The General US Politics Thread

Being the front runner (Romney) is like being 1st in Mario Kart. Everyone keeps using the Blue Shell.

Of course all this would be fixed if people finally realized that Congress is way too powerful and demanded Congressional term limits. Back in 1948, Truman was re-elected as people realized that Congress was the problem, not Truman.

Nowadays, the United States Congress is the ultimate Karma Houdini. They get away with everything and anything. When their popularity is low, most of them get re-elected. When threaten a President or a foreign leader, they get their way. When they have character issues, they get away with it. This in turn leads to the President getting misblamed for a lot of things simply because Congress escapes blame for everything.

The debt ceiling thing was not the President's fault. It was the House of Representatives' fault for coming up with an unfeasible plan in the first place and refusing to come up with something more feasible. Both major parties lost in this and the only people that won were the people whom we didn't want to win (House Majority Leader Cantor and the 10% of Tea Party Congress). And who is part of that Tea Party splinter in the House of Representatives? Michele Bachmann, the current (which has since changed) Republican frontrunner.

How can we fix these problems? Congressional term limits. Apply the same limits that the President has. Because since you instituted these limits after Roosevelt, you've abused your power. And the people are suffering for it.

edited 11th Aug '11 9:15:17 PM by Buscemi

I have to disagree 100%. The people who are hurting the country the most right now are Freshmen. And if you impose term limits, you'll get rid of some of the few decent progressives in congress like Bernie Sanders and Al Franken.

I think term limits would just be a smokescreen. You would have a more persistent Lame Duck element though, I'll grant you that.

edited 11th Aug '11 9:17:45 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

Well, I'm also referring to other cases like Robert Byrd (who served until death and held a major position despite being completely senile).

Another thing I feel should be done is that the President should have the ability to fire or try in court a candidate if he or she does something that is immoral (as in, behavior that violates the Constitution, US law or unpatriotic) for the country (such as the Tea Party member who refused to pay child support or Eric Cantor's assholish behavior towards the economy and disaster victims). As I said, many Congressmen are Karma Houdinis and never get in any trouble for their behavior. Remember David Vitter and all that weird shit he did with hookers? He's still in office. Meanwhile, Anthony Weiner has a sex act that's a little more normal (sexting is much more common than wearing diapers while paying hookers to have sex with you) and he's forced to resign. In a perfect system, they both would have been forced to leave their position.

edited 11th Aug '11 9:26:34 PM by Buscemi

The President should not have jurisdiction over Congress like that-it creates perverse incentives. I mean, I guess it'd be okay(ish) if the leader of the party was able to simply pick a replacement, but giving the president the ability to say "You disagree with my platform-you die" Is a laughably bad idea.

I'd be a bit wary of anything that forces people's personal lives to affect their professional. Plus I feel like that would lead something unpleasant, like say the President forcing out a senator he didn't like by manufacturing a controversy of sorts.

ninja'd

edited 11th Aug '11 9:29:10 PM by Alichains

Incidentally, talking 2012: Rick Perry is likely to overcome Romney, methinks.

Not necessarily die, just "you broke the code, you pay the consequences".

A politician is a profession. You should be subjected to the same rules as a businessman or middle management. Congress is middle management. You are not powerful than the President nor will you ever be.

Politics is like sports. With no rules or a code of conduct, you have absolute chaos. Pac-Man Jones shot a stripper. Eric Cantor is an unpatriotic asshole who threatened to make the country go bankrupt for personal gain. Both should be subjected to the same punishment.

You have to consider how that can go horribly wrong though.

But how do explain Weiner resigning over a sex act but Vitter doing a much worse sex act and keeping his job?

edited 11th Aug '11 9:31:49 PM by Buscemi

Its Okay If You're A Republican

I don't have an explanation that wouldn't be a Take That! to Republicans.

The Young Turks suggested that it's about whether or not your scandal makes the media giggle.

Uh,I don't know remember about that Republican senator in 2009 who resigned.The one who went to Argentina to meet his mistress.

I believe that was the governor of ... South Dakota?

Yeah,2009 or 2008 was the year of Republican sex scandals.

South Carolina. The guy who decided that personal trips to Argentina where better for the budget than funding schools (see Miss Teen South Carolina).

According to a guy I know on Facebook (who's a hardcore Republican and has pneumonia, so he had nothing better to do), Romney won the debate. So Republicans still have a chance if they kick the Tea Party out.

To comment on your calling Congress a Karma Houdini from about 10 posts back:

I think that part of the problem - if not most of it - is gerrymandering of congressional districts. In short, the state legislatures get to cherry pick their own constituents, thus ensuring (or at least greatly improving the chances of) re-election. They don't ever have to worry about winning the general election, so you see regression to the extremes as congresspeople decide to focus more about pleasing their core base (who make up most of the primary election voting demographic) and not caring about what's good for the country at large. Thus, it's in their best interests to pander to the lowest common denominator of their respective political party.

Presidents have to actually make some headway toward the center, since their election hinges on voters in Florida, Ohio, and perhaps 8 to 10 other swing states that are far smaller and less important politically than those two. Thus, our system encourages a dysfunctional Congress and a president who has to be too concerned with politics to actually put his foot down and take a stand for something.

Well Canifornia's a promising sign in that regard. Though it will be difficult to spread since you have to get incumbents to voluntarily give up their own power.

- Edited: I was momentarily overcome by an unfortunate and dangerous case of outspokenness.

Cheerfully withdrawn.

edited 12th Aug '11 6:48:53 AM by BaronVonRichtropen

People really....REALLY hate taxes.

Increasingly though, less so towards corporations. Which is odd, because a raise in the capital gains tax could actually be potentially less detrimental to middle class Americans than a raise in corporate tax rates-namely, to anyone who as part of their retirement package is given shares of company stock.

Romney recently got heckled in Iowa for saying "Corporations are people my friend."

I don't have problems with treating corporations as people if that means we get to regulate them like people, too. But somehow the concept is only used to apply the positive aspects of personhood.

Corporations are not people. Treating them as people is ridiculous.

Corporations are groups of people. They should be regulated in a fashion similar to how we regulate non-corporation based groups of people.

But, well, Supreme Court and their 5 v 4 party lines decision. There is no hope for America. DOOOOOOOM.

Well, not unless Obama wins a second term and Anthony Scalia or justice Thomas drops dead/resigns. That's why, even though I'm hugely disappointed in Obama, it's absolutely crucial that he get a second term.

Rick Perry has joined the race. Rick Perry campaign Yes, it's official. Website Facebook Twitter

Also, no I'm not sure if the Greens and Socialists merged, but they do have a shared candidate.

• Greens (Green Party)
  • Stewart Alexander
  • Winona LaDuke
  • Cynthia McKinney
  • Kent Mesplay

• Socialists (Socialist Party USA)
  • Stewart Alexander

• Communists (Party for Socialism & Liberation)
  • Gloria LaRiva

edited 12th Aug '11 8:02:06 AM by secretist