Ejuts are a laughing stock of the world

[ryoder 1,381]

yoink

Make a switch to instant runoff voting and you'd start to see other parties developing.

But of course the function of a power block is to remain a power block, so why would they alter anything that might change the status quo...

THIS!
This the the #1 impediment to actually having a choice at the poles, instead of just two sides of the same coin.

In fact, there are a variety of alternatives to the miserable system the US uses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_system

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[SkyDekker 1,121]

masterrig

*********You are getting a good look at what we've been dealing with for years. Career pols on both sides of the aisle have been doing what's best for them for a long, long time, focusing solely on re-election and campaign donations. Those chickens have come home to roost.

And yet the people continually vote either Dem or GOP??? I don't get it, I also don't understand why people are so blindly loyal to such self serving rats (regardless of which party they're in).

while the blind loyalty is part of it, there is more. The parties have rigged (the best term I can think of right now) the system to help keep these two parties in power. The process of getting signatures and getting on ballots is not simple, and that by design allows the two parties to stay in power

Now, some of that complexity might be needed to keep the process from being overrun but, what these parties have done and its effect is overlooked much of the time

You chose a good word for it... rigged! Just another way the politicians are certain of 'job security'.


Chuck

Of course it is "rigged". There is too much money involved for it not to be "rigged".

There is a significant risk to creating a small group of incredibly wealthy people. The fear of a plutocracy is what makes people like Warren Buffet speak out about current taxation models. Which makes the standard reply of: Why doesn't he just send in more money, so silly.

[masterrig 1]

SkyDekker

************You are getting a good look at what we've been dealing with for years. Career pols on both sides of the aisle have been doing what's best for them for a long, long time, focusing solely on re-election and campaign donations. Those chickens have come home to roost.

And yet the people continually vote either Dem or GOP??? I don't get it, I also don't understand why people are so blindly loyal to such self serving rats (regardless of which party they're in).

while the blind loyalty is part of it, there is more. The parties have rigged (the best term I can think of right now) the system to help keep these two parties in power. The process of getting signatures and getting on ballots is not simple, and that by design allows the two parties to stay in power

Now, some of that complexity might be needed to keep the process from being overrun but, what these parties have done and its effect is overlooked much of the time

You chose a good word for it... rigged! Just another way the politicians are certain of 'job security'.


Chuck

Of course it is "rigged". There is too much money involved for it not to be "rigged".

There is a significant risk to creating a small group of incredibly wealthy people. The fear of a plutocracy is what makes people like Warren Buffet speak out about current taxation models. Which makes the standard reply of: Why doesn't he just send in more money, so silly.

I see, what you're saying.


Chuck

[Southern_Man 0]

Duverger's law predicts we will pretty much always have a two party system. Those parties might shift over time and (rarely) a third party emerge as one of the big two (and one of the incumbents collapse) but our electoral system is set up for two parties.

I say this as somebody who would desperately like a viable third party and has voted for lots of third party candidates. I do think it is possible that the modern Republican party could entirely collapse.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[masterrig 1]

The way things are now, we're screwed, no matter how we vote. Rarely do third party candidates win. To me, voting third party is like not voting. The third party candidate, unless he is extremely popular is most likely to lose. Until something really drastic happens, we're stuck with what we've got.


Chuck