What would you change?

[Browning151]

Ok, I'm a little burned out on reading everyone throwing around the same old rhetoric again and again about healthcare and the discussion not really going anywhere, so I thought I would throw something out there and maybe open up some new discussion in the politics section.

What's the biggest change you'd like to see in Washington? I'm talking along the lines of our political process, not what bills or laws you'd like to see passed.

Just some examples:
Change the way we elect the president, do away with the electoral college.
Congressional term limits
Repeal the 17th amendment (senate seats to state legislature appointment instead of popular election).
Do away with executive order.

Things along that line.

I would like to see term limits imposed. I think eliminating career politicians could possibly change the political climate a good bit. It would help limit voting on things just to insure re-election and maybe even help cut excessive pork spending some as well as bring in new ideas and new ways to look at issues.

So what is the biggest thing you would like to see changed in our political process?

[David88vert]

So what is the biggest thing you would like to see changed in our political process?

The politicians. Get rid of them and most of our problems would go away....

[BanginJimmy]

I love the idea of term limits and I am also hugely in favor of appointed Senators as they would be far more accountable in their votes.


The biggest change I would make though is a re-structuring of the electoral college. I believe that each district should have 1 vote, regardless of the size of the district. As we saw in PA during the '08 election, only 3 or 4 out of more than 50 districts voted Obama, but because those 3 or 4 districts are the major population centers, they had complete control over the states electoral votes. The reason the electoral college was created to begin with was to give smaller states an equal voice. The political climate is FAR different now though. Even within a single state you can see polar differences in political ideologies, whereas back when the college was created, entire states and regions tended to vote in 1 direction or another. Its time the college was updated to better reflect the complete demographic of a state, not just the big cities.

[tony]

A few things I would change:

Totally agree with term limits, 2 terms and you're out. Half these politicians are scared to do something because they want to keep their seat, but on the flip side of that it is theorized that when they are limited, they only use it as a stepping stone rather than an actual position of influence.

Electoral College - Now this one is tricky for me. From research I've found that if you do away with the electoral college altogether then you almost surely eliminate the 2 two party system (think about the Atlanta Mayoral race, its non-partisan) but at the same time our system is not set up for majority rule. Ultimately the change I like is to award the electoral votes proportionately rather than a winner takes all approach. It requires a more focused campaign that is rather grass roots.

[Browning151]

I haven't done much research on the electoral college to really have an in depth opinion on restructuring the way its counted, but I do think it is outdated and needs some changes to reflect modern population distribution.

[preferredduck]

The politicians. Get rid of them and most of our problems would go away....

agreed 100%, as ron paul said we need a fresh new crop in washington.