America already hates him or her, and we haven’t even had the election yet.
Well, they should. They’re both terrible.
A system that produces nominees like this is dysfunctional. But will anybody do anything?
It seems like it just gets worse every cycle.
Mandatory term limits on political parties. Political parties should be organized like corporations with a charter that has a legal requirement that it expires on a date certain (every 24 years) and that for purposes of organization, fund-raising and election of officers it must dissolve at that date and cannot continue. Unlike a corporation however, in order to re-charter a replacement political party must register in any state it wishes to ballot in and each state may, within federal guidelines, establish charter requirements (such as minimum number of registered voter approvals on petitions to charter within the state). For most voters that means they get to approve new & replacement political parties roughly 5 times in their lives and parties have to compete for legitimacy amongst the voters at the local levels. And voters get to shed themselves of bad politicos. A party that cannot meet the charter requirements of a particular state becomes ineligible for that states’ electors. Charter requirements to be established by state conventions and ratified by voters. Once adopted charter requirements require super-majority of state legislators & voter approval to amend. A party cannot run a presidential candidate unless it is eligible for all state electors.
Well its one idea anyway…
David, that’s a clever and original new law, and as one of the few Democrats who comments here, I find it amusing that I want to reject it for conservative and libertarian reasons.
Actually I’m guessing you want to reject it because you’re well aware which of the current parties is more reliant on convincing its supporters that they’re victims being exploited by others.
parties have to compete for legitimacy amongst the voters at the local levels probably leaves you with the vapors, being well aware finding and motivating victim groups tends to result in diminishing returns as things get smaller and more local.
Right a libertarian would want annual charter expiry…
But I seroiusly doubt the practicality of that. There’s no reason that the expire dates have to align with other parties, unlike elections. Would from time to time enable poaching of another party’s candidates. Probably the end of RHINOs and DINOs as we know them. I would probably put caps on monetary contributions to the corporate party, but with a full donor disclosure requirements that might not be necessary. Corporate to corporate donations would be illegal. We have enough of that collusion already. To enable more election choices it might be wise to allow parties to ally and pool electors, but only if the voting system is changed to plurality voting, otherwise it won’t have much of an impact. Beginning to sound like a parliamentary system doesn’t it?
“Mandatory term limits on political parties. ”
I think the parties would just become nimble in reforming after the dissolution rapidly and with a different name.
That’s ok, but in order to succeed they have to get voter approvals in each state they wish to run candidates in. I’ve had some exposure to politics at the state and county level. This would be a huge change there, even if in the big picture it doesn’t appear to be. It would be.
Yeah, I think that would run afoul of Articles One and Two, the first, fifth, tenth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution.
This is not a fixable problem. It was defined in Jeremiah 10:23.
I do suspect the reason it’s gotten worse is humans are to thick to get the message unless kicked in the head.
The proof is all those that think a different set of candidates would make a difference when we’ve had plenty of history to prove otherwise.
“This is not a fixable problem.”
I disagree. It is fixable but would take a monumental effort which begins by teaching solid American Civics and History starting at Kindergarden.
And you have to have a massive Civics education campaign ( I don’t mean formal classroooms although there’s nothing wrong with that) for adults.
And the majority of voters have to vote for people who are dedicated to obeying and upholding the rule of law and not men.
teaching solid American Civics and History starting at Kindergarden
That would improve the situation; it would not fix it. What we’re seeing is a natural escalation. Reagan was the best president in my life but did not change the overall direction of this country. His reforms did improve the situation but did not change its direction.
“That would improve the situation; it would not fix it. ”
That is why I wrote – very carefully:
“It is fixable but would take a monumental effort which begins by …”
As in, you need this for starters but it’s not enough.
And that’s also why I said it’s a monumental effort.
The population – or at least 51% of it – needs to understand that it’s the system that created American success and not government edicts. And that if you mess with the system you are destroying the success.
That would take fifty years.
And America won’t exist by then.
If Clinton wins, and doesn’t start WWIII or Civil War II, she’ll flood the country with so many foreign Democrat voters that there’ll never be another chance for Republicans to win.
“That would take fifty years.”
Yep. As I said, it’s a colossal job.
“And America won’t exist by then.”
If Clinton wins that’s for sure. It’s clear that a few Constitutionalists in the House and Senate aren’t enough. We need “preachers” in the same sense that Reagan was a preacher – reminding and extolling the virtues of liberty. Because you aren’t going to change the educational system unless the populace is behind it. The America-Haters are too numerous, too deeply entrenched, and respond too violently (I don’t mean with violence I mean with volume and epithet), in the educational system for them to just be moved aside by the assignment of a few teachers.
Ya, our country is losing connection to its roots. It didn’t just happen. Our friends to the left have made a concerted effort to delegitimize our past. With control of the education system, it has been easy for them to do.
Absolutely right.
No high schooler graduating in the last, say, 15 years – probably more – has any idea why America has been so successful.
This is why I’m thinking of “tilting at the windmill” of getting a ballot initiative in Colorado to switch from Fast Past the Pole to Instant Runoff voting. If enough states had an option like that, the two major parties wouldn’t be able to fall back on the “not voting for me is effectively voting for him/her” trope.
My hope is that the election is close enough that they blame Libertarians as spoilers. I’ll then be able to point out that they’re making an argument for an IRV process, if they really believe Gary Johnson lost their person the election.
~Jon
Wish you the best Jon. That takes us back to the purpose of states in the first place. It would be useful to have the data, though I believe you know my thoughts on it.
If I lived in Colorado I’d take a serious look at signing your petition. “First past the post” or plurality is the worst of the simple and “fair” methods of conducting an election.
I’m not sure why I am supposed to regard Trump as a terrible person or a terrible candidate. He’s hugely successful as an executive, has a long track record that is reasonably clean, never committed any crimes, and has a sincere passion for America and it’s people. If that makes a bad candidate, I think your idea of what is good might need adjustment.
I have to take issue with “hugely successful as an executive”, because read the Art of the Deal. His daddy gave him $250 million on his 18th birthday. Unlike so many born into wealth, he didn’t squander it, so I give him due credit for that. But, with that kind of a head start, he’d have to be by far the richest man in the world for me to consider him hugely successful. He’s an adequate executive.
By the way, today I saw a pickup truck with large sticker lettering across its back window, saying TRUMP TRAIN. I live in Canada, 400 miles north of the US border. Glenn Reynolds has often said that a replay of the Carter years was a best-case scenario for Obama. In that vein, I think Hillary is going to make Mondale look good.
I suspect you have literally NO IDEA what it takes to even hold your position in the business world with that kind of money. Almost everyone who comes into windfall money ends up broke, because, and I know this is a surprise, most people do not have the skills or aptitude to even hold on to what they have. Building on a good start to create a giant fortune required a lifetimes work. No one gets rich by accident.
“I know this is a surprise, most people do not have the skills or aptitude to even hold on to what they have.”
“Unlike so many born into wealth, he didn’t squander it, so I give him due credit for that.”
Bill Gates came from a wealthy family, too, but nowhere in the league he is today. He didn’t take over his father’s business, he started his own. Bill Gates is wildly successful. Trump is adequate.
Gates was in a very anticompetitive field and regardless of his wealth he’s actually losing market share. Trump was in one of the most competitive fields. He did catch a break because NYC was one of the few that revitalized, but he took enormous risks doing it. His father left him an inheritance split between his children so he probably started with about $40 million. My uncle had an award of $5 million which he pissed away in about 4 years.
People that have never had such money all consider themselves financial geniuses. It’s easy to imagine how to make wealth. It’s much harder to actually do it.
Don’t forget he has that kind of money after living an extravagant lifestyle. How much money has he spent living?
He’s a con man, who cheats his contractors.
Like the hyperbole that he is a wildly successful businessman, I find the assertion that he’s a con man who cheats his contractors to be overblown. America is easily the most litigious country in the world. He has built a lot of buildings. Contractors aren’t stupid If he was truly a con man and a cheat, he’d be sued to oblivion and nobody would want to work for him.
And he’d still be way better than Hillary.
How far from “oblivion” is 1300 lawsuits?
Pretty far.
The number of lawsuits doesn’t matter. How many he lost matters. In terms of oblivion, the damages matter.
Also, they are not just lawsuits he brought or were brought against him but from people suing his businesses. How many of those lawsuits were frivolous suits over losing at blackjack or the coffee was too hot and burned someone’s tongue?
From the link, 500 lawsuits against him were tossed. Hundreds ended in what looks like settlements. 1,600 lawsuits were to collect debts from gamblers.
Only 125 lawsuits were over contract disputes and 300 about real estate disputes. But the article’s slideshow doesn’t say who was the plaintiff so it bundles in suits against Trump and suits Trump brought.
Out of all the lawsuits, Trump only lost 38.
Going through the link shows that the lawsuit angle is pretty shallow. It actually makes Trump look better than the accusations.
Rand, you embarrass yourself trying to peddle that kind of nonsense. Recourse to the law and to the courtroom is supposed to be the sign of a conman? He must be a strange sort of conman to think the law is on his side. If he was a conman, he’d be bankrupted year ago. Clearly he wasn’t, so he isn’t. It appears that he understands contracts better than most and uses the clauses in them for business advantage. Oh dear, the horror.
There are flaws in the mans character, no doubt about it. But please name the man who doesn’t. If there are REAL arguments against him, rather than “he’s not my kind of chap” then I’ve yet to hear them, anywhere. I’m just supposed to take it as given that there is something dark and nefarious about him, without that thing ever being explained.
Recourse to the law and to the courtroom is supposed to be the sign of a conman?
No. There’s abundant other evidence for that.
That abundant evidence all consists of Trump being a salesman for different business ideas he probably should have left alone.
You’ve just accused every salesman in this country of being a conman.
What’s your point?
The real issue is people are tired with large centralized governments. They are also tired of being told they need to worry about the plight of people thousands of miles away, while not getting any attention to problems just down the street.
Have a flood in Louisiana; so what, we need to worry about were to put Somali refugees. Oil Industry is losing jobs; let’s give a couple of billion to Iran to jump start their energy programs. Tired of excessive regulations from Brussels and Muslim raping young children; let us tell you the horrors that await a Brexit.
Enough is enough, and neither side is showing a strong interest in stopping their poor behavior. Congress is set to vote on the next budget while it is still being debated. Hillary Clinton wants to make sure her billionaire pal Mark Cuban gets a front row ticket at the debates. Huma Abedin’s husband sexts children. National Review can’t decide to back a candidate that can win. None of the self-proclaimed adults in the room seem to be acting like such.
So yeah, nobody is interested in the next circus ring master. Let us know when somebody show serious interest in stopping the obvious corruption in government from Homeland Security monitoring citizens and ignoring identified terror threats. The IRS harassing innocent civilians. The FBI giving immunity to any bureaucrat that requests it. The EPA dumping toxins in rivers and then settling with environmentalist to funnel money out of taxpayer coffers. The Justice department handing out military grade firearms to local police and then investigating them if they use a handgun. To date, only person held accountable to date is Shenseki, but really he just resigned, keeps benefits; and the VA still has wait lists that they lie about.
I’m not worried. I’ve learned to live under the raider of this nonsense. I follow people that are learning how to throw monkey wrenches into the system, and then help each other move ahead. I have watched as neglected industries have managed to work around slow moving bureaucrats and accomplish feats thought unimaginable just 8 years ago. I’m optimistic about the future. I just have no confidence that central governments have leadership interested in anything other than ripping off the poor and stupid.
This ^^
It also isn’t a sentiment confined to Trump supporters. This feeling is what animates a lot of the left as well. The difference is the left thinks socialism and systematic racism is the answer.
Be better if I checked the grammar and spelling, but f’ it. It’s not like the GOP is checking the spelling in the budget before they pass it, and I’ve never written an email as a professional as lousy as the Clinton and Co emails released by the State Department.
The left thinks so long as someone tells you they will help you, and then gives them $.13 of every dollar donated to their aid; then it’s better than getting a job. Education is cool with the left, so long as they get what they pay for, and they want to pay nothing. Don’t ask them tough questions, just give them a safe space and access to the nearest restroom.
I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnXAl1ntt_4
What is Ted Cruz thinking?
He doesn’t want to be turned into a Flying Monkey?
Dunno. I couldn’t tell you what Cruz is thinking any more than I can tell you what Ken Anthony is thinking. Half the time I couldn’t tell you what I’m thinking. For instance, my last girlfriend: what the hell was I thinking?
Ted Cruz is thinking he wants to be reelected in Texas.
Your last GF? I know exactly what you were thinking! She’s a little crazy, but she’s hot. Well, maybe more than a little and a bit of a nag, but she’s cool most of the time. Who the hell is this woman, she’s batshit off the rails… how do I get out of this?
Ah, so you’ve met her.