by Rona Fried
Since the election, people have been submitting and voting on what they see as the most important policy changes the US needs at The Big Ideas Project website.
More than 2,300 ideas have been submitted and over 825,000 votes. As I looked through the list (and voted), I saw we share the same priorities. Here are some that got the most votes, giving you an idea of the problems that need to be solved to get our democracy working again.
Ideas with more than 3000 votes in the Environment category include: banning fracking; defeating Keystone and mandating renewable energy for all new construction.
8571 votes: End Oil Industry Tax Benefits and redirect the increased revenue to subsidize renewable energy. Redirect subsidies from the most profitable companies on earth to the industries of the future.
7479 votes: Corporations are paper, not people. People before profit. Enact laws which reverse Citizens United, McCutcheon, and Buckley v. Valeo to level the playing field between average citizens, wealthy individuals and corporations. All federal, state and local campaigns run on public funding.
5088 votes: Reinstate the Voting Rights Act sections nullified by the Supreme Court, and update by applying it to any state that applies voter suppression laws, not only before 1967. All district voting procedures and district maps should be subject to strict court scrutiny.
4460 votes: Mandatory Recusal by Supreme Court Judges on any case with conflicts of interest. This is already the law everywhere else but the US. It would prevent judges like Clarence Thomas – who used to work for Monsanto – to be able to vote on cases regarding the company (he always votes and always sides with them) or the health care law where he also has strong connections.
3806 votes: Every Bill Must Be 100% Germane. If you want to attack contraception, it needs a standalone bill, not as a "rider" in a Budget bill. New Idea or New Subject? New. Bill. Every. Time.
3666 votes: Prosecute person(s) who intentionally try to trick potential voters from voting, such as Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. They sent fliers and put up billboards with the wrong dates on elections, and sent false absentee ballots.
2996 votes: End Gerrymandering. Independent nonpartisan commissions should be in charge of drawing districts.
2412 votes: Require Labeling of Foods That Contain GMOs. "Those that try to keep things secret, do so to control others."
2471 votes: Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine. Repealed during the Reagan area, it would bring parity and responsible reporting back to our airwaves so that we have a better-informed citizenry casting better-informed votes.
Here are the results of a national poll of voters. Even though people may not vote "progressive," they tend to agree with their ideas and values:
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