Posted on 03/03/2008 9:03:34 PM PST by sdthompson
A new website has just launched that truly puts Democracy in Your Hands! The site ‘creates’ democracy by allowing citizens to literally ‘vote’ on any piece of legislation being considered by Congress. E-VotingBooth.com’s database then submits ‘election results’ to Congress and the President before Final Bill votes. e-VotingBooth drastically changes the dynamics of Congressmen and the President of how to vote for a congressional bill by adding the collective citizens’ voice to their voting consideration. “Congress’ original job, as defined and envisioned by our Founding Fathers, was to learn what citizens wanted legally and convert their desires into legislation,” said Steve Thompson, founder and CEO of e-VotingBooth.com. “The built-in checks and balances of our political system have been changed over time. The situation is significant in that most major bills passed by Congress drastically shortcut the process as originally defined by our Founding Fathers. “Unfortunately, this unorthodox lawmaking is now the standard in our system,” Thompson said. “Congress was originally designed to be a deliberative, not decisive, process. Human nature has changed the process so badly the only way to get legislation passed is to severely shortcut the original process. The result is a terrible loss of deliberation, transparency to citizens and accountability. “This is on top of a special interest-driven environment of big business and lobbies that encourages Congressmen and the President to all but ignore what most Americans feel or say about legislation,” said Thompson. Until now. “e-VotingBooth.com provides the ability for Americans to participate in the legislative process of America daily, if desired, instead of once every 2, 4 and 6 years at elections,” said Thompson. “But I believe the icing on the cake will be the ability of every voting American to compare their elected officials’ votes right alongside their own. This information will be invaluable before each election to hold politicians accountable for their votes. This capability is now being added to the website and will be available before the 2008 election. “For example,” continued Thompson, “if you find a Representative, Senator or President voted against your votes 90% of the time you are far more likely to vote against him or her for re-election than if they had voted 90% with you.” e-VotingBooth isn’t a government agency: Congress can’t block the site, can’t take away its funding, can’t interfere with the voting, and best of all, can’t ignore the voice of Americans any more. Thompson believes in democracy, freedom and the United States. He has been searching for a way to implement true democracy in the United States but acknowledges the system would never convert because a massive shift of power would flow from special interest groups and politicians to American citizens. But instead of giving up he took matters into his own hands and built e-VotingBooth.com to put democracy into American’s hands. He feels our Founding Fathers would be immensely pleased to see their vision finally become reality.
Welcome to FR. Thanks for the link.
Complete nonsense.
Congress was established as a "republican" body. The role as envisioned by the Founding fathers was to apply their own knowledge and intellect. The citizens were expected to send those they trusted to do the job, not those who would stick their finger in the air to determine public opinion.
A republican form of government was chosen to expressly avoid the kinds of problems that occur when ill informed masses make all the decisions by popular vote.
This is a cool idea, but the website wants WAY too much personal info.
I can see the need, e.g., getting the demographics correct on a national “e-vote.”
But, until these guys get established and thoroughly vetted, I will NOT give them all the info they require for registration.
Formating is your, and our, friend.
Here I will get you started. Take this character , (under the < on your keyboard).
John Adams referred to that as "Mob Rule" and was totally against it.
I agree.
"A representative owes his constituents not just his industry, but his judgment." - William Burke. The Founders were certainly aware of that quote and that sentiment.
Our government was established so that the people could elect people they trust. If the representatives lose that trust, they're out at the next election. It was never the job of a representative -- in any government -- to blindly bow to the momentary whims of his constituency. I shudder to imagine how many wars, how many atrocities, how many ill-considered money-dumps would follow.
Members of Congress should certainly be in tune with their constituents -- with their wants and, much more so, with their needs. But if they sacrifice their own principles for the popular will of the moment, they're nothing more than errand-boys for the pollsters.
Site pimp
This is a bad idea.
“We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy... It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.”
— Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury to George Washington, author of the Federalist Papers
“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
— John Adams, 2nd President of the United States
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”
— Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, author of the Bill of Rights
“Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death.
— James Madison, 4th President of the United States, Father of the Constitution
“The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.”
— John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States
“Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”
— John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1801-1835
Everybody in Washington hears from special interests and gets all kinds of voting results from the media at large. So what’s wrong with them seeing what we the voters think? I agree we sent them to Washington to be our representatives but what is wrong with them seeing what people think in their district, state and nation?
Do I expect our representatives to vote exactly as we do? NO I don’t because they may well have more information on an issue than I/we do. But fool that I am I do expect them to be statesman. I think they’re knowing how we feel should help them in the process not hurt.
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