Federal Government, Essay Example

What are some philosophical similarities and differences amongst liberals, conservatives, populists and libertarians?

First off liberals tend to believe the government will ‘save the world’. They think the government is the solution to the world’s problems at hand and the individual’s fate is best left in the hand of someone else’s destiny to control. Isn’t this rubbish? Liberals basically think the people are too dumb to take control of their own country and make proper decisions for themselves. They further feel the rich people should support the poor people and the social programs are developed for longevity rather than for temporary fixes of helping people out of simple jams they may get themselves into. This is a vicious cycle that is bound to lead towards totalitarian rule and communism.

Conservatives on the other hand believe in each individual taking care of themselves without the aid of the government’s assistance whether poor or rich, each person should fend for themselves. They feel their ideas about religion should be spread throughout the world because they are virtuous and very idealistic and full of spiritual guidance from a divine power. They hate laws that assist rebel against gay rights such as marriage and unity, are against the rich getting limiting the rich getting wealthier at the costs of others and believe the door to fascism lies with the rewriting of multiple translations of other societal translations of good and evil.

Populism is an overall philosophy that stands for the people making all major decisions regarding the world and the communities in which they reside and the governing bodies in which they are governed. There should be a common challenge amongst the people through which all laws are channeled through a democracy rather than a totalitarism point of view such as in the old Russia or Germany in which dictatorship reigned so prevalently.

Libertarianism is an ideology that believes in the sovereign individual’s rights to liberty in its true definition, meaning the government has a duty to the people to ensure the safety of those who do not violate liberty of others in check whilst checking the ones who do violate the liberties of others are reprimanded. These violations are set forth according to the United States Constitution and Human Rights Codes. Some violations might include the government exercising unlawful taxes to the citizens and embarking discretionary powers to the people when they should not be doing so in a most improper form or manner. Further this includes the state and government being able to set different laws as applicable to mandate certain punishments as applicable to those who violate the rights of law abiding citizens under the scope of the Constitution that our founding fathers proscribed. The law of the land was afforded that the government should belong, “to the people, of the people and for the people.”

Discuss the role played by each in today’s candidate centered campaigns in reference to parties, hard and soft monies, consultants, and media including the internet and television.

Efforts are constantly being made to curb campaign spending and putting this into legislation but to no avail. McCain-Feingold states the efforts to curb the raising of soft money has not made it into legislation because of the efforts presidential efforts have made to rule it unconstitutional (2004). Why is hard money and soft money treated so differently? Well that is simple! Because it would disallow the campaigner’s avenues to infiltrate the large sums of money pass the people who hold them accountable. The legislature and executive has the power to make the laws and make the laws tailored to suit themselves. Who holds them accountable? Well, there are certain committees that do and these steering committees see that they are able to receive private donations for their funding through television and internet commercials to keep afloat. The Bipartisan Reform Act of 2002 as noted in McConnell v Federal Election Commission which is a United States Supreme Court ruling was enacted on March 27, 2002. The Act and legislation addressed two prime issues (1) the increased role of soft money in campaign funding where there is a prohibition of national political party commissions from spending and raising funds that are not subject to federal limits, not even for state and local races or issue discussion and (2) the decision in Citizens United v Federal Elections Commissions does not change the provision of the BCRA with respect to proliferation of issuing of advocacy ads by definition of electioneering communications broadcast ads that name a federal candidate within thirty days of a primary caucus or within sixty days of a general election.

Consultants are said to extremely drive up the costs of political campaigns. If the consultant wins then their career sky rockets. If a particular firm makes it all the way to the November election they will earn millions of dollars. “We make an enormous amount of money here,” says Strother during an interview in his new office just north of Washington, D.C. “We make the kind of money a brain surgeon would make.”  (Bergo, et al, 2006). “The most influential advisers hired in any big campaign are the media consultants, say experts. They contribute seasoned advice on message and strategy, play crucial decision-making roles in the placement and timing of expensive commercials, and as a result, they have an enormous impact on the campaign’s budget. For every advertising dollar spent, consultants typically are paid a commission that can run as high as 15 percent. Veteran consultants and experts interviewed by the Center say the commission structure creates a conflict of interest because there’s an incentive to recommend sizable television campaigns, driving up costs. These television commercials have the power to make or break a candidacy.” (Bergo, et al, 2006).

References

Shapiro, A. (2004) Presidential Election 2004: The Impact of Campaign Spending Retrieved July 13, 2010 from, http://www.teachablemoment.org/high/election4.html

Bi-Partisian Reform Act of 2002 Retrieved July 13, 2010 from, http://www.fec.gov/pages/bcra/bcra_update.shtml

Bergo, S., Armendariz, A. & Perry, J. Airtime is Money Retrieved July 13, 2010 from, http://projects.publicintegrity.org/consultants/report.aspx?aid=535

The Role of Media in Politics (2010) Retrieved July 13, 2010 from, http://www.slideshare.net/fbaker1346/the-role-of-media-in-politics-presentation

Political Processes and Television (2010) Retrieved July 13, 2010 from, http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=politicalpro