[Mr 5 0]

Originally posted by bigwhitecobra :

So...it's that time again. Who should we elect? Bush or Kerry? What does it matter? We are still going to be in the same position 4 years from now.

You're off to a poor beginning. One that demonstrates either an advanced case of naiveté or a poor attempt at cynicism. Informationally, Senators and Representatives are paid, by law, $158,100. per annum plus a lot of mandated benefits which may well add up to '200-300 thousand dollars a year'. The U.S. economy is the most expansive in the world and our so-called 'poor' live like kings compared to countries like India, China and Africa. America has opportunities unknown in any other nation and if you are poor in America, it's either because you are, frankly, stupid, lazy or simply make poor choices in life, not because of lack of opportunity.

The president will be richer, and we will be poorer.

This statement, by itself, is simply inane. The presidency isn't about money but power. You appear to be very confused.

We need to start over. Everybody in Congress and in the Senate should be fired. They should also be limited to a 2 term limit. Why would someone spend 2-3 million dollars to get a job that pays only 2-300 thousand a year? Let's get real, they get sooo many kick backs it's not even funny. Yet our tax dollars are paying for it. The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer.

Worn-out cliches don't make good arguments and the midde and upper class has expanded every year. The statistical 'poor' are usually single mothers,most teen-agers and/or part-time, minimum-wage workers.

Yes, Senators and Representatives sometimes take bribes and use the office for personal gain of some sort. That's been going on for well over 100 years. Mark Twain said: "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress".. He said it over 100 years ago, so a corrupt congressman is nothing new. To presume that we could 'fire' all 100 Senators and 435 Representatives is naive. They were duly elected by the people of the state they represent, whether you like them or not. As for term limits: I agree with you there, as do a vast majority of the American people, but the system is rigged. Congress makes the laws, including those on term limits and they are not about to limiit themselves. The solution is huge public pressure on congress to reform but there is little of that around these days so the system remains intact and always favors incumbents.

Freedom. That is our reward for keeping these people in office. What Freedom? Can I listen to the radio and hear the music I like the way the artist recorded it? Nope. The FCC desides what is ok to listen to. They deside what is a "bad word" and what is not. Who are these people? Did you vote for them? I didn't . Oh wait, they were appointed. And they can't be fired. Didn't know that did you?

Yes, I did, probably long before you discovered that reality, but never mind all that. Here's a reality check: The FCC can only limit what is said on the public airwaves, which radio stations must, by law, obtain a license to use. Those licenses are a cash cow for the stations and networks. That the FCC, an agency that has been around for 70 years, imposes some minimal standards of over-the-air decency is simply a response to the public's demand for programming they can listen too without filth and swearing every ten seconds. You are free to buy all the CD's and attend the concerts until you have your fill of whatever it is you think the radio deprives you of. Cable TV and the internet also offer all the 'freedom' to listen to whatever it is that you want so badly to hear.

Talk about job security.

Talk about being totally uninformed on what you're whining about.

FCC Commissioners are appointed by the president to five-year terms. They cannot have a financial interest in any FCC-related business. Only three out of the five Commissioners may be from the same political party.

My plan is simple, and requires you to do nothing at all, Don't Vote this year. What would happen if no one Voted? Easy the electoral college would vote for who they wanted. That's right your vote doesn't even matter. What a wonderful feeling. However, if no one votes and the electoral college elects the next president, the system will be exposed for what it is, a dictatorship.

Your 'plan' is moronic. As it is, barely 50% of those eligible to vote now do so. That's not good. The Electoral College exists because if we simply went with a 'pure' popular vote, the smaller states would have no say in the election and a handful of large-population states would decide every single election simply by the size of their population. The Electoral College electors are pledged to vote for the person whom the individual state's voters have already elected (by the popular vote) and though they can change their vote, this has only happened once in the past 100 years. You seem to not understand that America is a representative democracy, not a direct democracy and our political institutions reflect that fact. Calling the best government man has ever devisied - democracy - a 'dictatorship' and urging people not to vote is simply immature and reflects a shallow grasp of both politics and how our democratic government works.

Whoops time to go back to work. I'll finish my thoughts later.

Lucky us.