LET’S MAKE U.S. ELECTIONS INTO EBAY AUCTIONS
It is a complete waste of time and brain power to propose, discuss, advocate or pursue any public policy changes that will not meet with the approval of the nation’s 1% oligarchy. History shows that the current powers-that-be prefer complete inaction in the public sphere so that the corrupt crony cartels can work their endless crimes against 99% of humanity in surreptitious closed-door agreements by and between big government and big business. The sociopaths and psychopaths are not only interested in “winning” by any means possible, but also making sure the “losers” are completely humiliated.
MONEY DECIDES U.S. ELECTIONS ANYWAY
For the next 7 months, the U.S. will witness the most shallow, expensive and pointless Presidential election in its history between two smiling empty suits who were pre-chosen by the 1% oligarchy – or if you prefer, by the nation’s plutocracy, kleptocracy, its American Wehrmacht, or the merged Democratic-Republican Fascist party. The Supreme Court’s United Citizens decision will now permit the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on their favorite candidates. Both campaigns have said they will raise and spend around $1 billion each – not counting what the many secretive PACs will spend for advertising in their controlled 24/7 Mass media outlets. (George Orwell would be pleased about the irony of the “United Citizens” case moniker.)
In numerous non-partisan studies conducted over many decades, it has been conclusively determined that in most Federal and State elections, the candidate who raises and spends the most money eventually wins. This occurs in anywhere from 75% to 90% of elections – except in the rare cases that very wealthy individuals or good political fund-raisers are so nuts, unqualified or odious that the electorate votes for the person who did not spend as much money. What is more frightening about these studies, is that clear majorities of U.S. voters gravitate to the candidates who raise and spend the most money – regardless of whether those candidates are qualified or even represent the majority of their constituents.
PEACEFUL PROTEST – DON’T VOTE IN NOVEMBER
There really aren’t any substantive differences between the two U.S. Presidential candidates except their skin tones, eating and drinking habits, personal backgrounds, and number of children. (The fetish issues over women, gays, minorities, abortion, and guns are all irrelevant compared to the massive challenges facing the U.S. that continue to be ignored.) On a competence basis and whether either will care about the vast majority of American citizens, it is a foregone conclusion that their overriding interests will be protecting their 1% oligarchic masters.
Essentially, there is no reason to vote for either President Obama or Governor Romney since the entire U.S. political and electoral system excludes all outsiders not favored by our ruling elites. It is sad that the elites have so few people to choose from in national elections except to perpetually recycle the same names and families or their close associates. (Just imagine a 2016 battle between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton – what an even more pathetic choice awaits the nation as it careens towards total financial, economic, military and environmental collapse.)
The only viable peaceful act of civic protest against a corrupt merged political and economic system may be refusing to participate in the November national elections. Why give any legitimacy to a system that has abandoned the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law? It is sad that the best alternative for educated, knowledgeable, engaged citizens would be to resort to the same behavior of so many disinterested, ignorant, uneducated and passive consumers in the U.S. who rarely if ever participate in elections.
The extreme partisans who expect political appointments or special treatment from the next Administration and Congress will always come out to vote but why should any U.S. voter encourage the bankrupt status quo? Voting for the “lesser-of-two-evils” no longer passes the laugh test because the 1% oligarchy ends up owning most of the politicians who are elected regardless of party affiliation.
VOTERS HAVE NEVER CHOSEN THE PRESIDENT – NOR CONGRESS FOR THAT MATTER
Americans have never directly voted for or elected our President. The Constitution provides a complex system of selecting electors in a state-by-state winner-take-all process that favors a limited number of states that actually decide the White House occupant as a result of an extremely partisan and polarized nation. When we can’t or won’t actually count votes, we let the U.S. Supreme Court decide the winner. (The total number of votes cast nationwide for candidates are rendered completely irrelevant.)
Since all members of the U.S. House run from Gerry-mandered districts (and Senators in widely disparate states in terms of population and wealth) it is ripe for oligarchic control through campaign spending. This probably explains why most members in the U.S. Congress are the willing servants of the 1% oligarchy that funds their political campaigns.
Even when national polls show strong public support across all political, economic, age, race, and sex groups for particular policies (i.e. taxing wealthy people more, a public option for healthcare insurance, more federal spending on all types of infrastructure, no public bailouts for private banks, strong prosecutions for financial criminals, and many more policy choices) Congress and the President simply ignore these obvious public wishes in favor of only doing what’s best for their 1% oligarchic masters. The current system favors keeping short-sighted, craven, corrupt, and easy to manipulate and frighten politicians in power who will act on behalf of the thousands of soulless sociopaths and psychopaths without consciences who run the major business and political organizations in the U.S.
THE DETAILS OF THE BRILLIANT MODEST PROPOSAL
If the votes of most citizens are irrelevant in Presidential elections, and the candidates who raise and spend the most money inevitably win, then why not turn our Presidential elections (if not all Congressional ones) into private auction and bidding contests similar to what transpires on eBay? This proposal would certainly be enacted by a super-majority in Congress and in the various state legislatures whose members would be all too willing to please the 1% oligarchy – their owners and masters. This would provide the wealthiest individuals and corporations the most secure, loyal and compliant political system money can buy without even thinking about the 99% of Americans who mean nothing to them at all.
This new electoral process would be simple. The only real votes for a candidate would be equal to the numbers of dollars pledged and donated toward that candidate. After a semi-open first-round election in May or June for all Presidential and Congressional candidates, the two individuals in each race with the most dollars donated would move onto the final round in November. All monies donated to the U.S. Treasury on behalf of all first-round candidates would be transferred to the Federal Government. (In order to just get on the ballot, supporters of each candidate would have to deposit in special accounts set up by the U.S. Treasury at least $1 million – or $10 million for Presidential candidates.) These minimum dollar donations would be similar to opening bids on eBay in order to be put on the ballot (auction) and would eliminate the need for candidates to get thousands of contestable signatures from registered voters.
No campaign spending would be necessary since convincing voters to go to the polls to vote for particular candidates would be eliminated. The U.S. Media would simply track (horse-race style or in a similar way eBay tracks bidding on auctions) and report the daily totals. Citizens, consumers and mere mortals would be free to place bets on all elections because there would be no possible conflict of interest between candidates and former voters who could no longer vote. The U.S. Media would be able to cover political elections as pure entertainment and would no longer even bother discussing issues, facts, public opinion or reality.
ONE WAY TO GET THE WEALTHY TO DONATE TO THE U.S. TREASURY (I.E. PAY TAXES THEY GENERALLY AVOID)
Of course, the bidding would become quite active and exciting during the last few days, hours and minutes before the voting (bidding) would be cut off. Many anonymous members of the oligarchy would be able to hold off to the last minute before making their pledges and the eventual winner might not be known for a few minutes or hours until all the dollars are counted in each candidate’s bank account. The actual “people” (including domestic and foreign corporations and individuals) doing the bidding could remain anonymous – something the oligarchy would highly favor.
The only requirement under this proposal would be that the money donated to candidates would be deposited into an account set up by the U.S. Treasury under each candidate’s name. After total deposits are confirmed by the U.S. Treasury, the candidates who had the most dollars donated under their names would be elected, and all the cash deposited for winning and losing candidates would simply be turned over to the U.S. Treasury. Since these elections (auctions) would be open to anyone with money around the world, the eventual winners would at least represent the global 1% oligarchy – not just a minority of a plurality of U.S. voters.
Many wealthy individuals and corporations shun the idea of (and generally avoid) paying taxes but they have shown themselves very willing to spend millions of dollars in campaign contributions. This might get some of the money stashed away in foreign tax havens back into the U.S. Treasury.
A TRANSPARENT ABD STRAIGHTFORWARD SYSTEM THAT ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR “PEOPLE” TO VOTE IN USELESS, MESSY AND CORRUPTABLE “ELECTIONS”
This new national election system could easily be copied by all U.S. states and local governments. It would please those who argue that only people with money, property and “skin in the game” should determine elections. It might also please many who decry the fact that so many voters don’t bother voting or too many “low-information” people (who are woefully uneducated about the issues, facts and candidates) actually vote. It would eliminate all controversial and corruptible voting methods, early voting, questionable registrations, potential voter fraud, absentee ballots, mismarked ballots, hanging chads, and all those messy things that go with having real human beings choose between candidates.
This new voting system would eliminate all money in elections that attempts to influence voters. Instead the nation’s mindless consumers of perpetual entertainment would be able to fully concentrate on the latest online retail sale promotions, the endless college and professional sports seasons, and vote with their electronic devices for the best voice, talent, dancer, singer, fornicator, celebrity and other favorite person competing on even more national “reality” shows. The ability of ordinary citizens (consumers) to bet on and win various “elections” (auctions) might create more economic activity and income distribution – picking up the entire economy.
SUMMARY
This proposal could have an excellent chance of immediate implementation – unlike anything and everything being proposed by well-intentioned publicly-minded delusional reformers and the members of the “Occupy Movement.” This modest change would eliminate the “sham” of fixed or “no-meaningful-choice” elections and the patina of representational democracy that is so outdated in favor of a modern, efficient and powerful 21st Century fascist state.
This practical idea would be an honest, transparent, and accurate representation of reality. What’s not to like?
Submitted on 4/26/12 by Marc Pascal, happily ranting from Phoenix, Arizona. Karl Rove and other like-minded reformers can contact the blogger at [email protected] for more details on this proposal.