Fixing Washington

Having blogged about Frank's alternative future, Pokemon and Jay Z over the past few weeks, I figured it was time for a serious post. And what could be more interesting than politics!?!?!?!? ..well I guess a lot of things could be more interesting (like Godzilla v. King Kong with Sock'em Boppers ), but I like politics so SIT DOWN AND LISTEN UP (read up #the internet makes everything harder)

Congress has a horrible approval rating. I am pretty sure killing cripple orphan children would be more popular than Congress right now (pathos - am i doing it rite?). Part of the problem is simply the public's ignorance. What's that humble blog reader? You don't think you are ignorant. Well okay then, answer these questions WITHOUT USING GOOGLE. Who are your state senators? Who is your district representative? What are their parties and platforms? (wow I just attacked my audience effectively destroying the central pillar of the rhetorical triangle...YOLO). I am willing to be that less than 5% answered that question correctly (by the way that is lower than Congress's approval rating...just saying). I would tell you the answers but that would ruin the point of this post, which is to get the public active. I frequently hear the idea for "term limits for Congress" when in all actuality they don't need them. There are elections every 4 years folks (every 2 years if you count the fact that they are offset).  If you hate Congress VOTE THEM OUT YOURSELF! We the people elect them. If they want to spend all their time arguing it is the public's responsibility to kick them out. If they overspend it is up to the public to find new leaders. People love to blindly complain about government, when they are misinformed and/or unwilling to take action themselves.

The solution to this problem has two parts the first being quite simple. Compulsory tests should be given in order to register to vote. A simple two-minute exam matching candidates with their platforms would ensure that the people who do vote know what they are voting for instead of checking all the GOP/Democrat boxes all the way down. The second part of the solution is a little more difficult - getting people to vote. America boast one of the lowest voter turnouts out of any western democracy (including our worthless neighbors up north. That's right CANADA is beating us!!!). This is largely because the amount time and effort spent to vote rarely seems to be worth the minuscule difference that one vote could make. Unfortunately everybody thinks that way and nobody vote. The first part of the solution will solve part of this. As people become more informed about he candidates they will have more of an interest in voting and will feel motivated to make a difference. The rest can be solved by making voting faster. It seems somewhat ironic that they shutdown schools to vote and only use three rooms for voting. Instead of waiting in a line through hallways, fill the school up with ballot boxes. The building should be lined with ballot boxes, in rooms, in hallways, outside. People wouldn't be so hesitant if they knew that they could get in and get out instead of wasting their whole morning. Accessibility can even be taken a step further. Instead of central locations, we could vote online (assuming that the government achieves cyber-security and stops the Pentagon from getting hacked every 3 months!!!). Heck you could even vote on your iPad (yup there's an app for that).

Another problem with the legislative branch is the lack of experts. Sure many congressmen went to college, but that doesn't make them experts. The majority of congressmen major in law. How does a major in law help to combat poverty, analyze security threats, fix the economy, or achieve international peace? (Objection the prosecutor is making too much sense. OVERRULED!!!!) Why is cabinet loaded with the security advisers and the economic analysts? Screw the executive! (Dear secret service agent, this was in no way, shape, or form an attack on the President. I am just an emotional 11th grader with a keyboard). The cabinet doesn't get to make the laws, they just talk about the ones that Congress has already made up. We need to flip the branches. Congress should be the place where the experts reside. The economic experts can analyze the market and draft legislation to fix it. The foreign policy analysts can create treaties with the best chance of approval while security analyst work to combat any future threats. Seriously, why do we elect the pretty faces and the smooth talkers to Washington? What is this a class council election? We might as well elect Claire Standish! The nerds should be ones making the rules. Who better to reform the tax code than somebody who has spent his/her whole life studying it? Why quote some researcher on school reform, when he can be there himself? The public needs to stop electing Jeff Wingers and start electing Sheldon Coopers (...ok maybe not Sheldons but you get my drift).

Obviously Congress has ALOT more to be fixed (lobbyists, embezzlement, logrolling, pork-barreling), but hey we will save those for another post. (And to all the Canadians out there I offended -  imma let you finish but AMERICA IS THE BEST COUNTRY OF ALL TIME.!) (Jk Canada your alright XP).