Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Politics Corrupted By Conflict of Interest

dc_dux · 05-19-2011, 01:35 PM

I did agree with the point in the OP that "politics has been called the art of compromise, which, at its best, it is.." and that "politics today has become the polarization of the political parties. Bipartisanship has been relegated to the past."

But assuming that lofhay is a Tea Party supporter (based on the limited information I have from his posts. I will stand humbly corrected if I am wrong.), the election of rigid ideological, no-compromise Tea Party members certainly wont restore that bipartisanship. Compromise and consensus building is not in their vocabulary from what I have seen to-date.

Baraka hit the nail on the head, but the circumstances in the US, guided by the recent Court decision, put enormous roadblocks in the way.

The simplest in concept, but hardest to implement, would be publicly funded elections for all federal offices, thus eliminating all direct political contributions and, as a result, the advantage of incumbents.

But we would still be left with independent expenditures (remember the Swift Boating of John Kerry?) which are unlimited and unregulated expressions of speech.

---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 PM ----------

The other piece of it is comprehensive lobbying reform, distinct from campaign finance reform. At the very least, more transparency is needed.

05-19-2011, 01:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
dc_dux Location: Washington DC	I did agree with the point in the OP that "politics has been called the art of compromise, which, at its best, it is.." and that "politics today has become the polarization of the political parties. Bipartisanship has been relegated to the past." But assuming that lofhay is a Tea Party supporter (based on the limited information I have from his posts. I will stand humbly corrected if I am wrong.), the election of rigid ideological, no-compromise Tea Party members certainly wont restore that bipartisanship. Compromise and consensus building is not in their vocabulary from what I have seen to-date. Baraka hit the nail on the head, but the circumstances in the US, guided by the recent Court decision, put enormous roadblocks in the way. The simplest in concept, but hardest to implement, would be publicly funded elections for all federal offices, thus eliminating all direct political contributions and, as a result, the advantage of incumbents. But we would still be left with independent expenditures (remember the Swift Boating of John Kerry?) which are unlimited and unregulated expressions of speech. ---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 PM ---------- The other piece of it is comprehensive lobbying reform, distinct from campaign finance reform. At the very least, more transparency is needed. __________________ "The perfect is the enemy of the good." ~ Voltaire Last edited by dc_dux; 05-19-2011 at 01:40 PM..