Virtual Congress, IRV, and GOOOH

I read two excellent articles in our local paper (Oak Ridge Observer, TN) regarding the concept of a "Virtual Congress" promoted by one writer, and the lack of accountability in spending public funds by the second writer. Both of the articles tugged at the strings of my heart, so I had to write a Letter To The Editor. I supported the concept of the Virtual Congress, and elaborated on my own experiences with Return On Investments (ROI) to support the second writer's complaints about unwarranted local spending in our financially strapped town.

But, I could not resist putting in a plug for GOOOH! GOOOH is all about "true" representation, as is the "Virtual Congress". GOOOH is all about "less spending". So, I took the opportunity in the last paragraph to pull it all together, combining it all with another favorite idea regarding election reforms, Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), and including GOOOH as the final addition to the theme.

The entire letter follows for your review. Perhaps you will have ideas on how to bring up GOOOH as the solution to problems in your area. Give that some thought.
More Freedom---Less Government!
Robert Humphries, Tennessee Liberty Alliance
_____________________________________________________________Tax Abatements--Virtual Congress

I take this opportunity to commend Mr. Stephens and Mr. Cook for their excellent articles in your paper on 13 January. Both of them were right on target with their comments.

All the questions that Mr. Stephens asks in his article relate to what businesses experience as "ROI" or "Payback Period". There is a big difference in the "calculated risks" that a business takes hoping for a return, versus the "nebulous" ROI expressed by governments, particularly our local governments, supported only by vague comments about "the jobs we'll get". There is another huge difference in business and government investments-----ACCOUNTABILITY!!!!

If the business investment fails, the business suffers a LOSS. You know, part of Profit & Loss statement. It is not always "profit" as many naysayers of free enterprise like to criticize. If the government investment does not pay-off, who is accountable? Hmmm? The taxpayers, that's who! But, did "we" make the decision? Hey, maybe that's the ticket. We should pass a law that if the government investment does not pay-off, then we'll have legal access to the bank accounts of the politicians/bureaucrats until the investment is paid back.

It's always easier to invest with another person's money.

Mr. Cook has described very well an excellent idea that has been floating around in various groups for some time now....Virtual Congress....with the idea being that Congressmen would reside in their home districts, and do their jobs from there electronically. Citizens would then have ready access to them, instead of hearing, "Sure, I'll meet with you. Just have my secretary make an appointment with me.....in DC!"

I like his idea of increasing the total number of Congressmen to 1800. Some will say, "But how can they ever get anything done with that many?" My answer would be: "They can't! Halleluiah!" The alternative is to pay the current 435 their salaries........to stay home and do nothing (1st, do no harm). Cynicism aside, the real problem he is addressing is that they no longer represent "We The People". We want them in our court, as was intended by our founding fathers.

To this idea, I would add two more to make the concept "perfect". (1) Reform the election process to include IRV (Instant Runoff Voting). This would force winners to have 50% + 1 vote to take the office. All candidates, not just the current 2-party system folks would have a decent chance, and would change the way the voters would consider the old saw "I don't want to waste my vote". (2) Encourage citizens to participate in the GOOOH (www.goooh.com) process, which is a non-partisan method for a large number of voters in a District to "pick their own candidate to run" instead of waiting around to see what "lesser of two evils" the Party Primaries produce. Serious investigation of the process displayed on their web site reveals this is a method that will help greatly in Mr. Cook's efforts to get "true representatives".