Changes the US government desperately needs that will never happen

[DEAD7]

We could cut our spending in half and still easily outspend every other country on earth.

What other countries are spending is and always will be a silly metric for lots of reasons...

But since we are discussing spending...
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/professor-stephanie-kelton-the-deficit-myth.788115/

All government spending gives birth to "new money creation".
Its a good thing according to progressives.

 

[winb83]

You think this way because you feel succession is ridiculous and can never happen. Not gonna argue it... we can just agree to disagree.

The laws of the land operate(and are crafted) under the belief the states can leave. So representation for each should and will likely remain equal.
We should look to other reforms.

Representation isn't equal. It's just the senate is the last line of defense for the small population states. The house represents citizens. The senate represents and executes the will of the party the senators belong to. The general public's interest aren't really involved. Need an example the impeachment of Trump. Even if it was party lines in the house Trump did what he was accused of. The senate held a mock trial with no witnesses and refused to remove him from office even though he did what he was accused of. They didn't do it for the good of the people they did it for the good of the party. They did it because as Grover Norquist put it a while ago they need a "Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become the president of the United States . . . to sign the legislation that has already been prepared."

 

[Shogun]

What other countries are spending is and always will be a silly metric for lots of reasons...

But since we are discussing spending...
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/professor-stephanie-kelton-the-deficit-myth.788115/

All government spending gives birth to "new money creation".
Its a good thing according to progressives.

It’s silly because why?

And, fine. How about that new money creation gets put towards almost anything other than overpriced military equipment that’s outdated as it’s rolling off the lot?

Last, progressives saying something makes it gospel? Weird point you’re trying to make.

 

[FAH1223]

Senate will never go so get rid of the filibuster

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

The DoD budget is already bloated like a motherfukker

Which part is true?

His one part about the definition of democratic socialist economies seemed off to me because its just a mixed economy to me. Basically it's the same thing as a capitalistic economy with a bit of a safety net built in. Heck, the stuff Bernie pushed for isn't even that revolutionary because it expands on the systems we already have (0-16 years of school instead of 0-12, expansion of Medicare)

Also as a former DoD employee I can personally tell you that we could maintain the same military by cutting 25% of the DoD budget. You'd be better off hiring civilian employees instead of contractors because contractors bill at $300 an hour. A civilian employee goes for $125 tops. The government workforce is probably about 50% contractors and growing and no one ever thinks of them as increasing the government.

Then you have the way government contracts are structured. You're basically incentived to spend as much as you can because you get a budget increase by blowing through your budget. And who doesn't like mo money?

Another issue with DOD spending is duplicate projects! They'll spend money on 5 different projects that do the same damn thing. I was on 1 such project

 

[the cac mamba]

i could keep the senate, but the influence should be switched around. it should be congress that's the shot caller and the senate thats less important

because you're right, the model doesnt work anymore. its not representative

 

[DEAD7]

It’s silly because why?

We have a completely different set of objectives and obligations... so our decisions and allocations will not(and should not) align with any other nation.
Moreover, who cares what they are doing...

 

[DEAD7]

Representation isn't equal. It's just the senate is the last line of defense for the small population states. The house represents citizens.

How so? Each state, regardless of its population size, is represented by two senators who serve staggered terms of six years no?...
Its as it should be...otherwise the republic would be reduced to the whims of the coast and fall apart.

 

[Regular_P]

The Senate and the Electoral College need to go. Also elections should have early voting a week out from election day optional voting by mail for all and election day becoming a national holiday everyone has off.

The Senate is just too broken it almost automatically favors the republican party (unless they really fukk up) as they have more states that are red than blue even though the overwhelming majority of the population lives in the blue states. The Senate only is really there to block legislation the majority of the country wants as is the Electoral College to block the president the majority of the country wants.

Things like consolidating the representative government into a single body, dropping the electoral college and reforming voting all need to happen but the republican party would never allow any of those things because they're all extinction level events for them.

There is just no justifiable reason election day is just a single day. You should be able to roll up to the local clerk's office a week out and file your ballot there. Our elections are indefensible.

Exactly why we need liberal states to secede.

Republicans always whine about "coastal elites," "we don't wanna be California, New York, etc." but they would raise hell if those states tried to leave...while at the same time championing the Confederate flag.

 

[The Fukin Prophecy]

Problem with the Senate is they don't accurately represent the country...

Big states are penalized in order to keep irrelevant states relevant...

Case and point, the Dakotas having the same amount of senators as Cali and NY makes no got damn sense...

Why the fukk do we even have two Dakotas still...

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

How so? Each state, regardless of its population size, is represented by two senators who serve staggered terms of six years no?...
Its as it should be...otherwise the republic would be reduced to the whims of the coast and fall apart.

As opposed to being at the whims of flyover states? Because red States have more influence over the senate they're pretty much able to set up the budget to favor themselves.

That chart would look even more crazy when you adjust for population per state

 

[Cynic]

• Abolish the 13th amendment and mandatory minimums
• End gerrymandering once and for all.
• Distribute taxes evenly across all school districts
• Invest in public transport and high speed trains

 

[DEAD7]

As opposed to being at the whims of flyover states? Because red States have more influence over the senate they're pretty much able to set up the budget to favor themselves.

That chart would look even more crazy when you adjust for population per state

I dont follow... explain how our current system gives them more control over the senate?

 

[Cave Savage]

The Northeast is filled with small states that have 2 Dem senators. The Senate was actually way less red than the House during the first half of Trump's term

 

[Shogun]

We have a completely different set of objectives and obligations... so our decisions and allocations will not(and should not) align with any other nation.
Moreover, who cares what they are doing...

I guess thats like saying Baseball team A shouldnt care how much Baseball team B is spending on their lineup.
Shouldn't our defense obligation be: defend America? And in fulfilling those obligations, wouldnt considering the size (i.e., budget) of potential threats be a consideration?