Warren Buffett s ideas for fixing Congress

[sukeban]

@Silver

 

I literally laughed out loud when I saw that North Rhine-Wesphalia has a "Pirate Party!" I have no idea what their platform is, but their very existence automatically makes me prefer the German system to our own, even if that does mean choosing "Cholera." Five percent seems sort of low for a representation threshold, but really, only a political scientist could probably answer the question as to what the optimal balance is.

 

I also actually sort of like the idea of the "non-voter" penalty as a means of getting parties to reach out to voters. I can understand why parties would hate it, and for this reason I think it is a wonderful idea. It seems similar to the idea that certain American states are adopting, that representatives do not get paid unless they meet a certain basic governing criterion, something easy, like passing a budget.

 

.......

 

Out of curiosity, what is the campaign-financing scheme that Germany uses? Is it all state-funded, or are private citizens (and/or corporations, unions, etc.) allowed to provide funding as well? If it is purely state-funded then that non-voter penalty really would be an effective cudgel to wield against the parties... though it probably hurts smaller parties more than larger parties? Hmm.

[SilverDNA]

@Silver

 

*Snip*

Out of curiosity, what is the campaign-financing scheme that Germany uses? Is it all state-funded, or are private citizens (and/or corporations, unions, etc.) allowed to provide funding as well? If it is purely state-funded then that non-voter penalty really would be an effective cudgel to wield against the parties... though it probably hurts smaller parties more than larger parties? Hmm.

 

Answer is both but, the perversion about it is that candidates are enter a list system and have to donate to their own parties to be risen in the list and now worst happens candidates on the list that make a donation can tax deduct half of the donations leaving the parties wealthier than before at each election. ( see the abuse?)

there are as well foundations of the parities to which once person or company can made donations ( nice to wash money unseen) there are as well different measures to prevent such tactics, but they render till today infective as a leaky boat.

 

Edit :

The grass isn't greener over here it only has a different shade

Edited March 15, 2012 by SilverDNA

[sukeban]

@Silver

 

The grass may not be greener, but at least it is grass :D

 

What we have here I'd say is Astroturf.

 

In any case, yes, that does indeed sound somewhat... messier than it probably should be. It definitely should not be tax-deductible and candidates should definitely not rise up the list in proportion to the money that they spend. That is ridiculous. And glaringly corrupt. Ditto for party foundations, as those sound exactly like our PACs and SuperPACs.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how difficult it is to limit the amount of money in our (all of our) politics. Personally, from what I have read about it, the French campaign-financing system seems interesting:

 

"Official electoral campaigns in France are very brief. Campaign finance is strictly regulated. All forms of paid commercial advertisements through the press or by any audiovisual means are prohibited during the three months preceding the election. Instead, political advertisements are aired free of charge on an equal basis for all of the candidates on national television channels and radio stations during the official campaign. Campaign donations and expenditures are capped."

I like the heavily truncated election season. In this US now, our politicians are in a state of nearly permanent campaigning. What this ends up meaning is that only one year out of every two years (our House Representatives have two-year terms) is off-limits for passing mildly controversial legislation, as all members of our government are deathly terrified of ever going on the record as having taken a controversial vote. Or, they are merely grandstanding and attempting to thwart the other party by ensuring that nothing of substance is passed into law... which means that the opposing party has nothing of substance (accomplishments) to run on in the election. So limiting the campaign season's length would be nothing but a benefit for us, at least IMO.

 

The idea of a media-blackout on campaign advertising during that period is also intriguing. I think that most Americans would enjoy seeing less shady, anonymous attack ads during the months leading up to our Presidential elections. I know that this is true for me.

 

In any case, you are most definitely correct in that no one nation really seems to have the answer when it comes to these things; maybe if we start borrowing the most effective elements from each system we can create something substantially better.

Edited March 15, 2012 by sukeban

[Nintii]

Well Grannywils, I look at Warren Buffet with a great amount of respect as a business person who has come a long way in achieving what he has ... and this is my perspective

on him as one business person to another.

Politically it might not seem like he is going down the right road and is in error but you can bett your life on it that if he were in charge as the President of the US then you can

start kissing your financial problems goodbye and open up that bottle of champagne you've stashed away.

 

His business minded ideas seem pretty foreign in a political setting but that's only because you've heard the same old tune from government for so long that when you hear what

would work it almost sounds like some kind of "false doctrine" if I could put it that way.

 

Also, unless you actually deal with people like him on a day to day basis and have that mindset whatever he says will sound wrong.

I spend a lot of time around a lot of leaders in the financial sector almost every single day and everyone one of them speaks the same except of course for the politicians who

speak the only language they know ... self preservation.

 

Now as for his ideas on fixing your Congress ... well, they sound radical but guess what, if they did put his ideas into practice you'd see a lot more activity in the rescue of

your nation's economy just as you'd see it in other nations should this be implemented.

[HeyYou]

So far, what I have seen from Warren, are ideas on how to 'fix' congress. I haven't seen squat on what he has in mind to fix the economy. Simply fixing congress won't do a thing toward that end. (although, it certainly won't hurt either.....)