US Electoral System-Solutions

America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy’ Is a Dangerous—And Wrong—Argument

NOVEMBER 2, 2020 George Thomas The Atlantic America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy’ Is a Dangerous—And Wrong—Argument Senator Mike Lee of Utah have taken to reminding the public that “we’re not a democracy.” It is quaint that so many Republicans, embracing a president who routinely tramples constitutional norms, have suddenly found their voice in pointing out that, formally, the country is a republic. There is some truth to this insistence. But it is mostly disingenuous. The Constitution was meant to foster a complex form of majority rule, not enable minority rule. The founding generation was deeply skeptical of what it called “pure” democracy and defended the American experiment as “wholly republican.” To take this as a rejection of democracy misses how the idea of government by the people, including both a democracy and a republic, was understood when the Constitution was drafted and ratified. It misses, too, how we understand the idea of democracy today.

Tom Steyer proposes national referendum, term limits on Congress

National Referendums

It's part of Steyer's new structural reform plan, which also proposes fairly novel ideas like 12-year term limits on members of Congress, a national vote-by-mail system, public campaign financing, giving the Federal Elections Commission more teeth and different composition, and imposing independent redistricting commissions to tackle gerrymandering.

Tom Steyer Structural Reform

Tom’s plans to make our democracy work for the people

Increase Voter Participation with a National Referendum
Voters should feel that their voices count, and should be more directly involved in deciding important issues that affect their lives. We plan to have bills introduced in both the House and Senate to establish a national referendum process, establish an office to implement and oversee this process, and develop criteria to place no more than two key issues annually before the national electorate to vote on. This process would increase voter participation, thwart congressional gridlock, and give the American people more power over their democracy.

Here’s What Everyone, Including Mary Trump, Gets Wrong About Donald Trump’s Failed Response to COVID-19

<embed> https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/07/heres-what-everyone-including-mary-trump-gets-wrong-about-donald-trumps-failed-response-to-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR07ZidqDxr1v5bxCJNgg1XM3MhMee4HB6Wu4WEcMQf0qWSWwwrLfvCgexE </embed> Wall Street on Parade By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: July 17, 2020 ~

According to Nicholas Confessore, writing for the New York Times in January 2015, the Koch Brothers (Charles and David) and their billionaire minions that meet secretly twice a year at tony resorts to strategize on running the country, agreed to spend upwards of $900 million “to shape a presidential election that is already on track to be the most expensive in history.” This, writes Confessore, would allow the Koch machine to “operate at the same financial scale as the Democratic and Republican Parties.”

Once Trump was in the Oval Office, the Koch machine, known then as Freedom Partners, wasted no time in laying out its agenda for Trump to follow. In a document titled “Roadmap to Repeal: Removing Regulatory Barriers to Opportunity,” the Koch front group lists the laws and regulations it expects to be repealed in the first 100 days of his administration. And like a dutiful courtier, the Trump administration responded quickly. Repeal the Paris Climate Accord – done. Tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy – done. Gutting federal regulations and the Environmental Protection Agency – lots accomplished there.

The Jade Helm Fiasco Says More About Texas Than it Does Russia

<embed> https://www.texasobserver.org/jade-helm-fiasco-says-more-about-texas-than-russia </embed> Texas Observer 05/2018 Christopher Hooks

"In his telling, Russians, with the help of domestic fringe media, sowed so much havoc they fooled the good-hearted governor of Texas into embracing a conspiracy theory."

"But that’s not really what happened.Some people did actually believe that Obama’s military was turning empty Walmarts into prisons, in preparation for an imminent purge. But there are always dumb and credulous people. What Jade Helm-gate signified was that the governor saw those people as his people. He was cooking red meat specifically for them. It mattered more to him what the commenters on Breitbart Texas were saying than anyone else. And the fact that Texas politics is unduly paranoid and fearful long predates 2015.

If you are reading this, Abbott is almost certainly not thinking of you as he lies awake at night. He’s thinking of the people who fear imprisonment in a FEMA concentration camp, and the people who think Barack Obama was a secret Muslim, and the people who believe George Soros is going to make gay marriage mandatory.

He’s thinking of those people because he is smart, and because they are how you win re-election in Texas. He writes fundraising appeals specifically for them. This is the natural and expected result of what happens when general elections are not competitive and the dominant party’s primary is controlled by that party’s fringe. It is a very American problem, and in a way a very mundane one.

Even if Ivan had nothing to do with Jade Helm, the episode is still evidence for the proposition that the American body politic is weak and easy to manipulate. People here will believe anything, apparently, and those in power have no qualms about using that against them. That’s been the consistent through-line of Texas politics for many years."