Forum Post: The Solution!! There is an answer. What we need to focus on.

All of the problems we are currenlty facing are the result of a broken democracy. The problem is that big money (corporations and PAC's) buys or at least heavily influences virtually all of our elections, and subsequently the elected officials cater to those entities that donate the most instead of the majority of voters (the 99%). Voters get lip service, and corporations get action. The first step that needs to be initiated by the masses (the 99%) is to force change in our campaign finance laws (small capped private/individual donations only - around $25 max) , and to completely eliminate the "pay to play" lobby system. The US Constitution states "We the people" and not "We the corporations". In fact, no where in the constitution does is even mention corporations, let alone provide for their participation in the electoral process. Eliminating the lopsided corporate financing of political campaigns (completely) will return the power to the 99% (or at least the majority) as was intended by the founders of the Constitution. Once the elected officials are faced with the reality that they must compete for individual votes instead of campaign financing, things will begin to correct themselves on all fronts, and the 99% will take control from the 1%. The only remaining issue is to legislate privately funded political and issue advertising on TV. Unfortunately, we must admit that TV influences voters, and candidates are marketed in the same manner as cars, cell phones and beer. Many of us are misdirected by these politically driven private ads, and the result is a misinformed public making bad choices due to a well financed ad campaign. Since these are privately funded and not affiliated with any specific candidate or political party, they can not be eliminated as we need to protect "free speech", even for rich, self-serving SOB's. The solution to this is modifying FCC regulations to include BOLD disclosure before and after the content of the ad, stating the name of the financing entity, and also the top 5 contributors and the average contribution amount. This allows for free speech, and also clearly identifies who or what exactly is trying to influence your opinion, helping us all to understand why they would want to influence our opinion. The FCC issues licenses to all broadcasting entities (TV and Radio), and can include as a requirement for licensing, airtime to be provided for qualified candidates (based on signed petitions or other indicators of qualifiying base support) for advertising and of course debating, thus reducing the need for TV and Radio funding costs for bonafide candidates, while leveling the playing field. This is the start we need. How do we get there from here???