by Michael Gulett –
One week ago on November 9 at 2:42 AM California time I posted something I called A Night To Remember. Where I said,
This post has nothing to do with classic cars, which is not normal for me.
But we live in abnormal times now.
I know some of you may not have liked political material on My Car Quest but I was very tired having stayed up late to follow the results of the US presidential election and I put together this short piece in a few minutes and posted it live and then went to bed.
I was surprised to see so many comments on this post. And they are still coming in.
I have decided to move this conversation to another blog which I have named Common Sense.
Common Sense – As I See It
The pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine was published in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776.
There were a few hundred thousand pamphlets printed and read by the American colonists. The ideas presented in Common Sense were important to galvanize the American Colonies to move for freedom from the British.
Proving again that ideas and words are powerful.
In the opening paragraph Paine writes,
Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher.
Many details about our modern life differ from Thomas Paine’s day yet ideas and words are as important now as they were in 1776. His ideas about the differences between society and government are still thought provoking.
The world is going through profound changes, as it was in 1776, and we must adapt to those changes and help society and government move forward in a positive way.
I intend to do what I can to that end by sharing ideas on Common Sense. I hope you will join me.
If this is of interest then visit Common Sense and participate. There are a few posts there now.
My Car Quest
I plan to continue publishing My Car Quest and hopefully you all will continue to read and participate here. I do not anticipate any more political posts here.
My best wishes to you all,
Mike Gulett
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Hi, I’m Jack Scarry a constitutional conservative (down with the Patriot Act), and founder of the Honest Elections Lottery Party. We will pick our candidates by lot ( can we do any worse then the other parties?). The only plank in our platform is that our candidated take no special interest money.
I am also interested in making some changes in campaign finance laws/rules/regulations and would like them to be Constitutional changes.
1) Candidates can only accept campaign contributations from people whos primary/ voting residence is in the geographic area (congressional district or state) that person is campaigning to represent in the US Congress (House or Senate). They may lso receive matching federan Funds andmatching Political Party funds under the same rules as Federal Matching Funds,
2) Congressional redistricting for federal elections will be taken from the states and performed by a federal agency overseen by the Federal Elections Commission and staffed by US Cencus employees.
3 Presidential appointments that must be confirmed by the US Senate must be either confirmed or not within 90 days or they are deemed automatically confirmed.
4) All members of the US Congress, both House and Senate must live under all the same laws, rules, and regulations as the rest of us including healthcare, retirement,etc… with the only exception being hiring practices.
I agree with Warren Buffett on this/his idea.
This is one idea that really should be passed around.
Congressional Reform Act of 2013
1. No Tenure/No Pension
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately.
All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system
and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 06/01/2013.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.
Congress made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s),
then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days
for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message.
WARNING – CAR STUFF HERE…
I really prefer car conversations. Maybe I have my head in the parts cleaner but that’s just me. So how about this…
I like Lancias and Hemi Cudas. Both have their problems, both have benefits. One can be dark, menacing, heavy, and ill handling. The other unreliable, but elegant and often delightful. The Cuda gets lots of attention, being brash and purposeful – built at a time when we could afford to flaunt the use of it. But I would never take a Lancia to the drag strip. Times are different now and I still like what each has to offer, but we’re at the starting line, the tree is lit up, the yellows are staging and the Cuda is about to launch.
Hopefully we will see good adhesion and a driver that knows how to handle the motor. Otherwise it will be another 4 years of wheelspin and smoke.
Raffi,
Thanks for bringing us back to car stuff in a very funny way.
Jack Scarry, there must be a majority of the voters who agree with you. But how would you ever get it off the ground (or more properly, out of committee)? As good as our country is, our system is fraught with weaknesses. I have long felt that we need to find a way to take back the legislature from the special interests. But how? Constitutional amendment?
Now back to your regularly scheduled program…
Well Ed, there is already a grassroots campaign underway that has changed the rules in 11 states for how Elector votes will be cast in the futuret s to 135 of the votes when it reaches more states and the electoral vote total for those states reaches 270 it then becomes the law of the land. This is not the same as the total abolishment of the Electoral College but they are using the correct tatics.
By working state by state using grassroots organisations and barraging the state legislators with voters letters, faxes, emails, etc… it can be done. But as the old saying goes, “better late than never.”
As a bee on the bleachers at the drag strip,
I watch with amazed interest yet also a bemused indifference to the thundering roar (or the dainty squeak), as I take a break from honey gathering.
It is a funny old world.