Rules are Good, But What About Abuse?

After reading Republicans Are Not Hypocrites, my uncle asked me:

 Once rule makers have the power and capability to set and enforce such rules, how do we make sure:

1. There are not rule breaker moles who falsely argue for a rule in the name of fairness when in fact he knows the loophole by which he can exploit the rule to his advantage, e.g., R&D tax deductions for oil companies in the name of helping them make green oil products when in fact they want only to invest R&D in more efficiently exploring and refining their products sell more less expensively.
2. That Rule Makers do not make such detailed, bureaucratic rules that Rule Breaker lawyers can manipulate the details to create the loopholes by which to Bend the rules to their interest, e.g., EPA makes a rule against greenhouse gas emissions and, in the interests of clarity and specificity, enumerates all the known greenhouse gases, but fails to list methane because not yet known to be a problem. When the methane problem is recognized, rhe Rule Breakers insist the rule does not apply to Methane because all the greenhouse gases listed have a half life of more than a year and methane does not, so it cannot be considered a greenhouse gas?
3. That even with the best of intentions, the rules nonetheless become brittle and inflexible over time and Rule Breaking innovations that should be embraced are subjected to suppression because non-compliant with the rules, e.g., DoE nuclear safety rules and environmental protection rules for nuclear power based on fission reactors are totally unapplicable to fusion reactors, but yet must be complied with until new rules can be developed, a process that may take longer than the time it takes for commercial reactors to become available for deployment.

To simplify:

• misuse of rules
• using complexity to make misuse easier
• rules need to be changed with the times

The Good News

The good news is that our founding fathers have already addressed these issues. Our laws and governments are living structures, built to evolve and be amended. We can pick our own representation, people who should make the laws work for the people. Our government is the collective power of us citizens to protect ourselves.

We pick our own representatives. We set our laws. We decide what kinds of limits we place on how governments and businesses work. We set protections for the individual citizens from exploitation and harms.

The Bad News

The bad news is that we don’t pick representatives who represent us citizens. Both parties represent their donors. They are doing exactly what my uncle fears: misusing the rules, creating complex rules that make it easier for their donors to exploit the system, and failing to address the current issues that are actually facing us citizens.

In short, as a group, we continue to vote against our collective good. We vote to empower a small group of powerful individuals to hoard our wealth for their own benefit.

What You Can Do

• Act Locally
• Judicial Reform
• Repeal Citizens United
• Tax Billionaires
• Voter Better

Act Locally

Let’s face it, on the national level, most of us are priced out of buying politicians.

In 2024, Congress collected an estimated $15 TO $19 BILLION in political donations. $3.8 billion was donated to specific congressional campaigns. The remaining $15B-$16 were all managed via various PACs that allow their donors to remain anonymous.

But the top 100 donors (0.02% of all individual donors) accounted for ~73% of all that money! If you are not donating more than $5000 a year, you are in the bottom 10% of donors and represent a shrinking part of the financial pie — and thus a shrinking say in how your representatives vote.

Focus on your local politics.

• Your votes (and donations) matter much more to local politicians
• You can have more immediate impact on your local communities
• Local laws influence national trends

55% of Americans live in places without local news. Media consolidation and the defunding of PBS/NPR have left a majority of Americans less aware of their local government, focusing attention on the national stage. It’s great for rage and entertainment, but bad for an engaged citizenry (almost as if designed that way by the top 0.02% of donors?)

But battles start at the local level. Everything from the legalization of interracial and gay marriage, teaching evolution in schools, and reproductive rights started in local governments. The national government tends to adopt change only after it has already been implemented at the local levels. Thirty-six states and D.C. all had gay marriage before the Supreme Court made it a national right. Thirty-four states allowed interracial marriage before Loving v. Virginia took it nation wide.

Get involved with local government, where your grassroots efforts can drive impact:

• School boards
• Local Libraries
• City and county governments

Judicial Reform

Vote in your local elections! Too many people ignore local positions and vote at the national and state level.

The judicial branch has become the overpowered umpires in this game. They usually serve long or unlimited terms with little oversight. When it comes to interpreting the rules, they also seem to side with their donors and friends.

Be a ruthless voter! Vote for judges who expand citizens’ rights and protect individuals from collective exploitation. Vote for judicial reform. Vote for judges who uphold laws and regulations the protect communities.

Vote for the judge who has to live among the people she/he serve.

Repeal Citizens United

Citizens United vs FEC was one of the most significant blows to democracy. It essentially states that corporations have the same right to free speech as any other citizen. Which is CRAZY, because corporations are not citizens. They are not people. Corporations do not have rights; only people do. Corporations don’t go to jail when they break the law. Corporations don’t sign up for the draft when they are 18 years old.

This allows corporations to use their vast financial bankrolls to donate directly to politicians and PACs. This is the main reason why individual voters don’t matter. This is why, if something is wanted by a supermajority of the people, such as immigration reform, it simply won’t happen.

Building on the local approach, there is a path to reversing Citizens United at the state level. Instead of pushing national politicians to cut themselves off from a very lucrative trough, states have the right to limit political spending for corporations that do business in or with the state.

This means, if enough big states impose political spending limits, we local citizens can cut the ties between big corporations and our politicians’ pocketbooks!

Tax Billionaires

This is not class warfare, or at least, we are not the aggressors.

In the last 25 years, Forbes reports a 9x increase in the number of billionaires. (308 to ~2781). Wiki tracks that their wealth has increased 11x (even after adjusted for inflation).

Has your wealth increased 11x in the last 25 years? Back then, the top 1% owned 22.8% of the US. Now they own 30.8%, which is 8% of American growth being transferred from workers and farmers to the ultra-wealthy.

Meanwhile, the effective tax rate for the top 1% has gone down from ~25% to ~20%.

Trickle-down economics does not work. Most of our laws are designed to protect citizens from corporations, including antitrust, consumer protections, and workplace safety regulations. However, a new class of mega-rich individuals has emerged that is as large as or larger than most corporations. Jeff Bezos ($230B) is worth more than Nike ($220B) or McDonald’s ($220B)!

Our laws and government were never designed to deal with individuals who are richer than nations. The ultra-rich are not subject to local laws or community standards. They have free access to anywhere on the globe (or space if Bezos or Musk have their way). They operate outside our laws, taxes, and systems of government.

We have anti-monopoly laws to ensure that no one company can grow too powerful. We have separated our government into three branches to ensure that no one branch can act like a king. But we have no limits on the power and wealth individuals can control.

Our founders likely never envisioned a world where individuals could wield such power. Our society isn’t designed to cope with individuals who can buy elections, own all the media, and regulate our lives without oversight or limitations.

These ultra-powerful individuals are spending vast amounts of wealth to further free themselves from regulation. They buy media to keep telling us that unchecked capitalism is fair and patriotic. We are bombarded with messages that government, immigrants, or welfare recipients are the cause of our problems. Whatever you do, do not look for that missing 8% of American wealth that vanished into a few individuals’ private vaults!

Vote Better

Ronald Reagan famously told us “Government is the problem.”

This is the equivalent of the first lie the Devil told us, which was that he didn’t exist. Government is the people. It is us. Ronald Reagan was telling us that we are the problem.

He was half right. We are the problem in that we are not very good at governing ourselves. But despite that, I trust us more than I trust someone else. Our roots are in the Magna Carta, where English nobels banded together as a collective and forced their once all-powerful king to agree to limitations to his power and rights for his nobels.

America’s Foundation rejected the idea of a king altogether. Imperfect as our start, and as flawed as we still are, we move forward with the conviction that we, as a collective of citizens, have the right to decide how we want to live.

We don’t want to be taxed without representation. We don’t want to be told how to pray. We don’t want to be told what we can say and think. We don’t want to be arrested without cause or harassed by the police. We don’t want a king to use our military against us. We don’t want people to take advantage of our generosity.

We want to be a beacon of freedom. We want to build a better future for our children. We want education that helps us build a better future. We want to drink water, take food, and use medicine with confidence that it is safe and clean. We want the police and military to protect us. We want to enjoy what we build. We aim to create opportunities.

We don’t want kings. We don’t want popes. We don’t want owners. We want the opportunity to build our own lives and push our nation forward.

These are not problems caused by the government. These are the challenges faced by the American people. We are the government. If we are not holding representatives to this, then Reagan was right, we might be the problem. It is hard to see it over all the money at the national level. So let’s solve that first!

Summary

Vote in local elections.

Find a source of reliable local news.

Vote for representatives and measures that support your community.

Don’t worry about being pro-business or pro-capitalist or even pro-your-party. These all have enough resources to take care of themselves. Vote for things that protect and expand the rights of citizens. Vote for things that help your community. Vote as if you were negotiating as a community against the market. What would you and your community need to feel like this would be a good deal for the next generation?

Follow the money, understand who is pushing for things at the local level, and who really benefits. Remember, big corporations take their big profits back to far-off shareholders. Local companies reinvest in local wallets.

Vote out representatives and judges who serve their own agendas rather than the interests of the citizens in your community. Focus on policies that work for you rather than seeing “your side winning.”

Whenever possible, vote to remove money from politics. Vote to review old laws and rules that no longer serve you well.