If you look at the field of Republican Candidates the latest to rise in the polls (sort of) is Newt Gingrich. Here's a little story about this guy and his rather bizarre past (never have liked him much):
Newt as a wasteland.
Beyond that there is this thought; a very dangerous thought. What may be needed to dig us out of the political morass we are in is a Constitutional Convention (CC). It is something that is allowed (even called for in some circumstances) to correct large ills should our system ever encounter problems it cannot fix otherwise. I submit that we may well be at that juncture now.
Before we call for this action we need to understand that once called for the sky is the limit on what can happen. That is, there may well be multiple ways in which this process can be manipulated and corrupted just as the current system has been. We might well need a form of internet voting for the CC so that we have a direct voice in this process. This following TED talk is an example of what is possible that cannot be tampered with:
eVoting without Fraud
We need this to change the process and fix a few things that are seriously broken. A CC can then take up as many suggestions as we can create and tear down the problems to be rebuilt as we wish.
Here are some thoughts on what we can change:
1. Corporations are not people. A person is a Natural Person and can never be a corporation or other than a Natural Person.
2. All elections are publicly financed, period. Any contributor or recipient stepping outside of this system (by contribution of either cash or trade) is subject to arrest for a Felony and can be jailed (mandatory) for long periods of time in regular (not special) prisons.
3. All politicians are subject to recall at anytime after their third (or sixth or ninth) month in office.
4. There would be a National Initiative process available once a year (or X years) and that wording for that initiative must undergo scrutiny by a select panel that must adhere to strict rules for clear understandability and no intent to subvert the intent of the initiative. The number of signatures required to have an initiative on the ballot must be X% of all eligible voters on a State by State basis.
5. Reinstate Glass/Steagall and, perhaps, other regulations (broadcast Fairness Doctrine comes to mind) as is deemed helpful in keeping factual content in our news sources.
6. There are no corporations that are too big to fail. A death penalty for corporations can be imposed through some legal proceeding that reviews pollution, fraud and other offenses. Officers of corporations have only limited immunity from prosecution for their acts and the acts of companies they run.
7. Make a Constitutional Convention mandatory every 30 or 50 years.
The list can be very lengthy but not all ideas would probably pass. In fact. I have lots and lots of ideas on what might be included but by now you get the idea. Pick the things that are broken right now and save others for later via the regular but fixed process.
The conversation needs to be national in scope and there needs to be a time limit on how long it would go on before items would be brought to a vote (via internet) of the People (not by Representatives). Get the money out of politics and get the lobbyists out of the process.
