Eric

Its a government of laws... where no one, even Dick Cheney, is not above the law. Rights and responsibilites.

The congress and government is 'owned' by corporations. And I think the best and fastest way to restore the system is to eliminate campaign contributions; I know there are some who claim it's a free speech issue and I don't buy this.
I don't believe the concept of legal personhood for corporations is legally valid, but if this concept is left in place, we get Citizens United on steroids.

Pass campaign finance reform with teeth; get the money out of political campaigns, money is not speech. I'd like to see a press that insisted on verifiable researched fact when debating issues and publishing the distortions when they occur.

From a historical perspective, much of what is now considered core American rights and values: women’s suffrage, child labor laws, the 40 hour week, social security, the right to organize labor, Medicare, unemployment benefits, voting rights, a minimum wage, were fought for by Liberals and Progressives and won despite fierce obdurate resistance from Republicans. And yet, inexplicably, it is almost impossible to hear genuine progressive/liberal ideas in the mainstream media. I do not think that the media in this country is 'liberal'; there is no empirical verifiable evidence and yet the mainstream media is so afraid of being pilloried as liberal that they do not contest Right wing polemics that dominate the airwaves. Although one is more likely to hear some progressive ideas on WNYC or NPR, it is not a real counterweight to the Becks, O'Reillys and Coulters of the world.