Please Stop Me Before I Vote for a Bought-&-Paid-For Demopublican Again   (May 2, 2014)


If we only voted for unbuyable candidates, money would become poison in politics rather than mother's milk.

The solution to money in politics is simple: stop voting for politicos who accept millions of dollars in bribes, ahem, campaign contributions and who court lobbyists. It's really that easy: stop rewarding those who collect millions and start punishing them by refusing to vote for any politician who accepts more than $100 from any entity in any one election cycle.

As with so many other issues, we have been well-trained to expect a centralized authority to save us from ourselves: in effect, we're asking the Supreme Court, Congress, etc. to please stop us before we vote for a bought-and-paid-for politico again.

Nobody forces us to vote for the candidate who raises the most money and blows it on media buys to persuade us that they're not bought-and-paid-for. But think about it: the very fact this craven toady can afford to spend millions of dollars on advertising proves he/she is well and truly bought-and-paid-for.

The only exception is multi-millionaires who spend their own millions attempting to persuade us that they'll be more independent that the toadies begging for millions, but a cursory examination of the record of millionaires in office (gosh, the vast majority of craven toadies turn out to be millionaires) finds that once in power, these "I bought myself" millionaire politicos are no different than the bought-and-paid-for politicos.

Nothing will change until the candidates who raise and spend millions trying to persuade us they're not bought-and-paid-for lose elections, not on their platform or party ideology but on the simple fact that they're corrupt to the core.

Politics will change when the candidate who--

1. refuses donations above $100 from any entity--person, company, etc.

2. refuses anonymous donations or donations from slush funds that don't publicly list who operates and funds the slush fund

3. publicly lists every donation and donor on a website

4. refuses to meet paid lobbyists in any circumstance

5. refuses all gifts from anyone, including constituents--every gift is donated

6. refuses to sign secret "loyalty oaths" to powerful lobbies such as the NRA, public unions, Sierra Club, etc.

--wins the election not on ideology or platform issues but on the integrity of his/her campaign.

You want to clean up politics? It's easy: make sure every candidate who accepts millions of dollars for campaign advertising, welcomes gifts from paid lobbyists and makes secret promises to powerful national lobbies loses every election.

Alternatively, only vote for candidates who run a grassroots social-media campaign that costs next to nothing, who refuse all donations above $100, who leave footprints on the rear ends of lobbyists and who tell all the powerful lobbies to shove it where the sun doesn't shine because they're not pledging anything but not being for sale.

If we only voted for unbuyable candidates, money would become poison in politics rather than mother's milk. We don't need a centralized authority to save us, we can save ourselves if we throw out all the bought-and-paid-for politicos instead of rewarding them with our lemming-like approval of their corruption.



Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy (Kindle, $9.95)(print, $20)
go to Kindle edition
Are you like me?
Ever since my first summer job decades ago, I've been chasing financial security. Not win-the-lottery, Bill Gates riches (although it would be nice!), but simply a feeling of financial control. I want my financial worries to if not disappear at least be manageable and comprehensible.

And like most of you, the way I've moved toward my goal has always hinged not just on having a job but a career.

You don't have to be a financial blogger to know that "having a job" and "having a career" do not mean the same thing today as they did when I first started swinging a hammer for a paycheck.

Even the basic concept "getting a job" has changed so radically that jobs--getting and keeping them, and the perceived lack of them--is the number one financial topic among friends, family and for that matter, complete strangers.

So I sat down and wrote this book: Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy.

It details everything I've verified about employment and the economy, and lays out an action plan to get you employed.

I am proud of this book. It is the culmination of both my practical work experiences and my financial analysis, and it is a useful, practical, and clarifying read.

Test drive the first section and see for yourself.     Kindle, $9.95     print, $20

"I want to thank you for creating your book Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy. It is rare to find a person with a mind like yours, who can take a holistic systems view of things without being captured by specific perspectives or agendas. Your contribution to humanity is much appreciated."
Laura Y.





NOTE: Contributions/subscriptions are acknowledged in the order received. Your name and email remain confidential and will not be given to any other individual, company or agency.

Thank you, Edward P. ($50), for your magnificently generous contribution to this site -- I am greatly honored by your steadfast support and readership.   Thank you, Kevin K. ($50), for your exceptionally generous contribution to this site -- I am greatly honored by your longstanding support and readership.


"This guy is THE leading visionary on reality. He routinely discusses things which no one else has talked about, yet, turn out to be quite relevant months later."
--Walt Howard, commenting about CHS on another blog.

"You shine a bright and piercing light out into an ever-darkening world."
Jeremy Beck


Contributors and subscribers enable Of Two Minds to post 275+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales alone.

Or send coins, stamps or quatloos via mail--please request P.O. Box address.

Subscribers ($5/mo) and those who have contributed $50 or more annually (or made multiple contributions totalling $50 or more) receive weekly exclusive Musings Reports via email ($50/year is about 96 cents a week).

Each weekly Musings Report offers five features:
1. Exclusive essay on a diverse range of topics
2. Summary of the blog this week
3. Best thing that happened to me this week
4. Market Musings--commentary on the economy & global markets
5. From Left Field (a limited selection of interesting links)

At readers' request, there is also a $10/month option.

What subscribers are saying about the Musings (Musings samples here):

The "unsubscribe" link is for when you find the usual drivel here insufferable.

 
 
Dwolla members can subscribe to the Musings Reports with a one-time $50 payment:



The Heroes & Heroines of New Media:
oftwominds.com contributors and subscribers



All content, HTML coding, format design, design elements and images copyright © 2014 Charles Hugh Smith, All global rights reserved in all media, unless otherwise credited or noted.

I am honored if you link to this essay, or print a copy for your own use.

Terms of Service:
All content on this blog is provided by Trewe LLC for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.


                                                                         
blog     My Books     Archives     Books/Films     home


 



Making your Amazon purchases
through this Search Box helps
support oftwominds.com
at no cost to you:


Add oftwominds.com
to your reader:


Free Page Rank Tool

Oftwominds.com #7 in CNBC's
top alternative financial sites