtaining financial contributions for Political Candidates for which they can vote. The States shall have the right to place limits on these contributions and expenditures as long as all candidates for the same office are treated the same.

Citizens whose wages and benefits depend on taxpayer funding shall NOT advocate for or against bills or ballot items in which they may have a vested interest.

Any advertising which makes statements about any of the candidates for an office shall also contain statements by all other candidates for that office.

Citizens living in the District of Columbia shall be treated as citizens of the State or States which provide the land.

Citizens in any service for the government shall be treated as residents of the state they lived in before the government service begin unless it is a permanent job.

There shall be a paper trail at the time a vote is cast and it shall be verifiable by the voter at that time. All voting machines shall be maintained in proper working order.

Voting is a private matter and [Media] Exit polling shall be illegal and punishable by not less than one year in prison.

Election result forecasts before everyone has voted, affect the vote of people who have not yet voted, and are therefore illegal and punishable by not less than one year in prison for each and every person involved in making these forecasts. Forecasts shall be allowed only after ALL polls have been closed for at least four hours.

Any Seniority Rules imposed by Congress shall start new each time the Congressperson is elected or re-elected.

People representatives at the National, State, and Local level shall not be sued for carrying out the will of the people or voting according to statements made during a campaign for election or re-election even if the representative votes against a proposal or contract for no other reason. All candidates for the office of President shall have at least two debates. All candidates for the office of Vice-President shall have at least one debate. These shall be debates and not question and answer sessions. The League of Women Voters shall be in charge of the debates for the 2008 and 2012 election years. Two years after the 2012 debates and every 4 years thereafter, the Governors of the states shall evaluate the quality of the debates and at that time shall either approve the League of Women Voters for the next Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates or select some other organization. The organization shall be the same for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates.

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 301 comments) on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 12:01:01 AM
 

A few points & suggestions

I commend anyone thoughtful enough to produce suggestions on improveing the elections here.  Here are a few points on this comprehensive apporach.  I like the accountability piece and novel idea of getting on all state ballots by getting on one states.

Here are two areas for further study:

You say:  "There shall be a paper trail at the time a vote is cast and it shall be verifiable by the voter at that time. All voting machines shall be maintained in proper working order."

Paper trails are completely useless.  You can vote for Candidate X, get a 'paper trail' receipt showing you voted for X, and the voting machine can very efficiently cast your vote for candidate Y.

Security Analysis 

California tests show very serious e-voting security problems   (touch screens)

Florida tests show very serious e-voting problems  (optical scans)  
 

E-voting is, in and of itself, an election security threat.  

You say:  "Voting is a private matter and [Media] Exit polling shall be illegal and punishable by not less than one year in prison"

Wow, this is a really terrible idea.  Exit polls are used around the world as checks against election fraud.  In this country, they're kept secret and not accessible to detect what seems to be apparent election fraud over the past several years.  Yet you want to make them illegal.  That's just an awful idea if you want to get rid of fraud.  Look at this article.  It shows that they're invlaluable, even when flawed.

Election 2004:  The Urban Legend 

There's more evidence out there on 2004 that's just stunning.  Exit polls should take place, they interfere with nothing, onlyi add to security.  However, the raw data, rather than controlled by the television networks now and kept secret, needs to be open fully to inspection by all, which should include a methodological description.  Done properly, these are a tremendous tool.  

You want to give these two points a very close look.  Combined, they undue the other points since if the  vote can be stolen, whosale through high tech means, what's the point of the other restrictions.

Good luck.  It's a great goal...make this sytem honest before they destroy us all.

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 7:13:32 AM
 

Exit Polls

I have had other negative comments on the Exit poll issue. That is why I added the word Media. I have no objections to polls if they are conducted to prevent voter fraud, but if it is to be used by the media to forecast the results of an election, I am against it.

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 301 comments) on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 4:09:41 PM
 

Yes, the system is sick

But your solutions are just like a few hundred others on the web: well meaning but totally unlikely to be implemented!  Here is the real solution:

STOP VOTING

OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM IS TOO FAR GONE, WAY TOO CORRUPT TO THINK WE CAN VOTE OUR WAY OUT OF IT.  PRACTICE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.  Read my article  Time to Boycott Voting

by Joel S. Hirschhorn (135 articles, 37 quicklinks, 63 diaries, 538 comments) on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 11:27:26 AM
 

They Win

If you quite voting they win!

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 301 comments) on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 5:24:16 AM
 

Great ideas

good recipes, but like I said, WE HAVE BEEN LOCKED OUT OF THE KITCHEN.

Nothing we can do will ever put Humpty Dumpty back togather again.

NOTHING.

by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments) on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 2:10:17 PM