If you were President for a day and could do five things, what would they be? My tentative list would include:
1. Make all political campaigns publicly funded. Each candidate is given a certain, fixed amount to spend on their campaign which they cannot exceed. The entire system of fund raising and campaign contributions would become unnecessary.
2. Eliminate "In God We Trust" as a national motto. The national motto would be "E Pluribus Unum" exclusively. "In God We Trust" would subsequently be removed from all federal currency and coins and from anywhere else it appears on federal property. As an addendum to this, "Under God" would be removed from the pledge of allegiance.
3. Estate taxes would be raised to match their most draconian levels in US history. Whatever the highest rate in the past was, so it shall be again.
4. A federal law legalizing gay marriage would be enacted which would be binding on all 50 states.
5. Elections for the House of Representatives would be changed so that all House members are elected via a system of proportional representation. For states that have only one representative, this would have no effect on them. But for states like California (with 53), this would allow for significant minor party participation.
That's probably not my final list, but those are the first five things that came to mind. What would your's be?
Originally posted by rwingettI would get rid of the Federal reserve.
If you were President for a day and could do five things, what would they be? My tentative list would include:
1. Make all political campaigns publicly funded. Each candidate is given a certain, fixed amount to spend on their campaign which they cannot exceed. The entire system of fund raising and campaign contributions would become unnecessary.
2. E ...[text shortened]... nal list, but those are the first five things that came to mind. What would your's be?
Get our money back on some standard.
Rebuild the military.
Close the borders for trade.
Tell the rest of the word we do not intend to repay any debts.
1. Create a sane energy policy other than cap and trade. I would actually INVEST in the country instead of taxing into oblivion by making it mandatory that all state buildings have solar panels and also invest in nuclear and wind etc and actually use domestic oil/natural gas instead of being reliant on foriegn oil.
2. Pay off the debt!! This would include cutting programs or freezing programs once though "untouchable" including defense, entitlements, getting out of Iraq etc. Then once the debt was managable and not costing what amounts to paying for 2 Katrinas a year in interest, I would create an amendment that would force other administrations to balance budget.
3. I would then change the wording in entitlement programs so that they are no longer entitlements. In other words, the state will help pay for health care/social security etc ONLY if the state has the money to do so. It would then become a state charity rather than enetitlement. Magically and overnight medicare/medicaid and social security would no longer be going bust.
4. Seal the borders and actually inforce illegal immigration laws instead of creating legislation to pay for them being here. Since I am running out of wishes, I will also include campagn reform similiar to what Rwingett was talking about as well as doing away with the party system altogether. Elections will be democratic from now on with no more tinkering from powers within the two parties as well as the electoral college.
5. Woops, I should have mentioned hog tying all memebers of Congress and the Supremes and declaring marshall law to accomplish just one of these goals. My bad.
6. I just couldn't help myself. I want one more!! I would stop trying to copy everything Europe does and, instead, lead the free world so that they would like to emulate us once again.
Originally posted by rwingettIn the U.S. or in my country? If in the U.S., then it would be:
If you were President for a day and could do five things, what would they be? My tentative list would include:
1. Make all political campaigns publicly funded. Each candidate is given a certain, fixed amount to spend on their campaign which they cannot exceed. The entire system of fund raising and campaign contributions would become unnecessary.
2. E nal list, but those are the first five things that came to mind. What would your's be?
1. Kick off an aggressive plan towards alternative energy development and use.
2. Make all taxes progressive. The more an entity or person earns, the more tax to be paid.
3. Complete the full union with Canada and Mexico.
4. Make French and Spanish, together with English, official languages.
5. Force U.S. corporations to respect abroad the same standards followed in the U.S., mainly environmental and labor laws.
Voilà!
So what does everyone think Obama's goals are? I will list them by the priority I think they are in his eyes.
1. Cap and trade. It is the holy grail of taxes and revenue for the government.
2. Continue the massive spending in order to ward off the economic crisis that was helped to be created by the previous administrations massive spending. Brilliant!!
3. Universal health care. It is the lesser priority but one nontheless. Just being able to say that you were the President to achieve this statist objective will be reward enough.
4. Get as much legislation passed ASAP. Knowing that you have a limited window of oppurtunity with approval ratings that are not in the red yet is key. He knows that his time is short.
5. Leave Iraq by the end of his term. He knows that if does not, he might as well get on TV and do another LBJ. "I will not seek and will not accept your nomination for president in 2012".
Originally posted by whodeyOoh! I forgot about universal health care. I guess I'll have to drop the gays on number 4 and change it to:
So what does everyone think Obama's goals are? I will list them by the priority I think they are in his eyes.
1. Cap and trade. It is the holy grail of taxes and revenue for the government.
2. Continue the massive spending in order to ward off the economic crisis that was helped to be created by the previous administrations massive spending. Brilliant ...[text shortened]... do another LBJ. "I will not seek and will not accept your nomination for president in 2012".
4. Adopt a single payer, universal health care system.
Originally posted by rwingettDo you realize that perhaps apart from 2, that the President would not have the power to do any of these things by Executive order?
If you were President for a day and could do five things, what would they be? My tentative list would include:
1. Make all political campaigns publicly funded. Each candidate is given a certain, fixed amount to spend on their campaign which they cannot exceed. The entire system of fund raising and campaign contributions would become unnecessary.
2. E nal list, but those are the first five things that came to mind. What would your's be?
1 would require a Constitutional Amendment as an act of Congress purporting to do this would be struck down as a violation of the first Amendment.
I'm not sure about 2. Maybe it could be done by Executive order. It's meaningless symbolism anyway.
3 would require an Act of Congress. Since it's a tax bill, it would have to start in the House and then be passed by the Senate and then signed by the President.
4 would not only require a Constitutional Amendment, but would be an unprecedented intrusion on federalism to such an extent that it would make a mockery of the whole concept of federalism. Basically, the entire framework of the American government and how it operates would have to be re-written to allow this.
5 would require a Constitutional Amendment.
I don't think you meant "President for a day." I think you meant "King" or "Emperor" or "Dictator" for a day.
Originally posted by sh76I have no interest in the workings of executive orders, or the mechanisms of government. That is the eternal shortcoming of petty accountants, engineers, lawyers and bureaucrats. Your scope for imagination is permanently hobbled by your obsessive need to give precedence to all the procedural minutia of mundane life.
Do you realize that perhaps apart from 2, that the President would not have the power to do any of these things by Executive order?
1 would require a Constitutional Amendment as an act of Congress purporting to do this would be struck down as a violation of the first Amendment.
I'm not sure about 2. Maybe it could be done by Executive order. It's meaningl ...[text shortened]... President for a day." I think you meant "King" or "Emperor" or "Dictator" for a day.
So change my thread to read: if you were President for one day and could achieve 5 goals, by whatever means would be necessary to enact them, what would they be?
Originally posted by sh76I think you are wrong about no. 5. It would not require a Constitutional amendment. It would only require the repeal of a federal law.
Do you realize that perhaps apart from 2, that the President would not have the power to do any of these things by Executive order?
1 would require a Constitutional Amendment as an act of Congress purporting to do this would be struck down as a violation of the first Amendment.
I'm not sure about 2. Maybe it could be done by Executive order. It's meaningl ...[text shortened]... President for a day." I think you meant "King" or "Emperor" or "Dictator" for a day.
Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
There is a federal law mandating single district voting for House members, but the Constitution itself leaves such matters open to the state legislatures. Overturn that federal law and the states could implement proportional representation for House members.
Originally posted by rwingettWhat I was trying to do was illustrate the limitations on the Executive branch as a partial explanation as to why Presidents can rarely achieve all of their agendas in spite of their campaign promises to do so.
I have no interest in the workings of executive orders, or the mechanisms of government. That is the eternal shortcoming of petty accountants, engineers, lawyers and bureaucrats. Your scope for imagination is permanently hobbled by your obsessive need to give precedence to all the procedural minutia of mundane life.
So change my thread to read: if you w ...[text shortened]... d could achieve 5 goals, by whatever means would be necessary to enact them, what would they be?
Maybe I should have been more clear, but with all the discussions recently about Obama's failure to do this and Bush's failure to do that, I did want to illustrate that it's not always in the hands of the President to do everything he wants to do.
You may be right about #5. Changing the election process for senators would require a Constitutional Amendment, but maybe not for Congressmen.
Originally posted by sh76The exercise is meant to foster debate into what kinds of changes people would like to see, and not to instruct us (in Panglossian fashion) as to why change is impossible.
What I was trying to do was illustrate the limitations on the Executive branch as a partial explanation as to why Presidents can rarely achieve all of their agendas in spite of their campaign promises to do so.
Maybe I should have been more clear, but with all the discussions recently about Obama's failure to do this and Bush's failure to do that, I did wan ...[text shortened]... process for senators would require a Constitutional Amendment, but maybe not for Congressmen.
Originally posted by rwingettI understand, but I figured I'd point this out anyway.
The exercise is meant to foster debate into what kinds of changes people would like to see, and not to instruct us (in Panglossian fashion) as to why change is impossible.
I don't think I implied that these changes were impossible, but rather that they were more difficult than issuing an Executive order.
I assume you mean US president.
1. Reform taxes to make them much more simple and transparent; raise taxes for the wealthy and bring the Gini coefficient to about 0.25. Fix tax loopholes. Increase sales tax.
2. Cut defense spending by at least 75%.
3. Reform health care to a semi-privatized system. Provide access to education for all; abolish tuition fees for all public colleges and universities. Increase education spending and infrastructure spending.
4. Reform the electoral system; change to a multi-party parliamentary democracy with proportional representation. Decrease the role of president.
5. Reform the judicial system; abolish juries, sever ties between the president and the judicial system. Diminish the role of case law and place more emphasis on the actual laws. Abolish the death penalty. Restrict gun ownership. Tackle the "suing culture"; abolish punitive damages.
If I were dictator for a day with full power to amend the Constitution, the 5 changes I would implement would be:
1) Require that the federal government balance its budget within 5 years and that it maintain a balanced budget each fiscal year except in case of an emergency. An unbalanced budget based on a national emergency should require a 2/3 vote in both Houses of Congress
2) I would replace the public school system with a complete voucher system. All public school facilities could be sold off and privatized. Each parent of a school aged child would receive a tuition voucher for $X (where X is what is reasonably calculated to pay for an education) that could only be used to pay tuition and related expenses in elementary and high schools that are accredited by an agency that is recognized by the US Department of Education
3) I would expand Medicare and/or Medicaid to optionally cover all Americans, except that the premiums would be based on a scale that changes based on income and available resources. For the highest income/ resource bracket, the Medicare premiums should be approximately the same as current HMO rates. I would allow people to keep their private insurance to the extent that they want to.
4) I would restore the income and estate tax rules and rates to the Clinton levels and incorporate Obama's idea of having the payroll tax kick in again at $250,000 of income to help save social security. If necessary to allow #3, above, I'd have no problem upping the Medicare tax by a percentage point or so (2, if necessary).
5) I would dissolve the UN Security Council unless and until they were willing to get serious about creating a Council with a realistic allocation of power. I would also move the UN to London or Paris or Bejing or Mogadishu or anywhere but NYC so those idiot diplomats can stop parking their big fat Limos and Crown Vics on front of our fire hydrants and school zones and refuse to pay their tickets because of diplomatic immunity. Use the UN building to build a mammoth science and history museum.
Originally posted by sh76It is a recurring theme I've noticed in your posts. Every examination of sweeping change to the current system is met in your posts by a litany of reasons why it will supposedly never work. The problem is that you seem to be too firmly embedded within the current order to allow yourself to think outside of it. Some minor trappings of the system may be tinkered with, but the system itself is sacro sanct.
I understand, but I figured I'd point this out anyway.
I don't think I implied that these changes were impossible, but rather that they were more difficult than issuing an Executive order.
I invite you to set aside your reservations and come up with five BIG changes you would like to see. Assume, for the moment, that the mechanisms to implement them are at your disposal.
Edit: Never mind. I see you've already done so.