xaeris
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Post by xaeris on Jun 4, 2014 4:04:25 GMT
www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-weissman/todays-hearing-a-historic_b_5438771.htmlI doubt this will actually go anywhere (you know all the corrupt politicians and their rich backers are going to fight this tooth and nail), but this needs to happen. It would solve so many stinking problems with our corrupt government, and maybe all of that money being wasted in campaign funding could be put to some other use instead, and maybe we'd get people in there who have good ideas, rather than who has the most money and/or the richest backers. Am I just cynical/jaded, or does this just seem like a daydream too good to be true for this to ever happen for real?
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Post by tantalyr on Jun 4, 2014 15:02:26 GMT
I very seriously doubt the proposed amendment will even make it out of the Senate committee tasked with studying and then potentially passing it on to the full Senate for a vote, much less garnering the super-majorities in both the Senate and the House to actually send it to the states for ratification.
The reason is simple: both parties depend far too heavily upon corporate (and union) campaign contributions to excise those sources of campaign funds. It won't be simply Republicans refusing to vote for it. A fair number of Democrats (if not a majority) will as well.
I've previously expressed on this board my difficulties with the concept that corporations (and other business entities) should not have the same civil liberties guaranteed to individuals. The Supreme Court will likely again weigh in on this question later this month in the Hobby Lobby case.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2014 12:41:49 GMT
This would be awesome to get to vote on... But yes, I agree with you that it isn't likely to happen. Not only will the politicians themselves fight it because that money is their gravy-train, but the 1% will fight it tooth and nail. One can only imagine the amount of disinformation that will be spread into at least 13 states to get them to vote no. It requires 38 states to vote yes for an amendment to be enacted. It also requires either the House and Senate with a 2/3 vote OR a Constitutional Convention called by 2/3 of the State Legislatures. www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/ |
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xaeris
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Post by xaeris on Jun 5, 2014 17:57:15 GMT
This would be awesome to get to vote on... But yes, I agree with you that it isn't likely to happen. Not only will the politicians themselves fight it because that money is their gravy-train, but the 1% will fight it tooth and nail. One can only imagine the amount of disinformation that will be spread into at least 13 states to get them to vote no. It requires 38 states to vote yes for an amendment to be enacted. It also requires either the House and Senate with a 2/3 vote OR a Constitutional Convention called by 2/3 of the State Legislatures. www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/I agree with the "probably never happen" sentiment, but this makes me think... Out of all of the awesome things our forefathers did with the Constitution, the one thing they didn't do, was account for mass corruption in the government. And sadly, it is one of the reasons I don't have much of any faith that anything is ever going to change for the better -- the rich people are just way too powerful and the poor masses don't really get a voice. I think the only way anything is ever going to change, is an actual organized armed revolution, but that won't happen either because your average Joe doesn't want to inconvenience himself any more than he has to, and "teamwork" is something that rarely exists anymore. Sometimes it is difficult to get teamwork to happen at the workplace, let alone an actual armed force getting together. "You can vote!", someone might say. Yeah, only for the people they put in front of us (we could vote independent, but they never win because there's too many stupid people out there voting for the mainstream guys). So, since the corruption is far too widespread in the government, and there's no way to dig ourselves out of this mess because the people in power want to stay in power, we've got ourselves a hopeless mess that is probably never going to get cleaned up. IMO, the Constitution needed some sort of clause that allows the _PEOPLE_ to bypass the government to get things done. When the government is corrupt, and the politicians in the government are controlling everything, there should have been an "80% Popular Vote" that the people can do to push a law into effect, bypassing the government altogether. If 80% of the populace wants a law passed, they should have it passed, fuck what the government (and its corrupt politicians) thinks. EDIT: Or at the very least, they should have put a clause in there that allows the people to vote someone out of office at any time for any reason, 75-80% of the popular vote. Then maybe we could get rid of some of these politicians that we know are dirty. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2014 9:18:54 GMT
Most states have that. You get something put onto the ballot and popular vote can make it law. And in a way, thats what amendments are for. Unfortunately its the process of getting them started thats the trick... Since even getting a constitutional convention going requires the state legislatures who are just as bought as those at the federal level.
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Post by Pharcellus on Jul 1, 2014 20:19:19 GMT
Yeah, but two states are on the board right now with *PASSED* resolutions calling for a Constitutional convention: Vermont and California. www.wolf-pac.comThey aren't coming for us; we're coming for them. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 12:51:32 GMT
2 is a long ways from 33 (2/3 required to call for a constitutional convention).
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xaeris
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Post by xaeris on Jul 2, 2014 14:45:15 GMT
2 is a long ways from 33 (2/3 required to call for a constitutional convention). 2 is much better than 0; every snowball starts out small, etc. I'm not saying that it will happen, but there is a small glimmer of a possibility that it could and I think more and more people are thinking that it really DOES need to happen. This is probably one of the only ways we would ever get close to "fixing" the federal government. Better this, than civil unrest and all the nastiness that brings, right? |
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Post by Pharcellus on Jul 2, 2014 18:09:15 GMT
2 is a long ways from 33 (2/3 required to call for a constitutional convention). 34, actually. 2 is a lot closer to 34 than 0. The hardest part was over with the moment we got Vermont (#1). After that point, people start sitting up and taking it seriously. Remember, once the avalanche has begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote. Well, in this case, the "pebbles" are those who are resistant to this change. It is set to sweep the country like wildfire. It's really the only way we're ever going to start fixing the system, because WDC has no desire or ability to fix itself. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2014 10:44:00 GMT
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Post by Pharcellus on Jul 20, 2014 20:04:04 GMT
The whole reason it even exists at all in Congress is because of the movement in the State legislatures. We know Congress will never be able to fix it by itself, especially in this record-shattering "do nothing" Congress.
It is a solution that must be imposed from the bottom up, since no pig politician at the slop trough is going to turn away from it or, more importantly, "ruin" it for all the others who are gorging themselves from it.
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Post by Pharcellus on Dec 5, 2014 4:40:34 GMT
State #3 calling for a Constitutional Convention - Illinois
Is there any doubt that the momentum is building?
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Post by Pharcellus on Feb 25, 2015 2:50:38 GMT
..and state #4 calling for a Constitutional Convention - New Jersey
Nope. No doubt at all. The avalanche has begun.
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