Concentration of Power in the US

[WichitaDM]

Im sure this is old news to everyone but if Hillary manages to keep from falling apart won the presidency and served two terms we would have had either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House for 36 years straight. Does this not seem odd to anyone else? Why is it that so few families seem to control the political landscape in the United States?

At the point where you are choosing in between two sets of rich bureaucrats who have it in there self interest to serve their real masters the corporate interests and to increase the scope of the government do you even have a democracy anymore? In my mind our government is beginning to seem more like there is a ruling class or a ruling family per se rather than a true democratic process. Sure we all vote but if both choices are bought and paid for by the same special interest groups for the most part then what difference does it make?

While im sure we are all aware of this at least to some extent, is there any way to reverse the cycle and get some sense of true representative democracy back in the US? Thoughts?

[Misfire]

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Im sure this is old news to everyone but if Hillary manages to keep from falling apart won the presidency and served two terms we would have had either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House for 36 years straight. Does this not seem odd to anyone else? Why is it that so few families seem to control the political landscape in the United States?

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You had my attention here...

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At the point where you are choosing in between two sets of rich bureaucrats who have it in there self interest to serve their real masters the corporate interests

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I stopped reading here.

[WichitaDM]

Well dont you think it is basically the same issue? I added the latter part because i am speculating the reason why you have such a small group of people setting policy for 300 million people was because of the corporate interests. If this is a totally stupid or naive notion please let me know, I am relatively new to seriously thinking about politics and would like to hear where you feel i erred.

[Bedreviter]

[AlexM]

The thing is, we do have a democracy. The problem is that most people are really, really stupid and when you give really, really stupid people control over the government, this is what happens. This is why the Constitution was written to make it nearly impossible for Congress to do anything. The problem with that is that people turned out to be so stupid that the politicians are able to largely ignore the Constitution and get away with it. Not to mention the dreaded 17th Amendment, which removed the only real check on the Federal Government's power.

[WichitaDM]

Im not saying that there is a conspiracy just that the mechanisms in place for our political system have led to the reality of our current political landscape. I mean it seems the ability of people to either raise money or have access to money has a much higher correlation to electability than the quality of a persons ideas. The money that comes from either being rich, corporations, or really wherever then decides our electoral process not the actual quality of the candidate per se.

I mean its inherantly obvious that the Bush and Clinton Political machines are two of the largest in the country. Is it really any suprise then that they are likely to have control of the executive branch for almost four decades straight?

[One Outer]

I started to form a cogent response on this but decided that, while OP is kinda sorta on the right track, it's just not worth it because this guy doesn't get it and isn't ever gonna get it.

Oh, and if Hillary served two terms it would be 28 years with a Clinton or Bush in charge, not 36. Dummy.

EDIT: I changed my mind. It isn't about some corporate conspiracy or the Bush and Clinton families being really powerful. It is about mainstream views of the political process and how the government serves people.

The Republicans (and definitely Clinton, to a much lesser extent, but still) both accept the same framework. Their views just happen to dovetail nicely with the people that have the money. They are not part of a corporate conspiracy; the corporate money backs them because their views are sympathetic to corporate interests. Their politics came first, then the money.

But Clinton is the exception for the Democrats. The Republicans are all like that. I saw some of the post debate interviews tonight with Mitt Romney. Alan Colmes asked him about his healthcare plan, and what he didn't like about Hillary's. Romney said he didn't think the government should be in charge of healthcare. Normally I would just say "stupid, next" and move on but this time he is stupid and lying. The Clinton plan doesnt' force government insurance on anyone; it only opens up government employee insurance or Medicare to anyone that wants it while anyone can keep their private plan if they so wish. To which Romney says that he doesnt' think that is the way to deal with the problem, that you should give tax credits to buy private insurance, blah, blah, blah. So basically, eveyone having health insurance is good according to Romney, but only as long as someone is profiting off it. Covering those people using the existing government system won't work, even though the care is better, cheaper and more efficient. Of course these people get corporate money.

[MiloMinderbinder]

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Oh, and if Hillary served two terms it would be 28 years with a Clinton or Bush in charge, not 36. Dummy.

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He was including the 8 years Bush Sr served as VP under Reagan.

[Case Closed]

The power is not concentrated in this two families. The power is concentrated in the two parties and the fact that there may be a cute little coincidence that the last names have matched up for the past couple of decades is just that. The parties run everything and I don't believe these two families run those parties.

[One Outer]

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Oh, and if Hillary served two terms it would be 28 years with a Clinton or Bush in charge, not 36. Dummy.

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He was including the 8 years Bush Sr served as VP under Reagan.

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That's still retarded.