2013-10-04, 09:18 PM
I think the problem lies in and surrounding the House of Representatives. This isn't just because they appear or "appear" to be the blockade in this most current process, depending on your viewpoints. That house of Congress just doesn't seem to work very well in general regardless of the controlling party. The ideas behind its creation were decent but even then (3/5 Compromise) there were problems.
Today, the problems are much different and at the top of my list is the ability for gerrymandering to create districts where incumbents or political parties can feel completely safe regardless of what national impact their decisions make. To compound this problem, if there is any unlikely competition in these relatively small races, they can be heavily influenced by billionaires and other high-dollar groups who feel their opinion somehow matters more. Adding more dung to the heap, moderates have to watch their backs on both sides which leads them closer to one extreme or another leading to less compromise, less actual governing.
I admit, swathes of blue or red really exist where 9 out of 10 people for several hundred miles may lean in one direction but the "balance" to which it is currently now constituted is an embarrassment of policy and maybe even corruption-lite. This would usually segue in my eternal hatred for the Electoral College system, but I'm getting tired and have another target to fire at first.
The problem also lies in the American people, which one can base the House of Representatives on, as much as gerrymandering allows, anyways. I'd like a recall feature to be possible so politicians feels compelled to do the best for the nation but so many people are under- or uneducated about policies that I cannot trust them to vote and/or too lazy and fat to educate themselves to vote.
Today's voters and targeted voters are people who react to buzzwords, slogans and fear. If you try to infringe upon their suffrage, they will defend their rights to the death, because they feel entitled to it, but left alone, many people won't vote or are competent to vote. As a result, not everyone deserves a vote, these aren't the voters the great heroes of history wanted voting. As much as I would like to blame politicians and the broken system that exists the people shoulder a lot of the blame too.
Today, the problems are much different and at the top of my list is the ability for gerrymandering to create districts where incumbents or political parties can feel completely safe regardless of what national impact their decisions make. To compound this problem, if there is any unlikely competition in these relatively small races, they can be heavily influenced by billionaires and other high-dollar groups who feel their opinion somehow matters more. Adding more dung to the heap, moderates have to watch their backs on both sides which leads them closer to one extreme or another leading to less compromise, less actual governing.
I admit, swathes of blue or red really exist where 9 out of 10 people for several hundred miles may lean in one direction but the "balance" to which it is currently now constituted is an embarrassment of policy and maybe even corruption-lite. This would usually segue in my eternal hatred for the Electoral College system, but I'm getting tired and have another target to fire at first.
The problem also lies in the American people, which one can base the House of Representatives on, as much as gerrymandering allows, anyways. I'd like a recall feature to be possible so politicians feels compelled to do the best for the nation but so many people are under- or uneducated about policies that I cannot trust them to vote and/or too lazy and fat to educate themselves to vote.
Today's voters and targeted voters are people who react to buzzwords, slogans and fear. If you try to infringe upon their suffrage, they will defend their rights to the death, because they feel entitled to it, but left alone, many people won't vote or are competent to vote. As a result, not everyone deserves a vote, these aren't the voters the great heroes of history wanted voting. As much as I would like to blame politicians and the broken system that exists the people shoulder a lot of the blame too.