The US is being run by a government that no longer represents the people

[CousinIT]

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-government-supreme-court-senate-president-represent-minority-views-2019-12

* Americans overwhelmingly support a number of policy proposals, such as background checks for all gun owners and paid maternity leave.

* But those incredibly popular proposals are not being put into practice by our politicians.

* That's because those in power — including the Senate, courts, and White House — represent a small minority of the country's population and are unduly influenced by special interests.

* It is unsustainable.

Ask any middle schooler about the basic role of government and they will answer — correctly — that it is to represent the views and ideas of the American people. Policies supported by a clear majority deserve action.

Today, representative democracy is on the brink as our government demonstrates an unprecedented disconnect from public opinion.

For instance, 83% of the public supports background checks for gun owners, but that hasn't come to fruition. Some 77% of Americans want Roe v. Wade upheld, but that precedent keeps getting chipped away at. And 84% of the nation supports paid maternity leave, which has yet to become law despite President Donald Trump's promising it during his 2016 campaign. We see time and time again that even overwhelmingly popular public views don't translate to policy.

That's because our three branches of government live under minority rule.

There is a disconnect between Capitol Hill and Main Street. Trump, whose rise was fueled by his message of taking on a "rigged" political system that failed to reflect the views and values of everyday Americans, understood and exploited that reality.

But the problem predates Trump. With gerrymandering as the standard and open primaries out of favor, politicians have tacked more to the base of their parties and away from the middle.

As a result ideas move or stall based on the power of a small group of primary-election voters and politicians who have gamed the system to block ideas that are overwhelmingly popular.

While minority views should be protected and voices outside of the consensus heard, the issue is that all three branches of the federal government are now in the hands of a group of politicians pushing distorted views to the mainstream:

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

1. Thanks to Citizens United...

The government does represent the people of his country...just not the flesh and blood kind.

Corporate Personhood...is represented well.

[RKP5637]

2. Citizens United is about IMO one of the most outrageous things done to eventually destroy the

US democracy. Open for sale, the US government and country ... thanks to Citizens United. The fact that SCOTUS allowed this to go forward is outrageous and incredibly stupid and contrived IMO.

[shockey80]

4. Did you read the Republicans oral argument for Citizens United?

It was fucking delusional. That law actually created massive discrimination and corruption. It gave rich people the power to do something most of us cannot do. Give millions of dollars to a campaign.

[RKP5637]

5. Yes, at the time it was before SCOTUS. It's outrageous. How SCOTUS went along with this is

absolutely insane and shocking in a supposed democracy with supposed equal representation.

[pangaia]

20. wasn't stupid. it was exactly what they wanted...

[Farmer-Rick]

10. The Citizen United decision was the evidence of capitalism taking over our judiciary

To promote capitalism and all its destroy and stagnate inherient qualities, Citizen United was required. Without it, democracy could always mute the voice of profit and wealth. Until Citizen United, no matter what wealth you managed to hoard, it had no more than 1 vote. With this facist decision, the filthy rich have all the votes they can manipulate out of or buy from the system.

Next up, inherited debt. This is how the Victorian era kept the poor and middle class in their place. It totally eliminates upward mobility and competition from small scale operations. With it, the filthy rich will own your entire family for generations to come.

Capitalism on the rise, crushing the life out of democracy.

[RKP5637]

3. Well said!!! n/t

[2naSalit]

6. K&R

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. tRumplickers got taken. He didn't drain the swamp & he's flush out of ideas. But they are too stupid

to know they have been conned, well and truly conned. Of course, the conning continues.

tRump is not, never was, and never will be "a man of the people".

[Wawannabe]

27. And

Anyone who supports him wears a #ShitStainTan from the spray of crap coming off of him!

[ChiTownDenny]

8. Well, the people need to vote.

Problem solved.

[YOHABLO]

9. In order to keep a Democracy: you need an educated populace.

[CrispyQ]

16. This is why the GOP focused on filling Boards of Education back in the 80s.

As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.

Karl Rove

At the same time, they funded think tanks to craft their message & bought up radio stations in the heartland to broadcast it, and now, 40 years later, 40% of our population would rather be Russians than Democrats. The right has captured the narrative on just about every issue. For 40 years they have claimed, with hardly any challenge from our side, to be the party of small government, fiscal conservatism, and family values, even as their policies don't reflect anything of the sort.

[lunasun]

30. +++ 100% agree

[pecosbob]

11. The one phrase I would beg to differ with...

With gerrymandering as the standard and open primaries out of favor, politicians have tacked more to the base of their parties and away from the middle.

The Democratic Party's base has never been the far left as is so with the far right and the modern Republican Party. The Democratic Party's base is the middle, not the left. I would go further and argue that the Democratic Party is a centrist party and not center-left.

[pangaia]

22. agreed

[PatrickforO]

26. However, it can be credibly argued that the American people themselves are further

to the left than the centrists in the party. The arguments going on in this primary season are in fact reflective of that. We have a few areas around the US, due to the electoral college, that have out sized influence on our presidential election. This is how Cozy Bear was able to so readily influence the 2016 outcome. They poured it on with a swath of maybe 200,000 voters and so carried the electoral college for Trump.

The idea that the US people are center left is not entirely true. Remember that big money comes in to create fear among us. Bernie has often said, though, that the majority of Americans are FOR every one of his policy proposals. And they are.

Consider polls. Let's look at just one topic that might be polled, and consider two questions that ostensibly address that topic:

1. Should all Americans have health care without premiums, copays or coinsurance costs even if taxes needed to go up?
2. Should we put a national healthcare system in place that takes away the private insurance of 150 million Americans?

Two questions. One truly asked, one falsely asked. A true narrative and a false narrative.

Yet the results of these polls do shape public opinion. Question 2 is asked in polls funded by big pharma and medical insurance companies, none of whom want to lose out on profits. They are fine with Americans dying because they lack healthcare, and they are fine with 40 million Americans remaining uninsured. No problem, as long as those profits keep coming in.

Our politicians do the best they can, but from the time I've followed polls as an economist, I can tell you that many, many are structured so that the result is a foregone conclusion. I guarantee you that if a poll is released highlighting question 2 above, people will be against it.

This is why some can say the American people are in the center. But they are not. The American people are far more progressive than we are told we are.

[pecosbob]

28. Agreed

[Hermit-The-Prog]

33. there is no nationwide propaganda network like the right wing oligarchs have

[marble falls]

12. Thanks for the heads up.

[KPN]

17. Lol. Right?!

[marble falls]

18. Its amusing sometimes, these "alerts".

[KPN]

23. Yes it is - but my sense of humor is getting

challenged these days, including right here.

[gulliver]

13. It's missing a "vote all Dems in and Republicans out" message

The majority needs to vote and vote Dem. My shoe is on fire and I'm sitting next to a bucket of water! Goodness, what should I do?

As usual, I'll point out that any criticism of politicians that doesn't explicitly say it is about Republican politicians is in fact pro-Republican. Republicans try to make it seem like all politicians are the problem when it's really just the Republican politicians that are.

[Scruffy1]

15. Andf water is wet.n/t

[live love laugh]

34. 💯 ✅

[pangaia]

19. This is true and a good view.

However, in the end the government represents the monied class(es).

[KPN]

21. No, really?! Nice to see some limited awakening to

what’s been building the past 45 years and became blatant since 2010.

A little late to the party.

[PatrickforO]

24. It isn't just about reasonable gun policies by a long shot.

The majority of Americans want Medicare for All when the question is asked correctly.

The majority of Americans (80%) want to see some action on global warming. And a sizable minority (40%) see it as a crisis.

The majority of Americans would like to see debt-free college.

The majority of Americans would like to see the rich taxed more.

[sandensea]

25. A garden-variety plutocracy, sad to say.

Part of the problem, of course, is that they've hoodwinked much of the middle class into believing they "have a stake" in this.

Until, of course, the next financial crisis wipes out half their net worth - but God bless it, it shouldn't have to take a tragedy like that to make them see we don't have a seat at the table or anything resembling it.

Human nature, alas.

[JohnnyRingo]

29. The government is also there to make us eat our vegetables.

What the small govt people would call the nanny state, so it's not just about what the majority wants.

A majority may want rights withheld from certain minority or special interest groups, but the Constitution, as written, overrules. Most, I'm sure, would like to stop paying taxes completely or suspend funding for specific projects, but it doesn't work that way.

More accurately, the government is there to support the needs of the country foremost, not necessarily the people at large.

[mathematic]

31. This is nonsense

Look right there in the quoted text. It's admitting that this is a 12 year old's understanding of government. 12 year olds don't know shit about shit.

IN REALITY
Voters prioritize their issues and negotiate with other voters to compromise on candidates that can best achieve their priorities.

Example 1
Person A: Hates abortion with a burning passion of a thousand popes. Thinks gun violence is clearly out of control and it would be nice to fix that.
Person B: Thinks gun ownership is a critical human right and opposes any attempt to limit the ownership of military grade weaponry. Doesn't care one way or another about abortion but took advantage of legal abortion at some point in their lives.

Person A and Person B get together and nominate your typical republican. This candidate is representing the people, even if the people disagree with this candidate on any particular issue a majority of the time.

Example 2
Person A: Poor, takes advantage of multiple social welfare programs. Hates black people and mexicans.
Person B: Rich and a scumbag.
Person A and Person B get together and nominate your typical republican. Unlike example 1, these priorities don't seem to be compatible however a compromise does exist. A candidate that promises to screw over poor non-whites more than poor whites. (Think of LBJ's famous quote).


This process is why we constantly get purity tests across the entire political spectrum by people that simply don't understand that when they're nominating or electing a candidate that they are negotiating and that they need to compromise with other voters to accomplish a prioritized list of objectives.

[UTUSN]

32. Being run by a mob cartel that has declared war on this country

[Cha]

35. No kidding.