Friday, March 17, 2006
New Poll and New Lottery: What Effect Will the Mid-Term Elections have on the Bush Government?
Well, it’s been difficult to shut down the 10 Greatest Dangers poll, because people keep responding to it. Only 3 days ago I announced I was shutting that poll down and looking for a new topic, but since then another 14 points have been recorded. It makes it awefully tough to shut it down, you know? But, all good things must come to an end, and as such so must this poll. But I have a new topic to discuss, and poll about: How much effect with the mid-term elections have on the policies of this government?
This all came from a discussion I had with my friend James http://jheaney1.blogspot.com/ a couple nights ago. We were actually trying to work up a list of potential candidates for 2008 so that I could start the poll suggested by Mike Buffington http://www.mikebuffington.com/. But James kept protesting that it is ridiculous to be focusing on 2008 when the crucial mid-term elections were closing in upon us. I was (and am) much more skeptical, as I believe that President Bush has pretty much decided he’s going to run the country the way he sees fit, and that he doesn’t care who’s in Congress or the house.
James does feel that the midterms can have some effect. But he also believes that no real change will be affected until there is a revamp of our electoral process. I found his ideas somewhat radical, but his suggestions are definitely school for thought and discussion. So, James discussed the following changes that could really create a government that represents the views and wishes of the country:
1) Outlaw the use of private funds for elections. Since the airwaves are government owned, James believes that each candidate should have a set amount of advertising time provided to them by the government. Additionally the government would provide each candidate with a budget for travel and other expenses, leveling the playing field by allowing candidates with a smaller who don’t have the financial resources to compete.
2) Mutli-Choice Ballets, where people select a first and second choice for the office in question and all the choices will be factored in when selecting the winning candidate (hopefully James will come here and explain that better).
3) A parliamentary system, allowing each diverse group in the US to have some representation on one level of government.
I think the first suggestion could actually really benefit our electoral system, though I think it would be expensive to implement, and the people in power will never allow it to occur. But that suggestion, at least, I find to be valuable in our society. I’m not so sure about the other two suggestions, but they are, at the very least, extremely interesting, and worthy of discussion.
So vote in the poll regarding the real effect of the mid-term elections on the Bush government. And then come here, sign in, and if you feel like it, respond to James thoughts for improving our government. Anyone who signs in here will be eligible for a lottery that I will hold on Sunday, March 26th just before midnight. The prize will be 250 credits on either BlogExplosion, BlogMad, BlogClicker, or the latest service I found, BlogAdvance. So comment here early and often, and good luck in the lottery!
technorati tags: Bush, Government, Poll, Lottery, Mid-Term,
Posted by Scottage at 12:24 PM /
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Well, it’s been difficult to shut down the 10 Greatest Dangers poll, because people keep responding to it. Only 3 days ago I announced I was shutting that poll down and looking for a new topic, but since then another 14 points have been recorded. It makes it awefully tough to shut it down, you know? But, all good things must come to an end, and as such so must this poll. But I have a new topic to discuss, and poll about: How much effect with the mid-term elections have on the policies of this government?
