Posts
12895
Joined
8/17/2006
Location
Golden, CO, USA
Edited Date/Time
6/6/2012 5:28pm
Explain it in order of implementation, what the expected benefits are, and what negatives we'd experience. Here's mine:
1. Drug legalization. Stop the drug war. Create regulation on recreational drugs. Legalize them. Significantly reduce the funding and size of all arms of government that are involved with the drug wars accordingly. Stop all foreign aid for security of other countries who've been funded because of the drug war. Give them 1 year until the aid stops to prepare. Jobs will be lost in numerous areas (legal, government, law enforcement, detention facilities), but jobs will be created to support the new industry. This will help serve as a sorely needed revenue stream.
2. Re-enact Glass Steagall. We have to get the banks out of the investment business. Down-side is that there will probably be jobs lost for those who are in the banking industry and have turned into the investment arms of these banks. Up-side is the banks won't be coming to Washington with their hands out asking for money to save their sorry asses for making poor investment choices.
3. Mandate that ANYTIME the military is used off of United States soil, there must be a draft for all individuals, ages 18-35, with no exceptions. Draftees will go to the front lines first as infantry, once they are trained. Let's get ownership by the entire country when we're ready to throw American lives at someone else's problem. This will significantly reduce the US's desire to wage war, reducing cost and saving American lives.
4. Strictly regulate campaign funding and activities to funding only from public funds, with advertising by the candidates through approved channels only.
5. Make lobbying illegal at any level. Lots of jobs lost in lobbying, but expected long-term changes are that government will now only legislate for the health of the country and not for individual groups/corporations.
6. Create a retirement fund for all politicians and make any private investing during any political term, plus 5 years after serving, illegal. It's time to stop legislating for one's own pocketbook. Government officials need to be in government for one reason only: to serve Americans.
7. Dismantle the IRS and its central banks. Issue money directly from the government to the citizens and businesses. The treasury will be responsible for creation of the funds. The IRS and GAO will work together to determine the lending structure. Those entities (persons or companies) with proven good credit will get 0% interest loans. IRS will be collections. The banking industry will significantly downsize, but the ability to borrow at 0% interest will create jobs/industry.
8. Look into reducing cost of bringing industry back into American borders. Not sure how this can be done.
9. Create "legal partnerships", recognized by the government as a union of two people. Get the government out of the "marriage" business. "Marriage" is the concern of the churches. Only "legal partnership" will be recognized by government and business. "Marriage" will not. Equality is mandated by the Constitution. Sorry.
10. Tax all churches/religious institutions. By not taxing them, the federal government is establishing religion, which is unconstitutional. The free ride is over.
11. Look into the "flat tax".
1. Drug legalization. Stop the drug war. Create regulation on recreational drugs. Legalize them. Significantly reduce the funding and size of all arms of government that are involved with the drug wars accordingly. Stop all foreign aid for security of other countries who've been funded because of the drug war. Give them 1 year until the aid stops to prepare. Jobs will be lost in numerous areas (legal, government, law enforcement, detention facilities), but jobs will be created to support the new industry. This will help serve as a sorely needed revenue stream.
2. Re-enact Glass Steagall. We have to get the banks out of the investment business. Down-side is that there will probably be jobs lost for those who are in the banking industry and have turned into the investment arms of these banks. Up-side is the banks won't be coming to Washington with their hands out asking for money to save their sorry asses for making poor investment choices.
3. Mandate that ANYTIME the military is used off of United States soil, there must be a draft for all individuals, ages 18-35, with no exceptions. Draftees will go to the front lines first as infantry, once they are trained. Let's get ownership by the entire country when we're ready to throw American lives at someone else's problem. This will significantly reduce the US's desire to wage war, reducing cost and saving American lives.
4. Strictly regulate campaign funding and activities to funding only from public funds, with advertising by the candidates through approved channels only.
5. Make lobbying illegal at any level. Lots of jobs lost in lobbying, but expected long-term changes are that government will now only legislate for the health of the country and not for individual groups/corporations.
6. Create a retirement fund for all politicians and make any private investing during any political term, plus 5 years after serving, illegal. It's time to stop legislating for one's own pocketbook. Government officials need to be in government for one reason only: to serve Americans.
7. Dismantle the IRS and its central banks. Issue money directly from the government to the citizens and businesses. The treasury will be responsible for creation of the funds. The IRS and GAO will work together to determine the lending structure. Those entities (persons or companies) with proven good credit will get 0% interest loans. IRS will be collections. The banking industry will significantly downsize, but the ability to borrow at 0% interest will create jobs/industry.
8. Look into reducing cost of bringing industry back into American borders. Not sure how this can be done.
9. Create "legal partnerships", recognized by the government as a union of two people. Get the government out of the "marriage" business. "Marriage" is the concern of the churches. Only "legal partnership" will be recognized by government and business. "Marriage" will not. Equality is mandated by the Constitution. Sorry.
10. Tax all churches/religious institutions. By not taxing them, the federal government is establishing religion, which is unconstitutional. The free ride is over.
11. Look into the "flat tax".
Number 8 is critical, we can't base our economy on the consumer index.
Getting the huge profit margins out of the student loan process would be a good step as well.
Higher education should have to be earned but it shouldn't cost a person a quarter million dollars or more to graduate.
We need people in high tech jobs that companies can't find because of this.
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What about you guys? What would you do?
The underlying idea to abolish the fed is fine, but you'd quickly face import duties with every trade partner you have if the government was handing out free money to American businesses.
Other than that, I think it's a workable plan.
2. Agreed.
3. Interesting approach. I'd like to ask why we'd ever even need to leave our soil in the first place. No one has or ever will invade our country. We dont need a military in the capacity we have. In fact, we dont need one period. A country that can defend itself simply entails every citizen owning a sniper rifle and being trained on how to use it. That is cheap and doesnt require war ships or nukes or massive defense budgets.
4. Unenforceable. Furthermore, the problem with the system is the voters as much as it is the candidates. History has shown that the majority is not qualified to vote. The majority of any group is to cater to the lowest common denominator. We need a better system than this simple democracy that we are trying to hold on too. The American culture does not and will not ever put in the time necessary to really get informed on issues. Evidence? Despite the overwhelming evidence, look at how many people thought Bubba would continue to fail once he got off the Yamaha. You want those irrational emotion based heathens to continue to takes sides in politics? Opinions on issues must be fluid. Smart people dont have "beliefs" they have ever evolving opinions. Nothing about the country as a whole says they can handle the responsibility of voting.
5. Agreed. This is a no-brainer.
6. Why should politicians be paid at all? All of our founding fathers had real jobs. The idea of a full-time politician is flawed. If you want politicians that in touch with the world they are dictating, they need to be part of it. Once again, Im putting the onus on the voters. It is up to the voter to do their homework and pick someone who will be serving them. Voting is a right, but you forfeit it when you dont do your homework. An ignorant vote is a dangerous vote that does more harm than good. In fact, why do we even need to vote? The Bill of Rights was just fine the way it was. Please explain to me why we need all those idiots in Washington? They dont make the sun shine, they cant control the rain, they are not responsible for food growing. All I see them do is take handouts and write more bills that further take away our freedoms. Politicians are not essential to life. They need not exist. And most certainly not in the volume that they do.
7. Agreed.
8. Simple, less taxes. Higher import tariffs. Raise import tariffs until we are operating at a net gain as a economy. We have no business sending jobs and money elsewhere for goods when we can make everything here. Less taxes will bring industry back here. Just look at how high taxes (due to unrealistic high social programs) killed industry in California.
9. Agree. No brainer.
10. The less we recognize these entities the better.
11. I got mixed opinions here. It's either a flat tax for all citizens (no businesses, NO DOUBLE TAXING) or you abolish all taxing except for sales tax. Want to cover the cost of roads? There is your gas tax. You pay for as much of the road you use. (replace the gas tax with toll roads once weve gotten away from fossil fuels). Furthermore, all public road work is contracted out to private companies that have to bid for the job. No more $45/hr clowns getting paid to hold a stop sign 8 hours a day.
Want to cover the cost of fire departments? Yearly tax based on the square footage of the home or building.
Other than that, Im not real big on social services. People will argue that public schools are essential and I will say that until the American public starts sending their kids to school with the intentions of learning and consequences at home if they dont, then we all shouldnt be footing the bill. It's a glorified day care. We dont deserve "free" public schools for everyone. On top of that, our public schools are not qualified to spend their budgets. They mismanage the funds and are extremely inefficient with the limited money they get.
Kids can learn to count, read, do math, and go to the library to read on history just from their parents. We dont need a public school system for that. Want higher learning? Get a loan (via the route suggested above) at 16 and start your learning at a university. It doesnt take 12 years to learn to tie your shoe, but that is what we have in our elementary and high school system.
12. Here is one I would add. This would be a new amendment to the constitution. You cannot own what you did not create. Meaning, you can own the house you built on land, but the land isnt yours. It is the Earths. You can own the farm you planted, but the land isnt yours, you didnt create it. Drinking water is not something someone created, it needs to be truly public domain. With transparent management.
Speaking of water, no more diverting water away from rivers to support populations in areas that are too big to be supported by their natural surroundings. Sorry Los Angeles. I love ya, but if you dont have enough water, its time to raise the price until people stop taking 45 minute showers and start moving somewhere a lil more fertile.
No more cutting down natural forests. Grow your own if you want too. The Redwoods are almost gone. Enough is enough.
No more commercial fishing. It is doing horrible damage to our oceans and tributaries. If you want some fish, go fish it yourself. This will make you think the next time you pollute. If we insist on having a Navy, we should be taking down the Japs that continue to hunt wales.
Dismantle the industrial food complex. They are doing more damage to the American public than anything. A sick population is a docile one. But this goes back to my gripes with the American voter. We should be able to dictate this with our wallets/buying habits. We have failed here.
Ban genetically modified foods. Non-organic fertilizers, pesticides, preservatives in food, hormones, and man made sugars. None of these serve any nutritional value. If you cant pronounce it, dont eat it. We are killing ourselves. Im against government involvement in these areas because it is tough to draw the line. But these things are no brainers. Im mad at myself for suggesting this last one. It is hypocritical and I dont know how you go about it. Ultimately it takes a smarter population, again, more onus on the population that I dont have a lot of faith in in the first place. Grrrrr. I dont know how you enforce it, but we gotta get our diets figured out. Im open for suggestions. Suggestions that dont increase the size/responsibilities of government.
13. And lastly, we must find a new energy source. Nuclear is too unstable. We dont know enough about it, and we cant shut it off. Coal is wrong. Oil is wrong. No more buying foreign oil. We got til our own reserves run out to figure out a new power source. If we dont figure it out in time, we're all gonna have to live like the Amish. Fuck it. Let the middle east go back to being just a bunch of sand in the middle of nowhere.
Recreational use of fossil fuels will never exhaust the worlds supplies nor put a dent in the Ozone. So our dirtbikes are safe.
Granted, we will rock one helluva boat by axing the fed and its buddies. The banks are trying to maintain their power world-wide...they will NOT like it one bit. But, fuck 'em. They're one of the first to say, "adapt to new technologies or go under". Well, adapt to new a new finance world, or tank.
#6 Politicians should be only on the public paycheck. If they're in the private sector, they could be legislating to benefit themselves. The founding fathers had higher callings at the time (a "foreign" government and its banks trying to soak off the colonies...so they wanted independence). Those driving factors have been satisfied (although they're being dismantled), and it seems only money steers our politicians.
Not sure about the effects of land ownership. And, the fresh water will have to be addressed soon. But, if it were me, those are longer-term items. I'd be trying to put in place changes that would have immediate impact...either generating revenue, lowering costs, removing alternate motives for action by banks and government, or creating equality.
Secondly, with regards to #6, you want to know why the founding fathers could not fuck over their fellow man? They werent anonymous. You need to put some thought into the very radical concept of "anonymity" and it's effects on a person. Hell, this website is a perfect example of what people will do when they are anonymous and dont think their are consequences for their actions. And this is without and monetary incentive!
Local governments are not nearly as crooked because they have to live with the people they are representing. Human beings are tribal by nature. We've lived all but less than 1% of our existence in small societies where everyone was held accountable for their actions because nobody was anonymous.
It's only recently with the advent of cities, governments, corporations, etc that we have seen humans at their worst. Why? Anonymity! We arent made to handle it. It brings out our worst.
Try all you might, there will never be enough checks and balances to prevent people to fuck over the masses once they get too far removed from them.
Also, with regards to #6. Explain to me how a professional politician is qualified to dictate policies? You dont have to have been a great football player to be a good coach, but every great coach played the game at some level. No more chicken hawks in office.
And you havent addressed my issue with the voter themselves. What makes a voter qualified? Even if you were to propose a candidacy qualification policy to counter my earlier points in this post, who are the general public to judge who is a good candidate? Most people in this country couldnt run their own business yet they are going to judge who is qualified to "run the country"? I wouldnt trust the average voter with a lemonade stand.
Their is a major flaw in the democratic system, and its the voters. You need to address that.
Federal public officials aren't anonymous now. I know where my congressman lives. In fact, I've been to his house. Not sure where you get the idea of anonymity.
I disagree that we're only now seeing humans at their worst. Humans have been ruthless and barbaric throughout history. I think the whole idea that "things are worse now than they ever were" is a fallacy common to every generation.
Last, I can't "fix" the voters. But, I feel what I'm suggesting will help protect them from their own ignorance and complacency.
Get ride of the Electoral College, and have a straight popular vote for Presidency.
I'm not so anxious to start with the tariffs thing. Those tend to cause a bunch of issues. I'd be more of the mindset to provide incentives to produce here, first. In fact, that #8 is more "long term", and might not even be on the list. Again, like I said in other posts, I'd be trying to fix the issues that could provide return quickly.
Fixing the current system because it is what we have at the moment, isnt good enough. Keeping our standard of living is asking too much. We are way too far down the rabbit hole. It's time to get our hands dirty. Their is no magic bandaid or parachute system that you are searching for. We dont have time for that. We need to get to the system that worked pre-civil war (Im not talking slavery) as soon as possible. Putting it off for our convenience only lessens the chances of success and puts off a better future for our children.
Federal public officials are anonymous. Just because you know where you congressman lives, doesnt mean you know what he's up to from day to day and who he is taking bribes from. As long as Im not able to go knock on the front door of the White House and give the president my piece of mind, he is anonymous. If non-violent protesters tried to occupy the white house lawn they'd get shot. Just because I know Obama's name doesnt mean I know Obama.
The fallacy you speak of is correct. In context. But do you really think we can handle anonymity? What evidence do you have to support this? This is sociology 101 buddy. Anonymity is an issue that MUST be addressed when talking "solutions" as we are doing here.
And your last point, is a lot like my wanting to ban pesticides and the such. It's dangerous territory. But lets just say for arguments sake that you and I know what is best when protecting the public from their own ignorance. How are they protected? Simply because a candidate will have limited funds? OK, so all this means is that the candidate that markets himself best (within the budget) will get elected. It still doesnt mean the candidate is at all qualified. It just means he did the best commercials and had the best public speeches. But does that mean he is actually the best for the job? The voter isnt required to do any more research on the candidates in the system you propose than they do now. Protecting the voter from themselves does not encourage a smarter voter. We are back to square one.
- Pull back all military from foreign soil.
- Males ages 18 must serve 2 years in the military.
- With the help of the military, deport every illegal alien within 100 miles of the border (southern and northern), thorugh a fast track process. Begin working inward over a year's time. Temporarily eliminate the Immigration court. Shut down the border completely for at least 3 months to get a handle on incoming foreigners and to get a handle on the deport operation. Fast track citizenship and resident applications for those applications waiting. Complete inner, middle, and outer border fence with razor wire and place non-lethal weapons within 20 yards of the outer fence it on the Mexican side. Electrify the middle fence. Refuse visas to every country who doesn't allow their citizens to be deported back to their country (Vietnam, Cuba, etc).
- Do mass executions of inmates on death roll.
- Term limits for everyone in Washington.
- Public executions of child sex offenders, terrorists.
- Require the AMA to bring back 125, 250, and open class, regardless of stroke.
But what do you want to replace it with? A popular vote? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The most successful entities, both large and small, do not run on popular vote. It is the tail wagging the dog.
Football players dont get to vote on who their next coach is. Why? They arent qualified to make that decision.
The average American is not qualified to make an educated vote. That is a fact.
If you think some guy in a colony in upper New York knew what Franklin was up to on a yearly basis, much less a daily basis, in Philadelphia in 1792, then I'd like you to explain to me how he was able to do that.
I can't fix anonymity, in any century. I can alter the environment to minimize the external influences. Dumping lobbies, and putting in place laws limiting private investment during and after a term are steps to do just that.
True on your last point, except that we're not back at square one. By limiting/equalizing campaign funding, I'm trying to remove the huge influence money has at getting a candidate into office. SuperPacs are now dictating who gets to run and who doesn't. That's fucked. ANYONE should be able to run for office, not just the slick talking attorney who aligns himself with the deepest pockets.
Pit Row
1. G.W. Bush
2. Barack Obama
How's that electoral college working for ya'?
I believe in our republic, in that we elect officials to make decisions on our behalf.
I DO NOT like the "initiative" process that is currently used in California. I am not saying "popular vote on everything", but I do believe that a popular vote for Presidency would be prudent.
To say that American citizens are not qualified to make that decision is wrong, IMO.
You say that is a "fact". How so?
1. GW Bush
2. Barack Obama
LOL.
I do admit that I'm along the mindset of Winston Churchill, who said the only thing wrong with Democracy was that the citizen could vote.
Tell ya how it could be improved, though: pull the social programs. You wanna see the populace get off their butt in a hurry? Given enough time, I'd do this. But, not until I fixed what's in place. Again, I wouldn't want to cripple us. I think a smart plan could fix things with minimal negative impact on the citizens. Tossing welfare, SS, and Medicare immediately wouldn't be a good thing. But, it would be something to work towards over a decade or two.
Im not exactly giving you solutions to some of your suggestions, just pointing out the glaring flaws.
BTW, nice pic in the Drones thread, made me laugh.
It's not wrong to say that the average American citizen doesnt deserve a vote.... The crime is when a citizen makes a vote for/against a president simply based on the color of his skin. Every person who voted for or against him did so with that in mind, and every person abused their right to vote and should have it stripped until they pull their heads out of their asses.
The average American probably spends more time researching their fantasy football team then they do researching who to vote for. Their is no way to measure that assumption, but if we could, would you bet against me? I doubt it.
And about the pic:
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE......
lol
But their is always a better way to do something, we just havent thought of it yet. Brainstorming session in...session. Fuck, now I really sound like the stoner in the pic.
But seriously, lets think outside the box. No more bandaids. I'll come up with something for ya hopefully by Monday. Til then, I got some work to do this weekend. TTL.
I think kicking Medicare and SS to the curb in a "couple of decades" would be far too drastic. Hell, I am 41 years old, have been paying into a 401k now for well over 15 years, and I am SCARED SHITLESS when I think about retirement. I DO NOT expect SS to be solvent when I retire, and I have largely known that my financial future is entirely on my own shoulders. For those who are older than me, that are not retiring with a company pension, they are WAY behind the self-sufficient retirement system.
We DO need some social nets though. With our population at 300 million, the numbers simply dictate that there will be MANY among us who simply cannot provide for themselves. They need to be provided for. Problem is, no perfect system has been created yet, so undeserving people will benefit, and that just starts the downward spiral of those who do not deserve the benefit thinking they do, and raising a fuss until they get their needs met.
In my short 41 years of exisitence, I do not see political figures having the ability to tell our citizens "no". That is suicide, and a quick route to the door.
Until we, as citizens, are able to be accountable for our selves, and big enough to be told "no" without crying our eyes out, I don't see much changing in our future.
https://youtu.be/7_g5zw5vRtU
Sean
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