The Madison Conservative Platform - part 1

The primary act required of a citizen in a democracy is to vote, to have their voice heard; to partcipate. The Greeks, who had a particular affinity for democratic self rule, had a term for someone who voluntarily excused themselves from their primary civil duty, who kept themselves separate and apart from the responsibilities of citizenship: ’idios’.

The English term ‘idiot’ is derived from this word.

One who does not vote, therefore, could easily and fairly be called an idiot.

The issue today, however, is that the entrenched  incumbent holders of temporary political power, with the conspiratorial help and often at the behest of their financial backers,  have so warped the sanctity of the vote that many may be forgiven for opting out of electoral politics, the potential for conscious idiocy notwithstanding. There seems today to be little, if any, recognition or outrage that democracy must never be for sale to the highest bidder, as if it were just another commodity to be bought, sold and traded. The lesson needs to be learned by the body politic that the American people will not tolerate such conduct at the price of their freedom and the freedom for her  posterity.

Therefore, the first plank of the Madison Conservative platform will address the current absurdities and corruption of the electoral process on the federal level by the infusion of unregulated and unnamed sources of campaign financing.

The recent Supreme Court decision in what is being called the “Citizens United” case in essence  gave voter status to all entities to promote whatever political candidate or cause they chose without falling under the current, albeit shameful, guidelines in place for specific campaigns. This has allowed the creation of amorphous entities and of so-called ‘super-pacs’ that allow candidates full deniability on the substance of any super-pac ads.  The sheer stupidity of this process should outrage the electorate.

To address this particular issue, we propose a constitutional amendment. This process is not taken lightly, but given the Supreme Court’s decision, it must me done and done by a majority of the state houses; Congress will clearly bury this even before the proposal is fully written. The constitution allows that the states may amend our governing document on their own, given a three-fourths majority approve of the amendment.

The proposed amendment would be written, in its entirety, as follows:

“Any person who by law cannot cast a vote for any federal elective office may not provide any financial support for any federal elective campaign.  Any person who by law can cast a vote for any federal elective office may contribute whatever financial resources they deem appropriate for any federal campaign. All monies donated to any elective campaign must be disclosed as per the laws Congress shall mandate.”

These specific sixty-eight words would restore true electoral democracy to the American people. This amendment would remove nebulous ‘super-pacs’, unions, corporations and all non human influences from the political landscape.

It addresses the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is equivalent to speech but would remove the ability for any organization to corrupt the process without definitive accountability.