Reactions have been generally positive, so let's continue to ponder a short list of unconventional suggestions that I'd like to see the new Congress accomplish, as we begin the long, slow process of reclaiming AMerica and Western Civilization...
...not just for one side of some dismal "left right plitical axis" but for the sake of the Great Experiment itself. A society of open accountability, negotiation and pragmatic progress.
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These suggestions can be fould in one place at http://www.davidbrin.com/...
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So far, we have been dealing with a general category : What can the House of Representatives do, all by itself, even if legislation is blocked or stymied?
Suggestion #6. RESTORE INDEPENDENT ADVISORY AGENCIES for science, technology and other areas of skilled analysis, to counsel Congress without bias or dogma-driven pressure. Ensure that technical reports may not be rewritten by politicians, changing their meaning at the last minute.
No neoconservative crime was more outrageously hypocritical than deliberately dissolving Congress's own technological and scientific staff, while crying out that they "need more studies" of important issues like Global Climate Change.
This restoration (which can be accomplished even without risking Presidential veto!) would strike a dramatic contrast between an era ruled by dogmatic fanatics and a return of the "reality-based community." A community of facts and basic common sense.
Imagine the note that this would ring, across the land and the entire world. The America of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein will be back in business.
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Suggestion #7. ADJUST HOUSE RULES TO LIMIT "PORK" -- the earmarking of tax dollars that benefit special interests or specific districts.
Yes, this is already on the declared agenda. Reducing the sheer number of earmarks from 15,000 down to 1,000, the number allocated last time the Dems ran Congress, would help a lot. But we can do even better. And yes, I have ideas how it could be done. For example, let's --
• require that all future earmarks come from a single pool, no larger than one tenth of a percent of the discretionary budget. Get representatives adversarial over this, instead of slyly cooperative.
• Moreover, future earmarks must be placed in clearly marked and severable portions of a bill, at least two weeks before the bill is voted upon.
• Earmarks may not be inserted into conference reports.
• Each member may sponsor one... just one... earmark per year. And every earmark must have a sponsor. (Advantage, it gives members an excuse when telling folks in the home district that their hands are tied. Let the folks back home argue among themselves about which project they need most!)
• Further, establish a lawful system of "challenges" under which any company or person out there may publicly demand a show-cause as to why they cannot compete to deliver a service similar to the one that had been earmarked... or else challenge the reasons for bypassing normal contract rules. With burden of proof on the recipient of the earmark.
(Some of this would require actual legislation; other parts the House can accomplish on its own. But, above all, remember to make bigtime political hay out of this! Use it to split the opposing coalition, turning "sincere" conservatives into our allies against the "other kind.")
This brings up yet another crime of the Neocon Era...
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Suggestion #8. RESTORE AND REVAMP PROCEDURES FOR SOLICITING BIDS AND AWARDING GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
A lot of Americans don't realize how vast and filthy the warping of contracting procedure has become, resulting in more graft than earmarking itself! Even with "war" as an excuse, this should have been a major scandal of the campaign!
Far more stringent limits must be placed on no-bid, crony, or noncompetitive contracts. Conflict of interest rules must be strengthened, closing the "urgent" way that a small community of kleptocrats managed to turn the federal contracting process into their own, personal potlatch, rewarding loyalty with multi-billion dollar gift fests.
And this came from hypocrites who dared to call themselves believers in a free market! Adam Smith would curse their eyes. (Note: even if no bill passes, simply holding hearings on this topic would be political dynamite.)
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... and there's more to come (some of it rather entertaining!)
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