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The Democrat-controlled 111th Congress is just the latest in more recent failed ones and that of government overall. The electoral process bears much of the blame. It's scripted and corrupted. Secrecy and back room deals substitute for a free, fair, and open process. Candidates are pre-selected. Big money owns them. Both parties share equal guilt. The major media play a dominant role. Favored candidates have a distinct advantage. Alternative ones are marginalized. Horse race journalism substitutes for real debate, while the public interest is nowhere in sight.
Democrats and Republicans comprise two wings of one party representing privilege, not the greater good, and therein lies the problem. On Capitol Hill, democracy is rhetoric, not real. Profiles in courage are as rare as mild Chicago winters, and as Harry Truman famously said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."
Influence peddling is a way of life. What "payola" is to the music industry, "pay-to-play" is to Washington, and the more anted up, the more favors curried, but the "price of admission" keeps rising. Changing things requires major reform starting with a total electoral process makeover.
Get big money out of it and replace it with publicly funded elections. End corporate run electronic voting. Mandate verifiable hand-counting by nonpartisan civil servants. Adopt proportional representation over winner-take-all. Institute instant runoff voting (IRV). Automatically enfranchise all US citizens at birth under one uniform national law. Prohibit paid political advertising and require broadcasters to provide free air time to all candidates equally over over a shorter electoral cycle. Make democracy in America real, not the best kind money can buy.
Make the impeachment and conviction process work by using them against presidents and others having no place in honest government. End the idea that "We Won't Impeach (or Convict) You No Matter What." Get oversight back into the system. Make abuse of office a crime and hold offenders accountable. Hold public hearings. Demand vital documents. Issue binding subpoenas. Make not showing up criminal. Jail those refusing to cooperate. Make it apply to top officials, including the president and vice president. Use independent special prosecutors freely, fully empowered by their mandate. Put teeth back into the rule of law.
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