Yeah, I love it when really wealthy people, close to the end of their life, tell us that we don't don't need any more really wealthy people...

Hate speech is one form of it, but no, not just hate speech. LIES. Provable lies that endanger lives and the country. I fail to see how anyone can be in favor of dishonesty, especially in those chosen to govern.

I agree with this, completely.

Thank you, you said what I meant better than I said it.

"None of the above" should always be an option on election ballots. If you don't vote, your opinion doesn't count. It doesn't matter, it isn't recognized or acknowledged. If you vote "None of the Above" then your vote is specific, it counts, it matters, it makes a statement.

If enough people who are tired of the status quo were to vote "None of the Above" they'd have to select new candidate choices and schedule a new vote.

None of the Above is a valid option in India and comes with criteria and rules and significance. It's not perfect there - there have been NOTA votes that were greater than the votes for actual candidates in some elections there.

But it lets the government know that "We the People" are not happy with the options we've been given. It puts them on notice. It also puts the rest of the country on notice, when the NOTA vote is big enough.

Unless a state or city has certain rules against it, even if 50% say none of the above whoever gets the majority of the balance (assuming two candidates) would win I do believe. Having said this, do not see how this would ever happen.

We don't have to be twice as good. We only have to try twice as hard, in order to be considered just as good as our male counterpart. Thankfully for us women, that isn't very difficult to do.

Not sure if you've heard of this thing called electronics but it's kinda popular these days. You show up with that card, and an ID to show that you are the person whose name is on that card. The registrar fills in the little boxes on the top of a blank ballot with your registration ID# (like those boxes you had to fill in when you took placement tests, IQ tests, SATs, back in grade school). You fill in your choice for candidate, and stuff it in the box. Those little boxes the clerk filled in, that gets electronically sent into the system, so if anyone tries to vote with the same ID number, their vote is not counted. You can't vote again.

You only get one card. You don't get to request it. It's sent to you. If you claim you lost it or never got it, you have to go through the process of getting a new one, and the number for the old one is cancelled and not useable.

Sort of like if you lose your key card at the hotel. They cancel the digital data from that card and issue you a new one with a unique set of data.

He's not talking about everyone having equal ownership of everything. He's talking about the poor being less poor, and the ultra-wealthy contributing more in the form of taxes.

The poor will still not be wealthy. And the ultra-wealthy will still be ultra-wealthy. But no one will want for food, clothing, shelter, education, health, or opportunity to succeed. It's doing what Jesus tried to teach his disciples - when you find a man who has fallen, don't tread on him. Instead, reach out your hand and lift him up.

I don't even know where the "middle" is as it continues to evolve at the feelings of others. What was the middle at the turn of the century is considered extreme today. I am not looking forward to the day I am on the wrong side of the grass, but I sure do not see myself wishing to exist in the United States decades from now. Sadly this country is circling the drain as it enters its final passage out the sewer.

Yes, but the cost is always always incredibly high.

The one thing that gives me hope is that, when polled individually on various political topics and policies, there is a lot more out there that Americans agree on than is disagreed upon. However, we've been carved up into two tribes that are simply reactionary. If "the other tribe" likes it, it MUST be opposed and vice versa.

I've been doing some homework on this for discussion in another place and there are things out there that poll in numbers that any politician would salivate over. But tribalism keeps people from actually TALKING to each other and coming to a consensus.

I remember the days when bitter political opponents would craft legislation after hours in a restaurant. I remember when exaggerations were "ok" (sometimes you need them to make a point) but out and out lies DID count against you!

So in theory if only one person lived in Nebraska, and 50 million people live in New York, Nebraska still has the voting power that NY has. Crazy.

More and more...
 

Statistically more people are voting with their feet away from both parties and turning independent. There lies the true hope. It has become an US versus them situation where everything has to be partisanship and not let's discuss where we can meet in the middle. Radicals on the left radicals on the right

Balance
 

The designers of our government were some of the smartest people of their time or even of today. They created a system that balances out population versus each state as well as having three different branches of government so that each has certain powers the others don't. And in fact the supreme Court has ruled that the states do not have all the same powers as government. If you ever watch ONN news they have an excellent public announcement talking about states rights and that several things returned and overturned in the 1800s ensuring States being sued by private citizens as well as by the federal government. In fact right now Arizona is putting up containers to block a wall even though it's on Federal Land and it'll be an interesting fight if it goes to court. To the editor of not being political and just discussing the news of the day I'm not being left or right just talking about what's happening. If you really interested you can take out books on our form of government. It's really interesting how well thought out it was as well as the fights during the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If you really want to know crazy, look at Israel's form of government where they have to have a new election every 9 months is there a 25 different parties that consolidate power depending on what they're trying to pass as laws that day of the week.

So basically you would like a dictatorship if only one person out of 100 million voted one way instead of the other way.

Most of all deception and corruption

So u want to force people to vote even if they dont want to ? Is that freedom ?

Up to now, this has been a wonderful analysis by thoughtful people. Slight veiled statements showing political beliefs may have been
Included but kept to a minimum and not really stated.
Please don’t start now impacting this wonderful thread.

Bingo!

I can think of few other ways that would keep government out of the hands of the extremists.

Makes sense, until one realizes that the definition of "wealthy" will ALWAYS be made by someone who is less wealthy than the proposed level determining it.

Rather than wealth rearrangement, why not try something more positive, such as favorable business climates for those entrepreneurs just starting out? Far too many states are business-hostile: my state of origin, Minnesota, was to a fault. Business were fleeing like deranged lemmings to states such as South Dakota that had a climate that encouraged entrepreneurship rather than squelching it.

Actually, it is responsibility--yanno, the other side of that coin that has "freedom" on it.

The law forces us to do all kinds of things that we may not want to do. Oh, some of us still do it: how many of us have driven 70 MPH in a 55 MPH zone, then complained bitterly when caught and made to pay a fine?

"Freedom" is NEVER free. And it is the responsibility of every one of us to assure that it continues to exist.

Once again our Forefathers predicted what is happening now. Abraham Lincoln said… ”A house divided cannot stand.”

Unfortunately that was just before the Civil War.

Doomed
 

That may be true, but America as we know it will be a thing of the past by then and hopefully I will have long been returned to ashes from wince I came.

United we stand, divided we fall…
 

Keep in mind that Russia and China are players in the mis-information and conspiracy theories.

They would love to see the U.S. have civil war so they can come in as peacekeepers and put in a “Stable” government that only has 1 leader and no other options!!!

Much cheaper way to take over a country than having to fight a war themselves…

Term limits would keep them in check and old timers would not be necessary to keep the ship from sinking. Unfortunately Reps and Senators make the rules and have 0 incentive to change terms limits.

It is not all or nothing. Protection of minorities is built into the fabric of our country. Protection of minorities from the majority means the same as any rights. The majority can not impose on the minorities rights.

My hope
 

and how decisive would we be without Fox news, CNN, MSNBC and the internet,,,

Following laws, telling the truth, being good, etc. are functions of human morality. Our government (all governments) are humans.

Right out of the box, the Bible shows human morality to move to the "bad" side.

Whether literally true or not, the story of Adam and Eve sets the tone for everything that follows.

A human will take everything for themselves ultimately. All cultures and empires have failed throughout history, RIGHT?

Country
 

As a student of the Revolutionary War, I find it interesting that our current ruling class is so similar to England and the control they had over the colonies. We all know what happened when they were unhappy with that control. I love our old USA.

So, the loser of elections in the USA wins… minority right????

Absolutely correct.

Lest I repeat myself...

Reductio ad absurdum - Wikipedia

That's still wealth rearrangement. When you favor entrepreneurs just starting out, you DISfavor the CEOs of the mega-corporations. Every $10 you give to a startup is $10 less you give to a wealthy mega-corp. If you give $10 to the mega-corp, then that $10 you give to the startup won't help, because he's still the same amount of mega-bucks behind and still has the same amount to catch up on.

Wealth rearrangement is fine, if it's done in a way that allows the mega-wealthy to continue being mega-wealthy, but gives the startups a better opportunity to get into profit-making.

As for "what constitutes wealth" - I'd say Warren Buffett has a pretty good idea of the definition. If one of the wealthiest people in the WORLD says "what I make is too much" you can probably believe him.

Yet he somehow manages to keep all of his money...

Talk is cheap...

Yup. My cousin was a life-long Republican, and Press Secretary of the Dept. of Commerce during a popular Republican President's tenure. In 2016 he left the GOP and joined me in the growing minority of Unaffiliated voters.

No need to repeat. Still, majority rules in our elections. Latin or not.

I think any Justice, who lies during their hearings, should be immediately tossed off the court.

Well that’s one, and you two. Btw I am an unaffiliated too. Because I vote for the person and their stands on issues and beliefs. I do not believe in herd mentality and follow either one of the two Parties like sheep.