In  a  Voting  Nation,  Education  is  Paramount.
Our  Education  is  Already  On  the  Way.
Will  it  be  the   Responsible Way  or  the  Hard Way?
 
Repeatedly  Rewarding, Empowering,  and  Re-Electing  Irresponsible Incumbent  Politicians  Will  Merely  Make  Them  More  Irresponsible. 
     		 
   
      INTRODUCTION:   the  PROBLEM   and   the  SOLUTION 
      9 POINT  PLAN  to  REFORM  GOVERNMENT
      BENEFITs / REASONs  ,   PROs AND CONs
       PRESSING  PROBLEMS  FACING  the  NATION
      CONGRESS'  To - Do  LIST   
      Voter Education 
       SOLUTIONS
   

  CONCLUSION  
   

   F.A.Q.                  Other                    v  Contacts
       
       
     
INTRODUCTION:

 The   purpose  of  this  non-profit (100% volunteer) site  is  to  provide  voter  education  and  a reminder  to  voters  about  the  one  simple  and  responsible  thing  voters  were  supposed  to  be  doing  all  along,  always.     There  are  no  wild  conspiracy  theories  here;   just  the  facts,  as  accurate  as  we  can  be.   There  is  no  agenda,  or  partisan  warfare.   Just  the  honest  desire  to  provide  the  facts  about   the  pressing  problems  facing  the  nation,  and  to  remind  voters  to  stop  re-electing  irresponsible  incumbent  politicians.   To  learn  more  about  your   congress  persons,  see  this  web-page 

The  nation  is  facing  many  pressing  problems ,  now  culminating simultaneously.   But  irresponsible  incumbents  within  government  are  ignoring  the   voters  and  our  many  pressing  problems  as  they  grow  in  number  and  severity.   No  reforms are  possible  until  there  is ,  first ,  a  fundamental  change  in  government:  		 

RECOMMENDATION:
R  Stop  Repeat  Offenders.
 R   Don't  Re-Elect  Them.
R   If  In Doubt , Vote  'Em  Out.
     
 

The  ONE  FUNDAMENTAL  PROBLEM: 
Government is too corrupt, irresponsible, and unaccountable. 
Incumbents made it that way, and voters allowed it.
So incumbent politicians and voters are both culpable.
Part of the problem is that Congress has enjoyed 85%-to-90% re-election rates.
Obviously, repeatedly rewarding irresponsible incumbent politicians with perpetual re-election will only result in government that is more irresponsible, corrupt, and unaccountable.

The fundamental problem is rooted in  laziness and some politicians know many ways to tap into it and capitalize upon it.  One of their most clever inventions was the party-lever, which makes it easier for voters to just pull the party-lever rather than research the candidates.  People seek security and prosperity with the least effort and pain.  Also, people often neglect things due to laziness.  Work is effort and pain.  While  laziness  is a human tendency, it is immoral to surrender to it completely.   In excess, laziness breeds corruption, greed, oppression, and undermines democracy.  It also leads voters to become apathetic, complacent, and resigned to futility and despair.  Voters cease to believe that their vote will change anything.  

Hence, since people seek security and prosperity with the least effort and pain, incumbents strive to preserve their cu$hy, coveted seats of power (via many unethical and/or illegal methods).

Incumbents preserve their power by preventing newcomers to Congress from ever passing any badly-needed, common sense reforms. 

Incumbents tempt, pressure, and threaten newcomers to Congress if the newcomers refuse to conform to the status quo.  And, incumbents will not reform themselves.

Incumbents also try to limit the voters' choices.  The voters' choices (by design) are much too limited, as the main parties limit access by third-parties to ballots and debates. 

Incumbents perpetuate petty partisan warfare, bickering, and squabbling, which effectively distracts many voters from more important and substantive issues. Incumbents seduce the voters into the unproductive, circular pattern of thought and behavior that allows the incumbents to retain their power, and deceives the voters into believing that the incumbents are their best choice. 

Many voters don't really see what is happening, how they are being manipulated, and how it all (by design) reduces transparency, accountability, and responsibility.  Without sufficient  transparency  and  accountability, our many pressing problems will grow increasingly worse in number and severity, as government continues to grow and expand to nightmare proportions. 

Incumbents have secured for themselves many unfair advantages, perks of office, time to campaign while on the job, visibility and access to media, pre-existing big-money-donors and campaign organizations already in place, and little or no threat from voters who are apathetic, complacent, misguided, or resigned to futility and despair.

Incumbents will not risk re-election or defy their big-money-donors by attempting to solve our many pressing problems.  So, what good are they ?  There is simply too much corruption,  waste,  pork-barrel spending,  graft,  bribery,  deception,  election fraud,  unfair influence by some with money,  over $10.7 trillion U.S. dollar National Debt (up from 33% in 1980 to 63% of GDP in 2005 (in 2005 dollars)),  looming shortfalls in plundered entitlement systems (e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security),  legal plunder via redistribution of wealth,  and perversion of the law to do things it was supposed to prevent (e.g. abuse of eminent domain laws, conviction and execution of innocent people, graft, bribery, influence peddling, fraud, abused presidential pardons, etc.).  The list is long.  See Other Links below for more examples.  
 
The  ONE  SIMPLE  SOLUTION:
The solution must be simple, easy to understand, and easy to do.   The SOLUTION is simply:

l
RECOMMENDATION:
R  Stop Repeat Offender.   
R  Don't Re-Elect Them.
 R  If  In  Doubt,  Vote  'Em  Out.

 Some people believe we need to elect better people to office. 

Not exactly. 

The problem is not so much who we vote for, but what happens after being elected, and re-elected, and re-elected, . . . , and re-elected.
Incumbent politicians are simply doing what they are repeatedly rewarded for doing.

Newcomers to Congress also soon discover that they are vastly outnumbered by pre-existing incumbent politicians that will not allow common-sense reforms that may reduce the incumbents politicians' power, opportunities for self-gain,  or the security of their cu$hy, coveted incumbencies.

Also, the incumbents tempt, pressure, and threaten the newcomers if they refuse to accept the status quo.  So, voters should not make the mistake of only voting out irresponsible incumbents once or twice, but continuously, until government is transparent, accountable, and transparent. 

Incumbents also, always outnumber the newcomers.  Many newcomers want to pass badly-needed, common-sense reforms, but incumbents won't allow it.  Thus, the system is dysfunctional, and the only peaceful solution left is to stop re-electing irresponsible incumbents, always.

This would create the peer-pressure required to make politicians  police their own ranks  and act more responsibly.   It is not realistically possible to vote out 100% of all irresponsible incumbents, but the more, the better (i.e. not all offices are up for election at the same time; senators have 6 year terms with elections every two years;  representatives have 2 year terms with elections every 2 years; the president and vice president have a 4 year term with elections every 4 years and a 2 term limit; the Senate and House do not have term limits).  

Even 20% could have an enormous impact. 
40% could have a huge impact.  
60% or more could have an overwhelming impact, and send a loud and clear message to government to immediately implement reform changes (e.g. this  9 Point Plan to create more transparency, accountability, and responsibility). 

Even a small minority of voters could easily change the political landscape significantly, with nothing more than their vote, which could produce the peaceful force required to make government implement the short-list of items to make government more transparent, accountable, and responsible.  Perhaps it is time for the voters to be responsible too ?
 
l This ONE simple idea may provide the ONE last way to provide
The ONE thing that is missing in ALL other approaches:  peaceful FORCE.
This ONE simple idea may provide the FORCE required to peacefully reform government.
 This ONE simple idea offers many benefits (see BENEFITs / REASONs below).
 
l Given the fundamental  PROBLEM ,
And the simple  SOLUTION ,
And the  BENEFITs ,
Now  SPREAD  this  one  simple idea  to:  voters,  internet,  web-sites,  political parties,  news papers,  blogs,  friends,  family,  politicians,  Senators,  Representatives, etc. 
Feel free to copy this message & share it with everyone.

Also, research your congress persons, and then share your research to help education other voters.
 
l The people must take off their blinders and learn to recognize and reject the clever mechanisms that divide and distract them from the fact that government is failing us.  The people have, become too complacent (understandably) and feel it is futile.  But we can not resign to the futility. We must learn to recognize and reject the way some things are used and abused to distract us, such as petty partisan bickering, religion, race, wealth, gender, profession, nationality, class, language, level of education, etc. 

These are just a few of the many clever facades used to disguise the ways some people try to control others.  There will always be some that want to control others, and some that just want to live-and-let-live.   We must learn to recognize and reject those that seek to control us.
 
l Voters must also find new honest people to place on all voting ballots, because the main-parties are trying hard to make it very difficult (or impossible) for independent and 3rd party candidates to gain access to voting ballots.  This is a very serious problem, and it is also unconstitutional !  So, whenever possible, only vote for non-incumbents.  And, if they don't work out, continue to vote them out !
 
l The balance of power must be restored.  NOT  simply shifted from one group to another.  This one simple solution provides the peaceful force required to simply give those in government an incentive to act more responsibly, but it does NOT, and should NOT strip the powers that government needs to still govern as it should.  It is unrealistic to expect government to operate effectively without power to enforce the law and provide national security, and the money to fund those services.

This one simple idea merely advocates that the people be responsible to use their vote wisely (as intended by design), to peacefully force government to be responsible also.  The voters must treat government as a single entity, hold that single entity responsible, and give them the incentive to police their own ranks, and begin to solve the serious problems facing the nation. That's all.  It's that simple, as it should be. 

After all, if you don't do your job correctly, you will be (and probably, should be) fired.  So, let's give the job to someone else for a while?  And if they fail us also, fire them too.  Vote them out, repeatedly, every election, until the government starts doing the job they're supposed to be doing.  That's the purpose of democracy and voting.  Simply use your vote to implement a just and responsible government.  

But use that vote wisely, and treat government as one entity.  Reject the main-parties that restrict third-party candidates from access to the ballots and debates, and continue to limit voters' choices, reject the distracting petty partisan politics, refuse to continue to empower the main-parties to take turns being irresponsible, and require specific reforms to increase transparency, so that the voters will eventually be able to more easily determine which politicians are responsible, and which are not.
 
l See the CONCLUSION below.  
l QUESTION: UNTIL when ?   WHEN DOES IT END ? 
When is it OK for voters to vote for incumbents ?
l ANSWER: Don't  re-elect  irresponsible incumbent politicians,  ever.

Never, were voters ever supposed to vote for irresponsible incumbents.

Never, were voters supposed to lazily pull the party lever, or vote strictly along the party line. That is how irresponsible incumbent politicians fool and control voters, by fueling the petty partisan warfare, while the nation falls apart right before our very eyes.

Never, were voters supposed to wallow in the petty partisan warfare. What good are parties if irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for incumbent politicians in both parties just take turns using and abusing everyone ?

Never, were voters supposed to empower the very same irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for incumbent politicians that use and abuse us.

Never, were voters supposed to be so blinded by the petty partisan warfare, that they are oblivious to our serious problems they grow in number and severity.

Never, was government supposed to be FOR-SALE, where too many bought-and-paid-for incumbent politicians are too beholding to a few big-money puppeteers with vast wealth and power (instead of the voters). Most (83%) of all federal political donations (of $200 or more in 2002) come from a mere 0.15% of the 200 million eligible U.S. voters.  Only a very few abuse vast amounts of money and property to control government.  How can the remaining 99.85% of the 200 million eligible U.S. voters compete against that?  One obvious way is to stop re-electing irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for, greedy, corrupt, look-the-other-way  incumbent politicians.

Never, were voters supposed to ignore their government, as they do now, because that invites abuse and breeds corruption.

In the beginning, due to the current, severe lack of transparency, voters may find it difficult to know which incumbents are responsible, and which are not. 

If in doubt, vote them out, or research it further.  The fact is, few (if any) are responsible.  Few (if any) don't vote for pork-barrel, don't troll for campaign money, don't prevent newcomers from passing badly-needed, common-sense reforms, and don't look the other way.

In time, incumbents will get the message, or be voted out, and voters will then be able to know who is, or is not responsible, because of the reforms that are passed to increase transparency (e.g. One-Purpose-Per-BILL, Campaign-Finance-Reform, Election Reform, Tax-Reform, Balanced-Budget-Reform, etc.), accountability, and responsibility.

Thus, the answer is when:
(a) incumbents are transparent, accountable, and responsible.
    (b) incumbents adequately address the nation's most pressing problems, pass  badly-needed, common-sense, responsible reforms and increase transparency so that voters know exactly who to hold accountable.
   
Please E-Mail  this  to friends and politicians:     
Contacts: 
   Senators   http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
   Representatives    http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml
   Executive Branch     http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/Executive.shtml

Feel free to copy and share this message  (see links at bottom of page).
Education is the key.  Help to educate others.		  
   

NINE POINT PLAN to REFORM Government:
Many badly-needed, common-sense reforms are unlikely to ever be passed until voters force government to do so:
þ Demand that Congress stop blocking our Constitutional right to an Article V Convention.  
All 50 states' legislatures have made 592 (or more) requests for an Article V Convention, yet Congress ignores it.
þ Don't Re-elect Irresponsible Incumbent Politicians.  Always.  Every election, UNTIL incumbents finally pass badly-needed, simple, common-sense, no-brainer reforms,  and  address the nation's most  pressing problems.  
þ Rewarding and empowering irresponsible incumbent politicians by repeatedly re-electing them will simply make them more corrupt and irresponsible.  
þ Voters should demand transparency and common-sense simplifications to eliminate clever over-complications designed to reduce transparency to create opportunities for self-gain.  More transparency within government is needed, to make corruption more difficult to exist and grow.  More transparency within government is needed to make it easier for voters' to peacefully force government to be accountable and responsible too!
þ The purpose of voting is not to continually re-elect irresponsible incumbents.  Better government will make your life better, and bad government will make it worse.  It is just plain, common-sense.  Don't be lazy and don't be fooled, and remember that most (if not all) irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for, incumbent politicians are standing in the way of badly-needed, common-sense reforms.
þ Government will not become more responsible until the voters do too.  And, that is not likely to occur by rewarding irresponsible incumbent politicians by repeated re-electing them; letting them enjoy a cu$hy 90% (or higher) re-election rate;  letting the two-party duopoly take turns being irresponsible, while the nation's pressing problems are allowed to grow in number and severity.
 
  (1) TRANSPARENCY  and  ACCOUNTABILITY  and  SIMPLIFICATION
  (2) ELECTION  REFORM  and  a  BETTER  VOTING  SYSTEM
  (3) LAWS,  ENFORCEMENT,  and  BALANCE of POWER
  (4) END  LEGAL  PLUNDER
  (5) PROTECT  OR   PHASE-OUT  GOVERNMENT  ENTITLEMENT  PROGRAMS
  (6) SIMPLIFY  THE  TAX  SYSTEM
  (7) BALANCED  BUDGET  AMENDMENT
  (8) END  GRID-LOCK
  (9) BASIC  CORE  PRINCIPLES,  PROBLEMS,  SOLUTIONS
 
þ Bottom line:    We are the government.   The government is us.   Therefore,  vote  responsibly
   
(1) TRANSPARENCY  and  ACCOUNTABILITY  and  SIMPLIFICATION:
  These simple changes would solve a LOT of problems, the Federal government would not need nearly as much money, and  many other improvements and efficiency would naturally follow:
(a) ETHICS COMMISSION:  Create an independent Ethics Commission to monitor, audit, and investigate unethical conduct, and report illegal activity so that violators will be held accountable.
  (b) ONE  PURPOSE  PER  BILL:  Start simplifying government by allowing ONLY  ONE  purpose per bill  (i.e. only one or more items that are necessary for the one purpose of the one bill). This will cut out the pork-barrel and graft that sneak into huge bills, in which pork-barrel consisting of numerous unrelated items is hidden within thousands of pages that few (if anyone, much less voters) reads or scrutinizes. This will allow voters to easily see how politicians voted.  This will increase transparency, which will lead to more accountability, and responsibility.  Currently, it's nearly impossible to know why a politician voted for or against a bill.  Perhaps, this lack-of-transparency is by design?  It's certainly become a popular vehicle for hiding excessive pork-barrel, graft, bribes, and waste.
(c) GRADE  PERFORMANCE:  Create and maintain a list of the most pressing problems facing the nation, and show, on a regular basis (e.g. once per month or quarterly), the problems that are being resolved, how they're being resolved, and show the problems that have been resolved.  Government must provide a way to grade it's performance, just like we all do (in school, college, and professions).  Otherwise, there is no direction and chaos will prevail.
  (d) PUBLICIZE  VOTING  RECORDS:  Also, widely publicize voting records of politicians, on the internet and elsewhere, so that everyone can see the voting records of all Congress persons.  Transparency and access to all information must be allowed (the only exception would be for national security).  Similar to a surveillance system that discourages illegal behavior due to risk of being seen and held accountable, transparency will effectively discourage abuse and corruption, and make it easier to identify those accountable. The "Freedom of Information Act" has already made some information accessible, but not widely publicized.
  (e) FISCAL  RESPONSIBILITY:  Then, cut spending and waste, eliminate duplicate, overlapping, and unnecessary departments, agencies, commissions, committees, etc., reduce the waste, and start reducing the Federal government to only the few things that it is best suited to do. Do we really need all of these offices, departments, agencies, etc. ?  Initially, the Federal government was only supposed to provide for a National Defense. Perhaps we should try to get back to the few original responsibilities?  In 2005, the Executive Branch employed about 2 million people, and the Congress employed several hundred thousand people, and many of them get paid a lot of money to do what?  The nation could be headed for a Fiscal/Financial meltdown due to a potential, simultaneous culmination of several of the following to create the perfect storm:
£ spending in excess of $2 trillion per year
£ over $9 trillion National Debt, 28% of each tax $dollar required for interest on the National Debt
£ $42 trillion in nation-wide debt
£ looming shortfalls in Social Security ($12.8 trillion in the hole); the government, for decades,  has been taking the surpluses from Social Security and replacing it with worthless government bonds (that is a dishonest ponzi-scheme);
£ plundered pensions going bankrupt and looming bankruptcy of the Government Pension Benefit Guaranty Group ($450 billion in the hole)
£ looming shortfalls in Medicare/Medicaid
£ the race to the bottom, globalization & outsourcing, falling incomes, declined manufacturing (will we remember how to make anything?)
£ rising cost and declining quality of health care
£ rising cost and declining quality of public education; public tax funds being used for private schools;
£ a bad money system;  our monetary system is a massive fraudulent ponzi-scheme;  the government is printing and borrowing money to just pay the interest on the National Debt, which is like paying your VISA credit card with your VISA credit card;  this ponzi-scheme creates the ever-present, and destabilizing inflation;  since 1950, the amount of money printed has increased from $150 billion to $6.9 trillion in year 2000;  we and many future  generations will have to deal with this massive, dishonest fiscal irresponsibility, someday;
£ corporate/investor fraud; cooking the books; stock fraud; failure of the SEC to regulate and prosecute violators
£ rising cost of fuel and energy; energy vulnerability
£ arising cost of the war on terror, war in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. ($money, lives, and disabilities)
£ rising cost of illegal trespassers, burdening public schools, hospitals, health-care systems, crime prevention (unsecured borders; governments that will not enforce the laws and prosecute those that illegally employ illegal trespassers)
£ waste, pork-barrel, big $money in rotten elections and politics, limited access for 3rd parties on voting ballots, government growing & growing
£ a ridiculous and increasingly stupid, costly, unfair, and abused tax system
 
(2) ELECTION  REFORM  and  a  BETTER  VOTING  SYSTEM:
  n Remove the barriers to access to ballots:
Remove the barriers that are preventing and making it very difficult for other candidates (e.g. independent or 3rd party candidates) to get names onto voting ballots.  Our current 2 party system (i.e. Democrats and Republicans) is failing us with its extremely lengthy, shallow campaigns which require an ever-escalating amount of money to win public office.  And, often  at best, the votes of only 25% of the eligible voters is required to win (i.e. since there is usually less than 50% voter participation).  This is a serious problem, and such barriers are a violation of the constitution, and it is severely limiting our choices of candidates by only a few with access to wealth and power.  NOTE:  About 122 million people (of the 200 million eligible voters) voted in the 2004 presidential election.
 
  n Reform the Election Process:
The ideological basis of our democratic republic is to provide for an orderly change of government allowing the people to choose those that will best represent them.  That's the theory, but it is far different in reality.  Some simple changes are needed to level the playing field for all candidates, and end unfair and dangerous influences by only a few people that abuse their vast wealth and power:
£ Government  should  NOT  be  FOR-SALE !
£ Limit political contributions from any entity (e.g. person, corporation, organization, etc.), per year, to 1% of the average American annual income.  Regulation of political contributions is allowed by the Constitution. Unfortunately, the courts have decided that political contributions can not be banned entirely, but can be regulated.  Therefore, contribution limits should not be so large that the wealthy and corporations carry more influence than the individual voter (as it is now, and is obviously unfair to the average voter).
£ Only allow contributions by American citizens. Prohibit contributions from corporations, PACs, Unions, and other organizations.
£ No candidate may spend their own money in excess of the average American annual income;  otherwise, a very wealthy person could conceivably buy an election, and control the media, news, propaganda, etc.
£ All donations must be deposited into a single fund managed by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that:
(a)  disperses donations to the intended recipients.
(b)  enforces donation laws and restrictions (e.g. enforce annual donation limits, enforce restrictions of donations only originating from American citizens or 100% owned corporations, and enforce other laws governing elections, etc.)
(c)  disperses donations above the permitted limits (if any), equally, between all registered candidates;  there is no need to disclose the identity or source of donations, since only American citizens and 100% American owned corporations or organizations can make political donations, and everyone is limited to the same annual maximum of 1% of the average American annual income; 
NOTE:  The FEC must disclose to all contributors that all amounts above the established 1% limit of the average American annual income is dispersed equally to all registered candidates.
£ Make it illegal for candidates to public office or government employees to solicit or accept money, gifts, favors, or future promises of any kind (above and beyond the allowed limit)
£ Also, make it illegal for any family member, group or organization to solicit or accept money or gifts, or spend funds on the behalf of a candidate for office or government employee.
£ Government should not be for sale. When money enters the election process, it is rotten. Peddling influence represents a flagrant conflict of interest, and must be eliminated. Conviction for violation of this law would also forfeit the employee's government pension (if any). 
£ Make it illegal for government office holders or employees to accept outside employment during their employment by the government.
£ Prohibit all government employees or office holders, for two years after leaving government employment, from accepting employment with any government contractor or sub-contractor,  government consultant, lobbyist position, etc.
£ All candidates for office will be provided some free and equal media time during the election campaign (including print, radio, television, etc.).  Remove the big money that allows only some to control the newspapers, radio stations and TV stations.  Election statistics show that in over 90% of elections, the candidate that spends the most money wins ! 
£ Hold elections on a week-end  and/or  declare important election days a national holiday.
£ End voter-registration.  Instead, all eligible voters should use a secure form of identification, such as biometrics. 
£ When each voter submits their vote(s), they will receive a computer-printed slip of paper with a randomly generated number that can be used to find a record of their vote in a publicly listed record of all votes (e.g. on the internet, telephone, news paper, etc.).  This will preserve anonymity, reduce election fraud, and provide a public record of each election.
£ Make it illegal to start campaigning before a certain date prior to an election, so that all candidates have equal campaign time, so that campaigns will be less time consuming, and less costly to the tax payers.
£ Remove the straight-ticket voting lever (or button) in all voting machines.  Voting machines should not be promoting party-only voting.
£ Remove and prohibit the party affiliation via names and symbols (e.g. Democrat, Independent, Republican, etc.) next to the names of all candidates. 
 
n Prohibit Gerrymandering:
£ Prohibit Gerrymandering, in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage, and to disadvantage electoral opponents.
 
n Term-Limits:
£ Voters, if they wish, can impose immediate term-limits by merely not re-electing incumbent politicians.  Voters could immediately eliminate the few truly bad career politicians that remain in office as long as they keep bringing home the pork.  Unfortunately, too many voters are too easily bribed (ironically, with the voters' own money).   So, a large part of the problem is the slumbering electorate.  Currently, irresponsible incumbent politicians will never voluntarily pass such a law imposing term-limits,  or any badly-needed, common-sense reforms that may reduce their power, opportunities for self-gain, or reduce the security of their cu$hy, coveted seats of power.    Since irresponsible incumbent politicians will never voluntarily pass a law for term-limits (among many other badly-needed, common-sense, no-brainer reforms), they deserve to have term-limits imposed:
 
  þ for the very same reasons that there are term-limits on the office of president;
  þ because most (if not all) incumbents are currently irresponsible and unaccountable;
  þ because too many irresponsible incumbent politicians have acquired concentrated power and wealth and are extremely difficult to oust, due to numerous unfair incumbent advantages that they have given to themselves;
  þ because too many irresponsible incumbent politicians always outnumber incoming newcomers to congress, and will not allow newcomers to pass any badly-needed, common-sense reforms either;
  þ because voters apathy, complacency, and despair is a fact of life;  therefore voters need something to help eliminate irresponsible, incumbent career politicians (i.e. term-limits);
  þ Some people will say it causes the loss of good politicians (if there is such a thing), but the high re-election rate of incumbents also keeps good politicians from ever getting into Congress.
  þ because tenure corrupts (more about Term-Limits as TenureCorrupts.com)
  However, we have a Catch-22.  Since irresponsible incumbent politicians will never voluntarily pass many badly-needed, common-sense reforms, it is now up to the voters.  Stop repeat offenders.  Don't re-elect irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for incumbent politicians !
     
  n A Better Voting System:
We need more choices.  The two main-parties have effectively limited our choices to them alone, and they simply take turns being irresponsible and unaccountable.   Perhaps we should also consider a change in the voting system.   Perhaps something like the "Approval Voting" System. "Approval Voting" is a system in which voters can place vote(s) for multiple candidates.  The single candidate receiving the most approval votes wins the election. This simple change could have a profound and positive impact on elections. Some nations are already using this system.  This system provides several benefits:
£ provides more choices, which
£ increases voter turnout, and
£ can provide better representation for minorities, and
£ increases chances of the strongest candidate, and
£ eliminates the "Spoiler Effect"  and  "Wasted Vote Syndrome" , and
£ reduces negative campaigning, and
£ focuses more on issues than geographical areas
£ More about Approval Voting:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approval_voting
   http://www.approvalvoting.org/ 
   http://www.approvalvoting.org/books.html
   http://bcn.boulder.co.us/government/approvalvote/center.html
 
  n Abuse of Wealth to Control Government:
Some of the changes (above) may require changes to the Constitution, but the Constitution is not written in stone, and government should not be for sale.  Graft, bribery, influence peddling, and unfair influence by some that abuse vast wealth and power should not be legal.  The purpose of the Constitution is to ensure that the government is Of the People, By the People, For the People.  Power should not be vested in the scepter of a few with vast wealth;  it should remain in the hands of the people.  How is that possible, if a few with vast wealth and power have a louder voice than the people?   Thus, campaign finance must be addressed.  Offices of government should not be sold to the highest bidder.  Only 5% of the wealthiest have 59.01% of all wealth.  10% of the wealthiest have 70.45% of all wealth.  But 90% of average citizens (with only 29.55% of all wealth) can not compete with the other wealthier 10%.  This gives rise to an elitist government, and this may be why many in government do not really want to address the following:
 
£ campaign finance reform
£ government FOR-SALE, influence peddling, lobbying by wealthy special interest groups & corporations, and the unfair influence of vast wealth
£ reform of the tax system, and the numerous tax loopholes and tax shelters that primarily benefit the wealthy
£ the National Debt;  after all, who is collecting the interest ?
  Being wealthy is not a crime, but using it to control government should be.  Already,  83% of all federal election campaign donations (of $200 or more) come from a mere 0.3% (only 300,000 people) of all 200 million eligible U.S. voters.  That's right.  That is not a misprint.  A mere 0.3%  of all 200 million eligible U.S. voters made 83% of all federal campaign donations (of $200 or more).  What chance does the remaining 99.7% of the remaining eligible U.S. voters have against a few that abuse vast wealth to control government?     One way is to STOP re-electing, rewarding, and empowering irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for, look-the-other-way incumbent politicians.  It's that simple.  Just do the one-simple, common-sense, non-partisan, responsible thing that voters were supposed to be doing all along, always: 
 
x  Stop  repeat  offenders !
 x  Don't  re-elect  irresponsible,  bought-and-paid-for,  incumbent  politicians !
 

       
    Wealth Distribution of Total Net Wealth in the U.S. (Year: 1998):
       

   
NOTE:  Median wages have been falling since 1999, and the gap between the 1% of the U.S. population (with about 40% of all wealth, and growing) and the remaining 99% of the U.S. population has never been worse since the Great Depression of 1929.
 


There are two classes in the United States. One class derives concentrated power from its concentrated wealth. The other class has power only in numbers, and that pow