Do you like the American government? If not, what would you like to see change?

32 comments

  1. >Do you like the American government?

    If you’re talking about the federal government than It’s definitely better than most governments around the world. But no it’s still really bad.

    >If not, what would you like to see change?

    It’s powers should be reduced in general.

  2. I would like Congress to actually legislate and stop trying to delegate its power to the executive branch.

    We’ve gone so long without a formal appropriations process that the institutional memory in Congress needs to be rebuilt from the ruins, and we can’t do that while Congress is comprised primarily of aspiring social media personalities/cable news stars.

  3. I don’t feel like the government represents the people as the two party system leans center-right when the country is center-left. I feel like the democratic party is centrist and tends to not push forth aggressive legislation that they campaign on but hardly fulfill while the republican party is overly aggressive in pushing unpopular legislation and fucking up things long term in addition to trying really hard to be socially regressive. Funding for federal projects is fucked beyond all belief with our military and police budgets being so bloated yet managing to underfund critical parts of the establishments (how is our military budget so high yet the VA is so poorly funded and managed? Why are army troops getting only enough money to only be able to live in an apartment if they have a roommate? Why is that some police departments have tanks and military grade equipment but other departments can’t get enough well trained and good officers to respond to domestic violence situations without escalation or ignoring pleas for help?).

  5. The concepts are great. The specific people, not so much. We need changes that return politics to being viewed as a public service rather than a career path. Good places to start would be term limits, clamping down on “gifts”, and strict scrutiny of capital gains.

  6. Like almost all Americans, I would say that I like some things about it and dislike others.

  7. I basically want slaves running the country. Surrender their personal wealth and assets upon assuming office, that way there’s no incentive for market manipulation. They can get issued government travel charge cards from citibank like the military and live in on base housing in Arlington/naval yard. I think if you know going into politics that you’re going to be broke, it would only attract the type of person who just wants to make the world a better place.

    So yeah, I want some good ol tyranny for the potential tyrants.

  8. I will be surprised to see many “yes” answers in this thread, regardless of political leaning.

    For me, the things I think desperately need improving:

    * **Imbalance in Representation** – States with small populations have disproportionately large say in what happens at the federal level. There are a number of suggestions on how to rectify this, but they are difficult to implement because they are understandably unpopular in the states they would strip power away from. In the meantime, though, a vote in California is worth less than one in Wyoming.
    * **Lack of Nuanced Choice** – Under our current election system, a vote for a third party is effectively a waste of a vote. This causes both of the leading parties to by necessity become huge coalitions encompassing people of a wide variety of ideals and priorities. If 5% of Americans vote for the same third party that does not align with either of the two major ones, those 5% of the people get a whopping 0% of the representation in government. If they give in and throw their support behind one of the major two, they *might* get one of their less consequential goals partially implemented in a bill sometime. Maybe.
    * **Gridlock in the Legislature** – Our two party system has reached a steady state where the legislature constantly teeters around 50% one way or the other, just barely nudging one direction or the other each election cycle. Parties in power are too focused on keeping it to stop campaigning and start doing meaningful work, parties not in power are too focused on taking power away from their opponents to stop campaigning and do meaningful work, and both refuse to work with the other because there’s no room for nuance left in American politics.
    * **Too Much Power in the Executive and Judicial Branches** – Presidents are increasingly governing via executive order in order to get around gridlock in the legislature, and the Supreme Court – designed to be apolitical – has become increasingly politicized, and the lifetime appointments of the justices mean that one party getting a chance to appoint even just one new justice gives them power to drastically affect the next 20+ years of government decisions.

  9. No.

    I’d like to see it provide for the people more, and prohibit and meddle in individual rights less.

    Give me free healthcare, and it’s none of your business if I smoke or drink.

  10. The framework is right. The problem is the people. The system was built by some guys that were very optimistic about the intellectual and ethical abilities of their descendants. For it to work, you need practical, sober, individuals who have the interests of the entire nation at heart. That is pretty hard to come by.

  11. A dissolution of the two party system. Both sides have become completely entrenched in their political differences and refuse to work together even when democracy itself is at stake.

  12. Bring back usury laws. Nationalize the banks and the pharmaceutical companies. Unionize every workplace. Provide health care for all. Fund college or technical education for everyone. Ban campaign contributions. Eliminate the electoral college. Institute public control of law enforcement. End the war on drugs. Close refugee detention centers. Demilitarize the police. Tear down the border wall. Defund the Pentagon. Close all military bases. Redistribute land to Native American/Indigenous peoples. Enact reparations for slavery. Eliminate the CIA, FBI, NSA, Border Patrol, and Dept. of Homeland Security. Restore privacy protections. Demand a new constitution. Redistribute wealth. Return eco-systems to their pre-colonial state. Abolish student and medical debt. Imprison war criminals. End illegal military aggression. Provide restitution for victims of American imperialism all over the globe. And end mass surveillance. For starters.

  13. I dislike the current president, the senate majority and minority leaders, and the house speaker and minority leader. Not to mention the VP.

    But overall we just need to make things more peaceful, I hope a candidate can actually come around and fix that, from either party.

  14. No, I fucking hate them with a burning passion. Honestly everything minus the constitution and even that needs some clarification and modernization.

  15. I have a bunch.

    * I would eliminate the EC completely; I think we should elect the president by direct popular vote.
    * I would want to reform the House to use proportional representation instead of direct single-member district. To do this, I would make House elections statewide (instead of in districts), and use [STV voting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote) to achieve proportional representation. This would completely eliminate the capacity for gerrymandering.
    * I would like to see the number of SCOTUS justices constitutionally pegged to the number of federal circuit courts. I would make the process for adding a new circuit court similar to that of adding a new SCOTUS justice — President and Congress (preferably both Houses of Congress, not just the Senate) both have to sign off. This would allow the other two branches to pack the Court if necessary, but not without consensus.
    * I would leave the Senate as it is; I think proportional representation in the House would allow third-parties to build enough of a national profile to make actual runs at the Senate.
    * I would offer Puerto Rico statehood, but I think there should be a referendum requiring at least 66% in favor. Once you’re a state, there’s no leaving, so it’s not a decision that should be made by a 51% majority.
    * I would not offer DC statehood, but I would offer it full Senate and House representation as if it were a state. I think the logic of having a federal district makes sense, but taxation without representation is also bad.
    * I would institute term limits of 10 years for the Supreme Court, 3 Senate terms (that is a maximum of 18 years), and 10 House terms (that’s a maximum of 20 years). These wouldn’t be mutually exclusive — someone could serve 10 house terms and then 3 senate terms, if they kept getting elected. I think that would be a fair balance between respecting the will of the voters but limiting the amount of time someone stays in the system through pure inertia.

  16. I like the fundamental structure quite a lot.

    I take limited issue with some of the specifics of it’s implementation.

    I’m often disappointed with the agents elected to implement the system.

  17. No. Most of them are corrupt pedophiles who listen to their lobbyists. Get money out of politics and impose term limits.

  18. I don’t mind it, i was able to work hard and get out of my low income tax bracket and make my life better.

    ​

    is it perfect no but I’m happy in the grand scheme of things

  19. I’m so tired of party over country. Congress people don’t even seem to really care about the country or their constituents. They just want to make money and have power. We need an age cap. I don’t care how sharp you think your mind is when you’re over 70. It’s not that sharp.

  21. We really need to bring back public executions. If we can collectively decide that a politician has become corrupt, put them to the guillotine! I think that’d fix a lot of problems anyways.

  22. We need a balanced budget amendment and a reduction of the national debt otherwise it is going to hurt future generations.

  23. Controversially? I would like to see railroads re-nationalized. The private rail firms have too much authority.

  24. No here’s what I’d change

    **Taxes**

    Repeal the 16TH amendment and move towards a consumption tax with a prebate

    Abolish corporate and capital gains taxes

    Move all tariffs to one flat rate

    **Social**

    Legalize marijuana

    Decriminalize possession and usage of drugs

    Work towards a plan to see if we can legalize other substances

    Abolish qualified immunity for federal employees

    Legalize gambling nationally

    The deeds to native reservations will go back to the tribes so we can get rid of the tragedy of the commons

    Repeal the NFA

    Mandate conceal carry reciprocity

    **Government and Regulations**

    Abolish the Jones Act

    Privatize the TSA, Amtrak and USPS

    Enact a new pension plan for new federal employees to be Roth IRAs and 401ks

    Try to change the SSA to be more like the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. Have new born American children have their SSAs be basically a public IRA/401k

    Cut spending across the board to meet revenue neutral budgets

    Pass laws severely crippling eminent domain

    **Foreign relations**

    Adopt a mutual friend trade policy with consenting nations. One by one

    Maintain a neutral stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict

    Severely reduce the amount of overseas bases across the world.

    Work with Iran to better relations

    Work with Cuba to better relations

    Maintain an aggressive stance on china by embracing free trade policies with neighboring Tiger nations

    **miscellaneous**

    Repeal federal red tape for business on the executive level

    No new regulations at behest of executive agencies. They must be passed by congress

    Repeal Certificate of Need Boards

    Repeal the licensing cap on doctors

    Allow all Americans to have HSAs

    Repeal all mutual aid society regulation

    Work with states to adopt school voucher programs

    Roll back unnecessary subsidies for large corporations

    Streamline FDA regulations to allow right to try medications and get foreign drugs on the market

  25. I would like to see some changes in congress. Age limits and term limits would be a good place to start.

    I would also like to see some manner of forcing sides to be “in support of” legislature as opposed to constantly just “opposed to” everything. I don’t have the first clue how to go about that tho.

  26. I love how it’s set up but I hate that nobody is doing their jobs. The legislative branch is supposed to legislate the law (who woulda thought!?) and instead they delegate their powers to the executive branch so they can cry about how “muh president isn’t doing anything!!” Then get re-elected and not actually have to do anything themselves.

    They also delegate their responsibility to amend the constitution and create laws to the judicial branch by expecting the judges to twist the interpretation of the constitution in their favor. We saw this happen with abortion. Congress could have on multiple occasions amended the constitution or passed a law that’d make it official but they relied on the judicial branches twisting of the constitution about how the “penumbras” and “shadows” of the constitution allow it.

    There’s supposed to be a balance of powers between branches which I absolutely love about our government, but I hate that Congress refuses to pull their weight which makes the whole system wonky.

    Edit: I also want to add that I actually like the electoral college. If there were some hypothetical disaster in Wyoming that could literally bring the nation crumbling apart, but polls showed that only Wyomingites actually cared about this issue while everyone else in the nation underestimated, downplayed, or dismissed it, I think it’s a good thing that despite Wyoming having a low population it has the voice it needs in our government to bring this hypothetical issue to light. Sometimes the right thing to do isn’t what’s most popular so the electoral college can help with that in a way.

  27. Your average American does not like the government. Personally, I would like to see lobbying (bribery) be made illegal. Politicians should have to wear buttons on their suits for every company they accepted money from.

  28. No. I’d like it to shrink down to small enough to fit within the Constitution.

  31. I like it’s basic setup, but I hate how much centralized power it has amassed.

  32. The Electoral College needs to go. So does SCOTUS. And the whole “state’s rights” is a good concept but some of y’alls states suck and are hiding behind the constitution as a way of justifying how much you suck

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