The system is hopelessly corrupt.

Hmm. Based on the names you mention, maybe you mean this.

http://blogs.chron.com/nickanderson/archives/and111109b2.html

Ask yourself, What do political candidates have to spend all the campaign money on anyway? Would that not be media advertising to promote their lame-ass candidacies for elected office?

Well guess what, buckwheat. What licenses all of them big time media companies to operate?
Would that not be US freakin’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC)? Well now, Imagine that!

All we have to do is get the US freakin’ FCC to Require that the big media companies, in order to retain their precious licenses to fill our heads with crap and call it entertainment, Donate as much air time as necessary to all recognized political parties and candidates (those defined as able to gather signatures from, say, about 5 per cent or more of all the registered voters in any particular local, state or national electoral race), or else, it is so simple, they lose their stupid broadcasting license and have to shut down their flim-flam.

As I recall, an FCC Chairman once proposed something like this and was quickly retired.

That’s because it was a really simple, easy to implement, corporate ass-kickin’ great idea!

Let’s do that. Then maybe we can work up to tar and feathers, etc.

The plutocrat puppet masters of our “elected” politicians will never allow them to openly support 100% public financing of political campaigns. Why? Because it would disintegrate the iron grip of power that the Plutocracy has on our massively-corrupted government.

For instance, who gets how much? If we divide the pot equally among all candidates, the incumbent will have a HUGE name-recognition advantage. That approach would pretty much guarantee a congressional job for life. We also have to figure out how to handle third, fourth, fifth-party candidates and the like. Do they get the same funding as the Dems and GOP? Suppose their following is tiny and their chances of winning about one in a billion? Suppose they’re members of the American Nazi Party using the public funds to buy overpriced campaign materials manufactured by their supporters, the profits from which would then go to fund the ANP?

Who is a legit candidate and who is not? And how do we decide?

I agree in principle. But I don’t know how to deal with the reality.

This post was mentioned on Reddit by srpr: These congressional felons assumed membership in the biggest-of-all-members-only clubs provided a get-out-of-jail-free card. They believed they could get away with bribery and extortion because politicians hav…

Then you add this bit. You may not hold any committee membership that has oversight of any industry in which you have worked for five years prior to election. And you may not work, in any capacity, for any industry for which you’ve had official oversight for five years after leaving office.

In other words, we create a ten-year graft-free zone around your official capacities. And we extend those restrictions to immediate family members.

We’d have to raise salaries, of course, but that seems like a small price to pay…..

We get referendums on ballots in all 50 states to force federal politicians to wear sponsorship uniforms, just like in NASCAR the biggest sponsor has the biggest ad. Further, the referendum’s will stipulate that all Congresspeople must wear their uniform to all public events attended in their official capacity (campaigning, town halls, at work, etc.)

The ballot referendum has proven its mettle in the medical marijuana sphere, mostly because it’s good at tying the hands of state legislatures. I think that such referendums would be plenty popular across party lines. And it would be pretty damned funny too.

Yes, it would go for the President and Vice President. Think of the state visits where the President’s wearing a giant Goldman Sachs logo on his back and trying to pretend that he’s serious about financial sector reform.

I suppose that a referendum model could be used to force corporate funding out of federal politics too, but i think it has less chance of working because it doesn’t appeal to the American pastime of making fun of other people.

Thanks for laying this all out so clearly, Denny.