How to Not Waste your Vote

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I see a lot of people screaming, "Don't waste your vote." "A vote for a third party candidate is a vote for the guy I don't like." Yes, both sides are lying (surprise surprise) by saying that voting for real change is a vote for no change. Die-hard Democrats say voting for Gary Johnson or Buddy Roemer is a vote for Romney, and die-hard Republicans say a vote for Johnson or Roemer is a vote for Obama.

It's a lie, of course.

Did you know that this year, we are expecting to see the LOWEST voter turnout EVER? Over 1/3 of eligible voters are expected to not vote at all.

Do you realize that's enough to vote in someone BESIDES a Democrat or Republican?

Of course, there's not enough consensus right now among those people to get anyone else voted in, but there is a better option:


Voting NONE OF THE ABOVE.

Currently, we're not allowed to do that. Currently our only choices are to shoot ourselves in the left temple or the right temple. Doesn't sound like much of a choice. But things can change, if you've got the guts to change them.

This year, it's all about the Benjamins. More money will be spent campaigning for this election than in ALL PREVIOUS ELECTIONS COMBINED.

Gee, I wonder why?

I'll refrain from speculating and just say this: it's a HUGE waste of YOUR money, isn't it? Couldn't we figure out a better way?

(Psst! The answer is "HELL YEAH WE CAN!!!")

For instance, we could reform the election process and make it reflect the PEOPLE'S desires by doing any or all of these things:

1. Establish that animals, objects, and imaginary constructs such as rats, cars, and corporations are NOT people. Only people are people. Only people are allowed to vote or contribute to political campaigns. (The Citizens United decision was a clear-cut case of judicial corruption which must be overturned.)

2. Establish that no candidate may accept anonymous contributions; ALL contributions must be documented, and cannot exceed the value of 4 weeks of minimum wage, including equivalent volunteer wages. This is currently $1160. Anyone can be hired beyond that point. (This should cut down on massive spending and allow the independents to have a voice.)

3. Establish a requirement that ANYONE can be placed on the ballot, assuming they are willing to pay the required fees to do so. The fees shall not exceed 40 hours at minimum wage (currently $290). Any candidate who can register in at least 1/4 of the states (or districts) shall automatically be registered for free in all the remaining states upon submission of application to those states. No state may deny an application for any reason other than the lack of the registration fee. A given candidate MUST register in their home state/district. (The fee is low enough almost anyone can run, and anyone who puts in the effort should not be barred by cantankerous political systems. Plus, districts will likely compete to have the lowest fees, because if they don't, they get nothing when forced to register a candidate for free.)

4. Establish that any candidate who is registered to run MUST be permitted to participate in ANY debate between candidates for that office. It's finally fair to independents.

5. Establish a NONE OF THE ABOVE choice on all ballots. If NOTA wins, all candidates are barred from running again in this election cycle.

6. Remove from Congress any perks which the people do not also enjoy. We will not pay for your special medical plan or retirement, you can do that. You are no longer immune to drunk driving and murder charges. This is retroactive, and we expect to be paid back for what you've taken from us.

7. Require Congress to have a balanced budget. If they fail to have one on time, ALL current members are perma-banned from reelection. Treason trials are also a possibility.

8. Give the President a Line-item Veto. This should eliminate all the pointless riders which cause otherwise useful bills from passing.

9. High officials are no longer allowed to own stock in a company, which should reduce the temptation for insider trading.

10. Enact a fair wage law which limits the wages and benefits corporate executives can enjoy as a small multiple of what their employees can enjoy. Frex, the Japanese, who are taking over the world, have a pay ratio of 11:1.

11. As part of their charter, all for-profit media outlets (radio and TV being the chief targets for this) are REQUIRED to give equal airtime to all registered candidates, or airtime considered to be of equal value, whichever the candidate chooses. This should cut down on the NEED for so much money.

These are just off the top of my head. Any of these would help our elected officials focus on doing their jobs. Any would reduce or eliminate the two-party stranglehold on our country.

Any of US would get fired and perhaps sued if we didn't show up for work, or if we intentionally ran our employers into the ground. An elected official needs the stick of treason charges to keep him or her flying right, since personal honor is not enough any more.

Here are some things which will NOT work:

1. Threatening to not pay Congress. They already get tons of bribes, tons of kickbacks, and indulge in tons of insider trading (which I'm sure Martha Stewart can tell you is NOT a good thing). Threatening to remove the pocket change we call their wages will do nothing good, and is likely to encourage them to dip their hands even more into the till.

2. Voting for a party which, in the past 150 years has CAUSED all these problems instead of FIXING them. That means pull your head out of your ass long enough to stop voting for Democrats and Republicans. They're both bought. They both caused this disaster. Voting for them is a wasted vote.

3. Hoping for the best. That worked really well for the Jews in 1930's Germany. It worked really well for George Washington when he chose not to be part of a political party. It worked really well for the Chinese right before Mao's stormtroopers slaughtered 100 MILLION of them (compared to "only" 6 million Jews). Oh wait, no it didn't work for them, it only worked for the side of evil.

4. Paying super-rich people even more.

We don't have to do everything all at once, but we do have to take steps forward, and we do have to insist our leaders spend their time leading instead of stealing from us.

Otherwise, there may not be a country to save in four years.

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