How America Can Win

        This story is about fixing the political process.  From the media coverage of it to alterations to laws affecting third Party candidates.

     One.  Media Coverage.  No political commercials of any kind on any network that does not dedicate a significant portion of it’s regularly scheduled programming to Politics.  Mandate the creation of several stations, along the lines of C-Span, perhaps under their purview, that would specialize in one party and one party alone, and would be paid for by funds from within said party.  This includes third parties, either individually or en masse.  These networks would, by law, have to be carried on all cable and satellite providers as part of the basic package.

     Two.  Electors.  When we vote for The President, we do not actually vote for the President, we vote for electors who then vote for president.  Can you name the elector who will cast the vote for you?  Me either.  This MUST change.  I want to know the names of the people who I am entrusting with my choices LONG before I vote.  These people need the spotlight, and if it takes legislation to make that happen, then so be it. There needs to be transparency here so we can know who and what we are dealing with in our electors.

      Three. Independent choice of Electors.  I believe that rather than having a “winner take all”  popular vote pick all electors in a state, the people should be able to pick electors individually, by district.  If you live in a Democratic state, but in a Republican district within that state, I think you should be able to pick a Republican to represent you and place your districts vote for president.  This decision would have to be made by the states, as it is written into the constitution. Unless we change the constitution.  More on that later.

    Four.  Review the redistricting process.  And take it out of the hands of Political parties and put it in the hands of Non partisan entities.  Redistricting (AKA Gerrymandering) can and has disenfranchised tens of thousands of people all over this great land of ours.  And if the provision I laid out in section three ever comes about, this would be of paramount importance to keep Partisan wrangling of districts from radically altering the electoral map in one party’s favor.

    Five.  Third Parties. Ballot access should be made easier for third parties.  Now I know that Article One section 4 of the Constitution makes ballot access laws a product of state and local governments, but every pressure should be brought to bear to make it easier for other parties, outside of the federal government, of course. Unless we change the constitution…

     An America with more choices will make better choices if they know about them and are made to feel that those choices have a realistic and viable chance of having an impact on America for the better. Point one has an affect here, because if there is readily available access, through the media, to the knowledge base of third parties, they will become more of a viable force on the political scene.

     Six.  Finally, and Most Importantly, a federal constitutional right to vote….

     I can hear the crickets out there.  I know what you are thinking.  “Umm…Mike? we DO have a right to vote” 

    No you don’t.  Read your constitution carefully.  There are amendments that prohibit discrimination in granting the franchise, but there is nowhere in the constitution where it is mandated that you’re vote means anything.  A quote from the Supreme Court ruling “Bush V. Gore“    

The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College. U.S. Const., Art. II, §1. This is the source for the statement in McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1, 35 (1892), that the State legislature’s power to select the manner for appointing electors is plenary; it may, if it so chooses, select the electors itself, which indeed was the manner used by State legislatures in several States for many years after the Framing of our Constitution.

      This, while constitutional, is to me, and to a great many other people, wrong.  There is a great need to fix this in some way shape or form.  But how do you fix a problem that exists on the state level that has such a drastic affect on the entire Government, indeed the entire world?   

     The time has come to fundamentally alter the constitution.  A Federal voting rights Amendment is in order.

     What do you think of the suggestions I have put forward here?   I am not the only one to say these things, but until the system better represents us as a people, these things need to be suggested and thrown out there for people to see. 

     Are there any things you would do to change the system?  Is the constitution Inviolate, or is this a living document, subject to radical overhauls when the people so require?  Drop me a Line  and let me know, America!

     Uncle Mikey

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Instead of giving my take here of all things green, at least up front, I think I will simply give them the floor, and let the green party speak for itself. Each quote will be directly from the Green party website, from it’s 2008 platform.

The Green Party of the United States supports divestment from and boycott of the State of Israel until such time as the full individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people are realized.

The Green’s call for :

Full withdrawal of US military forces, civilian military contractors, and corporate interests on the fastest possible timetable consistent with the safety of bringing home US troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the other states of the region.

Re-formulate all international trade relations and commerce as currently held by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), (Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB), and the nascent Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The new formulation must be Fair Trade and the creation of a level playing field. It must protect labor, human rights, the environment and grow the local economy of receiver nations. Especially local agriculture and water supply must be protected from foreign corporate control and domination.

I have chosen to focus on foreign policy because my mind has been turned to it by the events in South Ossetia, and the Russian Invasion of the nation of Georgia. The economy is a regular focus of mine.

I believe in peace. I believe in doing our best for ourselves and the rest of the world. But I have to say that what I see, in the Non-violence espoused by the green party as a main part of the party platform, is unfortunately, not enough in this intensely war-like time. I think we do need to get out of Iraq ASAP, because the war is wrong on just about every level. I do think that we need to go after, hunt and kill Osama Bin Laden and Al-qaeda, and that we need some kind of force in the Area to assist in that hunt, which means, by necessity, a force In Afghanistan.

If, like Me, you simply read the 2008 platform of the party, you get the impression that they are, well, a bit more interested in what we do for the world, and much less what we do for ourselves. And while I am very happy to see their Anti-corporate stances, I do not entirely get their stance on universal basic Income, or the realistic-ness, for lack of a better term, of their Corporate control, and their Banking and Insurance reform seems just a little undo-able and frankly, with the shape of of the economy right now, a little dangerous to the long term economic strength of The United States. But that’s just me.

A video for you, of the Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney accepting the Nomination of the Green Party.

What do you think of the Green Party platform, and the Green party in general? Is their 2008 Platform viable, given the current economic and political circumstances this nation finds itself dealing with? Drop me a line and let me know!

Uncle Mikey