this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2024
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200
Andy Levin, Pushed Out of Congress by AIPAC, Calls for Change in U.S.-Israel Policy (www.democracynow.org)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
19 comments fedilink hide all child comments
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[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well let's get fucking real about this. PAC activity is bad because it invites foreign influence and limitless spending. The honest tale is that any system that allows this is bad, and these shitheads are just exposing that, and it's not the first time.

We need to repeal any laws that allow this kind of bullshit. Also probably to stop self-funding of campaigns, as has become a problem.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

We had a law. The Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court invalidated it saying the First Amendment takes precedence so we’d need another Amendment limiting speech in politics, which is complicated. I believe we already have laws about foreign money in politics, but we have extremely weak enforcement for it (and weak enforcement of other political laws in general). If we made stronger laws requiring PACs to report where all of their funding came from the current Supreme Court would likely knock it down saying anonymous speech is also protected by the First Amendment.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

We don't need an amendment. We just need to get rid of a few openly corrupt supreme court justices.

Because as has been shown, precedent can be ignored.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I am writing a several-thousand word paper on this very thing, and the nature of a corrupt court doesn't get fixed until you put better representatives in the House and Senate, which doesn't happen until you change the rules of the game for Campaign Finance & Election Law.

Ultimately, the stacked court is there to stay for decades if not perpetuity until a grassroots demand for a constitutional amendment reforming our elections occurs. This must be a movement as big if not bigger than civil rights in order to happen. But it's the only way to fix the root problem and also sidestep the Supreme Court.

Pretty much every single major issue that plagues our country is caused or exacerbated by:

  • The Electoral College
  • FPTP Voting
  • Money = Speech, Dark Money, and Corporate Personhood
  • Gerrymandering
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Don't get me started on Ordinal vs Cardinal voting systems... But the TLDR is that Ordinal is great when you have two options, and shit when you have more than that.

STAR is the best voting system I've found so far. (Still looking for better, but STAR is pretty good)

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah STAR is really promising! I ultimately appreciate anything that 1) isn't FPTP, 2) Eliminates the Spoiler Effect, and 3) is extremely intuitive to even the most demented grandma and youngest most newest newcomer to voting. I really like Approval Voting because it's kind of foolproof.

Like you said, hard to find perfection (eg, condorcet winner meets intuitive), but we also can't let perfection be the enemy of good.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I'll take the amendment still, one worded strongly enough that a corrupt supreme court can't argue around it.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is horrible.

I'm truly sorry we lost Andy Levin's support in the Michigan Congress. And I won't soon forget the foreign meddling that caused this.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

He lost his reelection a while ago. His district changed due to redistricting. I met him at the Huntington Woods 4th of July parade. Really seemed like a great guy

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (4 children)

What is the real solution to money buying elections. All I can think of is the gov gives you a budget, and that is all that can be spent. People are welcome to voice thier opinions, but not to spend money spreading it. Seems unlikely to work out as planned. Any better ideas?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Limit campaigning to 6 weeks before the election. Our drawn out campaign cycle is unsubstainable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

1st amendment would be an issue with this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Prevent substantial wealth differentials in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

You're not wrong. But while you can knock them down, you can't stop them. The powerful will always find a way.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Ban political advertising and campaign contributions, at minimum. Might need a constitutional amendment for this.

Or it might be necessary to ban rich people.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Or it might be necessary to ban rich people.

Haha, now we're talking!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Yeah that's the thing, an solution that requires an ammendment is a nonstarter. That is why all these PACs exist. They are not part of the official campaign, so they aren't under any campaign rules. I just don't know how we manage that without an ammendment.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

This is correct. The government decided the amount you get for ads and such. I’d really like something like France also where we have a media black out about it leading up to the election.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 months ago

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