Fred Markham
Recent Activity
Fred Markham commented on Naomi Klein: What is your counsel? on December 20, 2008, 6:18 AM
Ms. Klein is absolutely right on this point. Furthermore, there actually is a way that we can remove the influence of money from politics. It won't be easy, but the states of Maine, Arizona, Connecticut and others have shown that it is possible. The system is called by various names, including "Clean Elections", "Voter Owned Elections", "Publicly Funded Elections". Under Clean Elections, candidates qualify by collecting a required number of petitions and small ($5) donations from registered voters in their district. Qualifying candidates are then provided money by the government (read "by the people", or "by the voters") to campaign competitively. In this way, the taxpayers provide election campaigns as a public service, in the same way that we provide ourselves with national defense, police and fire protection, and other basic services.The system works well in the states that have adopted it, and has proven to be popular across the political spectrum ... it is used by Republicans, Democrats and other parties as well.Legislation was introduced in Congress in 2007, and should be re-introduced in 2009, called the "Fair Elections Now Act". Watch for this.In the meantime, learn more about the system and how to get involved in your state by visiting these web sites... this won't happen without major public involvement, because the moneyed interests are powerful and highly motivated to prevent it. But it can happen if we want it to badly enough.Visit these web sites to learn more; they provide links to many others.http://publicampaign.org ...click the map to find organizations in your state.http://democracymatters.orgIf you live in Florida, visit http://spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/elections/
Fred Markham commented on Can the next Congress pass a comprehensive health care package? on December 20, 2008, 6:43 AM
With very few exceptions, our political leaders shy away from the concept of a national single-payer health care delivery system. The notion is automatically dismissed as "socialist", and the public unfortunately seems to accept this simple-minded condemnation of a system that is working exceptionally well in most western countries today. Instead, most plans promulgated by our leaders (including President-Elect Obama) are based on revising the current system. But the current system has a fundamental flaw that makes its simple reform unworkable: insurers have virtual total control over who gets the health care, and the insurers' profit motive is in direct conflict with the idea of providing quality health care to all of the citizens of the country. THEY DON'T MAKE MORE MONEY BY PROVIDING QUALITY, COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE TO ALL AMERICANS. Those who claim that big government bureaucracy can't manage health care overlook the fact that the current system is an incredibly huge and wasteful private bureaucracy... with administrative costs more than three times those of the so-called socialist systems. National single-payer systems are proven to be a successful way for a country to share the health care costs fairly, and it is nonsensical for us to believe that we Americans - who claim to be able to accomplish anything - can't also create a government system that works for national health care.