Constitutional Problems

I like the U.S. Constitution but there are some parts of it that don't work anymore. The electoral college, for instance, which only allowed the worst two term president in our history to get elected. Then there's the two year term for the House of Representatives, which doesn't allow for long term planning. Another provision that has to go is the Second Amendment. The original intent, as most scholars would point out, was to allow for a colonial militia, not a blanket ability to own weapons. The need for state militias has been made obsolete by the permanenst army, the border patrol and the National Guard, which serves most of the remaining functions.

In today's hyper-polarized political problems like these can no longer be addressed or solved. The entire political process has been hijacked by well financed, media savvy interest groups who pervert the political process for their own interests.

Another Piece of the Puzzle

Another culprit has emerged in the curious plot to declare that corporations are "persons" who have a "right" to free speech in the form of making unlimited political donations. Lewis Powell, a Nixon appointee who served on the US Supreme Court from from 1972 to 1987. His wrote the opinion in the matter First National Bank v. Bellotti that monetary donations were protected speedch. Powell was a corporate hack, who among other things worked as a representative for the tobacco industry. In 1971 he also wrote the Powell Memorandum to the US chamber of commerce, in which he declared that corporate interests should be more aggressive in influencing the political system. It is fair to say that "corporate personhood" is not a constitutional principal but a ruse for corporate interests to impose their agenda on everybody else.

A Moving Wall of Sludge

The recent scandal over the manipulation of the LIBOR (London interbank offered rate) keeps getting bigger. At first it was manipulation committed by Barclay's Bank. But now it seems that many other banks were involved; Bank of America, Citibank, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank and several others were mixed up in it. It seems that the entire global financial system may be crooked. Surprise, surprise? It's no longer a case of a few "bad apples" it's the entire crop that's rotten.

Cut the Crap Already

Leave it to the Democrats to rescue defeat from the jaws of victory. You'd think that the Supreme Court upholding the affordable health care act would be a cause for celebration. Instead the President is maintaining that the mandate is "not a tax" while Congressional Demos act like they want to put it all behind them.

Why? Because the Demos are so convinced by medial consultants and whatever that the law remains unpopular. The law remains unpopular largely because the Demos have not put much effort into defending it. Of course its human nature to be more receptive to lies that are easily grasped than to complicated truths. But the Demos need to make more of an effort to win, if they actually want to win.