Call me naive. Call me a tin hat dreamer. But I truly believe that there is a fundamental procedural flaw in this grand experimental republic that is the USA. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are exemplary documents and they have guided and informed our country through some ugly times. But...
the flaw to our system of government, the hole in the dike, (that has taken 200 years to become FULLY exploited) is: the extent of access to political power by lobbyists with money. Legislation is not good enough to address this problem because it can become subverted or watered down. What we need is a constitutional ammendment that provides an additional CHECK to our vaunted list of checks and balances: An amendment prohibiting the giving of gifts to ANY person holding elected public office at any level of government. An amendment that prohibits any entity other than private citizens from contributing to political campaigns.
I know this ain't going to happen any time soon. But it's not EVER going to happen if the movement doesn't start some time. And why not now?
I can't think of any objection to a constitutional amendment that requires elected politicians to be unequivocally, squeaky clean. Let's raise the bar. Let's end the accepted dogma that all politicians are somewhat corrupt and that the best we can hope for is one who is at least a good guy, or one who agrees with our politics. That's like the concept of electing benevolent dictators.
I want nothing less than a change to the constitution that keeps the money mongers from seeking office. It's bad enough to be power hungry. It's worse to be craven to campaign contributions. I know that no state of affairs can be perfect or air tight. I know that powerful interests will always find ways to gain excessive influence ovre the political decision making process. But I want to see meaningful change that weeds out most of this behavior. I want to see things get better. I can't accept business as usual in this country. Obama, Schmobama... ain't nobody going to make LASTING change unless out nation addresses and FIXES the one emajor flaw that remains in our governmental system.
Thanks for indulging me.