Politics are Broken

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This section will be an OP-ED only for the most part. I cannot prove some of the things that I have learned because people that I have spoken with have asked for anonymity due to their positions in the political spectrum. There are only a few mentions of these concepts in the political records from state or federal governments, a little more in news accounts. I can tell you that things that I have learned allow me to make sense of what I know what is going on in American politics.

The U.S. Constitution's Article I establishes Congress (1), which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

Representatives, also known as congressmen or congresswomen, serve two-year terms representing a specific congressional district. The number of representatives per state is based on the state's population; there are currently 435 representatives with full voting rights, plus nonvoting delegates from the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. 

Representatives have many duties, including: Introducing bills and resolutions, Offering amendments, Serving on committees, Acting as a mediator between constituents and the federal government, and Articulating the actions of the federal government to constituents. 

The House of Representatives also has several powers that are exclusive to it, including: 

• Initiating impeachment proceedings 
• Electing a president if the Electoral College results are indecisive 
• Traditionally originating revenue and spending bills 

The House is run by majority rule, and the majority party holds key leadership positions, such as Speaker of the House, Majority and Minority Leaders, and Majority and Minority Whips. The majority party also has significant power to draft chamber rules and schedule bills for debate and voting.

The U.S. Constitution gives the Senate many powers (2), including: 

• Legislative power: The Senate shares legislative power with the House of Representatives, and can propose legislation, draft and amend bills, and vote on resolutions, motions, and nominations. Senators can also use filibustering to delay or block legislation through prolonged debate. 
• Appointments: The Senate has the sole power to confirm or reject presidential nominations to executive and judicial offices, including ambassadors and justices of the judicial court. 
• Treaties: The Senate has the power to approve or reject treaties negotiated by the Executive Branch with a two-thirds supermajority vote. 
• Impeachments: The Senate has the sole power to try impeachments, and can convict an executive or judicial official with a two-thirds vote. 
• Budget and Executive Branch oversight: The Senate can oversee the federal budget and the Executive Branch by approving or rejecting presidential appointees for agencies. 

The Senate also has 20 committees, and senators can vote in a variety of ways, including roll call votes, voice votes, and unanimous consent.

I have heard multiple times over the last 30 years that politics changed when the elected officials of our states and federal governments no longer work for the people that elected them. Lobbyists and retired political officials have told these things to me and I always laughed and said that cannot be the case because the people electing them to office tell them what to do--they are elected to be representatives. 

Then came the massive deadlock between the Democratic and Republican parties. It is always the same thing. The party in charge waits till the last minute before the government is to shut down due to a funding bill lapsing or something before writing an ultra massive omnibus spending bill, and then gives the other party little or no time to read it. If the opposing party does not pass the bill the ruling party blames them for being short sighted and shutting down the government. 

One example: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said  of health care reform legislation: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” The Speaker Said: “You Can Read the Bill AFTER it passes.” (1)

Both parties use this tactic when they want to pass legislation that will be opposed by the other party because the opposing party does not want credit to go to the first party for “ground breaking legislation”.

This is the new normal standard of adversarial politics. Republican and Democratic parties control the actions of its members making even small steps of cooperation impossible. 

What do I mean about controlling the members of the party? Lets say an R controlled house member tries to work for the greater good with the D member of the house to start some form of legislation. The power brokers from both sides will approach their respective party mate and tell them to stop the work. They tell them that it is not in the best interest of the PARTY for this to go forward. 

If the response is to continue to move forward, the offending representative is frozen out. They are not appointed to any committees, there is no chairmanship offered, their name is not on any of the bills that do pass, they will not receive funding from the party for their campaigns. The only work they are allowed to do is to aimlessly walk the halls and help water the plants. They will not show any accomplishments for their term in office and it will be difficult at best to be re-elected to any office. Multiple people, lobbyists, and retired political officials told me these things. It is hard to grasp that; maybe, five percent of the people elected on either side of the house and senate control their fellow politicians actions. 

What this means is that those individuals that we believe are being voted into office to represent the peoples of individual states and the United States, are being illegally blocked from doing their jobs by senior politicians that control the vast party cash reserves. This is a direct contravention of the United States Constitution and strips the people of their right to representation.

These statements, inferred statements, cannot be easily proven but there may be a way of providing the proof we seek; First, follow the money. Second, push the issue. Third, change the balance.

Following the money means chasing single individuals, PACs, corporations, dark money groups (6), and wealthy individuals (3) (4) who donated to the huge war chests controlled by the Republican and Democratic parties. Most of the money comes from the wealthy individuals and PACs. There are donation limits to individuals and political parties but there are no limits on the amount a PAC or super PAC can spend on political campaign ads or where the ads can run. An example is the last governors’ race in 2022 for the state of Oregon where money from across the country flowed into Oregon influencing the outcome of the race (5). Why is anyone other than an Oregonian allowed to influence the race for its governor? Who knows who would have won the race if it had been allowed to run without interference? 

Pushing the issue is not easy. It would mean that all voting Americans would have to do their duty and follow their responsibility to contact both their state and federal representatives and senators. This contact would involve having those contacted to write legislation for the state and federal levels of government. 

The demanded content for this bill would be very limited and not allow any addendums. It would be enacted within 60 days of passing.

It would call for a ban on PACs, super PACs, dark money groups (6), wealthy individuals, and corporate contributions to any person in political office or any affiliated political group such as the Democratic or Republican parties. It would require any unspent money that had been given to any person or political group be returned to that donor.

There is no reason that anyone other than a voting individual be allowed to donate money to a politician in an amount of more than $1000. The individual is given the right to vote and support a candidate. They are given the right to donate dollars and that right is purchased with the duties of paying taxes and the responsibility of serving in the military. Since PACs, super PACs, dark money groups(6) and corporations are not physical beings and cannot serve in the military, they should not be allowed to have the rights of United States citizens. They should not be allowed to use their massive earnings to manipulate the political system to their advantage simply because they have money. The taxes paid by ordinary people fund the majority of this country and they should have the majority of the control of its political officers. There is imbalance and undue influence put forth by the above offending groups and that influence is tearing this nation apart, putting its citizens at odds with each other over issues of border security, reproductive rights, gun control, climate change, and the list goes on…

Is there anything else that might be requested to prove one way or another that only a few control the many in the political system of the United States? One thing for sure would cause the power elite to become upset--make a third political party that is in the mainstream of America and change the balance. Because most people are not extreme in their political beliefs and can consider another point of view, a third party would be beneficial and easy to create. 

Remove the extremists from both parties, you know who they are--Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz to name a few.  Pull all of those and their ilk out and leave them in their original parties and the rest start a new party. The old parties now have no power because they have money but no one to control. The new party has no money but can vote a new Speaker of the House in and be in command of bills that have direct impact on the populace. 

No more adversarial politics but true dialogue and consensus on issues through empathetic cooperation.