in an age of austerity

with virtually all municipalities teetering on the brink of bankruptcy or collapse, attempts to cut spending should normally be accepted as necessary, but it's precisely where these cuts are proposed that one should worry about. while pay cuts to public sector employees may ultimately be necessary, one should look into the complicated bureaucratic structure of these governments to find corruption and inefficiencies before putting the burden upon those manning the front lines of oublic service. administrative pay and responsibilities should be thoroughly re-evaluated. we should decide what public service means to us and find creative new ways for commu ities, raer than governing bodies, to self-determine the means by which their needs are met. these governments should also look at their expenses objectively to find excessive spending on services from third parties. and most of all, conflicts of interest and corruption should be ropted out from these governing bodies, implementation of transparency methods should be finally addressed, and open source solutions should be used whenever they meet the needs that otherwise cost thousands, sometimes millions of dollars.

a problem with politics

While mainstream media would have us believe the ills of modern governance are simply the product of citizenry choosing the wrong officials to lead, even a cursory look in to generations of two-party politics tells a quite different story.

I first learned of the commission on presidential debates (CPD) during the 2004 election when the Green and Libertarian party presidential candidates were arrested while attempting to get into a presidential debate being held in St. Louis. A supposedly non-partisan organization, the CPD took over control of presidential debates from the League of Women Voters, their parting words on the matter were, "the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter."
This was in reaction to Bush Sr. and his opponent creating a secret deal to help orchestrate the debates. Since then though the fraud has been institutionalized by the CPD, controlled by Democrat and Republican back-room dealers. Most alternative parties are unknown to Americans, due to their total exclusion from national discourse.
We don't reap what we sew for our food is harvested far from home. I've lost a lot of my interest in national politics.

explain this to me

Around two minutes and thirty seconds into the video one of the journalists in conversation with others says, "See this room? Two-thirds of us will be laid off when Ron Paul is President?"