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Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

politicianmarket.com

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Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#91

Post by jedbrown »

bjnortier_hn wrote: post #41
bad_user wrote: post #11

This is a parody, but something like this could work: (1) show a list of bills that are passing Congress / the Senate (2) for each proposal, show a list of politicians that supports or opposes it (3) have a way for the user to flag politicians he wants to reward (4) plus a way for the user to setup a recurring monthly donation, distributed towards the politicians he supports, with a note pointing to your online profi…

What happened to "No taxation without representation"? This would skew the government even more towards rewarding the rich - increasing the size of the government-as-a-service market is a step in the wrong direction.

What if the total contribution was capped? You could even add that he first $50 of everyone's taxes would be appropriated as that person chooses (Lessig's proposal).

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#92

Post by bh42222 »

davidw wrote: post #60
vectorpush wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dramatically limit the size of government Any specifics? "Limit the size of government" is a trite platitude that anyone could agree with on some level. Shove 100 random people in a room and you have 200 conflicting ideas about the appropriate role of government.

Maybe someone should write a bot that replays these tedious discussions, freeing up people to do more productive work. M-x libertopians-vs-lefties Or something like that.

I couple of bots, one left and one right, could cover 90% of political argument on the Internet.

It will be a lot easier to pretend the bot is human if it refuses to talk on other topics. And politics on the internet is a horse beaten to a smooth pulp, so the bot could have a HUGE library to search for both question and argument.

A sincere implementation could actually educate a lot of people. Not change their stance, but elevate their arguments.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#93

Post by ttt_ »

I think that we should be trying to limit what incentives there are today for politicians to become corrupt. The biggest one IMO is the campaign as it exists today. They are long lasting and very expensive, hence a politician has no chance other than to find ways to fund their campaign.

The resulting factor is that this attracts the attention of parties that do have large sums of money and that comes with an implied exchange of favors.

An option would be for campaigning to be restricted to low cost media such as the internet and maybe government provided TV time.

Another alternative to be considered. Every cent spent on campaign should be divided equally between parties, where if you buy a 20 second ad on TV than that time will be equally divided between your campaign and all other oponents.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#94

Post by tgrass »

davidw wrote: post #60
vectorpush wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dramatically limit the size of government Any specifics? "Limit the size of government" is a trite platitude that anyone could agree with on some level. Shove 100 random people in a room and you have 200 conflicting ideas about the appropriate role of government.

Maybe someone should write a bot that replays these tedious discussions, freeing up people to do more productive work. M-x libertopians-vs-lefties Or something like that.

Nozick vs Rawls.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#95

Post by jmonegro »

vectorpush wrote: post #37
scottdw2 wrote: post #16

I don't think that public funding of elections or free advertising (see the bottom of the page) are the solutions to government corruption. That would just force bribers to be more covert. It's analogous to the fact that SOPA wouldn't stop piracy. It seems to me that the real solution is to dramatically limit the size of government, so that there is nothing to be bought, rather then just changing the currency used to…

dramatically limit the size of government Any specifics? "Limit the size of government" is a trite platitude that anyone could agree with on some level. Shove 100 random people in a room and you have 200 conflicting ideas about the appropriate role of government.

When I think of limiting the size of government, I don't necessarily think about capsizing the physical size of it, but limit the amount of power it has via laws.

It'd be ideal if a couple of laws could be passed to limit or restrict the power of the government to regulate markets, intervene in private matters other than property rights and (to an extent) citizen protection (don't let them get as big as the TSA is, for instance), etc.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#96

Post by jahewson »

scottdw2 wrote: post #16

I don't think that public funding of elections or free advertising (see the bottom of the page) are the solutions to government corruption. That would just force bribers to be more covert. It's analogous to the fact that SOPA wouldn't stop piracy. It seems to me that the real solution is to dramatically limit the size of government, so that there is nothing to be bought, rather then just changing the currency used to…

Here in the UK there are tough restrictions on political advertising, and our politics is much less silly, and much less about money. We don't have free speech (UK libel law is infamous) which for once is advantageous as one cannot engage in the gross misrepresentation of opponents which is all too common in the US.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#97

Post by joering2 »

I think wise politics is about wise decisions that are based on todays situation but reach out in the future. The worst case scenario are politicians who make up their mind today and change it 180deg later on. While some may say they may be uneducated, lack experience, etc, corruption is also a big deal.

what I would love to have is a website like politicopedia where i could see all politicians enlisted and each vote on each bill with date they voted and why they voted this way. this would be a great tool to run statistics down the line: see who voted right/wrong way on certain issues, etc.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#98

Post by bh42222 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #90
davidw wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe someone should write a bot that replays these tedious discussions, freeing up people to do more productive work. M-x libertopians-vs-lefties Or something like that.

The reason this debate rages incessantly is because government, like any institution, grows over time. It takes constant dialogue to evaluate when it has gone too far and then suddenly shrink it when that time comes. Mindless it may seem because of no resulting action 99% of the time, but the same can be said of pre-flight engine tests.

Mindless it may seem because of no resulting action 99% of the time, but the same can be said of pre-flight engine tests.

Terrible analogy. If engines were intelligent beings constantly plotting and trying to fail, no one would dare fly, no matter how many pre-flight checks there were.

All large organizations, not just government, have a clear and strong tendency to grow.

The sad fact is, there is no good solution. Switzerland's direct democracy might be one, however:

1. Switzerland is tiny.

2. What are the chances the US, or any other country, will radically reconfigure its constitution and system of government.

A more realistic scenario is what has happened in other places. Like in the UK in the 1970s or Sweden in the early 19th century. Government grows so big and inefficient that a radical shrinking of it is forced upon everyone. It is an ugly and painful process and occasionally goes horribly wrong. But it's pretty much the only proven way governments have significantly shrunk in the real world.

Re: Show HN: I'm tired of corrupt US politicians, so I created this

#100

Post by epynonymous »

what the world needs are more robin hoods. anonymous is a partial example of this, an elite group that fears no organization (big or small) and the means to exact change.

checked out the site, personally i think the money angle defeats the purpose of politics, politicians should be bred to enable positive changes in society based on their core beliefs and principles, dangling a carrot in front of them is not going to foster this behavior, imho.

a better idea would be some site that promotes discussion amongst the people for certain topics and would have some angle to bring politicians into those conversations. that would really help connect the two.

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