Campaign Financing

While this is not strictly a Constitutional issue, Clean Campaign Financing is critical to preserving the Constitution. I'm sure if the framers could have foreseen multi-national companies setting up lobby shops on K Street and actually writing legislation (not to mention the revolving door for government officials becoming lobbyists - something that was ILLEGAL when I was a civil servant), they would have written a provision into the Constitution that none of the branches may be influenced by nor take money from anyone other than the individual sovereign citizens. There would have been a provision that corporations and other large organizations do not get the same treatment as the individual sovereigns.

It's part of the spirit of the document, and is validated by the rationale the framers wrote in their various personal papers and in the Federalist Papers.

I suspect they would be horrified to see our elected representatives spend half their election-year days on the phone or visiting with campaign contributors so they can get contributions to run expensive sound-byte TV ads. In other developed democracies, TV ads are forbidden, and TV exposure is limited to pro bono time of no less than five minutes where the candidates may detail their platforms and positions.

[That's something that would do the wishy-washy Dems some good, frankly. Force them to buck up, stop whining about the Repugs and their wedge politics, and set some firm goals of their own. The Dems must start standing up FOR the People, not against the Repugs. They must ignore the negative, emotional, and divisive strategies of the Repugs and focus on their positive accomplishments, past and future. (Present accomplishments are debatable, although there is a core group that really is trying to do positive things.) Of course standing up takes political courage: Look at what happened to war hero John Kerry when he was "swift boated": It knocked all the wind out of his windsurfer, and he didn't have the gumption to tell them where to shove it. So political courage is obviously in very short supply these days in DC. That's another reason why the States may end up being our saving grace on these issues.]

In these other democracies, the PEOPLE pay for the campaigns. They are publicly financed. It's ironic that the one democracy in the world where the People are specifically designated as the Sovereigns of the nation (that's right, we're the honchos) is the one where corporate money has the most influence, and the people the least. Sure, we cast the votes, but not based on personal investment. We cast votes based on the best corporate public-relations money can buy. And if we're using a Diebold machine, chances are our vote is going to the Diebold candidate, regardless of the vote WE cast.

But some states are cleaning up. As with the movement to repudiate the Unconstitutional provisions of the Patriot Act and the movement to begin grassroots impeachment, some states are setting rules about conflicts of interest. (No more Bush state campaign chairs like Harris and Blackwell also running the state's voting apparachik.) Some are getting very careful about their voting equipment and raising the issue at the National Governor's Association that all Federal elections should follow the same rules from state to state. Some are establishing campaign finance rules. Some are creating funds to start contributing public money to campaigns, to begin the drive toward publicly financed elections.

Vermont suffered a bit of a set back with SCOTUS yesterday:

High Court Strikes State's Campaign Fund Limits

But something notable was NOT challenged by SCOTUS. Vermont established its rules for the express purpose of challenging the idiotic idea that money equals free speech. Anyone with a speck of common sense (something Vermonters are known for, even if they are a bit eccentric), anyone who is unencumbered by a sense of superiority or entitlement (i.e., having a chip of superiority on his or her shoulder), KNOWS that money cannot equal speech. If money equalled speech, then ALL of us could have done what Warren Buffet did this week when he contributed $30+ BILLION to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And everyone would have equal ability to run for office.

Money is a used in quid pro quo exchange. Speech is freely given. They are apples and oranges. And in political campaigns, the difference is that candidates cannot run for office on a level playing field, and voters cannot discern the good candidates from the bad ones because all we hear is expensive propaganda paid for with corporate money. (Unless we happen to be among the few who actually follow the voting records, sponsorship, and committee activities of our delegations.)

My Campaign Finance / Clean Campaign hero is Doris "Granny D" Haddock. Visit her website to learn more about how one senior woman has awakened a sleeping giant - the Progressive movement of this country - to the fundamental necessity for clean campaigns. We cannot have a true democracy without them, we cannot achieve the goals WE THE PEOPLE seek as long as corporations have the upper hand. We simply cannot use our Constitution as our framers intended. There is NO more fundamental impediment to our democracy today than K Street.

We can't have it both ways: Choose. Oligarchy or Democracy?

Granny D and Clean Campaigns

Impeach Cheney

You will find me discussing impeachment often on this blog, because I'm here to write about the Constitution, and impeachment is Constitutional redress for criminal behavior among those who govern. Nine states have started a state-based grassroots impeachment process because Congress is failing to do its job. Much like the hundreds of communities and states that have repudiated the Patriot Act and established strict Campaign Finance Reform (see the links to the right), states are doing what Congress is failing to do.

It is tiresome that politicians are so afraid of a process that was emphasized five times in the first three Articles of the Constitution. The framers were adamant that we not have a King. And these politicians claim we should let the voters decide, because impeachment would be too partisan. (Yeah, right, as if we can trust our voting system when we can be pretty sure that insiders helped swing key states to Bush in both 2000 and 2004.) These "legislators" fail to grasp the fact that political parties are not discussed in the Constitution, but impeachment is.

Which brings me to Dick Cheney. For all the worries about impeaching Bush or both Bush and Cheney (we can't afford to tick these people off, we can't risk having a President Cheney, etc.), no one seems to consider that the administration will become toothless without its kingmaker. It would be a compromise that would give the country and the Constitution a fighting chance.

I knew the Bush family as a kid, and there's no love lost there, but, strangely enough, I actually think GWB is well-intentioned. He's being guided by evil, however, so his good intentions are paving a road to hell. Get rid of the evil, and he might pull himself out of the muck.

I will be writing quite a bit about Cheney's aspirations and wrongdoings in upcoming posts, but in the meantime, I urge you to read this article:

Vice President Cheney, Chef in Chief

I'm proud that one of my Senators is leading the investigation, and I hope he sticks with it. If so, and if we get more Dems in Congress in November, we might actually be able to take all this criminal activity and turn it into Articles. Not that GWB doesn't deserve the articles John Conyers has waiting for him, too, but writing up and indicting Cheney first could be way around that pesky "partisan" foolishness. Then we'll see if GWB shapes up and demonstrates that he really does have good intentions. If so, we'll know that we've rid ourselves of the real troublemaker and we will give GWB a chance to hobble through until 2008.

Bank Data Secretly Reviewed by U.S. (New York Times, 6/22/06)

An Open Letter to George W. Bush

MR. BUSH:

You will cease and desist this intrusion into the private lives of my neighbors and myself. IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. You want to investigate terrorists, fine. Anyone who has ever done investigation knows the importance of following the money. But here's the catch: You MUST go to Congress or to FISA. That is how you get permission to look at our personal data. PERIOD. I know Mr. Cheney got his damn nose all out of joint because the People took back their power - rightfully and Constitutionally - from the equally power-hungry Richard Nixon, but Mr. Cheney is only one of BILLIONS of sovereigns, and believe me, you have put the noses of BILLIONS OF US out of joint with your Nixonian power-grabs. You will soon find that our pique outweighs Mr. Cheney's by TONS. You people do not get to just vacuum up data for your convenience. (You say it isn't a "fishing expedition" but I know the old bureaucrat's trick, I used to work for the government. Only I did it LEGALLY.)

You are not God, you are not King, you are not a dictator (in spite of your ambitions otherwise), and you most certainly are not the Daddy of the American People. YOU WORK FOR US, and you must abide by OUR laws. We are the Sovereigns, we are the bosses, and Congress makes our laws FOR US because we HIRE IT TO REPRESENT US. We do not need you to "protect" us, we do this for ourselves through Congress.

If you actually read the Constitution, you'd see that Congress is listed first for a reason, and that its job description is much more complex than YOURS for a reason. You have a job description that takes exactly two sections of one article, and when we hire you to do that job, we do not hire you to go out-of-scope. This is why so many of us are so furious at your powergrabbing. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO HAVE THE KIND OF POWER YOU SEEK - The Framers were CRYSTAL CLEAR about this, and the Federalist Papers explain it. But, in a nutshell, IMPEACHMENT is described IN DETAIL FIVE TIMES in the first three articles of the Constitution because the framers wanted an limited executive presence. They had had enough of Kings, especially King George.

I'm sure it's easy to forget that you actually have a real job to do where you answer to US, your real bosses. (And it's too bad that half of the American People could not get it through their heads that you have never actually worked a real job, let alone done a good one, EVER. Instead, they persisted in thinking that they had to hire you just because you seemed like a good guy to go out for beers after work. I think they're over it now.)

After all, with all your wealthy campaign contributors asking you for favors and patting you on the back, it's easy (too easy) to think these contributors are your bosses. Which would account for you working with Congress to put the economy in the toilet so your "base" (your word) gets richer the rest of us are LUCKY to live paycheck to paycheck (a concept you could never grasp, you entitled so-and-so). Our country is almost $10 TRILLION in debt, and over half of that is to CHINA. You don't think this is a NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE, you dolt???

You think you're PROTECTING US??? Humans are incredibly self-deluding creatures, and you are about as delusional as they get. Your contributors on the other hand know exactly what they are doing - stealing our country - which is why we need to kick them the hell out of Washington.

And by the way, did you know that your little war in Iraq increased terrorism by 95 percent? That's right ... the numbers are in and it's 95 percent. So the need to even track terrorists has been increased by a factor of almost 100 thanks to your administration's Through the Looking Glass attitude about the American People and the world. Following the money is a good way to track criminal activity, but thanks to your administration's Cold War mentality and stupidity, you're following a lot more money then you ever had to.

Control freaks focus on everyone but themselves, sticking their noses in the business of others without attending to their own. They're called CODEPENDENT. I know this because I grew up in a house that was full of it. Just like the White House. I vowed I would never put up with that kind of dysfunction again. That's why I continue to support impeachment of your entire administration.

The American People have the good quality of trying to see the best in others, and but the flip side is we're easily exploited. And you and your administration did indeed exploit the good will of too many People for your own greed and powermongering. The American People are onto you now (especially now that they know just how many convicted and indicted felons are working for you), and they're feeling betrayed. You will see in November and the months that follow how angry the People get when they discover they have been exploited and betrayed. You'll be hoist on your own petard but good, and for the over-half of us who already knew 2000 what kind of evil you could bring to the White House (and having all our fears realized since), we CAN'T WAIT. We just pray that this amazing document, the Constitution, which has served us so well for over 200 years, will be used again to stop you people peacefully, without a Revolution.

If it happened with Nixon, we do pray that it will happen with you too.

Tough Week for the Constitution

I urge anyone who passes this way to check out the following links about the SCOTUS decisions this week:

The Worst Ruling of the Week

Center for Constitutional Rights

I am also adding some links to the links list to the right. I will return soon with my thoughts on our current Constitutional Crisis.

The Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It....

This blog will be dedicated to all matters associated with our Charters of Freedom and the U.S. Code.

As the administration roughly half of us hired and the lawmakers who represent us continue to pretzel-twist the legacy of our founders and all those who followed and added Constitutional Amendments, I could not stand by any longer. I have some strategic ideas to share that Americans may find useful in tightening the leash on our hired employees, which will be forthcoming.

(The latest indignity is the attempt to turn the administration end runs around FISA - which are ILLEGAL - retroactively legal. No, Congress is not investigating why the FISA court wasn't used to begin with, or why it was necessary to collect phone records for John and Jane Smith from Anytown, USA. They are trying to undo the amazing work done by the Church Committee, which provided very lenient guidelines for warrants in cases of imminent danger to National Security. But no, like so many other laws, it's just too much trouble for the Boy King to bother.)

In the meantime, remember this: Every bobble-head inside the Washington Beltway works for US. This country is a Constitutional Democratic Republic, and the PEOPLE are sovereign. We don't have a king for reasons the framers made crystal clear. And we don't need a boy king - no matter how well-intentioned - telling us that he needs to take care of us as if we are children. One person is not qualified to make decisions for all Americans. That's why we have Congress.

Bottom Line: WE ARE THE BOSS. PERIOD. Now we have a job to do. Don't wait for anyone to do it for us. Don't wait for a miracle in November. Democrats and Republicans are both too beholden to special interests and spend too much time shilling for campaign contributions. Republicans are running our economy into the ground, and Democrats have decided to become wallpaper. The list goes on, but in the spirit of the blog, I'll keep the focus on how we hold our government accountable to us according to our founding charters. I am an Independent. I vote for candidates, not for parties, and I will not belong to a party. (I have voted for candidates of all parties in my voting history.)

Your blogmistress, Elizabeth, is a progressive independent from the Heartland. In case the MSM had you brainwashed into thinking that progressivism is some kind of monstrous belief system just this side of communism, let me set the record straight. Progressives believe in PROGRESS. We have equal parts Conservativism (conserving the economy and the environment), Libertarianism (Big Brother, get your taps off my phone), and Populism (which simply means that THE PEOPLE are in charge, not wealthy elites).

Over time you will hear about my personal beliefs, some you may share, some you may not. But the important thing is we are all AMERICANS. If you were to assign me a color, it would be some shade of purple, a color I feel sure I share with most other Americans. Our shades may vary, but our core beliefs are probably pretty similar. And we are all responsible for seeing that our country is governed responsibly. Right now, it's a horrible mess.

So we have a mission. We need to start by re-acquainting ourselves with our founding documents. Please see the links. The reading is very easy, do not be intimidated. (Be sure to link to transcripts, that makes the reading easier.)

Among the issues I will raise in future posts include the importance of various concepts addressed by the framers. First up: The Current Constitutional Crisis and thoughts on what we can do about it, based on the guidelines our framers provided.