With the Foley/Hastert/Ford/Reynolds scandal roiling the Republicans, it is becoming more and more likely that the Democrats will take control of both houses of Congress. With this possibility in mind, it is appropriate to point out that from the beginning of Reagan's presidency up until the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, the Democrats themselves gave the Republicans the very instruments they needed to oust the Democrats and to retain power. It is significant that much of the current improvement in the Democratic prospect is due to the Republicans' self-combustion, rather than any improvement in the Democrats' ability to capture the hearts and minds of Americans. Most of the discontent with Bush and the Republican Party has arisen from actions that many, if not most, of the Democrats in Congress initially approved or acquiesced in: the disaster in Iraq, the idiotic and unconscionable massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the Medicare prescription program and the increasing level of illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America. But I digress.

My thesis: After Reagan became president, the Democrats, who had forgotten that they could lose their control of Congress, gradually gave away their natural electoral advantage by weaving the very rope that hanged them in 1994, and that if they wish to regain and retain such control, they will have to unravel that rope that they and the Republicans wove. It will not be easy, and without either a Democratic president or a veto-proof majority, they won't be able to do it. The project will therefore take several years to accomplish, at the least.

To win, the Democrats will have to make the system reasonably transparent and honest. Here's how:

1. Re-establish the fairness doctrine by statute. The fairness doctrine that required licensed radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing viewpoints was abolished in 1987 by a Republican-dominated FCC and has resulted in the ascendency of such luminaries as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage, who were free to advocate extreme right-wing political positions over the public airwaves without contradiction.

2. Re-establish the personal attack rule and political editorial rules which were abolished in 2000. According to the Wikipedia,

The personal attack rule was pertinent whenever a person or small group was subject to a character attack during a broadcast. Stations had to notify such persons or groups within a week of the attack, send them transcripts of what was said, and offer the opportunity to respond on the air. The political editorial rule applied when a station broadcasts editorials endorsing or opposing candidates for public office, and stipulated that the candidates not endorsed be notified and allowed a reasonable opportunity to respond.

The right-wing punditry that currently dominates the airwaves cannot survive real debate. Considering the dominance of a few corporate entities in the cable network business, a good argument could be made for the constitutionality of extending these rules to cable TV, where some of the most vicious right-wing commentary dominates.

3. Amend 18 U.S.C. §201(c)(1)(A) to eliminate the quid pro quo element of the crime of bribery. A Democratic Congress changed the illegal gratuities statute in 1984 to eliminate the receiving of gifts by federal officials as a crime unless it was for something specific, a quid pro quo. If somebody gives an official money or gifts in the general expectation of favorable treatment, neither the giver nor recipient has violated the law. After the Supreme Court interpreted the statute as requiring that the gift to an official must be for a specific official favor, the flood gates opened to all manner of corruption, for as long as a person or corporation gives a congressman a gift merely to gain favorable treatment in general, there is no violation of the law.

4. Repeal the Telecommunications Act of 1986 that sold the public radio spectrum to the highest bidder and permitted extreme concentration of media ownership. Neither the public nor the Democratic Party is served when one single corporation owns thousands of radio stations throughout the nation, especially when only right-wing propaganda is allowed to be broadcast. In addition, defense contractors should not be allowed to own television networks in the way that GE and Westinghouse now own two of the three major networks. In fact, no corporation that does extensive business with the U.S. government should be gatekeepers of public information. Allow only one media outlet per owner in each coverage area, meaning that a corporation may own a newspaper or a TV station in a city, but not both. There is no justification for the situation we have today.

5. Adequately fund PBS and CPB to do the job they are supposed to do and make them independent.

6. Require paper ballots in all federal elections. That means that all electronic voting machines will be required to print a paper ballot which the voter can approve and drop in a ballot box. Make it a felony to unlawfully exclude voters by any means whatever, including reducing the number of voting machines in opposition districts in order to cause long lines, or compiling a grossly inaccurate felony list and using it as a tool to challenge registered voters at the polls. Make it a felony to intimidate election workers, as happened in Miami in 2000. Establish uniform recount and ballot preservation procedures for all federal elections. Establish fair procedures for handling spoiled and incomplete ballots. Had those provisions been law in 2000 and 2004, Bush would have lost both times.

7. Establish federal financing of all federal elections. Appropriate sufficient funds so that candidates will choose to accept government financing rather than forego it for private gifts.

8. Enact an Internet neutrality bill guaranteeing equal treatment of all information providers. The huge advantage of the Republicans in raising corporate cash and dominating the mainstream news organizations has been mitigated by the Internet, which is open to both left and right. The Democratic party thrives on open discussion and debate; the Republicans are at a great disadvantage if they cannot control the flow of information to the public.

It's up to the Democrats to make any successes in November stick. If they don't make changes to open up the system, all their gains will be short-lived, and the nation will be poorly served.


Tags: democrats, communications, congress, bribery, elections, fairness