The North East coast and the West coast are like separate countries within the USA.
Wendy,
Please put the blame where it belongs. Congressional reps can be voted out. They can suffer a recall from their constituents. They can be sent to jail for crimes committed. Who controls this? We do. The bad representation is OUR fault. This is still a government of the people. The issue becomes one of getting the people to pay attention. This isn’t a left or right issue, it is our whole society. To lean on an old saw, “We get the government we deserve”.
Expulsion is the only way to oust them ahead of the end of their term limit. What are you talking about?
You are copping out, giving them the green light to be criminals in office, saying it is our fault that they take bribes behind closed doors. Have you taken a Quaalude? Has your rocker broken?
Uhh… you do know that a recall is expulsion, right?
Did I say that any of the possible remedies would be easy? Perhaps breaking all TVs or outlawing reality TV shows is the answer. It’s about getting people off their dead asses and participating in their own governance. Shining the big spotlight on the bad actors and then acting (lawfully) is the correct answer. No, it doesn’t happen overnight, but when the people rise up, then some sort of justice can happen.
Ludes? Did you actually say Ludes? That is so 70’'s!!! I think I remember those but it was looooong ago. And yes, my rocker is broken. It broke a long time ago. It’s called old age cynicism…
I haven’t heard of it being done other than by a Congressional vote which doesn’t happen all too often and no I’d never heard of a recall being called an official expulsion.
Who do you think you’re talking too…a spring chicken?
A recall only happens at the state level. A congressional vote has nothing to do with it. Congress can vote a censure (that has happened) but a recall can only come from the people who elected the crook/idiot.
Damn! I thought you were one those wet behind the ears kids. But if you remember ludes… Yeah, you’re a little long in the tooth. 
You do realize that poor people could not afford horses back then … Just as poor people can’t afford cars now.
That’s horseshit…an old nag was totally affordable…who are you kidding?
FTS
Tentative,
Where’s a good resource to figure out how to recall those sons-o-bitches and the plain 'ole bitches? I wonder if it can be all inclusive of both houses of congress statewide in one fail swoop or separate cases for each individual? Same for governors and mayors? Is there a way to place them on the inactive roster, where they are not allowed to participate while the recall process is transpiring?
The rules and regulations for a recall effort is different for every state So, it would be one at a time. But first, you have to obtain X amount of citizens to petition for a recall. It isn’t an easy task. Next, the list of petitioners have to be verified as legal. This usually takes as long as they can stall the process. After that, a referendum date for a vote has to be established. Assuming it goes that far, a congressman can be thrown out of office to be replaced by a person chosen by the governor of that state to be a representative until the next general election. The rules for recalling local officials may be different. It depends on the rules chosen by the state legislature.
Having fun yet? It is an ass pull with little chance of success. The most efficient method is through the ballot box at general election. Time, effort, and resources are better spent here.
I wonder if the process of petition verification can be sped up (streamlined) with technology, live recorded constituent faces acknowledging their signatures, on petition site photocopies of I.D.s, and e-signatures (recorded while happening) could enhance/speed up the process. People who have half a brain and a fire in their bellies need to attempt these things to outsmart the dirty government, beat them at their own BS game. Holes need to be blown into their ivory towers.
Everything you mentioned could be accomplished with enough assets and a software program that everyone agrees can’t be tampered with. But are you sure? The people who sign any petition are putting their ass on the line. The information gathered can be misused to target potential voters in nasty ways. Stories of individuals being intimidated and receiving death threats are fairly common. The internet is anonymous. That is a two edged sword. It is best to keep big brother stupid. He already has the ability to collect more information than anyone should feel comfortable having it out there.
Perhaps you can see why I’m leery of AI and robotics. What happens when government has the means to know everything you say and do? The people most interested in AI isn’t the scientists, It’s the politicians and corporations who seek absolute control. We aren’t completely slaves yet, but it is right on the horizon. The future could make 1984 look like kindergarten.
My friend,
Your perception of poverty and poor people are miles away from the target. You have not seen what really poverty means. It looks to me that you consider merely absence of luxury as a sign of poverty which is not a right way of judging it.
For instance, i do not have any air conditioner, any four wheeler (old or new), any central air system, any iphone and not even a LCD in my home. In spite of all that, i still do not consider myself as a poor.
with love,
sanjay
Well you have access to the internet…a luxury. Others have said that having electricity or any form of transportation other than walking is a luxury one should go without upgrades to horses, two wheelers, four wheelers. We can get all kinds of ridiculous if we compare country by country what “real poverty” is. It’s dying homeless from famine naked in a snow laddened street in -20F weather during a blizzard, so you are spoiled too Zinnat. I mean really. Most Africans have it the worst…agreed? So Zinnat lives in luxury compared to the desert nomads of Africa who are running from kids with machetes. Grow up people with your misplaced finger wagging.
That generally happens with young people. They get angry very easily.
By the way, internet costs me merely 6 $ per month, which includes unlimited sms and calls per day and 1 GB of 4G internet data daily. But yes, some people living in any remote place in Africa may call it a luxury. And, that is precisely why i said that i do not consider myself a poor.
Realize that poverty has nothing much to do with the means of living or wealth one have. You would always run into trouble if you take that as a benchmark for deciding poverty because then everyone on this earth becomes poor in the comparison of Bill Gates or Jeff Bezros so do not make it a relative issue.
To me, one becomes poor only when one cannot do or achieve most of those things in spite of one’s best efforts what he/she would be able to do if the necessary means were available to him.
with love,
sanjay
Is $6 a month considered a lot by the poor there? Here we pay $35+ for the same.
Wendy,
If your want to understand what is poor using dollars as the benchmark, then look at per capita yearly income and any particular purchase as a percentage of that income. I don’t think it’s a very good indicator of what is “poor”, but it gives you a method of comparison. What is poor depends on the country or geographical area if dollars are the measurement. For instance, zinnat may only have to spend 72.00/yr for internet service and that might represent only 5% of his total yearly income, but he may have to spend 70% of his income on food if living in a food importing country. Here in the U.S., we might spend 15% of our income on communication services but only 20% on food. It makes defining poor a little more complicated than just looking a dollars.
What percentage of his income is he paying for internet service? What is his income in US dollars? Do you pay 70% of your income on food Zinnat?
How do I do this if one rich person earns what 1,000,000 poor people earn? Doesn’t the billionaire throw the figures off?