[Seahawk]

Originally posted by Clay Perrine
Here's how to fix it.... in a way that I think would benefit the whole country.

It's my personal idea. Read it, pick it apart, and tell me what you think.

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The recent election cycle has reinforced my long held opinion that we in the United States have exactly what the founding fathers tried to prevent, a permanent “ruling class”. Politicians groom sons and daughters to take over when they leave office. More time is spent trying to get re-elected than actually performing the business of governing the country. When they actually perform their sworn duties, every vote and every decision is based on what will gain them the most votes to keep them in office, not what is best for their constituency or the country.


The 2 party political system means that we are not given a choice in who will represent us. We are shown 2 people, one of which will definitely be the office holder after the election, and neither of them truly represent the views of the people they supposedly represent. Therefore we get to choose the person we dislike the least, not who we think would represent us the best.

To resolve these issues will take a drastic change in how we elect our leaders. The founding fathers envisioned a citizen who, when called by his fellow citizens, would go to Washington, server in the Senate or House, and after his term expired, return to his personal life. I propose we return to that premise via the method outlined below.

1. All current holders of an elected Federal office are no longer eligible to run for election or re-election to any other Federal office.

2. All political parties are hereby banned.

3. All lobbyists are banned from federal property.

4. All candidates to Federal office will be selected by a random, computer based drawing of names. Each House and Senate seat will be given 6 candidates, Presidential elections will be give 8 candidates (this would include the current Federal office holder who is running for re-election). The candidates will be selected from the ranks of eligible voters in the district where the office will be elected.

Example: House seats will draw the candidates from the congressional district, Senate seats will draw candidates from the whole state, and Presidential elections will draw candidates from the whole United States.

5. Each candidate will be provided a federally funded campaign staff who will work to elect that candidate. The campaign staff will be generated from a random pool of federal campaign workers. All campaigns will receive the exact same amount of finances to use for the election. The winning campaign staff will receive a cash bonus.

6. Election to Federal Office shall be a strict popular vote, where each voter ranks the candidates in order of preference, each candidate getting at least one point from each voter. The candidate with the highest point total is declared the winner.

7. Each Federal office holder elected under these rules is is required to run for re-election one (1) time. After the Federal office holder leaves office, he is forever exempt from being selected as a candidate for any other elected Federal office.

8. The current Federal office holder is prevented from campaigning during his time in office. His campaign staff will use his record of achievement while in office to promote him. Campaign staff who are successful in getting their current Federal office holder re-elected will get a double cash bonus.

9. While in office, the Federal office holder will be paid a salary that matches his current pay, including benefits, and bonuses that he would have earned in his job. His current employer is forbidden by Federal law from terminating the Federal office holder during the time of his Federal service, using the same process that we currently use for military reserve duty.

10. Once in office, the Federal office holder is given a list of qualified and approved Federal employees for each staff position. The office holder may interview them and select the staff that works for him. All employees seeking staff positions must have real world experience in the industry that is overseen by the staff position. Example: The Secretary of Defense must have been, but not currently a serving Line officer in a branch of the US military. The Secretary of the Treasury should be a professional financial or stock trader.

11. All Federal office holders will be provided with housing that is equivalent to the average housing level in their district/state. They will be provided transportation equivalent to the average transportation in their district/state.

12. Congressional committees chair and memberships will be determined by the percentage of popular vote received. Each committee will be assigned a random number, and each committee will be populated in numerical order.

By using this method, we get people who would actually represent their constituency. We also get an election that is more than just choosing from the "lesser of 2 evils". This method will get people who want to do their duty and go home after their service period is up.

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Opinions about this are welcomed.

Good start...Courts are next.