Coffee Party - discuss what concerns we have about our gov't.

[WinterBorn]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...89&sc=fb&cc=fp


Coffee Party Founder Wants Common Grounds

"Several weeks ago, documentary filmmaker Annabel Park was sitting in her apartment in Silver Spring, Md, when she updated her Facebook page with a good, old-fashioned rant. "Let's start a coffee party — a Red Bull party — anything but tea," she wrote. "Let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.""



The article goes on to say we should sit down and have a real dialogue about what concerns we have about our gov't and what we should do.


Rather than bash either this or the Tea Party, list what your concerns would be:

[tinfoil]

My biggest concern is a government class (employees of various municipalities), who hold the keys to change, failing to do an adequate job and failing to take the economic hit with the rest of the population. I think government employment rate should mirror the unemployment rate. They should either take paycuts or lose the same percentage of labor force. And they should lose programs that don't need to be done right now.

[Onceler]

I'm down w/ the coffee party.

I always railed Nader for saying that both parties are the same, but there is some truth there. It's essentially a corporacracy - candidates & votes to the highest bidder.

Get money out of politics....

[cawacko]

Originally Posted by Onceler

I'm down w/ the coffee party.

I always railed Nader for saying that both parties are the same, but there is some truth there. It's essentially a corporacracy - candidates & votes to the highest bidder.

Get money out of politics....

I get the idea behind getting money out of politics. In San Francisco we have district elections for our Board of Supervisors and there are severe limitations on the amount of money they can raise. However I don't really see any difference in the type of candidate that runs in this senario. Now this is just one example in one City so not obviously something that has been tried on a national level.

My cynical take is getting money out of politics sounds good but if actually tried would have its own set of issues that would make us (voters) unhappy.

[Stupid Superstition]

Well it's hard to say. My biggest concern is freedom. Freedom for all. Gays, drug users, felons, gun owners, etc. After that is government waste. I know you can never truly eliminate waste, and in some cases it can be good. But let's control spending.

[Yurt]

Originally Posted by Onceler

I'm down w/ the coffee party.

I always railed Nader for saying that both parties are the same, but there is some truth there. It's essentially a corporacracy - candidates & votes to the highest bidder.

Get money out of politics....

1. if there is some truth there, why do you always rail him?

2. how is it possible to get money out of politics?

[Stupid Superstition]

Originally Posted by Yurt

1. if there is some truth there, why do you always rail him?

2. how is it possible to get money out of politics?

Even though I'm not the one you're asking, there are a couple of ways that I THINK might help get money out of politics. First, salary cuts for elected officials. Being a servant of the people shouldn't set you up for life. And that will make it harder for people to buy controlling interests.

[MakeMeASandwichBitch]

Originally Posted by WinterBorn

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...89&sc=fb&cc=fp


Coffee Party Founder Wants Common Grounds

"Several weeks ago, documentary filmmaker Annabel Park was sitting in her apartment in Silver Spring, Md, when she updated her Facebook page with a good, old-fashioned rant. "Let's start a coffee party — a Red Bull party — anything but tea," she wrote. "Let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.""



The article goes on to say we should sit down and have a real dialogue about what concerns we have about our gov't and what we should do.


Rather than bash either this or the Tea Party, list what your concerns would be:

I joined the coffee party on FB. It's a pretty obvious reaction to the Tea Party.

[cawacko]

Originally Posted by CaptBillyTheKid

Even though I'm not the one you're asking, there are a couple of ways that I THINK might help get money out of politics. First, salary cuts for elected officials. Being a servant of the people shouldn't set you up for life. And that will make it harder for people to buy controlling interests.

What do people in Congress make $150K - $200K? That's not chump change but no one's getting rich off that.

[MakeMeASandwichBitch]

Originally Posted by tinfoil

My biggest concern is a government class (employees of various municipalities), who hold the keys to change, failing to do an adequate job and failing to take the economic hit with the rest of the population. I think government employment rate should mirror the unemployment rate. They should either take paycuts or lose the same percentage of labor force. And they should lose programs that don't need to be done right now.

Au contraire. The government should spend more in a recession than it does in times of boom. That way it can act as a counterweight to market, evening things out.

The problem has been that the government has been spending and cutting taxes willy nilly in times of boom.

[MakeMeASandwichBitch]

Originally Posted by cawacko

What do people in Congress make $150K - $200K? That's not chump change but no one's getting rich off that.

In Singapore, government ministers are paid as much as the average CEO. I'm not saying that I'd support it, but they do have some of the lowest rates of corruption in the world. It greatly increases the cost of having your corruption found out about. Because each representative has influence over so much money, this may actually be cost-effective. And, honestly, at current rates it's a trivial percentage of the budget anyway.

[Stupid Superstition]

Originally Posted by cawacko

What do people in Congress make $150K - $200K? That's not chump change but no one's getting rich off that.

That's more than I make by a long shot. And after elected, they are in for a minimum amount of time. Not to mention all the benefits. And you don't even have to show up to get payed. Fuck that.

[MakeMeASandwichBitch]

Originally Posted by cawacko

I get the idea behind getting money out of politics. In San Francisco we have district elections for our Board of Supervisors and there are severe limitations on the amount of money they can raise. However I don't really see any difference in the type of candidate that runs in this senario. Now this is just one example in one City so not obviously something that has been tried on a national level.

My cynical take is getting money out of politics sounds good but if actually tried would have its own set of issues that would make us (voters) unhappy.

The problems with elected officials has seriously caused me to doubt the elected system, which is why I've proposed electing a house of congress by lottery before. We could at least try it out beforehand by giving it just the ability to propose laws but not the ability to veto anything; and see how much people like it over the conventional system.

Grind would have it replace the house; I'd have it replace the senate. I despise the senate.

[Yurt]

Originally Posted by CaptBillyTheKid

Even though I'm not the one you're asking, there are a couple of ways that I THINK might help get money out of politics. First, salary cuts for elected officials. Being a servant of the people shouldn't set you up for life. And that will make it harder for people to buy controlling interests.

i don't think their salaries set them up for life...

notwithstanding the recent scotus decsion about corps/unions having the ability to buy political adverts, i think the decision left open the possibility of congress limiting every politician's campaign, be it ads, etc.....

[USFREEDOM911]

Originally Posted by WinterBorn

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...89&sc=fb&cc=fp


Coffee Party Founder Wants Common Grounds

"Several weeks ago, documentary filmmaker Annabel Park was sitting in her apartment in Silver Spring, Md, when she updated her Facebook page with a good, old-fashioned rant. "Let's start a coffee party — a Red Bull party — anything but tea," she wrote. "Let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.""



The article goes on to say we should sit down and have a real dialogue about what concerns we have about our gov't and what we should do.


Rather than bash either this or the Tea Party, list what your concerns would be:

I'm sure that they'll grind out their differences; but this will probably just brew more trouble.