At least according to Rasmussen:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 45% of likely U.S. voters now think a group of people selected at random from the phone book would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than the current Congress. That’s up 12 points from October 2008, just before the last congressional elections. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree, and another 19% are not sure.
White or yellow pages?
Thomas,
You remind me of those city folk who blame the police more than the people who actually commit the crimes.
The criminals in the Senate are those who block every damn thing.
Yes, I too, blame the Dems for not kicking the asses of the conservatives who are hell-bent on blocking everything and anything that helps the average person.
But you have lost sight of WHO are the bad guys in government — it’s the bought-off, block-everything conservatives… most are Republicans and a few are Democrats.
But, as I said earlier, the real problem is the money in the system rather than just the conservatives or even the filibuster.
We need 100% public financing of the elections — absolutely no private or corporate money allowed. Not a dime.
It would be the best-deal ever for our tax dollars.
I think Crazy Smart is on to something. We can’t hope to have a functional democracy if the population is simply incapable of choosing competent representatives. At least monarchs are too rich to accept bribes.
Greg Allen, jury’s are almost never random. Yes, people are called in to jury selection via a random notification process but the judge and attorneys use cross-examination to weed out the undesirables and the biased.
The O.J. trial jury was absolutely not random. It was stacked heavily with African American women. The defense attorneys knew that these women would be quick to defend an accused black male while the stupid state prosecuting attorneys thought that the facts would win them over and didn’t protest they final seated jury. End result, a show trial with a hung jury and a double homicide murderer went free.
Yes, I would trust a true randomly selected congress over the hacks we currently suffer under. But only if it were truly random and a big enough sample to assure it.
Mark T,
I suppose you have a valid point when it comes to high-profile juries.
The jury I was on had minimal screening (I don’t remember any) and the demographics where about what you expect from your average Cosco, football game or state fair.
Is that really who Americans want leading our country?
Not me! I want above-average people at the helm of our country.
But, I’ll say it again — the huge amount of money needed to get elected is the problem.
Without public financing, you could swap every congressman out and they’d be corrupted before the end for their first term.
#21
The sign of a good leader is their ability to convince people to follow them. The conservatives brought to light serious issues with the types of health care reforms being proposed especially in light of the spending spree the Democrats (or should I say liberals) went on with the porkulus packages. There were many better solutions for health care reform that did not require tearing down the entire health care industry to do it. That wasn’t good enough for the liberals. If the Democrats cannot convince their own party members when they have a majority it shows that they have no leadership and that points directly at Obama.
The first category of bad guys in government are the people that are not fiscally conservative and that is mostly Democrats and some Republicans. The second category of bad guys are the ones bought by lobbiests such as the banking industry and in that category, I’d call a tie between the Republicans and Democrats.
Thomas,
I understand, now, that you have been suckered by lies of the conservatives.
There was never EVER any proposal to “tear down the entire healthcare industry.”
This is just absolutely a bold-face GOP lie — just like the “death panels” and all the other crap those guys made up.
As long as you let the conservatives sucker you that way, you’ll never correctly understand what is going on in Washington.
I don’t know. Would you rather have someone in office whose lifeline goal is to gain maximum power and notariety then retire with accolades and millions of $$$ in the bank or would you rather have an average joe that simply wants to get the job done with the least amount of hassle then get home to the wife/husband and kids in time for dinner.
I would rather take an average joe over a power hungry prima donna any day.
I would make one change to this hypothetical scenario, though. The selection pool would not be a random person from the phone book but, rather, a random voter from the registered voter pool. At least, that way, you would end up with a person with an actual opinion instead of someone that simply owns a telephone.
Not a bad idea!
Didn’t the Repukes PROMISE TO PASS A TERM LIMITS AMENDMENT ??? ***THEY LIED, DIDN’T THEY???*** Can’t TRUST A REPUBLICAN !!!
Thomas,
I gotta get off-line but one more thing..
It is crazy-talk to claim that the GOP are fiscal conservatives.
Think about it man… the wage a WHOLE FRIGGIN’ WAR off-budget!
They NEVER EVER told us how they where going to pay for the Bush tax-cuts or Medicare Part D.
Think about that, man… a HALF TRILLION DOLLAR program with not plans on how to pay for it?
Or a TWO OR THREE TRILLION DOLLAR (who knows!) war… totally off-budget with no funding source?
Or 2.5 TRILLION dollars in tax cuts with absolutely no proposal on how to pay for it? Nothing at all. Not consideration whatsoever?
How can you possibly consider that fiscally conservative?
This claim by conservatives that they are more fiscally responsible than liberals has absolutely no basis in reality.
And there is no stopping the GOP — listen to them now. They want to build a GIGANTIC wall between Mexico and the US. As them how much it will cost — they have absolutely no idea! How will we be pay for it? No clue whatsoever!
This is not fiscally conservative! These conservatives are about as restrained as Amy Winehouse in Amsterdam.
Well, I gotta go. You seem like you are honestly interested in doing the right thing… just don’t let they conservatives sucker you from it.
Greg Allen, why do you think the Republicans lost in 2008? What do you think the Tea Parties are all about? It is a revolt against the established Rinos that now run the Republican Party, gave us John McCain, and spend like drunken Democrats. Those guys are on the ropes.
Just listen to McCain (currently campaigning for re-election) talk about how he is “Arizona’s last line of defense” against the “extreme” left wing Obama administration. A short time ago, he was the Republican that ran as a moderate Democrat … and lost. That speaks volumes about how things have changed in the last year.
As for a wall between Mexico and the U.S., a wall would still be 1000 times cheaper than extending medical benefits to 25 million illegal aliens.
#3 what fantasy-land have you been living in? Qualified people my ass. These thieves don’t know anything except how to win an election, then they learn how to steal public money after getting elected. Qualified people my ass, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read in months. The only thing our system has proven is that we sell our elected offices to the best alcoholic adulteress crooks we can find and let them run our country for us.
What a concept – qualified people running for office, I can’t quit laughing.
#4 doesn’t mater who gets elected or re-elected. Once they are in the system they are a slave to it, and they cant change anything for the better good.. only to help mega corporations help themselves.
oops i meant to respond to #5.. not 4
#6 this is why we still have the electoral collage. Even back 200+ years ago our founding fathers believed the public was too stupid to properly elect officials to office.
Yep – I agree – let’s replace the 45% who are GOP – they’re the ones Hell-bent on ruining the country. They HOPE America fails – so they can profit from it. God knows they can’t win an election fair and square. If we get rid of them we have a fighting chance. They spent eight years with their hero AWOL Bush at the helm and look where that got us!
“How can I say this? The House has 97% re-election rate, and a 23% approval rating.”
Yep, that says it.
If direct democracy is too radical for you, at least think about putting a limit on how many people a single representative can represent. I would recommend no more than 50,000. If nothing else, it would make buying the whole lot a bit more expensive. And of course, it should be that they have lived in the district for 20 years or more.
#25 – You are forgetting a very important thing in your little diatribe.
Health Care should NOT be an industry. Anyone who believes so is morally bankrupt to the highest order.
Being and remaining healthy is NOT something that anyone should be forced to pay large sums on. When Nixon gave the greenlight for greedy corporations to start charging the obscene he created the perfect environment for the corrupt health insurance industry to bankrupt an entire generation.
#20 Wow! Second post with substance in a row from you. I’m impressed.
I see Dallas still shows how sheeple he is.
But you? I’m impressed!