Tag Archives: Medicare

Candidate Contracts: Weaponizing Populist Electoral Campaigns

Posted on June 28, 2017 by johnrachel

A short time ago, I characterized the practical intent, the rubber-hits-the-road goal of the candidate contract strategy in these words: “The purpose of the candidate contract strategy is to get the good guys elected and throw the bad guys out of office.” That sums it up as succinctly as I know how. Of course, if it works, it will have far-reaching implications in terms of restoring representative democracy and establishing new higher standards for electoral integrity. But first things first. Let’s put it to work! Here’s how. Continue reading →

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Candidate Contracts: A Democratic Renewal

Posted on June 22, 2017 by johnrachel

Here is a video and text explaining how candidate contracts take the guesswork out of voting and set a whole, new standard for electoral integrity in our country. Continue reading →

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Whack A Mole Activism

Posted on May 29, 2017 by johnrachel

The ruling class have us constantly scrambling, in a frenzy, panicked and overwhelmed, confronted by one crisis after another. The reaction by our end of the political spectrum has been short-sighted and fragmented. Disoriented and exhausted by the sheer number of crises being created, we’re never able to mount a unified, comprehensive, coherent counterattack. We work hard but our energies are scattered. We end up with what I call Whack A Mole activism. How then do we stop playing this game? We unplug it, take it out back, then take a sledgehammer to it. We destroy the machine! There is no other choice. Continue reading →

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Asymmetry

Posted on February 9, 2017 by johnrachel

Congress can impeach a president but a president can’t impeach Congress. Thus the real locus of government power resides in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Impeaching Trump will not eliminate what Trump represents. But replacing 450 corrupt pay-for-play congressman will and is how we truly make a difference that makes a difference. Continue reading →

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Warren Buffett or Jimmy Buffett?

Posted on January 31, 2017 by johnrachel

The Warren Buffett Rule for reforming Congress is a nice idea. In fact, it’s a great idea! But it suffers from one fatal flaw. It would have to be passed by Congress. And as the record clearly shows, our current Congress will do nothing for everyday citizens. They are 100% loyal to, in fact owned by, the rich and powerful. Until we replace 95% of those currently in our legislative bodies, we can kiss good-bye any hope of getting anything done which will benefit the vast majority of us. We need to stop kidding ourselves and get to work: Regime change in Washington DC! Continue reading →

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Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part V

Posted on April 7, 2016 by johnrachel

It’s all about people power. Not PACs and SuperPACS. Not big piles of money. Change still comes down to the choice each of us personally makes in the voting booth. Power resides in our aligning our individual choices, so that collectively — as in tens of millions of us united in an unstoppable juggernaut of people power — we get done what needs to get done. We must elect representatives who represent us. We will guarantee they will represent us by making candidates sign legally-binding contracts. Or we don’t vote for them. Continue reading →

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Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part IV

Posted on March 29, 2016 by johnrachel

People must unite at a local level, not under party banners, but as a voting bloc around issues that are important to them. Party labels — also very much the case with ideological labels — muddy the waters, get people unfocused on what’s truly consequential. ‘Democrat’, ‘Republican’, ‘liberal’, ‘conservative’, ‘libertarian’ — even more so with ‘socialist’, ‘Tea Party’, and ‘Green Party’ — have recently become so emotionally charged, clear thinking becomes difficult, constructive dialogue impossible. Continue reading →

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Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part III

Posted on March 25, 2016 by johnrachel

Maybe people won’t talk politics. But once the floodgate is open, people will talk about what’s hurting them, what’s holding them back, how they are getting screwed by the system and those who run things, how they had wonderful dreams and hopes for their children which are being destroyed. So talk to them. And listen. Please! The future of our country depends on it. Continue reading →

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Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part II

Posted on March 18, 2016 by johnrachel

Americans actually agree on a lot of important things. Most things! But the astonishing and powerful consensuses get lost in the trivialization, marginalization, and other weapons of mass distraction and sheer propaganda we all endure just trying to find out and understand what’s going on. We are teased, taunted, cajoled, manipulated, titillated, dazzled, and generally overwhelmed by the main stream media. Thus we lose focus. We can’t keep our eye on the prize, because by watching television we have no idea what the prize even is.

Turn off your TVs. Hide your smart phones under the mattress. Let the screensaver on your computer do whatever it does — swimming fish, go-go dancers, shooting stars — and don’t disturb it to watch the latest Trump riots or primary predictions. Go talk to someone. Your neighbor, your cousin, your kid’s teacher, that lady down the street who is always working in her garden, the guy who polishes his car three times a week. Bring cupcakes. Get to know them . . . and talk. Continue reading →

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Promises and Platitudes vs. Contractual Commitment

Posted on September 28, 2015 by johnrachel

If you are as fed up as I am at the gridlock, the shutdowns, the broken promises, the back door deals, the endless excuses, the horrifying waste of our hard-earned tax dollars that ends up lining the pockets of the already ultra-wealthy 1%, the Wall Street bankers, and the fat cats of the military-industrial complex — who keep the wars going because that keeps the profits flowing — if you are as fed up as I am at we the people always being last on the list when it comes to fixing the problems we need to tackle for America to fulfill its constitutional mandate to promote the general welfare and offer a quality life for every American, not just the filthy rich, then at least . . . LOOK AT WHAT I’M PROPOSING. Continue reading →

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