Thoughts On Democracy, Bill Hessell, Ph.D
Many critical issues have come up in the past 13 years that bring to mind Ralph Nader's famous saying in the lead-up to the 2000 election -- "there is not a dime's bit of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans". I resist believing this, but all too often it seems that both parties are colluding in policies that are weakening if not destroying our democratic system. Failing to adequately regulate big banks and corporate greed, allowing tax policies that add to inequity, continuing questionable war policies, and demurring to excess surveillance are certainly among these issues. On some issues there is a dime's bit of difference, but a dollar's bit of difference??, perhaps not!
Brief Commentary On The Expansion of Executive Power
The fact that the power of the Presidency has been grossly over-exaggerated cannot be understated. This power is limited not only by the legitimate checks and balances provided in the Constitution through interplay with the legislative and judicial branches of government, but also by the often excessive power that has been allowed to develop within agencies of the executive branch. The most outrageous example of this was provided by the FBI under the reign of J. Edgar Hoover, who for decades amassed more power than any single man in the US by collecting secret data through illegal means, forcing even presidents at times to defer to his will out of fear of exposure. The current surveillance epidemic, and the fact that much of it is being contracted out to private companies, as Snowden has revealed, once again raises the distinct possibility that in the wrong hands, and again masked in secrecy, similar violations could readily occur.
Brief Commentary On The Expansion of Executive Power
The fact that the power of the Presidency has been grossly over-exaggerated cannot be understated. This power is limited not only by the legitimate checks and balances provided in the Constitution through interplay with the legislative and judicial branches of government, but also by the often excessive power that has been allowed to develop within agencies of the executive branch. The most outrageous example of this was provided by the FBI under the reign of J. Edgar Hoover, who for decades amassed more power than any single man in the US by collecting secret data through illegal means, forcing even presidents at times to defer to his will out of fear of exposure. The current surveillance epidemic, and the fact that much of it is being contracted out to private companies, as Snowden has revealed, once again raises the distinct possibility that in the wrong hands, and again masked in secrecy, similar violations could readily occur.
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