Taxation Without Good Representation

West Courtroom (Photo credit: afagen)

Imagine if you and other parties suing each other had to hire a single lawyer to represent all of you. And you could only pick from a few pre-approved choices. And then that lawyer spent half his time fundraising from people that stand to gain or lose depending on how he handles the lawsuit.

That would be stupid, of course. Each party needs their own representation. And you should be able to select any lawyer you like. And he certainly should not be allowed to collect money from people who would profit from your interests being poorly represented.

And yet, we put with all of that from our representatives in Congress. Instead of proportional representation where each kind of voter can select his kind of representative, we only get one representative per district that can't possible represent all the competing interests of the voters. 

Such a representative is beholden to no one and can freely rent his vote to the highest bidder.

And they need the money, because getting all those voters to think that he's the best one for the job is an expensive effort. 

In a system using proportional representation, the diverse interests of the voters are better represented and less subject to gaming by the monied special interests. 

The solution to the corruption in Washington is not campaign finance reform. The solution is allowing you to have the representation of your choice.