tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post4871166539279196523..comments2024-03-27T07:18:39.229-05:00Comments on In Medias Res: Populism, Plebiscitarianism, and the Tea PartiesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-82534468084400726812010-04-25T09:04:29.901-05:002010-04-25T09:04:29.901-05:00There are citizens and there is the mob. Citizens ...There are citizens and there is the mob. Citizens bear civic duty. The mob demands pleasures and entertainments. Because I don't believe in a permanent poor class (that the Democrats require) I don't see this as a oligarchy. In fact in my conception of it Tim Geithner (an oligarch and a tax cheat) would be disenfranchised. My third house would be the legislative body that would approve the budget and would require a super majority to raise taxes. It would have every incentive to enfranchise voters.Aloysiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858618410784962169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-88040278827055379232010-04-20T16:20:00.297-05:002010-04-20T16:20:00.297-05:00Interesting proposal, Aloysius. Bring in a bit of ...Interesting proposal, Aloysius. Bring in a bit of oligarchy, to balance out the dependent (and, to be fair, often non-voting) poor? To an extent, the Senate used to be more explicitly that: a place for the wealthy to exercise, on a state-by-state basis, their influence, so as to squelch the power of the House. As someone who would actually like to see the 17th Amendment repealed and a new role for our "upper house" be imagined, I'm not entirely opposed to that...though for me, it would have to bring along with it similar parliamentary reforms (such as the Senate being only able to slow legislation, not block it entirely, etc.).<br /><br />Or, perhaps you're not thinking seriously about such reforms, and instead were just taking a cheap shot at the fact that folks on welfare are still citizens with voting rights? Hmmm...Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-52944135041813546002010-04-20T12:32:31.814-05:002010-04-20T12:32:31.814-05:00I support a third house of congress that is electe...I support a third house of congress that is elected based on the cumulative income and excise taxes paid by the individual voters. We don't need plebiscites especially if the electorate isn't paying taxes.Aloysiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858618410784962169noreply@blogger.com