The essential weakness of the Neoliberal philosophy is funding government.
At the same time as both majors insist that the gov. should not sully it's hands with profit making enterprise, neither party can hope to get elected on the threat of higher taxes.
After they've sold off all the assets and privatised everything and offered tax cuts in order to get elected, where's the money going to come from?
It seems the only viable alternative our unimaginative politicians can conceive is to promise lower taxes in order to get elected, then break the promises.

hi/peter..you described\the problem/but~im\more interested in solutions

hence/your last words

<<>If we can't make such changes\to the formal-system itself, perhaps we could establish\a parallel\Process of discussion/o pressure politicians/to think more creatively.>

thats/really\..the problem..[focus groups/think-tanks..NGO.S]
thing/is if its all//neo-iberal\soialised/bail-outs/for marxist-comunist mercantilism/.by the\inbred/ruling class..controling the 25 multinational firms..

running the globe/govt/commercE/institutionalized consumer-exploitation/by obsolescence~by/design[see/light-bulb/conspiricy/[THINK@-toner/catrages].

<</annual..'people's-congress'>.NO!

like/the first-peopleLOL.[ie/all../R\..coco-nuts]

<<>summit/of experts..>[read/lobbiest-stakholders?]..

<<>.and\activists>>

watch the g/20..the plan is..we activists\go 24-7
[we entertain/as-we\explain]

<<.,where\the big-issues>>
SHOULD BE FIXED/IN STONE
[not:two party\agree/what defines\victory]

issues/<<.alternative\policies/put forward\>
more/of the same?

[WE ONLY\GET SNEAKIER/more/immoral-MOLAL~TAXES/
\SNEAKIER PROMISES]

WE NEED..A REAL CHANGE/ruled/FOR/NOT\over
by/TRAINED/compitant-experts.[acting like\gods/*in their field
the winner proposes/the opposition opposes/.they formulate the polict for the next deselection/or re-election[from/trainED-THESUS*CARREER SPECIALISTS*/picked from/the nominees

minsters-dept\by/dept
we elect\each head/ministar\plus-each opposition
the ones\with the most heads/picks pm/picks speaker

and\to further affect/we divide-govt/governing\into mens[womens business/BYagreement b.SEPPERATION/OF-POWERS/Betwen the womans/mens circles/BUSINESS/THAT-ony~become law for:the public service\to serve us by/govt/to\seve.only~the living*

<<>Websites\could maintain\the discussion>>and permissions/autority;to act.

i feel~put it all*on-line/openly/CLEARLY RESPONSABLY/BY topic
[so we dont\even~need~know/who;is our treauror/ag/minister-ETC

his job is\just to reply/all questions.we;put into -the teasurors web blog/his powers come via his blog*enough supporters[real 'persons'/only].YA/GET/a budget.[AND/BECOME;OPEN/TO CHALLANGE;anytime*

<<..so that the summits/[and web-logs\..work towards a consensus.instantly/online..24-7..here is;the blog/post your request here/its aproval will e held here/if its not here we arnt that into your idea/but the REQUEST\REMAINS/AND CAN BE VOTED OR VETOED/ON

the biggest folowings/get their..own bdget ansd minestry/they need account for/and the opposition audits.to find fault/faults found/means number 2 gets the number 1\job/and we vote;for the new number 2

<<>There is increasingly effective\software/for this sort of thing.>>

TO TALK/YOU NEED VALIDATE/YOUR A LIVING BEING
voice-print/aces/or eye sign/or via=sual[its not that hard/we recompense/or\your REQUEST BE TANSPHERED TO/the id \relitive/2~dePT
SEE CATCH/22 THREAd
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=6293&page=1
<<.....The production/of a\final~policy document>>

becomes.;.its own thread*

<<.would provide\some discipline,
and hopefully/elicit.a meaningful response/from~WITH government>>.

<<>we need to renovate it to deal with the big problems facing us now.It is no longer a matter of a few percentage points here or there,but getting the fundamentals right in an increasingly threatening global context.>>

SOME GREAT/STUFF DELETED.

Hi Peter; glad you're still doing some very pertinent commentary.
You've hit on some real issues, most important of which is, I think the the corrupted role of mainstream media in politics - magnates such as Murdoch and Rhinehart buying their influence and for that matter Palmer buying his by his letterboxing of his CD's.

RE neoliberalism and globlisation, I deplore many aspects of both but was there any other way given the whole world is involved?

Re Americanization I am staying in New York at the moment and there are encouraging articles in the NY Times, in particular one about a new Republican think tank trying to counter the Tea Party and reconnect with Middle America, putting forward new ideas to help the less well off instead of Wall St. So maybe the mad days here are coming to an end, although there are still plenty of ranting Tea Party shock jocks on commercial radio.

This gives me cause for optimism - that people are seeing how they've been duped by big corporations and are not going to stand for it any more. They see they were wrong going into Iraq; they see Obama Care is working and making health care affordable. The GOP knows this and knows they must come up with people friendly policies or they'll lose their power in Congress.

Carrying on from my previous post, Australia is not much different to the US; we now see we've been duped by Abbott and his big money faction, as the Americans see they were duped by Bush and are coming to see they are being duped by the Tea Party.

Even many right wing Australians didn't trust Abbott at the last election hence rise of Palmer. Many workers didn't trust Labor hence Green vote rising.

So I think our Political System IS working, generally and its bringing about the end of the 2 party politics in Australia; something I've been praying and working for many years. I think the only thing our system needs is a tweak to voting rules - allowing just 6 choices above the line to put an end to the ridiculous gaming that allows a candidate to get a senate seat with 0.02% of the vote...

The media situation is another matter but I'm an optimist. My preference would be strong media laws criminalizing lying by media but it seems politicians are too gutless to do that (perhaps a new 'truth in media' party is needed?).

But I think even without that, Murdoch papers will eventually destroy themselves with their propaganda and lies, as more people participate in 'News Blogs'. 'The Conversation', Business Spectator and Renew Economy are good examples and readership is rising. Even 'On Line Opinion is OK but some curbing of the regular trolls is needed.

These do some proper, true analysis. I think in the end truth will win out; a majority know truth from lies. And we also have new web papers that are not bankrolled by the big corporates - Guardian, News Daily and Saturday Paper. Perhaps the next step should be a print version of the best of the news blogs..... We've had a dark couple of dark decades but take heart, Peter, things are looking up

peter/a perfect xample

i jut submitted a post/it ws rejected
in being rejected/it disappears

now i know it wil disappears/so i posted a back-up post here
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=6293&page=17

off course it begins different
so here is the proposed post/cut out

<<>.im listening to a pod cast
http://whatreallyhappened.com/podcasts/hourtitle1.m3u

a caller has called in/and explained that these 3 dead israelies
died in an auto accident/planed at a crime scene

point being regardless of the story
is 3 dead kids enough to cause armogedon
is collective punishment[EVEN FOR A LIE].,,HOW IS IT NOT A WAR CRIME

PLEASE EXPLAIN/HOW IS THIS GENOXCIDE NOT A WAR GRIME?

THE ATTACK ON PALISTEN
has gone/LIVE
http://www.arabworld360.info/2014/07/gazaunderattack-open-thread.html#.U7yGgpSSzfI

http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/SMALL_nukechicago.jpg

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2014/07/powerful-raw-video-shows-israeli-airstrikes-gaza/
Warning: The content of this video is graphic.

Video footage shows Palestinians running from black smoke as the Israeli army ramps up its offensive and launches airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. At least 40 Palestinians, including two children, have died.

HOW CAN WAR MAKE PEACE?
Posted by one under god, Thursday, 10 July 2014 11:34:34 AM>>

THE POINT BEING ITS A VALID TOPIC
BUT CANT BE ACCEPTED BECAUSE ITS WRITTEN BY AN ILLITEATE

i propose a ministry FOR LITERACY/THERE TO MAKE NONSENCE INTO BEUROCRACY SPEAK[i expect to attend 8 years training/to become the liteRACY CZAR[MEANWHILE WE NEED HELP*]

There are a number of organisations in Australia seeking more direct democracy.

This one seems very interesting, and has listed the advantages and disadvantages of a range of direct democracy systems.

http://www.newdemocracy.com.au/

An excellent and totally thought provoking presentation in that website.

Thinking about the issues, I am more than displeased with all the personality politics, backdoor deals, name-calling and shouting in parliament, politicians on all sides calling each other liars, lack of secret ballot, politicians voting along party lines like automatons, and the huge disconnect between professional politicians and the rest of us.

Direct democracy systems are well worth trialling and refining, (as the alternative is just more of the same).

"Neoliberalism in effect undermined the class positions of both major political parties" .. this author has spent way too much time studying politics. One of the evident trends in recent decades has been the rise of what Paul Keating called the "aspirational" classes.. another way of saying this is that people have generally became more prosperous and have much less time for the old-style rhetoric of bosses versus workers (although Labor still tends to talk in that language).
Maybe this has also affected the Libs, but either way forget the neoliberal label - its an American thing, and reflects the more extreme politics found there. As for the solutions, to overcome this problem of volatility, the author proposes solutions that would bring yet more lunatics to the fore (the various consultation structures he proposes).

This is not impressive. Maybe we could work on reforming the Senate instead..

"Neoliberalism seemed to work relatively well in Australia..."

Not only seemed to, but did. And the enormous increase in incomes and welfare that it has generated has produced something new and unprecedented in the history of democracy; an electorate which is, generally speaking, better informed and more politically savvy than their elected representatives. The parliamentary sausage factory now has glass walls; we can now see exactly what happens inside in real time, often better and more clearly than the participants can.

Can the Westminster system adjust to this without destroying the gains that an educated electorate has produced? I think so; but we might have to go through a series of one-term governments until our politicians learn to start listening to what we tell them.

I would agree the Senate needs reforming.

For a look at a display of shrieking, yelling, ranting, arm waving, spitting and hurling verbal abuse, there is this.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/jul/01/michaelia-cash-labor-sisterhood-penny-wong

Now the person in question (Senator Michaelia Cash) holds a “Bachelor of Arts with a triple major in public relations, politics and journalism from Curtin University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London, and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Western Australia.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaelia_Cash

I would consider the money spent on her education as being very poor value for money.

While the public accepts members of juries to be selected at random from the public, we still ELECT people into the Senate, which is supposed to be a "House of Review".

Compared to Senator Michaelia Cash, I see no great problem in developing a Citizen's Senate by randomly selecting about 150 members of the public to be in the Senate, (and those members are only there for 1 to 2 years only, before another lot is randomly selected).

It would be interesting to run a Citizen’s Senate in parallel to the poor value for money monstrosity that is our elected Senate in Federal Parliament, and the Citizen's Senate can arrange online voting, consensus conferences etc.

Agree with roses and incommunicado.
And can only add, today's new labor seems somewhat to the right of Menzies liberals?
I listen to parliament as entertainment, when the school holidays are on and I can't listen to more mature people, arguing over tin toys and sandpits?
Questions are asked, and in most cases avoided, and not even very cleverly, but usually as a blame shifting tirade, against a previous administration.
Preferences allow manipulators to make behind the scenes deals, that all but deal out the mug voter.
And isn't this a pigeon coming home to roost, with many minor parties getting in the way of major parties exercising almost absolute power.
If we the people made a practice of simply putting the incumbent last on the ballot paper, many of these backroom, dark dastardly deals done in the dead of night, would be completed emasculated!
And get the case for fair, less manipulable proportional representation, advocated and on the table, with self survival, urgent alacrity.
I've listened to enough talk about more democracy, now I want to see action.
That action must also includes a bill of irrevocable rights, if only to stop power hungry psychopaths from removing what remains!
Rhrosty.

Rhrosty

I have an experiment you might like.

Go to this page, and there are 100’s of poll questions concerning current political and social issues in Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/thedrum/polls/

Now, answer the poll questions without first looking at the poll results.

I seem to agree with the majority most of the time.

Although these polls may not have demographically representative sampling, I have a hunch the results of these polls would represent the opinions of the majority of people in this country most of the time.

But the government seems to take the opposite rout to the polls most of the time.

For example, with the question "The Opposition has called for a second Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank financial planning scandal. Do you approve of this move?" , then 87% of people in the poll said "yes", but the government isn't going to do it.

So there seems to be a total disconnect between the public and the government.

Either the public is wrong in the polls, or the politicians in government who are supposed to be representing the public are wrong.

OK Rhosty and Incomunicado, you are suggesting replacing the Senate with a 'jury' of 150 randomly selected citizen, to sit for a maximum 1- 2 years?

Well I agree that would be a good system. Previously I stated that the system only needs to be tweaked by reforming the Senate voting card process. But I reckon your idea would be an improvement on the current Senate. But it couldn't be compulsory for randomly selected 'senators' to sit - they would have to be offered a seat with the option to refuse.

One reason this system would be an improvement is that party politicians get generous superannuation benefits plus free air travel within Australia (the latter for the rest of their days). http://www.smh.com.au/national/full-list-of-federal-mps-entitlements-20090521-bh0v.html
I reckon 'gift of superannuation riches', which increases if they get to do second or third terms has potential to corrupt some party politicians. Reason is that it means they are tempted to follow a party line even if they disagree, in order to keep their candidacy in the next election.

The 1-2 year random selection option would mean they can only get modest pensions anyway, thus removing any perverse incentive to vote against their conscience.

But how will this ever change? Will pollies ever vote to disband their house and forego their promised riches?

PS I'm a self funded retiree - rental and pension income totals $42,000 for me and my wife and we're happy with that so we're not jealous of the pollies, just outraged by the injustice......

A simple answer to the problem of deficits, taxation and services is to simply do away with ideologies and just go with what works.
Are you aware that Optus Australia is 100% owned by the government of Singapore? This effectively means every Aussie who has an account with Optus is subsidising the the tax payers of Singapore (top rate 20%).
How many people overseas are effectively paying tax for us?
Instead of taxing resource companies, the smartest thing our gov. could do is invest in them.

BRAiN SPIKE

a simple rule change
political appointees ;by parties
only allowed one time/by party nursing/then must go independant

this independance of the party/extends their full term
and at next election partie must yet again put up fresh blood

really the root of the rot
is the parties party loyalty = treason

parties are nurseries for wanna bes party PATCIES
anymore they become coRRupted/

stuff the party line
its too fine a line anyhow/most of the time

Roses1

The EU is beginning to develop more direct democracy systems.

“Direct democracy is coming to the EU, in the form of the European Citizens' Initiative.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11791272

Perhaps the Australian government will take note of that.

One proposal for a Citizen’s Senate is as follows:

“All adults would be eligible for selection, and can decline if they don't wish to serve. The random group would be stratified for age and income to match census data on the makeup of the society it governs. Participants would be paid a salary equal to twice the average wage.
The chamber has reduced responsibilities – it is a house to approve or veto legislation produced by an elected legislature, and they would not be involved in drafting or altering legislation. They would also be accorded the sole power to redraw electoral boundaries.

A Bill sent from the Representatives would, after discussion, be subject to a vote as to whether it should be immediately ratified, or whether it needs a detailed review. The review committee would be drawn by lot from among their number, and work as a deliberative forum able to hold public hearings, invite expert testimony, take submissions from citizens, hear from sponsors and opponents of the Bill from the Legislature, and discuss the merits of the Bill openly among the themselves. The Committee would then report back to the Senate as a whole with each individual citizen representative presenting their own independent judgment as to whether the proposed legislation is in the public interest.

There is no 'party line' to adhere to. Every vote is, in effect, a conscience vote. A simple majority is required to pass or reject the legislation.”

http://www.newdemocracy.com.au/alternatives/structural

However, there are many other ways towards direct democracy.

Such as having “None of the Above” on a ballot paper, which means every political party now has to consider what the public actually wants to be able to get their votes.

And having secret ballot of course, to help remove all the mindless, dumb dumb politicians who just vote along party lines.

Yes, Incomuicardo. What I particularly like about your proposal is "There is no 'party line' to adhere to. Every vote is, in effect, a conscience vote. A simple majority is required to pass or reject the legislation.”

Note that the system of senate inquiries you propose is very similar to the existing system, which works well. I have testified and been quoted in / testified in 3 Senate Inquiries so far this year, once as an individual (Fuel tax) and twice representing community groups (Direct Action Plan and Public Transport Inquiries). So my personal experience is that this aspect of the democracy does work. The recommendations of the Committees were sensible and must have influenced some senators (particularly cross-benchers)

From reading the 'European citizens' referenda' link you provided, it seems this has had limited success in Netherlands, Slovenia and Austria but has resulted in some crazy infrastructure schemes being canned. So it may be worthwhile but I think that a reformed senate along the lines of this discussion would be more effective.

PS I would be interested to hear your comments Peter.

bE YE wise as sephants

What are the ten D's?

The ten D's of opposition tactics are:
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/respond-to-counterattacks/respond-to-opposition/main
* Deflect
* Delay
* Deny
* Discount
* Deceive
* Divide
* Dulcify
* Discredit
* Destroy
* Deal

Specific strategies for responding to opposition tactics

Some of these tactics can be dealt with in similar ways; these are grouped together.
Deflect and Delay

Deflection happens when your opponents try to shift the focus of the debate from the real problem to other issues, or when they try to "pass the buck" to a group with little or no authority. Delays occur when the opposition says it is working on the problem, when the reality is that nothing has been done. Sometimes they do this by claiming that they don't yet have enough information to move on the problem, when there is already plenty of information. Often the opposition will form a committee or commission to study the problem, putting things off for as long as possible. Your opponent is most likely hoping that the public will lose interest if the issue can be put off indefinitely

Roses1

The proposal wasn’t my proposal, but comes from the newDemocracy Foundation website, and they list many other alternative systems that could be used for direct democracy, with both “structural” and “instrumental” changes.

http://www.newdemocracy.com.au/

Switzerland has a political system based around referendums that is very interesting.

http://direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerlands-system-referendums.html

I vote for no political party anymore, and I find it is very refreshing to read through possible alternatives to the current mess we have as our governments.

There is a possibility of establishing a Citizen’s Senate in QLD, which currently has no Upper House.

The Upper House was abolished some time ago because it was thought to be an unnecessary expense.

Then, QLD went through the corruption of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era, and recently the QLD government has gone into severe debt because of overspending.

A previous QLD government overspent in an endeavour to buy votes, leaving QLD with a $90 billion debt, and about $4 billion a year interest repayments.

It is food for thought that a Citizen’s Senate in QLD could have stopped all that, and it would have paid for itself many times over.

how about you brains trust
make a peace plan for secularists/ruling
lording it over the one living god's;..holy land

its not your land
its god's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-evIyrrjTTY&feature=em-share_video_user

war crimes/media bias/aiding and giving comfort to demons
ABC Manipulates Truth to Fit Pro-Israel Bias
morehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdKPJZKXtWQ

they went to /war'..for a lie
now agrivate the sin/how can religions whorseship and the guns ge melted down?

honest media
is hat a good start?


Abby Martin calls out the media framing of the current violence in Gaza and Israel, highlighting how ABC's Diane Sawyer misdirected viewers when reporting on the violence in Israel while showing pictures of destruction in Gaza.

LIKE Breaking the Set @ http://fb.me/JournalistAbbyMartin
FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin

Blackwater awarded over $1bn from State Dept.
since threat on investigator's life
T
http://whatreallyhappened.com/podcasts/hourtitle2.m3u


Argentineans hold protest at Israel embassy in Buenos Aires
http://rt.com/usa/172156-blackwater-contracts-threat-investigator/

Muslim and Arab organizations have gathered outside the Israeli embassy in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires to express outrage at Tel Aviv’s ongoing atrocities against the Palestinians, Press TV reports.

http://presstv.com/detail/2014/07/08/370432/argentine-protesters-slam-israel-cruelty/

visit ya sister/then ya dead/we will know them by their deeds
http://rt.com/news/172052-gaza-israel-fighting-victims/