There is no way in fuck the Supreme Court will let this stand.

I sure hope so. I just want to spread the word on this. If people are outraged enough, then something will have to be done.

Tell your friends if you can.

That's it, the government has kicked the American people around long enough... Time to start a war!

We need to remind the gov't who they answer to. I don't think political officials are bad people, but lately they seemed both misguided and stupid. They need to remember why we elected them. It wasn't so they can serve their own ends.

*nods* They ONLY reason any officials are in office is to represent the American people! The fact they've banned Americans from protesting their policies and the direction the system is going is a sure sign that they are so far beyond their station that they must be removed. I honestly and fully feel that any politician found taking bribes from anyone, should be executed for treason against the American people... not even the president is above the law, but they all seem to think they are...

I hope that soon, someone somewhere will remind them, and put them in fear of the wrath of the American people... Or America is going to turn into something so terrifying that even I can't imagine it...

I wouldn't go so far as to execute them for it, but I would make political corruption (for both the corrupter and the corrupted) and severe crime. AT LEAST 20 years in prison with no chance for ever running for office again.

The citizens united ruling has ruined our democracy.

I'd be more strict... You see, a politician can afford to get bailouts and preferential treatment in prison (and congressmen rarely are jailed, even if caught and convicted of crimes)... I feel that the only effective means to keep this from continuing is to give them very strict and harsh punishment for this. Political corruption is a very severe crime, and should be dealt with severely... Otherwise, knowing human natures, and our culture regarding politics, people will just continue to do things the way they've been done for decades. Besides, after a few of them have been given the death sentence for high treason, the rest will fall into line and think twice about accepting any sort of bribes from "lobbyists".

Upon further reflection, you may be onto something. I feel that White-Collar crimes in general need harsher punishments. These crimes tend to have wide-reaching implications that things like murder simply don't have: Political corruption is among the most severe.

Exactly. And considering the far greater damage that both white collar and governmental crimes have on society, I feel that they should be punished more severely. Have you perhaps seen the data on how much more damage white collar crimes do than street level crimes? It's scary, isn't it?

I don't know the actual figures, but I can see the results of corporate greed plain before my eyes. Once banks started lending out money to people who should not have qualified, for interest that could not possibly pay off, even if they made minimum payments each week, we saw a collapse of the entire financial system. There's also the JP Morgan scandal where the head lost at least $3 billion (actual data has yet to be released) of their investors money on what amounted to essentially gambling.

I am a capitalist, but I believe in strong regulation, of both corporations and the government. We need true equality of opportunity. The way it is now, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

I feel the best route is for a strongly police capitalist system, with socialized medicine... Setting a price tag on the lives of our own citizens is soulless...

Also, why are we helping people who aren't even our own citizens? They get better medical than we do right now... And so help me if I get my hands on the guy who came up with this "insurance company" bullshit...

I think certain things should be left to the state. Things like Police, Firefighters, Health Care, Roads/Infrastructure, Education/College (especially college). They should also be paid for through taxes only, nothing more. Things that are a necessity to civilized life cannot be subject to corporate greed. This is a recipe for disaster.

All other things should be subject to a well-regulated capitalism. Capitalism is great because competition fosters innovation. However, it will always be subject to greed and cutting corners where you can. This is why we need regulation. These agencies must also be held directly responsible to the people. Going through middle men like Congress isn't shown to work. The more people you introduce, the more likely you are to have bribery take place.

Things should be best left as simple and plain as they possibly can. Many problems arise from the over-complication of our laws. Tax loopholes and other bad laws get formed that way. People need to look over the systems every 20 or so years and shave off extra fluff.

Socialism and Capitalism both have strengths and weaknesses in my opinion. That both sound good on paper, but always have a catch only revealed in execution. The ideal would probably be somewhere between these two extremes.

That's a very longform way of saying I agree with you.

You sound very reasonable my friend, and it sounds like you know your subject well. ^w^

I'd pity any fool unwise enough to disagree with you on politics.

I admit that it can be difficult being a moderate born to a highly-Republican family in a majority Democrat-state.

That's fine. I'm classified as a left-wing "extremist" for believing that America would be far better off as a socialist democracy. Mind you that I live in Arizona, a right-wing extremist state.