bambinoideas.blogspot.com

 

BORN AND VOTING IN THE USA…

(Revised and corrected Version. My apologies for previously publishing by error the 1st draft)

Not really, my thinking is that you need a deep reform of the entire electoral system from the very top, including but not limited to cancel forever the undemocratic Electoral College vote, a novel invention at the time of the 13 colonies when roosters’ fights were legal. Presidential candidates should be elected by the majority plus one of the popular votes, this event by itself will be a good example of Democracy. A second necessary event that will give more luster to US Democracy is to ensure no difference voting in person, by mail or by using new, safe, and efficient technology.

Americans need badly an upgrade of their Democracy, being able to vote the same way as when you pay taxes or do your personal banking.  The point is that it should make no difference to vote in a polling station, electronic voting, or voting using Internet the same way you transfer money, tightly.  Examples of this have taken place in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Namibia, the Netherlands (Rijnland Internet Election System), Norway, Peru, Switzerland, the UK, Venezuela, and the Philippines.

Elections should be run by an independent Electoral Commission with qualified legal and party representation; For an additional anti-corruption instrument, the system should prohibit participation of any candidate that has been condemned for corruption, tax evasion, and or any serious crimes.  Also, to minimize political manipulation, a constitutional amendment should explicit that future changes to the main electoral law by the present Congress should not go into effect in the next immediate general election. 

Should you want electoral fairness, to minorities, strict regulations are needed for advertising and propaganda money spent by candidates, parties, and by private third parties’ supporters. Huge fines and legal penalties imposed for spreading confirmed "fake news" accusations, and or for implementing any "character killing" methodology, always as reviewed and confirmed by special investigation judges and law enforcement named by the Electoral Independent Commission; Equal participation time for candidates and for exposition of parties’ policies and platforms must be imposed on all media, newscasts, & talk shows in order to guarantee minorities participation and education of voter; Strict prohibition of corporate and similar  legal entities contributions to support candidates and parties in any way;  and,  for fairness, put  limits to individual contributions and donation, otherwise, Mr. Rich money will count more than Mr. Poor’s money.  Foreign participation in any way in the electoral process is prohibited and enforced before, during, and after the electoral process.

One final thought and consideration is the electoral technology systems to use. America, as any other country, must guarantee a Democratic legal vote by qualified citizens, within the nation and for eligible voters abroad. Accuracy, safety, and acceptability of citizens voting by mail or other means from overseas are to ensure their democratic participation

It is a shame if the US today don´t have a top-of-the-line postal system to responsibly manage votes, tax returns, tourists’ communications, and even private and love cards from and to the military personnel in over 140 countries around the world, with approximately 174,000 of its active-duty personnel. Add to that Americans tourist while travelling and over 9 million US citizens emigrated with permanent residence in over 160 countries around the world. For all of them the postal services must work perfectly and safe.

In addition, consider, also, that because of Globalization of US Capitalism, the fact is that according to Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a sample of some 350+ American companies are collectively holding a reported $2.1 trillion in profits in foreign lands, money being transfer bouncing from one account to other, from one company level to another, from one country to another, some of that legally and other “transfers” not. Some money out there is hiding from the IRS in Tax Heavens around the world. Keep in mind that all together those US companies hold more than 7,600 separate subsidiaries in foreign countries with local and US personnel. They all need a competent postal service for deliveries of goods and services, including voting.

On a final thought my friend, if you put your dollars in an envelope and mail them to yourself and the money don´t come back to you, please don´t blame it on the postal service, blame it on yourself for not keeping your cash in safe hands. Just joking! Seriously now, you can blame the postal service decayed on the abandonment and collapse of the support structures of the entire US socio-economic system. We all know the abandonment and neglect that in the past, and today, public, and semi-private services to the public have suffered.  We all know how in turn establishing priorities is now upside down. We know that the system in general is run to picture-perfect the profits of the top 1% and their essential strata. It is evident that when there is an economic boom people just don´t notice these problems they just pay for it, but when the inevitable inescapable Capitalist Cyclical Crisis show up, everyone open their eyes, just like you when losing $1,000 of your hard earned dollars. It’s like when the shit hit the fan… everyone immediately gets their share…