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Prohibit participation in public policy formation by anyone other than citizens/voters, and their associations. Campaign contributions. Lobbying. All manner of participation in lawmaking or government administration is prohibited to legal entities that are not citizens/voters. In other words, no corporate involvement in politics or public policy-making. Citizens only. For each instance in which a corporation is found to be involved, a tax of 50% of its profits for a period of five years would be assessed. If you cannot vote, then you have no business is Washington.
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I'll go one step further, Supe. Only contributing citizens get a vote. In the past, in Great Britain and other places, property owners were the only ones allowed to vote. That's kind of harsh, but we do need similar qualifications. If you don't work, you don't vote. That's pretty high level, and there would have to be a great deal of discussion over the general boundaries of that, but that's the gist of it. If you are putting into the public larder, you have a say in how it is managed. If you are taking from it, you do not.
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To me "essential" are those things that are critical for the sovereignty of the nation, and also things that a "civilized" society should promote and maintain. Transportation. Someone has to plan and maintain the infrastructure. There has to be some national cohesion so that the infrastructures can coexist. ie, we can't have 50 different railroad gauges. Education. There needs to be some accountability and minimum set of standards. I do not believe that a fully privatized/capitalist education system can work. If you want "the poor" to get ahead, education is the path. Society should have some set of mechanisms in place to enable that. Health Care. I do not favor national healthcare only, but instead a mix of public and private. Let's call a spade a spade - we essentially have a bastard form of national health care now but don't call it that, and don't run it in any efficient way. Establish a minimum level of care for everyone through a network of facilities. Then allow private as "value added." Yes, you get better health care if you have more money. That's the way life works. But you shouldn't be denied basic care just because you're poor. Welfare. Abolish the current system and move to a work/mentor/public service model. In order to receive assistance you have to do something. Pick up trash in parks, sweep the sidwalk in front of your apartment, etc. Ideally one would work for a local small business as their "service." The Arts. I think there needs to be some money provided to support the arts. I'm not clear on how to best do this, but I was struck the other night when watching Frontline and they did a 25 year retrospective. They produced some amazing content that is still compelling. Commercial tv just doesn't do that. I know...I deal with the industry and they have no interest in quality, just what sells. Energy. Fund the "Manhattan Project" for energy independence. Support decentralized production (co-ops) and conservation along with alternatives. But don't become the teat for large industries to suck on. If there is money to be made in oil, coal gasification, nuclear then industry should go for it. Military. As long as we have humans, we will have wars. But the MIC is pretty broken and insane amounts of money get wasted. Time to revamp the system. That's a huge undertaking in itself, but we don't have a sustainable model. There is work towards the "future warfighter" and costs and human factors need to be a huge part of the equation. I'd streamline intelligence but at the same time increase their capabilities. that's a start... |
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The logical extension of this argument is that you get to vote ACCORDING TO THE SIZE of your contribution. Not sure you want to go there. |
A Marriage license should be like a fishing license. It expires every year. Going out of state? Get a 3-day license.
Not my idea, but the guy who thought of it might be a genius. |
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Metrics and sane deliverables are key. But frankly overhead costs have just become ridiculous. We need to crack that nut. Quote:
I think money needs to focus on efficient training and keeping people out of harms way. Education/training, intel, and UAS all help do that. Gold plated tanks don't. |
Where did you cretins get such rational ideas?
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Ban lowfat yogurt!
The rest should fall into line. |
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A few more reforms that I feel are trenchant and imperative: - College football play-offs...if Mount F'ing Union can get it done, I think the student athletes at LSU can. - No Hockey past March. - Wooden bats in college baseball...someone is going to get killed. - The US Senate will forever be banned from investigating any sports scandal. - Invigorate PE in grade school...make running a mile in under 15 minutes compulsory for getting into HS. I kid:cool: |
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IF a student fails a test, they get to take another, similar test.
If they fail the second time, we execute their parents. |
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Turn off the ****ing internet and get back to work. Really. I started a new job this week, they have web filters. I have gotten more done this week then ever. If we could get people to stop IM, myspacing, youtubing, PPOTing, we could really get some **** done.
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No welfare. Can't work cause you got 6 kids? Fine. Drop them off at the babysitting co-op. Some other "can't work" baby mamma can watch them while you work and then vice versa.
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Our tax code is written to incentivize certain behaviors. I prefer that I and most of the people on my street are encouraged with tax breaks as home OWNERS. The guy next door that rents and doesn't cut the lawn? Asshat. Just think if we all had to rent? Only the building owners would have anything...no pride of ownership. |
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1) In my opinion, having 6 kids in this overpopulated world ought to be a crime (I believe that the population explosion (what an archaic expression!) is a very real problem). 2)Given that this situation exists, gotta, of course, look after the kids - but - if day care costs as much or more than the working mother brings home, which I hear is, more often than not, the case, where is the incentive for the mother to work rather than stay at home and take care of her brood at her own (yeah, I know, "our") expense. Math's a b!tch, can't argue with it. Welfare is only legitimate if it is an effective tool to help extricate deserving recipients from a dependent, poverty situation, enabling them to become productive members of society, which, given the huge and growing population of this country, presents a monumental task for the glacially slow and addlebrained beureaucrats administering the current system. Of COURSE reform is needed! But recognizing that fact is the easy part; taking effective action to bring about effective change is the befuddlingly difficult part. |
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Those certain behaviors are (or were at the time) designed to encourage one thing or another that would make our country better. Certain things have not been sunsetted (see management talk thread ;) ) and thus persist forever. Certainly arguing home ownership or saving for your retirement is a good thing. The prudent amongst would likely do these things anyway, but others need a break. I frankly don't care if a guy busting his ass *trying* to make it pays a little less tax than me by percentage (as is the current arrangement). I wouldn't trade to be in his position. |
Suprising how much similarity between the Lefties and Righties.
Lots of common sense here. Why is it here in off-topic, instead of in Washington D.C.? |
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All 2X4's will measure 2 inches by 4 inches.
All lumber will be seasoned 2 years before selling. All fasteners and drivers will be grade 8 or better. No oil allowed on trim nails. All wood stains will contain at least 40% linseed oil. Manufactures must use metric or standard, no combo's. Another vote for red-beard. |
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Heck no. My liver and wallet couldn't afford the Tylenol.:D
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If you want to know why we don't have all these things, follow the money trail...
I sometimes wonder if we as a society are like an addict who will not quit because he hasn't yet been driven to his knees. Things have been too good, too long for too many for us to think about changing. Say what you will about Jimmy Carter, he taught us a valuable lesson. You can't expect people to embrace change that involves giving up something. Incentives, security, and promises of a better tommorrow are what people want. A present day that includes the possibility of a future with possibility. I think that many of the suggestions here truly embrace that philosophy. What makes these ideas truly great however, and what makes this thread unique is that these are universal concepts that appeal to everyone. What would happen if we all endeavored to always come from a place where we reached for agreement, both here and in the world at large ? What would happen if we spread that concept wherever we go, and with everyone we deal with? And what would happen if we consolidated this list into a short clean document, and posted it wherever we find ourselves on the internet ? A very few people got together and created a new Nation in America. Do you feel like they felt ? I feel it in my bones. |
some more thoughts:
eliminate the deduction for children even if the flat tax doesn't get passed. Come up with an estimate of how much they cost the state, and create a penalty per child, if parents don't meet minimum income/tax paid levels. If your city requires additional jail space or power plant etc, it has to be built in that city's limits. This might apply to water as well. This will encourage all the no coal/oil and no nuclear folks to make some decisions. Healthcare is easy. Go back to cash. People get to decide what they want to know about/deal with. Improved savings rate (because one has to "save for a rainy day" again) and unnecessary tests get booted. People might actually start to take better care of themselves. The good MD's will naturally rise to the top, because their patients will live longer with fewer tests/mistakes etc. And MD's won't be presented with patients that come to appointments but don't follow any of the recommendations (ie if the patients don't want to listen to the doc, they'll have to pay a fee for a waste of time=waste of their money not the insurance company's money). Tort reform will help especially with unnecessary testing. Can offer a basic "physical" by physician extenders at reduced fee schedule/on the govt dole. Maybe some form of VA-like system for Medicaid only persons. MD's can go back to giving charity care (which there was plenty of before Medicare), and the patients can also realize when they are actually getting free care. |
This is so simple.
1. Energy independence now. 2. Operation wetback 3. The fair tax. 4. Smack the muslims down. |
Make civil servant managers and officers criminally accountable for their department's actions.
With huge government lawsuit payouts and major police civil rights violations, I don't see the same fear of penalty that the private sector has. Since I handle many gov't related items for the company, my general manager makes it clear to me that he does not want to go to jail or be fired. Everyone is regularly informed that their actions reflect on the company. So it appears the government's willing to put the public in jail, but very reluctant to do the same with its own employees. |
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