Inkwell Institute
European Desk
Every now and then I read something from across the pond and think that it would be a good way to conduct politics in this country….maybe not exactly the same but some of the ideas are worth considering……
The main party leaders have hit the campaign trail following Gordon Brown’s announcement that he has asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament, triggering a general election on May 6.
Parliament will not be formally dissolved until Monday, with MPs spending the next three days rushing legislation through the Commons during what is known as the “wash up”.
Two polls today gave the Tories a 10-point lead, enough to form a narrow majority, while a third suggested that Labour would emerge as the largest party in a hung Parliament.
Now there is an idea I can back with all my support (as little as that may be)…….dissolve Congress and send them all home to try again…..about a month or so of campaigning….that could eliminate all the crap we get for a year or more before an election…..to be honest I have not paid a great deal of attention to the politics in Europe….that is my failing…but I am trying to rectify my lack of knowledge….
I remember back in the days of the “evil empire”, the USSR, whenever there were elections for the Duma, Russian style Congress, and 85% of the members were re-elected…the news would be about what a sham the election were in the Communists country…..but yet in the “democracy” in the US the percentage of those re-elected is somewhere close to 90….does that mean that it is also a sham?
The point I am trying desperately trying to make is that it is a good idea to dissolve Congress if they are getting NOTHING done but petty bickering…….and a month of campaigning would be money well spent and eliminate some, not all, of the campaign bullsh*t.
While I am not sure if the whole Parliament has to campaign or not (hopefully Quin of Quintessential Havoc will weigh in)….but all in all sounds like a Helluva idea….this could make the ass wads in Washington more responsible for their actions or in the case of today….inaction….
Yeah – sounds great, doesn’t it. Actually, it’s all flim-flam – all my eye and Betty Martin – or any other daft Brit expression meaning bullshit you like to coin.
It’s simply a constitutional convolution to get round the fact that The Queen is the “Head of State”… but not really, or only technically.
Just like the US – they’ve been campaigning and screwing up all just as normal for at least a year.
The one significant difference between us and you is that THE PRIME MINISTER actually calls the election – WHENEVER HE CHOOSES! That’s in consultation with HIS party of course (or it usually is) unless he loses a “vote of no confidence” in Parliament, which is unlikely since his own party is unlikely to vote to give up their jobs, are they?
If memory serves, the month long thing is comes from two factors – constitutionally, a month is the MINIMUM amount of time that must be allowed for campaigning and Brits AND the media get bored after a month (well, a week actually) and stop even pretending to listen.
The “disolution of parliament” thing is, as I say, merely one of those utterly useless and comlicated (and expensive) things us Brits do so well and so often – pomp and BS!
Yes – the dissolution of parliament means the end of all government (thank God!) for four weeks – well sort of…
Most people have bet on May 6th 2010 for the election date for at least a year, maybe two.
One other difference is that (as I understand it) in the US the elected President creates the ruling government (administration). In the UK the leader of the elected PARTY becomes prime minister by selecting members of his party who have also been elected – THEN he goes through the rigmarole of the Queen accepting his proposal to “form a government” but it’s little more than pageantry. It is technically then “Her” government, but only in name really because she has little or no control over anything.
One important (though sadly never used to my knowledge) is that, in a serious constitutional crisis, she could theoratically choose to dissolve parliament just for the hell of it – interestingly, the same is (I believe) technically also theoretically possible for Canada – a member of the British Commonwealth.
Thanx for the clarification…looks like I have got to do more reading on this subject…..sounds utterly boring (could not think of another term for it)….in other words it is all pomp and flash….same here just not as ceremonially correct (is that a word)……I am working on yet another mental masturbation on term limits for our Reps…..I wish we could get a similar month of campaigning…but crap..here it starts the day after the last one…..
It’s not all that different in the UK – most of their time is spent scoring points of each other – just like your lot.
They do work quite hard (although nothing like as much as real people) it’s just such a pity it’s only for their own benefit and not that of the people they’re supposed to represent.
Amen Brother! The US Reps work about 3 days a week, Monday and Friday are travel days, about 250 days a year and get paid big bucks for absolutely NOTHING and I have to pay for their health care, travel expenses, etc…through my taxes…I am over it! It is time for us dickheads in the states to start considering term limits and NO corporate funds……this will never happen to my dismay….
I’ll tell you one thing… If you and I couldn’t sit down together with a bottle of wine and thrash out a better system than the ones we have at present, I think I’d cut my own throat.
People fought bloody wars to win the right to have the systems that were the templates for what we have today and the freedoms and fairness of those systems have been steadily eroded and chipped away at by corrupt assholes over the years until there’s nothing left that our forefathers would recognise – or want!
These political animals stole our birthrights and it bloody well pisses me off! 😡
Even without the wine….I see the main problem to this situation as GREED…..and that is NOT easily changed……but on the other hand….a good bottle of wine would make the process more enjoyable….
Oh, I think wine would be the ONLY way to cope with all this current shit. 😆
However, more seriously, one of the things I think you HAVE to do when designing a system from the ground up is to TAKE PROPER ACCOUNT of human nature as it really IS, not as all these dreamers like to kid themselves it is.
Therefore, it is essential to encompass such personality traits as greed within the system and turn them to the advantage of the electorate and against those who currently manipulate the flawed systems we have. Rather than vainly attempting to change people’s basic instincts, (which is utterly futile), if you start with the assumption that you’re dealing with assholes, but that’s OK as long as they are TALENTED assholes, things suddenly get a whole lot more realistic.
As a matter of interest, although I’m not exactly advocating this (or anything really like it), I think one fact is VITAL to remember and keep in mind when starting out looking at possible new systems and that is this…
In a hypothetical country where there is a thriving economy, common sense rules applied with thought and (where appropriate) compassion and NO TAX – nothing, nada, nix – most goods would cost individuals half the current price and often one heck of a lot less AND except for a few seriously disabled and those who are happy to let others pay for them (which would stop), there would consequently BE ALMOST NO POOR at all!
THAT is the giant SCAM – not all, but by far the majority of poor people are ONLY really poor because they are directly or indirectly supporting all this shit and therefore they accept the lie that they need them BECAUSE they’re poor! Create a lot of poor people and then keep them that way and totally dependent on you! That way you’ll stay in power and keep hold of all the aces! Drugs barons do more or less that!
I believe you called it Corporate Communism!
Dylan Ratigan coined the phrase I believe…..I like your premise but there is one point I need a little clarification….NO TAXES…I like it but how will the government finance itself? What will be the revenue generating vehicle? I like the common sense approach…….and then we have human nature…..a difficult thing to predict……we all have a different definition…..
OK – no taxes – we both know that’s impossible – it was as I said, just hypothetical. But if you start with that base, then you can add what is actually necessary, rather than starting with what you have at present. I’m sure some will see this as sexist, but it’s only an example… take any woman shopping with $200 for shoes and she’ll spend at least that; take $500 and she’ll spent that; $1000 and… well, I’m sure you get the point. Work out what you REALLY need first and then see how you can raise it – if you REALLY want to. Tiny government will require tiny finance!
Human nature… we’d have to discuss that, but the obvious ones are greed, jealousy, self-interest and a tendecy to dishonesty and corruption. Any new system should I belive work around the fact that those involved are probably going to display all those personality traits, so stop pretending ang take that fact on board… To put it more simply – change the system, don’t try to change the people, because you’ll be on a loser from the start!
I agree with you on the human nature thing……they MUST stop pretending to be pious…they are not and will never be….
I see where you are going with this…..and I can agree in principle……but I believe that education, health care, national defense, on and on…should be the responsibility of the “State” (there is a post coming on this also)….I do not mind government spending money just that it needs to show real results and not some fabricated package of stats….
Yes, I agree with your list (well, apart from the “on and on” bit). But, if we were starting with a blank page, we could discuss that, couldn’t we?
It’s all dreamland, of course, but I doubt our version could be half as bad as what currently exists!
🙂
It could not hurt…we are smarter than the average dumbass….we could be the beginning of a “Brave New World”….sorry had to get a literary reference in there somewhere…..
Term limits… I thought I was the only idiot who supported them in congress.
HI LOUDelf…nope I have been supporting the concept for 25 years maybe more…..and public funding of campaigns and a ban on former Congress people serving as a lobbyist for at least 5 years after they leave Congress…so my friend you are NOT alone……
I agree with those things in principle – in fact I’ve been advocating the same thing, but I’m not sure they will achieve the desired aim – there’s something missing, but I can’t put my finger on it right now… more caffiene seems to be required. 😆
More caffeine is ALWAYS of assistance…….
Yup! And I believe it’s done the trick – go see… 😆