[Benjo]

There are lots of things we could do to end the recovery. They won't happen because they are not in the best short term interest of the politicians making the decisions. Natural selection has weeded out the congressmen that make decisions contrary to their ability to raise campaign money.

That is the root cause of the problem. Until that is solved, there's no point in dreaming up efficient solutions, because they won't happen.

[mcantelon]

Exactly. The problem is corruption. Everything else is a symptom.

[epscylonb]

The problem is the voters, you get the politicians you deserve.

I don't think the american people are dumb or lazy, I think they are very complacent.

Americans have become so used to their fairly high standard of living that they are ignoring substantive issues and focusing on trivia.

My personal prediction is that the voters will wise up and listen to smart people who understand the issues eventually. At the moment though americans just see high gas prices and demand their government fix "the problem", they aren't interested in the challenging geo political, economic and social complexities.

How far amercia falls on the way to this correction is difficult to tell.

edit: just in case anyone thinks I am america bashing, the above applies to most of western europe as well.

[hermannj314]

The problem isn't the voters, the problem is the process.

There is no way that basing a representative democracy on geographical cohorts can be optimal. I assume it is based originally on logistical constraints, but today is something we just accept because it is how it has always been done.

Wouldn't it make more sense to divide the political arena based on the scope of the issues allowed to be legislated and not on the origin of the legislator? Or maybe we just need a stronger 10th amendment.

It will never happen. I know. Wishful thinking maybe.

[cookiecaper]

As above, the problem is corruption. We have a structure that is supposed to effectively keep the federal government almost completely incapable of doing anything besides maintaining international borders, treaties, and other boring matters like import taxes. Because the people in power like power, and because the populace is complacent enough to allow it, they ignore any structural inconveniences like the fact that a strict reading of the Constitution forbids almost all federal programs and activities that exist today.

[jad]

> As above, the problem is corruption. We have a structure that is supposed to effectively keep the federal government almost completely incapable of doing anything besides maintaining international borders, treaties, and other boring matters like import taxes.

This isn't true at all. There was a group of founders led intellectually by Alexander Hamilton who believed in a strong central government and who saw the federal Constitution as giving that government very broad powers.

This is in opposition to the Jeffersonian view of limited government, the primacy of the states, the ideal of the yeoman farmer, etc.

> Because the people in power like power, and because the populace is complacent enough to allow it, they ignore any structural inconveniences like the fact that a strict reading of the Constitution forbids almost all federal programs and activities that exist today.

This also isn't true. Setting aside whether the Constitution forbids, say, the Department of Education or whatever, we have the government we have because that's what people have voted for. FDR was elected president 4 times. The New Deal was popular at the time. He wasn't cramming it down the throats of a credulous population.

It's a good thing that the Constitution is malleable enough to continue to support the wishes of a majority of Americans. If it isn't, we can either amended it so that it does (which we have done when needed), or, in an extreme case, replace it completely.

The Constitution exists to serve the people, not the other way around.

[sapphirecat]

Also, the Senate was once elected by the States, which may have been intended by the founding fathers as an important check on the expansion of Federal power. State-elected senators would serve their state governments, who would probably not want to see the massive appropriation of state power to the federal government.

[mcantelon]

>The problem is the voters, you get the politicians you deserve.

The politicians and voters are corrupt: I agree.

[yuhong]

Agreed but note also that the campaign donations would not work if not for the Baby Boomers.