this is creepy (politics discussed here)

if you elliminate the pensions and put term limits in place....so simple....
you will completely change the paradigm here. people will run because they truly want to do good for america.

 

We have term limits in Florida.
The only thing that changed is that these days the polititians have to steal and pander to the special interests FASTER than ever before.
Then they go to work for the same special interests after leaving office, just like politicians everywhere.
Its actually made things worse, I think.
The only term limits that really work are an informed population that votes.
Not gonna happen in the USA.
Remember, we invented McDonalds and American Idol.

 

I normally keep my political and social opinions to myself, letting out only the most basic and non-definitive expressions. However, for this particular time being I will state this: I grew up in a republican household. Went through a time of being a democrat-lite, but now I find the whole condition of things so disconcerting, disorienting, and perplexing. An informed public... That is a joke these days as much as any time. I have found that, particularly in my own age group, that people don't want to know because of some reason of separation. And to top it off they didn't form this perspective of their own accord or action, but rather the lack thereof; they were influenced by their preceding generation. Again in most circumstances. They were 'told' or rather influenced to not worry, "Everything is fine" and they need not concern themselves with the things that are handled by the people WE put there to handle those particular things... that are caused, created, affected, effected, ignored, overblown, over complicated by all of us... on the planet. American Idle and the like... well those are there for a reason. The top layer is to entertain us, and the underlying reason is to entertain us... What can we do.?. The answer is simple. But will it happen... or are we comfortable with the world we have... Is it worth the effort.?. I think I should stop now.

 

I hear ya. Its all smoke and mirrors at the leadership level, so we get these sheeple distractions to keep our eye off the ball. You try to read between the lines and discover that they rubbed all the words with snake oil.

How do we change it with all the laws and regulations that shelter the architects? They've become what they swore to save harmless from erosion and corruption.

I accept that it can't be changed. Too much immorality and slithering. The best we can hope for is that a bigger snakepit consumes them or they do it between themselves.

In our last election, we had a new political party called the The Pirate Party - At least they were honest about their name.

I call all our Politicians up here, Pirates of the Canadian.

 

That's funny. Pirates of the Canadian.
My wife and I both have very strong feelings toward this whole subject, but at the same time it is very difficult to see the picture through the fogs...

 

Haul out the Jamaican rum... That'll handle the fogs...

 

Don't forget to vote...Vote early & often...

I have voted in every U.S. election since 1972 and I have yet to feel that I am voting FOR someone as much as I am voting AGAINST their opponent...lesser of the two evils and all that...

 

I would love some good spiced rum... or scotch... or gin... or vodka.

 

Thats the way its SUPPOSED to work.
Seriously, if there were a candidate who agreed with you on everything, millions of people would hate him and he'd lose.
The way our democracy/ republic works is that we all have to compromise;
IOW, you give a little to get a little.
Not a perfect system, of course, but better than any other that we have tried over these last several hundred years.
Or we could all take up guns and torches and destroy everything and start over.
In 1936 Germany, everybody pretended to agree.....
(Its scary that some think that's a still good idea today!)
[/end of rant[/]

 

Up here we have 5 federal parties - Liberal, Consevative, New Democratic, Green and Bloc Quebecois (a separtist party that wants Quebec to be their own nation), so it's rather easy to vote AGAINST a party/leader. The only problem we face is that it doesn't take a lot of votes for a party to suddenly be in power. With our system based on the British one, we end up with a lot of minority governments that don't really want to work together, so we go to the polls a lot.

 

Heck we only have essentially two parties (there are more) and they can't work together. I think all governments are pretty much the same.

We have Democrats, sometimes refered to as liberals; generally they are considered spenders. These guys created the Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy etc. etc. The result is the creation of 150 like agencies in 50 states. Democrats were responsible for the US taxpayer purchasing 750,000 used cars in 2009. Oh that was special.

We have Republicans, sometimes refered to as conservatives; generally they are considered non-spenders but that's a lie. They tell us they are not spenders but usually spend more than Democrats. The difference is that Republicans don't like to raise taxes. Thus the $14.8 billion dollar defecit. War costs a lot of money as does creating more government agencies (Department of Homeland Security). Just the name homeland reminds me of the Nazi German Fatherland. They have files on everyone. Don't have a name that matches someone else on the "no fly list". Creeps me out. Also responsible for eliminating the rule that we don't spy on our own citizens. It's called the "Patriot Act".

Ooops, I started to rant.:rant:

 

Crazy Beaver, you forgot one party - the 40% non-voting couch potatoe party. It's not their fault either! Its our Political Parties' fault. They avoid us like the plague, even during elections! They bring out their "This Election Platform", promote the leader we can't even vote for (elected by the party) and the entire charade is in Double-Speak!

We had a socialist Premier (NDP) here, winning election majorities, 3 times in a row, with 62% voting! He promoted himself like he was greener than Adam's Figleaf! He gets appointed to be the Washington Ambassador, by the current Conservative Prime Minister, and he's out promoting the Keystone Pipeline from Alberta's Tarsands. The Canadian CO2 disaster!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-sands-from-coast-to-us-coast/article2141095/

The guy has his nose so far up the PM's butt, that they'll never find enough plastic surgeons to get the scar off his nose, when he gets dumped!

He got the Ambassador job, quitting in the middle of his last term, because he played fast and loose with our Public Utility's piggy bank reserves and bailed out a US windfarm contractor in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, so they could tie into an Alberta grid to California (which has no renewable energy), worth $16.5 BILLION, which was FREELY GIVEN to 2 Canadian corps, one of which was bribing Gadhafi.

http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/02/08/AlbertaElectricity/

And it was discovered by an Ex-pat American lawyer!
http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/02/04/KeithWilsonRevolutionary/

And then! The Gadhafi bribing company got our entire Nuclear Reactor division from the Federal government for $15 mILLION, not Billion. Our dear PM comes back from a 2 week trip to South America, and we learn that this company 'won' a $440 million dollar contract to rebuild a Nuclear reactor:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...o-refurbish-argentine-reactor/article2141597/


Legalised Piracy. That's what we've got here. The Untouchables with Teflon Suits!

 

Stormin' TBird.

 

To be fair, since I came back to Canada in 1999, after 5 years living in Guadalajara, MX (narco capital of Mexico), I had never seen one single political candidate come knocking on my door, not for Federal, provincial or city elections, until this one (provincial). We got 2 of them this time! Both of them actually live in the riding too! Niether has political experience, but one is a bodyshop owner with 20 employees, all from the 'hood. The other is a University Prof, who lost, running in a Federal by-election in 2010, and didn't run in our Federal 2011 election. Opportunistic player. The 3rd one is also a rookie. Her party has only ONE member in our provincial legislature, and they sucked her into running because her deceased mother was a well-known First Nations leader (and also a non-parliamentarian).

I decided to vote for the the candidate who meets several criteria:

1) He lives here with his family
2) He comes up clean on a Google or Bing Search
3) He has demonstrated a commitment in DEEDS or personal Investment to better the community/riding.
4) He/She has some parliamentary experience and/or successes for the riding.

I won't vote BECAUSE of a Party Leader or his/her platform or their Left or Right tendencies. RESULTS from the candidate running. The parties don't matter, the local candidate does. If they really are dedicated to improve my riding (the poorest and most dangerous in the country, BTW), then they've got me.

The NDP gal who was our Federal MP here for 14 years, was also from the same socialist party (NDP) as our Premier. In her 14 years, we lost industry, and local businesses to the point that all 10 local bank branches closed up and moved away! BUT! We got more Ex-Con halfway houses, more drug-rehab centers, and more family NGOs! We also got more arsonists, rapists, car-jackers, drug gangs, and pimps! And although her party was a minority party in the Federal game, her Party buddy's riding, across the River, got our industries, more roads, more cops, better security and safety for the families. She just turned a blind eye to her own riding! Sustaining Poverty, while her pal did backroom deals with the City and the now US Ambassador ex-premier!

Its tough to vote like a sheeple (sheepish people) anymore, following a traditional Party without thinking. I'd hate to be a Politician, and sell my soul against the people that elected me. How can they sleep?

 

Drugs, cheap alchohol, cheap $+*, and YOUR money in their pockets...