Today is election day in the United States of America. I have never been so uninspired before.

Our politicians have no interest in working together to solve problems. They are only interested in fighting the other side. They are also largely only interested in keeping their sponsors (usually corporations, or individuals with corporate interests) happy. It seems like they only "care" about their actual constituents up until election day, and then our part is done. We are no longer required.

In many voting districts there is basically no contest. The district is either has so many Republicans or Democrats that the other side doesn't even bother putting up any opposition. Funny… that doesn't sound like the democracy we seek to uphold?

I blame three things for the situation…

1. Coporate Involvement:

Corporations and businesses, large and small, donate to political campaigns. In order to expect the same or larger donations for the candidate's next term, they are implicitly beholden to uphold some of the interests of those corporations and businesses. The corporations and businesses are not donating because they like the guy (or girl) but rather it is an investment into their interests. They effectively have more power over the candidate than any individual voters (AKA constituents) because there is money involved. And as I already mentioned, individual voters are only useful up to election day.

Oh and it is getting worse, not better "In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, on Jan, 2010, the US Supreme court ruled that the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002, the US federal law that regulates the financing of political campaigns, was in violation of corporations' and unions' First Amendment rights. Under the January 2010 ruling, corporations and unions are no longer barred from promoting the election of one candidate over another candidate." (source)

To further their influence, large corporations and industries lobby lawmakers. Even if the are playing by the rules (e.g. no bribing) which is not true all the time, they are still always in the ear of our politicians, where as most of us citizens have day jobs and cannot be at our elected officials' sides all the time. Most of us probably cannot afford the trip to do so!

Lobbying Expenditures by Sector from 1998 to 2006:

$2,558,205,882 Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
$2,298,865,053 Health
$2,257,719,539 Misc Business
$2,092,700,759 Communications/Electronics
$1,670,116,451 Energy & Natural Resources

(source)

Gee I don't have that much in my "lobbying the government" part of my household budget. But once again, this is a business transaction. They are buying legislation, and thus displacing the desires of voting citizens!

My proposed solution may be over simplified, but it is a start: Only individual citizens should be allowed to donate or lobby government. While lobbying they must represent themselves and cannot be paid to do so.

2. Eliminate Gerrymandering:

What is it? "Gerrymandering is a form of boundary delimitation (redistricting) in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are deliberately modified for electoral purposes, thereby producing a contorted or unusual shape. The resulting district is known as a gerrymander; however, that word can also refer to the process."

It sounds like it should be illegal, but it is not. In fact it is a strategy used by the Republicans and Democrats to try to hold on to more elected positions at all levels of government. It is clearly unethical though and ultimately takes away citizens' ability to have a choice.

Once again, this does not sound like democracy!

I like the "minimum district to convex polygon ratio" solution when controlled by a neutral agency (ideally made up of a cross section of the citizens). (Read more about it here.) It is at least worth a try.

3. Eliminate Political Parties:

Who is sick of the bickering between the left and the right? The red and the blue? The Republicans and the Democrats? Everyone should be! There is little compromise and little "working together to solve problems", which is what we want as citizens, right? And most of us would prefer a compromised solution. e.g. Sure I would like lower taxes, but I don't want ALL the services cut!

The parties perpetuate the fighting though. They are not interested in compromise. They only seek to take control.

I started to wonder a couple of years ago why this is ok. Why should a group of people have such huge influence over the entire democracy? Why is that ok, especially when the result is that citizens have less power over their elected officials. In addition to corporate donors, elected officials are beholden to the party that helped them get elected. Once again this means they are NOT listening to the citizens they are supposed to be representing because they have to worry about their party and corporate sponsors.

Shouldn't we just be voting for the individual and not the party they belong to anyway? Why do they need to be part of a party at all. If "Frank" wants to run for office, and he has some good ideas to solve the top issues of the day, then why do we care so much about what party he is part of? It shouldn't matter. And if we vote Frank into office, then do we really want other politicians or corporations telling him what he should be doing? NO! It should be us! As Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, it should be "of the people, by the people, for the people". It shoud not be "of the industry lobbyists, by the Republicans and Democrats, for the corporations". But that is what it has become.

*sigh*

My power as a voter has been chipped away, piece by piece, before I was even born. On top of that, as an independent I feel I have no vote and no say. It is as though my choices are processed chicken or processed beef, yet I am a vegetarian who prefers organic foods.

I also see no solution to these fundamental issues unless we vote against the establishment. I encourage everyone to consider the 3rd candidate today. Consider the Libertarian, or the Socialist on your ballot. The Green party or the Freedom party or the I Don't Like Taxes party. Corporations have not put money behind these guys because in most cases they will lose. They have new ideas though and are willing to work to make them happen, and they might just listen to their constituents and the citizens they represent. Or it may be a wake up call to the establishment that maybe they shouldn't take us voters for granted. Either way, we win!

With that… I am off to vote!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• A Fine Frenzy
• Leona Naess
• Lindsey Ray

I also suggest the music genre:

• Indie Pop

Click here for more info on Stacy Clark – Connect the Dots – "White Lies".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Stacy Clark - Connect the Dots