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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

#131

Post by rgarcia »

nimblegorilla wrote: post #129
rgarcia wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand your point--wouldn't public financing of elections remove the need to hold fundraisers? The problem as I see it is that representatives are forced (due to the exorbitant cost of campaigning) to win over wealthy interests. This manifests itself as what we've seen with the whole SOPA debacle: representatives who are completely out of touch with their constituents.

How would public financing solve anything? If we gave each candidate a billion dollars it seems like there would still be an incentive to raise even more money from rich corporations.

By definition public financing precludes corporate financing.

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

#133

Post by waqf »

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.

As a Permanent Resident of the United States, I can assure you that "no taxation without representation" has been dead a looong while.

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

#134

Post by waqf »

JanezStupar wrote: post #124
maxerickson wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are your examples of historically successful democracies?

Athens, Rome, Sparta, Switzerland, United States

Rome's been around a while and it has had several significantly different forms of government. Which period have you in mind?

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

#135

Post by rquantz »

kbutler wrote: post #79
tomkin wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about small government vs. large government when it should be about good government , regardless of size.

"That government is best which governs least." -- attr. Thomas Jefferson

That quote, while frequently attributed to Jefferson, was probably never written by him. The earliest attribution for a similar quote is from 1837, and in the current form it comes from Thoreau in 1849 -- Civil Disobedience.

http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/gove...

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

#138

Post by kbutler »

nerfhammer wrote: post #116
kbutler wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"That government is best which governs least." -- attr. Thomas Jefferson

I've never understood the citation of proverb in lieue of argument

It's a concise statement of a contrasting opinion, with a citation you can follow to find more elaboration of similar thoughts.

It would not have been more clear to phrase it as the following:

""" > It's about small government vs. large government when it should be about good government, regardless of size

But the problem is that large government, by the very fact of its scope and size, involves itself too much in the lives and business of its citizens. The proper role of government is to mediate in the conflicts that arise between the rights and desires of its citizens, striving to best protect those rights and the liberty of each individual while constraining that liberty and the pursuit of individual and collective well being as little as possible. Thus, smaller government is better government.

The problems arising from expansive government powers and the desirability of strictly limiting government power are explored extensively in various writings of the founders of the American Republic. """

(and note the "attr." is "attributed to")

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

#139

Post by JanezStupar »

waqf wrote: post #134
JanezStupar wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Athens, Rome, Sparta, Switzerland, United States

Rome's been around a while and it has had several significantly different forms of government. Which period have you in mind?

Obviously the republic era, before Caesar.

The civic virtue within the republic of Rome was so great that to this day our institutions mirror those of their age. They were extremely democratic. But not in a modern sense.

Do note that all systems are bound to get corrupt, whither and die. But the best are extremely resistant to corruption. And strong anti populist safeguards are a property of all of them.

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

#140

Post by JumpCrisscross »

bh42222 wrote: post #98
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. S…

If engines were intelligent beings constantly plotting and trying to fail

I am assuming this is hyperbole, but if it isn't, it should be noted that politicians aren't trying to blow up the systems they govern. No elite is. The situation where short-term interests systematically countermand long-term interests results from a mis-alignment of incentives in the system; it is nothing germane to government.

All large organizations...have a tendency to grow

Actually, no. They empirically tend to evaporate away. Most organisations have a desire to grow.

Switzerland

I'm Swiss, and yes, I agree that we have a damn good system of governance :). But it is very nuanced moderated democracy that exists in a specific environment. I am not so sure it would work in a more heterogenous society; we are having terribly xenophobic reactions to our Muslim minority.

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