“America isn’t a country for the Rich to rule”: Actually, in the beginning, only a white male, whit no debt, was allowed to vote. In other words, the rich ruled in the beginning. As time progressed, many steps were taken until we got to the every vote counts mentality. That to me really isn’t the issue here. The reason the Founding Fathers allowed the rich to rule in the beginning was manyfold. First of all, they were better educated. In today’s environment, poorly educated and well educated isn’t a whole of difference in day to day life. In those days, most were illiterate. So, there was a need to keep the idiots out. Secondly, rich people weren’t beholden to debtors who could control their votes. Thirdly, rich people could serve voluntarily which didn’t drain the financial resources of the country at the time and displayed a sincere desire to volunteer for the betterment of the country. This, IMO, is where the problem is today. The job, although looks good on paper, comes with a lot of strings attached to the point someone running a McDonald’s franchise will clear more money. If someone is doing this for personal profit, they’re going to need a lot more outside “assistance”. That to me is where the gut of the problem is. When you’re hungry, and influential, you’ve got WAY too many temptations more than happy to feed you. IMO, we need to do one or either of two options. Drastically increase the pay of our representatives so that they’re not nearly as tempted. Or, kick the position back to volunteer only. We can only hope what we are getting are the rich. The alternative will be people with vested interests outside of the obvious. They’re going to be religious zealots, political fringes, and even a few who feel convinced they are doing it for the best of the country. What it won’t be is the average Joe. He won’t be able to afford it. So, I think we need to bump those salaries real high and eliminate all outside income. However, if we do that, they will become part of the “rich”. And, you’ll get a lot of people running just for the salary. So, it’s a pretty complicated issue to address if you look at it purely from an economic perspective.

I just want to eliminate the hidden agendas that are legally supported mostly by the IRS.

You’re right on when you point out the system is put together in a way, that makes corruption a part of the game. It was long ago this was a government “for the people” and it’s about time we get back to that basic premise; America isn’t a country for the Rich to rule; or where “the land of the free” practically means the “land of those who have”.

Public financing reforms can’t come soon enough. Take out private money and even “joe blow” will get a chance to show that money doesn’t make brains and get elected.