Ten Ideas to Make Politics Less Rotten

[saintnick81]

Spend most of my day driving so I listen to a lot of podcasts. Listened to this one today from Freakonomics. Some interesting ideas in here.

Ten Ideas to Make Politics Less Rotten - Freakonomics Freakonomics

 

[Leadeye]

Hang any politicians convicted of any public corruption.

 

[HubertGummer]

Hang any politicians convicted of any public corruption.

Dang, we'd lose all the democrats and most of the republicans...

 

[Spear Dane]

Hang any politicians.

FIFY.

 

[Dosproduction]

Yeah get rid of any lawyers and any politicians, sorry lawyers.

 

[maxmayhem]

more representation, less pay. we need more representatives of the people. Two senators per state is not enough--there should be one from every county. 100 or so senators is not enough representation for 300 million people. there should be multiple members from each county. this will dilute power. No life term senators. Presidents should be limited to one term. Judges should be confirmed by the people to keep their job every election cycle--no lifetime appointments. No quasi branches of government that have much power but are not elected such as the epa, atf, the fcc, homeland security, the cia, the fbi, etc

 

["Username"]

Could just get rid of politicians....but deep in the human race is the need for many to control others as is the need for many to be controlled by others.

 

[jamil]

Dang, we'd lose all the democrats and most of the republicans...

So no downside? I'm in.

 

[cobber]

No elections. Draw lots from lists of folks on the property tax rolls.

For judges, ditto from members of the non-suspended bar for that county.

"Term" limits for managerial staff in administrative agencies, say five years and out.

 

[HoughMade]

Two ideas:

1) Term limits, 3 for House, 2 for Senate.
2) Return the choosing of Senators to the state legislatures.

As to Olympia Snowe, i heard the podcast. There is a basic logical flaw in her thinking. She assumes that a legislature that passes more legislation is a better one and a legislature that passes little legislation is unsuccessful.

Why would we assume that legislators who have diametrically opposed philosophies should work to gether to just get something done?

 

[historian]

2) Return the choosing of Senators to the state legislatures.

Agreed.

Additionally, repeal the 12th Amendment.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

As to Olympia Snowe, i heard the podcast. There is a basic logical flaw in her thinking. She assumes that a legislature that passes more legislation is a better one and a legislature that passes little legislation is unsuccessful.

Why would we assume that legislators who have diametrically opposed philosophies should work to gether to just get something done?

^^^QFT!!!^^^

I'm sick of seeing politicians cave in on their "principles" and their promises to their constituents just to get something done. One of the reasons I liked Ron Paul was that he voted "NO" on just about everything.

 

[indiucky]

Hang any politicians convicted of any public corruption.

Why is it that with you Colt guys it always comes down to a rope and a noose????

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Why is it that with you Colt guys it always comes down to a rope and a noose????

Because it's classic and effective just like the beloved Colt's of days gone by.

 

[david890]

more representation, less pay. we need more representatives of the people. Two senators per state is not enough--there should be one from every county. 100 or so senators is not enough representation for 300 million people. there should be multiple members from each county. this will dilute power. No life term senators. Presidents should be limited to one term. Judges should be confirmed by the people to keep their job every election cycle--no lifetime appointments. No quasi branches of government that have much power but are not elected such as the epa, atf, the fcc, homeland security, the cia, the fbi, etc

I agree with more representation; Canada has a govt of about the same size yet 1/10th the population. However, 2 senators (or 4 or 8) per state makes sense, not based on the number of counties. Equal representation for each state in the Senate. As for the House, based on population. Keep in mind that Texas has 254 counties, while Indiana has just 92.

Each state should pay for its own senators and reps, not the Fed govt. Citizens of each state set the pay and benefits for their politicians, not the pols themselves. If Texas wants to pay a senator $250K while Indiana pays just $75K, so be it.

The "quasi" branches ensure freedom from politics (for the most part). I trust the FCC, CIA, FBI to be relatively free of party influence. I'd go a bit farther in the case of the State Dept.; for Ambassadors, someone who speaks the language, knows the culture, and has worked their way up through the Dept over many years. We may not like the idea of a professional politician, but there are times when an *unprofessional* Ambassador has caused big problems.

As was once stated in Mad Magazine, "Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing the nicest way!"

/What, me worry??

 

[david890]

Why would we assume that legislators who have diametrically opposed philosophies should work to gether to just get something done?

Country before party?

/The horror....the horror....

 

[david890]

Dang, we'd lose all the democrats and most of the republicans...

Include sexual misconduct and you'd get the rest of the Republicans...

/"Family values" my a$$....

 

[BugI02]

Hang any politicians convicted of any public corruption.

Is IndyDave filling in for you while you vacation, or something?

 

[PaulF]

Something I've thought about, but rarely heard anyone else consider:

I would like to pass a law that prevents any sitting politician from campaigning for office while in office.

Serve the term you were elected to serve...from beginning to end. When you leave office you are free to campaign for another term, if term limits allow, or for another office entirely.

If our politicians are spending their time trying to get elected, how much energy are they really spending on doing the jobs they were already elected to do?

Edit:

I also think that elected official pay should be directly tied to the average real income of their constituency. No one should be getting wealthy from public service, nor should they ever be allowed to vote themselves a raise...if they want more money, enact policies and provide governance that raises the real income of the people that elected them and their own pay will follow.

 

[BugI02]

Something I've thought about, but rarely heard anyone else consider:

I would like to pass a law that prevents any sitting politician from campaigning for office while in office.

Serve the term you were elected to serve...from beginning to end. When you leave office you are free to campaign for another term, if term limits allow, or for another office entirely.

If our politicians are spending their time trying to get elected, how much energy are they really spending on doing the jobs they were already elected to do?

Sadly, with the two year election cycle, some representatives spend almost none