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[mhr]

1. Yes, Is This Not Obvious To Many?

Corporate greed and influence is enough to justify the answer alone.

[sistersofmercy]

2. Of course!

Great piece by the way.

[9215]

3. I've read this

before, and need to go back over this. It is really phenomenal how the thinkers of those days worked to structure a democracy.

It seems Madison pre-supposes equality (the vote) of the various factions in his opinion here and, following that logic, that more factions resulting from the growth in size of the entire body poltitic would reduce the effects of any one. He was an incredible thinker.

In our present predicament with the Repugs the problem is disproportionate power across factions in the way of money: there are a relatively small number of people who control the political system because they have the money, combined with a large faction.

Madison and Jefferson considered passing an 11th Amendment to address that particular problem: corporatism/fascism.

[starroute]

4. Disproportionate influence of financial interests

The first few generations of leadership in this country were very aware of the undue influence powerful financial interests could exert on government, and there was a general attempt to avoid it -- not just among the writers of the Constitution, but across the board.

That is why most state capitals are out in the boondocks somewhere and not in major commercial cities like New York and Philadelphia. I believe it was also a large part of the reason for founding Washington, D.C.

For a long time, geography was sufficient to insulate government from commercial interests. But in our wonderful world of high-speed communication and transportation, that is no longer the case. I think that is probably the crucial factor in unbalancing the system, rather than monolithic right-wing alliances.

As always -- follow the money. It will tell you a lot more about what is really going on than looking at ideology will.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. The system means nothing to this powerful alliance...

and, because we no longer seem to teach history and "civics," it means little to the public. It obviously means nothing to the press, or they would recognize and fulfill their responsibility to it. The system is endangered. The framers would be very troubled.

Thanks for this post --

[Name removed]

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