>Yes, big difference. My jaded view is that now it is mostly rich men trying to stack the deck to their advantage, who will do and say whatever it takes to stay in power, with very few really committed to doing what is right for the people they are supposed to represent. That opinion goes for politicians on both sides.
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>I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be better to eliminate all political contributions and special interest lobbys, provide equal time on public media for political candidates so that you wouldn't have be rich, well connected, corrupt or otherwise and have a one term limit on every public office so that you only have one term to either do good or you can only screw things up for a short period of time. Also leaders shouldn't have a vote on their compensation and benefits. Should be by voters only. But then that wouldn't be American would it?

You're right, it wouldn't. This grand experiment has done ok so far, but sometimes it needs tweaking. I think politicians should only be allowed to run for office if they resisted vehemently. Those who want the office seem to have their own agenda most of the time and you wind up picking the one who supports most of your issues. The alternative would be for them to just make me King and then everything would be fine. First we would kill all the lawyers . . . . <vbg>