I had a thought last night

[fargon]

I have an idea. Instead of electing congress critters every two years, we could draft them from the rolls of registered voters. We would use the same criteria as we do for jury duty, except that you can only serve once in your lifetime. I believe that this would put an end to the ruling class mentality, and return the power to the people of this great nation.

[SteveDallas]

We never lost the power. We just often forget we have it. One look at the PA legislative pay raise debacle proves this. (Short summary: legislators vote themselves a pay raise and weasel a way to take the raise immediately via expense accounts--even though state law prohibits the raise from taking effect till after the next election. Legislators who opposed the pay raise were punished by being stripped of committee memberships etc. People got pissed off and complained. Legislators repealed the bill.)

[glatt]

Have you ever served on a jury, fargon?

Do you really want those people running the country? I'd rather be able to choose from the people who are motivated than just get some random appointed schmuck.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by glatt

... I'd rather be able to choose from the people who are motivated than just get some random appointed schmuck.

Oh, our elected officials are motivated, allright. They are motivated to hook themselves up with as much largess as they possibly can during and after their term. Oh, and pass a feel-good bill or two if they have time.

[glatt]

Sure, there's a lot of negative stuff you can point to, but there's a lot of positive too. In today's paper is the story of how Sen. John McCain, a former victim of torture, was able to force the Bush administration to accept a bill outlawing torture. It's sad that there is even debate about this issue, but McCain isn't getting any kickbacks from the prisoners for pushing this bill through.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by glatt

Sure, there's a lot of negative stuff you can point to, but there's a lot of positive too. In today's paper is the story of how Sen. John McCain, a former victim of torture, was able to force the Bush administration to accept a bill outlawing torture. It's sad that there is even debate about this issue, but McCain isn't getting any kickbacks from the prisoners for pushing this bill through.

I take no delight in dwelling on the negative and while I appreciate what John McCain is doing by embarassing Bush into signing this bill, I don't expect it will do anything more than push the torture squads further underground. Its not going to stop but we will stop hearing about it.

The only people who can refocus the motivation of politicians back to the best interests of the citizen majority are the very people who are motivated not to. There are some well-meaning people in DC but the infuence of self-interested wealth and the shift towards viewing the Constitution as in impediment to expedient and effective governance has drained my confidence in Federal and State elected officials.

[Happy Monkey]

Plus, as a "compromise" on the torture bill, allegations of torture can't go to Federal court until they've been convicted in a military tribunal - which may never happen. Especially if they were innocent if the first place.

Also, McCain wanted interrogation to be restricted by the Army Field Manual guidelines, which banned torture. No more. They're adding torture to the manual in a secret addendum.

[Troubleshooter]

There's an article on Alternet here about the toothlessness of the McCain effort and the end run the administration is going to use to get around it.

[Griff]

The silly part of our present discussion is the assumption that this torture business isn't something the US gov has been up to for years.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Uh oh, better lock your doors tonight, Griff.

[Happy Monkey]

The best torture policy is for it to be illegal. If a situation arises that is so extreme that someone thinks it is necessary, they had better be willing to risk their career and jail time to do it.

[fargon]

I might be mistaken, but I thought I had proposed a plan for the House of Representitives, NOT the Senate. It is my belife that the senate should be left to people with the experance and knowlage to handle the treaties, and comformations that job requires. While the good senator from Az. and his bill have merit the upper house of congress was the topic of my post.
And yes I have served jury duty and found it an incredebal pain in the neck.
Let me applogise for my spelling but I went to skool in California, Home of the Libertarian Party.
Thank You, Terry L. Bell

I think the way to reform politicians is to reform the way campaigns are run. I know this will never happen in a million years, but I love to see every politician limited to x amount of public service ads on TV and radio. No more big media advertizing blitzes. Cut out the cost of TV ads and glossy magazine spreads and full page adverts in the big papers, and you cut out the power of special interest groups who contribute heavily to any politico's war chest. As it now stands, politicians are not responsible to the voters, they're responsible to their financial backers.

Enclose a $1,000 bill in your next letter to your elected representative and see the difference in his or her response. No form letter for YOU!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Enclose a $1,000 bill in your next letter to your elected representative and see the difference in his or her response. No form letter for YOU!

And delivered in person by the US Secret Service.

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by Griff

The silly part of our present discussion is the assumption that this torture business isn't something the US gov has been up to for years.

Another silly assumption is that torture is wrong.