The Political Campaign is not Serving the National Interest

The current political campaign continues our historical counterproductive pattern. It takes a year or two and costs billions. Of all advanced societies it is by far the most time consuming, costly, inefficient and least effective method of electing the President and Congress. It absorbs, on a per capita basis, dozen times more money than the parliamentary electoral system which exists in most foreign societies. As part of it, we entertain ourselves and we personalize it and we anthropomorphize the economy into our favorite politician. We speak of Reaganomics, Nixonomics, Clintonomics, Obamacare, in spite of the fact that these terms do not reflect constitutional reality. The Constitution says the President proposes but Congress disposes. Congress can accept, reject, modify, and initiate its own laws and policies. Consequently, whatever impacts on us is Congressnomics and not presidential proposals nor the ideas of various candidates. In spite of this, we have competing candidates traveling around the nation and presenting their views and proposals for solving serious problems. Since that cumbersome process takes lots of money, they pay homage to billionaires Adelson, Soros, Koch, Pritzker or stroke the NRA or AMA or corporate sponsors or some other well funded lobby to pay for the silly ritual of getting media exposure and to chase after the voters in order to become the leader. To generate and sustain momentum, demagogic habits are enlisted and garnished with lots of pep rally hoopla. As a successful candidate once said, campaigns are like moving rock concerts. With the help of sophisticated public relations advice subgroups are targeted and issues fragmentalized into gun, gay or abortion rights. This fragmentalizing tends to neglect the overarching necessity of a nationwide economic miracle which would benefit everyone. A rusty infrastructure, the most backward train system, slum houses and the growing number of marginal trailer homes require a stunning nationwide 20 year long economic miracle to catch up with what one can visually see in resource poor and crowded European and some Asian economies.

A resource poor, crowded and mismanaged Italy has attained a median family net worth three times higher than America. We spend 18 percent of GDP on medical care v. 8 to 12 percent in all advanced economies while still having a lower life expectancy and lower baby survival rate. Once these facts and lots of similar ones enter the popular mind, the voters will be shocked. Maybe we will then put the priority on domestic and not on foreign affairs. Natural catastrophes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fires, earth quakes, pollution, global warming, etc. all demand a redirecting of military spending from futile wars to solving long overdue domestic problems. Any road trip can visually verify the pitiful, if not repulsive, condition of
human habitation in most smaller towns in sharp and meaningful contrast to the attractive appearance of their equivalents in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia, etc.

Besides this, Presidential and Congressional hopefuls always promise more jobs, more jobs. Neglected in this stance is the crucial fact that historically the U.S. has generally had one of the highest adult participation in the labor force, at times, actually the highest. Thus, to generate more adult participation in the labor force is misconceptualized. It will eventually wind up re-introducing child labor which the politicians outlawed generations ago. As it is, Americans already work more hours per year than their compatriots in all advanced economies. We also work longer into old age. Consequently, the issue is not so much more jobs but substantially higher paying jobs. It would reduce the shocking 47 percent of all Americans who did not take a single vacation day in a recent year. This, too, contrasts sharply with a mandated 4 to 6 weeks of paid vacation in many European economies.
To convert America's substantial natural resources and lots of space into a higher living standard, the Presidential and Congressional candidates should focus on the following reforms:

l. Limit campaign time to six weeks and reduce cost and revamp voting for candidates to voting for parties and/or policies. It may even be worthwhile to adopt the parliamentary system to avoid our frequent split administration. The majority party would elect the President and assume responsibility.

2. Partially decentralize Wall Street to retain more savings and investment regionally and locally. For 120 years the national savings and investment stream has been collected into one locality, Wall Street. This maximized distances, minimized transparency and maximized theft. From there, the money was re-injected into the economy to spread chain businesses which prevented and/or demolished locally and regionally owned businesses, especially family owned businesses.

3. Replace the Fed with a computer which adjusts monetary growth directly with population growth. In so doing, monetarily induced inflation would disappear and the price system would fulfill its function of imparting crucial information to both producers and consumers. The massive theft from the consumer and saver, which has occurred for many years as a result of having interest rates below the rate of inflation, would stop. Long term planning for individual retirement and corporate policy would be maximized.

4. Emphasize ethics instead of urging more and more political engagements. Politics without ethics tends to spread corruptionism and extremism domestically and globally. It reduces to pure parasitism and we do not need more of that.

5.Adopt the legal practice of a major European economy to hold CEOs liable instead of their corporations. Misbehaving CEOs would then be jailed instead of merely fining their corporations which simply pass on the fine to the consumer---a patent absurdity.