Congress is Dysfunctional, Our Elections Are Proof

 

 

        What Is Wrong With America’s Election System

Last weekend I took a trip to Kentucky and it reminded me of the following joke. After my GPS crashed and I had no map in my new car I felt like I was living the joke. I finally had to stop at a small country post office and ask directions, he printed them up for me which was nice, but they didn’t say how far the turns were apart and an hour and a half later I made it the fifteen miles and arrived at my destination. Best thing I can say about it was that it was a pretty drive through Kentucky horse country. There were many very beautiful homes along the way.

Years ago I heard this joke that I think applies to the problems facing America today. It goes something like this. “A traveling salesman was driving the back roads of Kentucky and found himself lost. After awhile he saw an old man sitting on his front porch swing and whittling. So he pulled over to get directions. He asked the old man if he knew how to get where he was going. The old man said “Yes”, with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. The salesman said, “Well can you tell me how to get there?” The old man started giving him directions and the salesman said “Thank You” got in his car and took off. After about an hour and a half he was starting to believe the old man had sent him on a wild goose chase. Suddenly he came back to the house where he started. Totally frustrated he got out of his car and told the old man,”I thought you said you could tell how to get where I was going.” The old man said “I can” The salesman said, “I am not so sure about that, if you did, why am I back here?” The old man smiled and said, “I can give you the directions, but first I had to make sure you could follow them.

That is kind of like America. We know where we came from, and where we want to go but aren’t sure how to get there. Our problem is we have too many slick old people in charge, of our country. They haven’t a clue how to get to where we want to go, but they have learned how to line their pockets with our dollars. Forty-one of our Senators have been in the Senate for over twelve years, one has been there thirty five years and one has been there forty-five years. They have not fixed our problems, they have just learned to milk the cow and enjoy the ride.

It is time to fix the problem, and the only way I think it can be done is to start a third party that is for America and its people. The present system has a lot of problems. I know that people are put in place by seniority and that it helps provide order. However it can frustrate new comers who are motivated. They get frustrated waiting their turn.

The present election is a perfect example of the problem. Voting and making sure your vote is counted is a challenge. Certain elements in the process are trying to suppress the votes of many. Congressman John Lewis fought his whole life to make sure everybody got to vote. In the Constitution Article 1, Section 4 it makes clear that it is Congress duty to make the rules concerning elections.

As the government sponsors the education system in the United States it would seem logical to use that system to provide equitable opportunity to all Americans to vote. There are 130,930 K-12 schools in the United States, and there are 260,000,000 eligible voters in the United States according to the census. That means if every school provided a polling place, there would be 1985 voters in each school system. Allowing for a twelve hour voting day, it would require voters to vote at the rate of 165 per hour. If they have at least three voting booths it would require 55 voters per booth per hour. Proof there is no reason for people standing in lines for hours on end. The problem is Congress would have to implement it. If each school had a polling manager they could be in charge of making sure all voters are properly registered and that no one is denied their right to vote. Each school should have a six person nonpartisan board with one person elected from among them to serve as the administrator for a term of two years. The six members should be equally divided between the parties.

The next thing that needs fixed is the rules concerning appointment of Supreme Court Justices, which has been an issue in the last two elections. The Congress can solve this simply by making sure there is one justice for each regional district and make one extra to ensure any special needs can be addressed. All judges should be required to retire from the court with a pension at the age of seventy five.

Another thing that needs to be addressed is the Electoral College. It needs to be eliminated. It does not allow the will of the people to be respected. The main purpose it serves is to allow the politicians to appoint the person they want to the presidency. At a minimum the system needs to be altered. The present system does not represent the will of the voters. Instead of one party takes all the votes, it should be proportional. to the vote in the state sending the delegates, and reflect the vote balance in that state. Only Maine and Nebraska use that system presently.

Finally there is the issue of term limits. Right now America is being held hostage to the will of one Senator from Kentucky who has been in the Congress for thirty five years. He is a Republican, but the longest serving is a Democrat from Maine who has been in the Congress for forty-five years. There are 41 Senators who have served in excess of 12 years or two terms in office. Sixteen are Republicans and the balance are Democrats.

At present the system allows eight Senators, from four states, NY, CA, TX and FL, to represent the will of 34 % of the population of the United States. It also allows one Senator, who represents a state that is only one and one third percent of the population to hold the whole nation hostage to his personal will. That is absolutely wrong and is certainly not what the Founding Fathers intended.

Under Mitch McConnell the Republicans have done nothing since 2008 when President Obama was elected, but try to prevent or undo anything that Obama or the Democrats have tried to do. That is not what the system was designed to do. The really sad part is the present President has not only encouraged this but done virtually nothing to correct the problem. His major accomplishment is having fired a lot of civil service workers who had dedicated their lives to serving our country. Of course firing people was his greatest skill on his reality TV show the Apprentice.

Trump was elected because he was not really a politician, Most Americans wanted change and one thing is for sure they definitely got change. It was not the change many of them wanted, but that will issue will be resolved one week from today. I have heard a lot of people say based on placards that Trump will get reelected. Based on that philosophy, Obama should never been elected. The picture below is from in front of my local polling place on election day 2008. Is there something missing in the picture. I am sure where I live is not the only place it happened.

                   

A while back I created my own political party called CARP. The Party Platform is on my other blog and can be reached by following the link enclosed. https://carpforamerica.blogspot.com/2020/07/carp.html It addresses how to fix many of the problems that Congress has failed to do. If you follow me, you will get updates as I address them. I have what I consider a solution to the gun problem on my post and a lot of other stuff that is from a different or third party point of view.

How To Fix America's Voting System

 

                                                                                           

This picture is from the 2008 Presidential Election, what is missing?

                             

     It Is Time to Fix the Voting Problem in America

It seems anymore we have a problem with counting votes at every election. We need to fix the system and really it is not that hard. The proof of how asinine the present system can be was shown in the State of Texas. One county the size of some of our smaller states was/is only having one polling place. Many states are limiting and down sizing the number of polling places to try and manipulate the vote.

America is a nation of the people, by the people and for the people and should therefore afford the opportunity to vote to every citizen, The question is how to do it. I think I have a plan that not only works, it may even improve the system. From MY point of view, every school district in America should have a minimum of one polling place. It is based on a simple assumption. Where there are students, there are parents, and parents need a voice in their community to make sure it is run fairly. Each school represents a certain segment of the local society.

Each polling station should have a bipartisan polling board. I would recommend a board of six people, with one board director, elected and chosen by the board for no more than a two year term. Whether the board members are elected or appointed is one thing I have not worked out. I would prefer an elected board. Their job would be to make sure any issue that may keep a person from voting is resolved at the local level. The board could handle the registering of voters in their district.

This system accomplishes two things. One it generates more community involvement in the election process. And secondly helps eliminate the opportunity to manipulate the election in favor of one party over the other.

Many politicians, especially the career ones, will not like this idea. This system makes them accountable to their constituents. If they are not doing their job it may be made clear to those who have say as to whether they stay or go.

A law needs to be passed that anyone who intentionally interferes with a persons right to vote is subject to a $5,000 fine and up to 5 years in prison. That includes persons who pass laws to deny any citizen their right to vote.

The present system allows politicians that are so inclined to pass laws and place restrictions on voting without fear of consequences. That needs to be corrected and every citizens right to vote needs to be protected.

Why Elections Will Not Fix America

 

         What is wrong with this picture, taken on election day in 2008?

                         What Is Missing?

America Needs Hope And Mentoring Programs

The above picture was taken on Election Day 2008. To an observant person with an average memory something is missing. To a White Supremacist it is a perfect picture. In reality though it is a picture of what is wrong with America. It explains how we have gotten to where we are today. We have forgotten our history and what makes America Great, it is not Donald Trump, it is Hope. America has always had the hope and vision that a better day is coming.  Elections in America do not offer hope or change. We need a third party that is for America, and puts all Americans on the same level. The present system allows the wealthy to take all they can get and ignores the needs of those who are not wealthy.

The events of 9/11shook America to its core. It made us question our goodness and our greatness as a nation. It set the stage for a change I NEVER, thought I would see in the America I lived in. In July 2004 I saw a young man give a speech that summed up the hope of America, and that it was a hope for everybody. Four years later that man ran for President and succeeded. Even with portions of America denying his very existence.

I am sure where I live was not the only place that his posters were taken down. When Obama won the election, it stunned me. I think people believed and bought into his message of hope.

The past twelve years the Republican Party has been fueled by hate and a desire to undo anything that Obama did. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the Republicans are totally focused on getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, just as Democrats are determined to get rid of Trump. Have the Republicans solved “ANY” of America’s problems or offered their own solutions to the problems facing America. The answer is a big fat NO. Unfortunately for America, neither have the Democrats. Exactly why we need a party that is for all Americans.

America has been sold a bill of goods by the insurance companies. They have convinced America we can not survive without them. They charge you for insurance, and then they charge you a deductible to use it. The medical field is a job like any other, but insurance companies have learned to use it to empty American pockets. The pharmaceutical companies are so evil they have banned discounts for the government, even though it is one of their best customers. I learned this by dealing with the VA.

America needs solutions, not hate. America needs a health care program that takes care of each and every American, not just some Americans. Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution, gives the duty of the “welfare” of America to Congress, and I do not think they meant, food stamps. Welfare meant the needs of America, just like you take care of the needs of your family. Food, clothing, shelter, education, safety and even heath care. If Congress comes up short on any of these items they have failed their job.

Yes they are responsible for national defense and the budget also, They are given the responsibility to tax and create the programs that provide the above mentioned items. However, for the last twelve years Congress has failed in it duties, with a capital F. They tax to give big breaks to the rich and corporations on the backs of the middle and lower class Americans.

With the economy in chaos because of Covid 19, millions of Americans are slowly sliding into a financial abyss. More and more people are loosing their homes, and apartments. We are right back where we were in 2008 when the housing market collapsed. The Federal Government has failed to act. They say it is not their responsibility. Excuse me Congress, but it is not only your responsibility, but your duty under the Constitution to fix the problem, and believe it or not there are ways to do so.

America needs a third party that puts Americans and America first. Systemic Racism is rampant in America, the pandemic has proven that issue. One other problem that needs to be addressed is the immigration problem. Immigrants are not evil, we are a nation of immigrants. If a person is willing to risk all they have in order to come here to start a better life and lift up their family, they are not evil. In this day and age some who come may be evil, and it is our responsibility to weed them out. We need to create a more effective work program that lets those willing to do the jobs that most Americans won’t, come perform those much needed jobs like field hands.

My wife is an American born Mexican. Or as I call her, a Texican. There were thirteen kids in her family and they all worked in the fields as laborers at some point in their lives. Yet as they have all gotten older, they have all found what I call a normal job. None of them work in the fields anymore, but somebody still needs to do that work.

Mexicans have survived and thrived doing work that blacks will not or are unwilling to do. It is not an easy life. Many live along the Mexican border in Texas and come north every year doing field work. Farmers need them and often do not report the illegals among them. Many farmers use unscrupulous tactics to take advantage of the Mexican laborers. It is not uncommon practice for farmers to hold 20% of their pay till the end of the season. As most are paid by piece work. If the crops run out, and there was not enough work to keep them busy the farmer will force them to stay to get their 20%. If they move to better crops and more work elsewhere, they loose a considerable amount of money.

The recent pandemic has shown the unfairness in America’s healthcare system, minorities have been effected at a much higher rate. Yet in most cases they have no recourse. Many of the meat packing plants are full of minorities. They are forced to work in an environment dangerous to their health. They are deemed as essential workers, but they are not afforded the protections they deserve and need to work safely.

I invite you to read my blog at the following link. https://carpforamerica.blogspot.com/2020/07/carp.html This post outlines the needs and platform of a 3^rd party and while I want to see it implemented and at 70+, I no longer have the fire or the zeal to push it, but I can share how to do it.  I invite you to subscribe and follow my blog so you will get updates when I post them on issues concerning our rights to vote.

America needs a mentoring program for race relations. When in the Army I spent several months as the only white person in a 12 man room. I learned a lot of things about being a black American, that I would never have learned without that expeience. Most of America's race problems are from a lack of communication. When we see white cops, killing black citizens we are seeing a lack of respect for our fellow Americans, because they can get away with it. They are using their authority, to avoid responsibility for their actions. Authority needs to also require accountability.

Why can they get away with it, because of a lack of peer pressure to do what is right. It is something that is taught. When in the Army at Ft. Bragg, I went to the store to get milk with a friend of mine and his wife. While he went in to get the milk, his wife baby and I sat in the car waiting.  A black man walked past the car and the wife, started telling the baby who could not even walk yet, say N----- Johnny, this went on and on till her husband returned. I for a long time blamed it on the fact they were from Alabama. 

After my months in the room as the only white boy, I found it is taught, it does not just happen. Even when I was growing up I experienced it in a different way. My Dad took me to the Indianapolis 500 time trials and we had to drive thru a very dark part of Indianapolis and I remember my Dad making me roll up the windows and lock the door. His actions puzzeled me. My home town only has a few hundred blacks in the whole city. Our high school had over 1200 students and only five students in the whole school were black.

 Why I found my father a World War II veterans actions puzzeling was that he had me do his good deeds so to speak.  We had one elderly black lady in the whole neighborhood and her husband had died. My Dad sent me to mow her yard whenever it needed it, as he did for several other widows. 

If America wants to cure the problem we first need to admit there is one. I remember when I was stationed in France and went to Paris that Blacks, Whites and others mingled and interacted and race was not a barrier or a problem. At least I didn't see it. 

When I see the peaceful protests going on, I realize there is hope for America. One thing we need in America is accountability for every life.No one is above the law, especially those who administer the law. The idea that a law enforcement officer can take a life and is above the law is absurd. It may happen, but not when a person is shot in the back seven times from point blank range, or when a man is running away from law enforcement. He is not a threat, he is scared and in this country he has every right to be. Which is a sad thing to say.