Response to: avalon616
Original Impetus: What would you do if you held a significant political office?
I'm not a politician, in any way. I can be pretty manipulative when I want to be, which I guess is an aspect of politics, but I have absolutely no concept of sociology or political theory or economics or military theory. I don't even claim to know better than the people currently in charge, though obviously I can voice that opposition with my vote come election time. I do not, however, presume to have any understanding of what mine or others' agenda would do to the country over time. For instance, while it is a knee-jerk reaction to say, "I suppose a higher minimum wage", I have no idea how that would effect the economy or other problems. That said, here's my controversial idea:
1: Raise Taxes. Yeah, didn't see that coming did you? The country is headed into a nose dive of a recession and we're not going to get out of it by saying, "Hey, big corporations, how about you take care of this while we take nap?" The New Deal worked. For all its problems, it worked, and that sort of government wrangling requires revenue. So: Ron Paul is an idiot, yes we do need taxes.
2: Immediately bolster welfare and unemployment. Mass unemployment is not far behind the curve, with rising gas costs cutting off previously accessible job places and the cost of living on the rise. If this sort of thing is not taken care of immediately, people will be left to starve or fall through the cracks. This includes various social programs that are designed to not simply hand out checks, but actually get people back on their feet through active social involvement.
3: Cut costs. I'm a liberal, of course I hate the war. But it's primary political problem - as far as I see it - is the enormous cost of reconstruction we've established over there. We payed for an incredibly expensive, do-nothing war, and then we'll have to pay for reconstruction. Our country is going to be on a steady decline if we do not begin to see our situation as a hegemon in crisis; I'm not nuts about leaving the U.N. with the bill, either, but it has to be done. The only possible reason I can see to stay in Iraq is if we honestly think in the next year or so we can turn them into a genuine ally who might begin providing us with oil*, we have no place over there. If we think there is a chance to salvage some political profit out of the situation we should stay; if we think it will drag out for years still (which it will), we should leave. Then we cut some money out of the drug war, cut some money out of government subsidies for companies like McDonalds, cut Senatorial wages, and cut the Pentagon budget by, say, 2%.
*For those who aren't aware: U.S. political and economic power is reliant on oil; in many ways, it is oil. The United States had a ton of reserve oil when the industrial era started, and so most of our industrial and economic infrastructure presumes a lot of it. When we started to run out, we starting importing it, because oil had made us the most powerful country in the world. We need it unless we all want to learn Chinese or Portuguese or Hindi.
4. Resume old social programs, ala the New Deal.
5. Increase the education budget. Most of the problems with the U.S. as a whole is a lack of education. As of now, it is reserved the elite and it shows; too many kids are allowed to slip through the cracks and the education system supports it, telling them they're too stupid or troubled for normal classes. The education system supports a working class, and while that's good in theory, that working class is becoming increasingly more despondent and disaffected.
6. Develop alternatives to oil. This is key. We've been doing this half-heartedly for something like two decades, but as I said above, the continued power of U.S. hegemony requires a continued use of the current infrastructure. If we don't have oil, or an oil like substance, the economy will falter and we can take second or third place in world affairs, which will affect us much more than you might think.
7. Develop a contractual relationship with our corporations. Rather simply make the whole country a place where companies can sit down, rape our tax breaks and laborers, then take off for India, I would like to see special cases made for each company, who have to negotiate their tax breaks and contracts. This could actually be quite beneficial for the companies, since they can lock in solid tax breaks and specific legislation before standards change; it benefits the government because they are not held hostage by companies who fuel the economy. It also allow the government to sue the companies if they leave their contracts early or break specific demands (like safety regulations.)
8. After the economy hopefully comes back to life, invest in universal health care. Yes, of course.
I posted only the stuff that I thought would be interesting. Naturally I support gay marriage, I'm anti-war, I'm pro foreign relations, yada yada.
I'm not a politician, in any way. I can be pretty manipulative when I want to be, which I guess is an aspect of politics, but I have absolutely no concept of sociology or political theory or economics or military theory. I don't even claim to know better than the people currently in charge, though obviously I can voice that opposition with my vote come election time. I do not, however, presume to have any understanding of what mine or others' agenda would do to the country over time. For instance, while it is a knee-jerk reaction to say, "I suppose a higher minimum wage", I have no idea how that would effect the economy or other problems. That said, here's my controversial idea:
1: Raise Taxes. Yeah, didn't see that coming did you? The country is headed into a nose dive of a recession and we're not going to get out of it by saying, "Hey, big corporations, how about you take care of this while we take nap?" The New Deal worked. For all its problems, it worked, and that sort of government wrangling requires revenue. So: Ron Paul is an idiot, yes we do need taxes.
2: Immediately bolster welfare and unemployment. Mass unemployment is not far behind the curve, with rising gas costs cutting off previously accessible job places and the cost of living on the rise. If this sort of thing is not taken care of immediately, people will be left to starve or fall through the cracks. This includes various social programs that are designed to not simply hand out checks, but actually get people back on their feet through active social involvement.
3: Cut costs. I'm a liberal, of course I hate the war. But it's primary political problem - as far as I see it - is the enormous cost of reconstruction we've established over there. We payed for an incredibly expensive, do-nothing war, and then we'll have to pay for reconstruction. Our country is going to be on a steady decline if we do not begin to see our situation as a hegemon in crisis; I'm not nuts about leaving the U.N. with the bill, either, but it has to be done. The only possible reason I can see to stay in Iraq is if we honestly think in the next year or so we can turn them into a genuine ally who might begin providing us with oil*, we have no place over there. If we think there is a chance to salvage some political profit out of the situation we should stay; if we think it will drag out for years still (which it will), we should leave. Then we cut some money out of the drug war, cut some money out of government subsidies for companies like McDonalds, cut Senatorial wages, and cut the Pentagon budget by, say, 2%.
*For those who aren't aware: U.S. political and economic power is reliant on oil; in many ways, it is oil. The United States had a ton of reserve oil when the industrial era started, and so most of our industrial and economic infrastructure presumes a lot of it. When we started to run out, we starting importing it, because oil had made us the most powerful country in the world. We need it unless we all want to learn Chinese or Portuguese or Hindi.
4. Resume old social programs, ala the New Deal.
5. Increase the education budget. Most of the problems with the U.S. as a whole is a lack of education. As of now, it is reserved the elite and it shows; too many kids are allowed to slip through the cracks and the education system supports it, telling them they're too stupid or troubled for normal classes. The education system supports a working class, and while that's good in theory, that working class is becoming increasingly more despondent and disaffected.
6. Develop alternatives to oil. This is key. We've been doing this half-heartedly for something like two decades, but as I said above, the continued power of U.S. hegemony requires a continued use of the current infrastructure. If we don't have oil, or an oil like substance, the economy will falter and we can take second or third place in world affairs, which will affect us much more than you might think.
7. Develop a contractual relationship with our corporations. Rather simply make the whole country a place where companies can sit down, rape our tax breaks and laborers, then take off for India, I would like to see special cases made for each company, who have to negotiate their tax breaks and contracts. This could actually be quite beneficial for the companies, since they can lock in solid tax breaks and specific legislation before standards change; it benefits the government because they are not held hostage by companies who fuel the economy. It also allow the government to sue the companies if they leave their contracts early or break specific demands (like safety regulations.)
8. After the economy hopefully comes back to life, invest in universal health care. Yes, of course.
I posted only the stuff that I thought would be interesting. Naturally I support gay marriage, I'm anti-war, I'm pro foreign relations, yada yada.