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This will be a difficult sell to those seeking federal office. The constitution guarantees that we may petition government for redress of grievances etc. I only ask that all meetings whether they are with lobbyists or true electoral constituents that they be 'on the record' as is done in "Courts of record".
It is much easier to do full audio and visual with portable digital equipment with the result easily archived on the net. Everyone seeking a meeting with the representative or senator would be told of the recording. The recordings would be archived and be available on the web on the basis that it is the public's business and ought to be public. I would first be willing to vote for office holders willing to promise to do this but would like to make it a legal requirement so the legislators who promise so to do would not be disadvantaged by those who will not. Failure to "keep the record" and publish all of it would be cause for instant forfeiture of office, as decided in a court rather than legislative committee, and the offender be required to refund of all salary and expenses paid to this offender back to the treasury. There would have to be security and foreign policy even party politics exceptions but I'm reluctant to consider any as our legislators tend to drive figurative trucks through these. The 'private meetings' exceptions would still be recorded but filed in a archive accessible via court order should a member of the public show probable cause that an exception was being used to skirt the law in other respects.
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so make legislators meeting in private with anyone a crime? All legislators would become de-facto criminals. An interesting twist. It's not that you had a cocaine fueled orgy with provided prostitutes, its that you failed to immediately post the footage online Shame Bad Censure. |
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Decent sentiment but the amount of time a politician would then have to allot towards making sure that the record looks good would inhibit the ones that are actually doing a good job. [ ] |
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I've always found iTunes quite convenient. |
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Hey, the present system "looks impossible" with the constant rounds of meetings, fund raisers, and social events. My ideas come from Mark Twain that "America has no native criminal class excepting Congress" (paraphrase no mail please). My perception is that "the ones that are actually doing a good job" are in the minority. |
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In any event, when has Congress ever stinted itself adding staff? Each legislator should be assigned a record-keeping parole officer staff . . . . |
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It would usher in a new era of sign language, ear wiggling,
doublespeak, and spycraft. |
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