What Do Your Representatives Do?
This morning I checked the news and discovered that my good friends in the Senate rejected a proposed Amendment to ban flag burning.
By one vote.
Still, I was happy. This gave me some hope that our government hasn't lost all of its American ideal. The House, which voted for the Amendment, could use a little overhaul. But in all, maybe we're still OK. Maybe the Bush regime hasn't killed off everything we should hold dear as Americans.
After learning of the good news, I went to check what my two Senators did. Unfortunately, I was only able to find out one (Senator Joe Lieberman voted against the ban). This got me thinking.
Cable news and primetime news channels can post how senators and congressmen voted. It's actually simple. Rather than "waste" precious air time, they can take advantage of useless real estate.
If you have ever watched Bloomberg, you'll note that 1/4 of the screen is filled with stock exchange info. There is rolling stock prices for NYSE and NASDAQ at the bottom, scrolling right to left. There is a box above it detailing the market activity for the day. There is also information on the subject matter at hand. They use far more real estate than sports networks or basic news networks. And it works.
What if, below the news scroll, CNN added a scroll showing how senators and congressmen voted? It can be localized as well, so viewers from Connecticut do not need to wait through West Virginia, Wyoming and Alaska. Viewers from an individual state will see how their state's senators and congressmen voted.
Also, newspapers can get into the action, leaving a page in the Nation section to publish the previous day's (or week's, if just Sunday) voting.
This will help inform. This may also help to put pressure on politicians. Our representatives should have to answer to us how they are voting. Maybe they will be less inclined to cave in to pressures from a bully administration like the one in office now.
It will also help to lessen the slander that goes on during campaigns. The Karl Roves of the world will be less able to twist the truths about voting records if the constituents already know that truth.
It's all about accountability.
Not only for our representatives, but for us. With this new knowledge, we become empowered citizens. And are therefore more responsible for the voting decisions that we make.
Too often, we take for granted our rights over our government and neglect our responsibility to better it. While this idea is by no means a solution to that problem, it certainly helps to put more onus on us to be involved.
And at the end of the day, being informed and involved citizens is our responsibility.
By one vote.
Still, I was happy. This gave me some hope that our government hasn't lost all of its American ideal. The House, which voted for the Amendment, could use a little overhaul. But in all, maybe we're still OK. Maybe the Bush regime hasn't killed off everything we should hold dear as Americans.
After learning of the good news, I went to check what my two Senators did. Unfortunately, I was only able to find out one (Senator Joe Lieberman voted against the ban). This got me thinking.
Cable news and primetime news channels can post how senators and congressmen voted. It's actually simple. Rather than "waste" precious air time, they can take advantage of useless real estate.
If you have ever watched Bloomberg, you'll note that 1/4 of the screen is filled with stock exchange info. There is rolling stock prices for NYSE and NASDAQ at the bottom, scrolling right to left. There is a box above it detailing the market activity for the day. There is also information on the subject matter at hand. They use far more real estate than sports networks or basic news networks. And it works.
What if, below the news scroll, CNN added a scroll showing how senators and congressmen voted? It can be localized as well, so viewers from Connecticut do not need to wait through West Virginia, Wyoming and Alaska. Viewers from an individual state will see how their state's senators and congressmen voted.
Also, newspapers can get into the action, leaving a page in the Nation section to publish the previous day's (or week's, if just Sunday) voting.
This will help inform. This may also help to put pressure on politicians. Our representatives should have to answer to us how they are voting. Maybe they will be less inclined to cave in to pressures from a bully administration like the one in office now.
It will also help to lessen the slander that goes on during campaigns. The Karl Roves of the world will be less able to twist the truths about voting records if the constituents already know that truth.
It's all about accountability.
Not only for our representatives, but for us. With this new knowledge, we become empowered citizens. And are therefore more responsible for the voting decisions that we make.
Too often, we take for granted our rights over our government and neglect our responsibility to better it. While this idea is by no means a solution to that problem, it certainly helps to put more onus on us to be involved.
And at the end of the day, being informed and involved citizens is our responsibility.
posted by E-Luv at 9:15 AM
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