Structural issues

[Stinky The Clown]

Imagine it is the first day of the next Congress. Democrats have won a slim plurality in not only the House (220 to 215), but also the Senate (50 to 49 plus Bernie, who caucuses with our side). With sleeves rolled up and a thumb of the nose to Ceaser Disgustus, we endeavor to start the comeback of America.

And there's so much to do that it seems we may have problems just getting to it all. Speaker Pelosi, Leader Lee, Whip Frank, Leader Durbin, and Assistant Leader Boxer go into their respective sessions with sufficient votes in place to pass immediately a sweeping reform of our election process. Their near-identical bills call for paper ballots, hand counters, poll watchers, count watchers, and bipartisan exit pollers.

Eager to get other structural issues in place to ensure that government is again not only fair but squarely in the hands of We The People, they ask us, the grass roots, to offer suggestions. They ask us to answer a survey. Below is their ballot.

Pick the one governmental/structural issue you see as the second most critical, after the voting systems, for which they have already put on their agendas as the first vote of the new session.

[marmar]

1. First off...

Overturn ridiculous legislation like the bankruptcy bill and the prescription drug benefit plan. TORCH the Patriot Act. Get FEMA from under the auspices of Homeland Security. Kill NAFTA and CAFTA, and come up with more sensible trade agreements. Get serious about the Kyoto accord....And that's just the first week! :)

[Stinky The Clown]

2. I thought about a few of those ......

.... but wanted to keep the issues focused very narrowly on fundamental 'structure of government' type things. Bankrputcy and drugs are clearly outside that boundary. FEMA is surely a gray area. The Patriot Act is outside what I see as the boundary .... etc.

It was tough to think of things that were very clearly 'fundamental' and 'stuctural'.

Not saying at all that I disagree with anything you've suggested.

[PeachyDem88]

3. Proportional Representation elections...

Sure would be nice.

:)

Barring that, though, the size of the House should increase dramatically.

Go to http://www.thirty-thousand.org to find out more, if you're into that sort of thing.

*goes back into hiding*

[Stinky The Clown]

6. That's kinda what the expansion of the House would be ....

..... kinda sorta.

[arendt]

4. I voted "other" - FIX THE VOTING SYSTEM

The current system is tyranny. We have no right to recount our own votes.
We have no paper trail. It is all managed by partisan fundamentalists who
hire former crooks and thieves.

For now, go back to paper. In the longer term, use OPEN SOURCE software
and paper trails. This stuff has been done successfully.

Repeal HAVA and pass a law that gets partisan hacks like Katherine Harris
and Blackwell out of the business of supervising elections and disenfranchising
voters.

This is the only issue. Without honest votes, you have Joe Stalin's dream:

It doesn't matter who votes; it matters who counts the votes.

arendt

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Uh .... yuou obviously didn't read the setup piece

The voting system was already fixed.

[nickshepDEM]

7. Energy reform. No, REAL energy reform. Independence similar to Brazil...

by 2010ish. No if, ands, or buts.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. That's not really a structural issue

My notion is what reforms that impact they **way** we are governed are important to people.

Energy is surely a critical issue .... but probably not a structural issue.