Corruption Revealed - Please Sign This Petition!

See, you're just making assumptions about me here. In the last election I liked Rudy G, this time I like Ron Paul. I'll vote for him in the primary, but he is going to lose.

The nomination is going to be Mitt or Newt vs Obama, and I hate all 3. I'm not going to vote in that case.


So I go vote for Ron Paul b/c I think he is the best out of the crap we are given to choose from > he loses > how exactly did my vote count?

Its nice that in school they teach everyone the fairy tale, that everyone matters, one person can make a difference, we all have a voice etc.
The reality is that's all BS.

If it were true we wouldnt be where we are today. The only way the people in charge give a damn about "your voice" is if you pay them to listen or make them listen through legitimate threats.

People in this country have bought far into the notion that they are somehow special or that they matter in some way. As soon as the majority of the people understand that the gov truly doesnt give a damn about you and your family, that they couldnt care less if you live or die, and are only concerned with filling their own pockets we might actually get something done.

Because nothing would make my vote for meaningful than voting for someone with no chance of winning.


If the two choices you are presented with are both puppets of the establishment and lobbying dollars, then no matter who you vote for, you're still voting for a puppet. And as far as voting for a 3rd party or non puppet candidate see above ^


It cannot change. The system has been built on this corruption. IMO the only way to truly change this is by tearing down the whole thing and rebuilding it. This only follows the R word, and people in the US aren't willing to go that far, yet.


I am clearly being facetious here. You cannot affect the gov. To think you can is naive. Until you build a Fortune 500 and can pump millions into campaigns good luck.

Sorry if I'm a cynical ***, but reality often sucks. Its great that you really believe that you matter in the grand scheme of all this, but I know I don't and I don't care to try and fool myself into thinking I do.

Petitions may have accomplished something, but those White House petitions mean nothing.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/over-21000-sign-whitehousegov-petition-seeking-vapid-response-cookies.ars


Yet, they often don't bother responding, and sometimes respond to some that get much, much fewer signatures.

Well it all comes down to the Citizen United case that has so many people in an upheavel nowadays.

You cannot be elected to public office in this country without donors. It is a sad case but simply the case. If you look at the coffers, Obama has already collected over 100 million dollars and this is without the funds he receives from Super-PACs. Corporations play the single biggest role in elections and it seriously makes me sad.

Imagine if we spent all this money on actually imporving our economy and infastructure or god forbid, helping out the homeless or people defaulting on their home loans because of being laid off. It just seems backwards to me, but its a sign of the times.

Only skimmed a few posts in the thread but a couple of things:

I'm pretty sure a petition is the reason the White House had even expressed their opinion of the SOPA legislation.

And don't worry about Obama having an advantage in campaign money. You'd have to be daft not to see the influence Citizens United played in the 2010 elections.

Republicans and Democrats spent a nearly equal amount of money though if you look at the averages spent by losers and winners of each race it's very clear the person with the financial advantage generally won their race. Don't quote me Tea Party nutcases (e.g. O'Donnell) as a refute to that statement because they never had a shot at their elections.

OpenSecrets

All it takes to win an election is to pump enough money in a swing district/state and target people who don't have any idea what they should vote for with television ads representing your side. Let's be honest, most people wouldn't bother to fact check most things they see on television. It's easy to tell a blatant lie from the truth but the subtleties aren't likely to be fact checked by your average voter and that's really all it takes to influence a swing voter.

The coming election won't be different than any other year if you're not in a swing state. If you're in a swing state but know who you're voting for be prepared to be more annoyed than ever before with the amount of ads you'll see courting your vote. If you're in say New York, California, or Texas expect the appropriate side to not bother as much with you as they always do.

I personally don't care too much about the influence of Citizens United in presidential elections as I do Congressional. What is interesting though is the amount of money wasted by GOP donors on candidates they knew would never get picked over Romney.

Obama's money:$86,215,580
GOP money:$81,820,702

If Republicans would stop being silly with their money and realize Romney is their only choice he'd have been right behind Obama in fundraising. So much money wasted on clowns.

Well the petition has gotten all the needed signature, and many more beyond the threshold. Now to see what comes of it ... /fingers!

We all know lots of money helps a lot in elections. You have to buy ads and posters and what not with something, after all. I just want to change where the money comes from, not remove it entirely. Let's have federal/state provided funds, like we did with political reform in the post-Nixon era. Finance campaigns primarily through taxes, like in Lessig's book, "Republic, Lost".

We don't need a war or a revolution to improve what we have. Vote, petition, contact your representatives, talk with other voters, get involved, there are so many things you can do to improve the political system.

Try this timely story on how political finance can be improved.

I'd like to hear how we can improve the system. In detail. Spare me the idealism and tell me how appealing to, lobbying for, or voting for the problem is solving the problem.

"Helps a lot" is a gross understatement. It is the key factor in getting elected.

It is NOT possible to change where the money comes from. Do you honestly think you are going to elect enough House Reps, Senators and a Pres all at the same time that are willing to bite off the hands that feed them? Are you delusional?


No there's not. All that crap is nothing but fluff that has 0 impact on the big picture. As long as you keep yourself busy with useless busy work you'll be prevented from doing things that actually matter.

Good luck getting a group of corrupt, greedy, egomaniacs to vote to cut off their meal tickets.

If you don't think that voting for people other than the ones that are already in office will help, you won't agree with any of my other ideas.

I believe recent history has shown it really is possible to make dramatic changes. I have yet to hear you (Sai, Trucido, others) offer other alternatives. If you believe there are no alternatives, and we are stuck in an awful system that can never change, I point you to how different our government is now vs. the Civil War era (last real revolution).

The government has made massive changes to US society and how we operate. Civil Rights, pension security, health care, military use, business regulation and so much more have changed fundamental things about how the US lives. All of those changes came through moments when it seemed impossible to make a difference, yet it happened anyway. Why should campaign finance be any different?

Yes, it would help IF, we had real options. Right now the system is setup so that all options are simply copies of the crap that is already in office.

You need two things to run a campaign that has any chance of winning in the high offices.

1. Money. Very few people have the means to fund an entire campaign from their own bank accounts. This means you are going to need money from outside sources. To get money from outside sources you are going to have to make certain promises. etc etc

2. You need the support of the party you are running for/under. This means you will have to fall in line with the party's agenda and do as your told.

Voting doesnt mean anything if all possible choices are already bought and paid for before the campaign even starts.


Oh, I believe it can change, but the alternatives I see usually have unfortunate side effects. Such as lots of violence, fighting and dying.

I don't want that to happen, but history is pretty consistent in what happens when you try to remove power from corrupt leaders.


And which of those came exactly through peaceful processes? Civil Rights? Nope

Business Regulation? See The Great Depression and now our recent collapse.

Military Use. They have been fantastic in everything post WW2 yep?

IMO our gov has been very unsuccessful at everything except making themselves rich.

Publicly financed elections. Also meaningful debates, not talking point seminars. And lastly eliminate FOX and MSNBC.