What are they Thinking?

It is not possible for any pubic official to automatically possess all of the knowledge, wisdom and thoughts of the Citizens who they are supposed to represent. Yet, New Jersey has been granted a group of all-knowing public officials who have stubbornly and arrogantly given us an adversarial system of  “them “and “us”.

“Them” – Legislators who automatically know exactly what Citizens need.

“Us” – Citizens who must live under rules and laws that are dictated by the all-knowing.

For example, one of the failures of legislators is that they have allowed certain controversial bills to become emergency legislation. The “emergency” justifies their rush to approval without reading the Bills and without soliciting input from the public. As a result, Citizens must suffer from the wasted productivity, government abuse, and reduced standard of living that result from their disregard of us.

The original intent of the American Constitution was a system of “We”

“We” – Citizens who are allowed to create a life that reflects his or her individual needs. When Citizens collectively choose a government, the government should operate according to the collective needs of the group. The elected government should act in a manner that maximizes the ability of the free market to create the highest possible standard of living for society. And all government actions must conform to the US and State Constitutions.

“Input” – A basic element of Citizen feedback. If used properly, it would allow Citizens to correct the thinking process that results in legislation that does not reflect the needs and desires of Citizens.

During the rare times when it is possible to confront public officials with the question of why they are so un-responsive, their general excuse is that it is impossible to respond or react to the thousands or millions of Citizens that they are supposed to represent. Consequently, they expect “us” to accept their assumption that they know so much about every one of us, that they can eliminate Citizen feedback. They want Citizens to believe that they have enough expertise and research ability to find the perfect solution to every problem without “our” help.

“Responsiveness” – A basic element of Citizen feedback.  When input is received from Citizens, there must be a positive change that responds to the needs of the Citizens.

The three best examples of political arrogance are from the US Congress over the past few months. They passed two separate  “emergency” bailout bills without knowing the details of the legislation. They also passed the “emergency “cap and trade” legislation without knowing the details. As a result, they committed Americans to the deepest debt in the history of mankind without the consent of the American public who elected them.

History will show that none of these bills were emergencies and none of them will solve the problems that they were supposed to address. It is a sign of bad legislators when “they” commit Americans to several generations of harassment, loss of private property rights, and reduced living standards, especially with a total disregard of Citizen input.

There are Solutions – Just No Takers

If lawmakers were really all knowing, and they had actively worked with Citizens to address the lack of responsiveness issue, they would have learned that we are now in a new era of computer technology. They would have learned that there are an abundance of experts in web marketing, database technology, customer service technology, and sales psychology who are capable of putting together an inexpensive and useful system of citizen feedback that would allow Citizens to be properly represented.

The current parliamentary rules that control the flow of legislation would be modified to allow the type of Citizen Feedback that would be a required prerequisite for every legislative vote.

All proposed legislation would be publicly scheduled in a way that would solicit reasonable pubic input BEFORE the vote. Every legislator would be required to take an oath to vote “NO” on every bill that they did not read in detail and in it’s entirety. And they would be required read and write their own bills. They would also be required to defend all “Yes” votes in a public forum, such as town hall meetings. If the legislation is too complicated to for them to understand, they should vote “NO”. If they do not follow these actions that are in the best interests of Citizens, we not need these particular legislators.

Every elected official is already required to observe the US and NJ Constitutions. We need an official test to determine how well they are following this requirement in their choice of legislation. We should see regular impeachment hearings of those who refuse to do the job for which they were elected.

Your Only Effective Choice:  Eliminate “THEM versus “US”.

There are many reliable and inexpensive methods that can be used to implement an effective Citizen Feedback System. Some of the elements that could make up a feedback system are town hall meetings, candidate talk shows, web blogs, email, snail mail, phone, board of advisors,and moving offices.

It would require pulling together an intelligent combination of the latest interactive technologies in video, audio, publishing, and photography. It would require elected officials and government workers who want to serve the best interests of the public. When this system is properly used, elected officials would be obligated to illustrate how this feedback is reflected in their actions. It can and will work if properly implemented.

I, Gene Baldassari, recognize the need for an effective Citizen Feedback System. As a legislator, I will begin to build this system in my own District upon election. And, for the rest of my elected term, I will scream the need for a responsive Citizen Feedback System through the halls of the NJ State House.

I have been involved with computers since the early 1970’s. I have been involved with various businesses since my pre-teen days in the 1960’s. I’ve worked at various levels of customer service since, the 1970’s. This is the type of experience that will allow me to guide the development of an inexpensive and responsive Citizen Feedback system that will be affordable to every legislator and other public official.  In fact, we should not allow any legislator take additional money from Citizens to develop this sytem. They already have the resources that they need to build it.

Voters should never elect anyone who hides from the public.

NEVER!!!