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You are saying flipping a hamburger full time isnt worth living 60% above the poverty line?
Thats not even including the fact that most burger flippers dont even make 8 dollars an hour OR the fact that employee compensation is not the reason for inflation.
the word skillset is a fallacy. The word you mean to say is "talent", which is naturally given, because a skill set can be learned. No one is born knowing how to cook or weld, you learn it. So yes, that burger flipper has a skill set. And that is more valuable than someone who doesnt have it. And yes, that person should be paid enough to survive in this world.
No...I don't believe that it is. It's unfortunate that flipping burgers are the extent of their talent but their sub-par job skills coupled with federal activism shouldn't be permitted to force an employer to pay a higher dollar amount than that job is really worth just so that these people can afford their necessities. Their "talent" isn't worth that much and that skill set could be taught to anyone. It's ALMOST a worthless skill. What you do-gooder liberals don't understand is that if you force a company to pay more money to their employees for what amounts to essentially worthless labor, the cost of whatever good is being produced becomes more. So even if Billy Bob the burger flipper makes 9 dollars or 12 dollars an hour it will eventually mean the burger he is making will go from 5 to 7 dollars an hour which leaves him in the same boat. The minimum wage doesn't little to help workers...it just balances out. Wages go up...goods go up.
If they want to make a living wage I suggest they make themselves more marketable and more valuable to an employer.....if your contribution to a company consists of job objectives that a well-adapted orangatan could complete it doesn't bode well for your check or your future.
I would start with giving more rights to states, not the federal government
reduce giving so much foreign aid, especially to countries that don't even really like us
disband the Dept of Education. This is one dept that belongs at the local or state level only
Keep most social issues out of politics, that is where the states come in, not the federal government
Keep the government out of our lives period except on issues that are needed to keep us safe.
Put a limit on how long a person can continue getting welfare checks...The exception would be those who are truely disabled...
Revamp medi care and SS so it will be around for our grandkids and their kids. Allow the option of privatising part of one contributions, just like a 401K. This doesn't mean all the contributions, nor should this be forced, but it should be available for those who want to take advantage of it. and yes, up the age for full SS benefits. It was never designed to be the sole source of income for 20 or 30 years..
How is this for starters?
Cut spending in every federal department across the board by 10% the first two years. Get your departments lean and mean, or get out.
5 year lifetime limit on welfare, food stamps, Section 8 housing spending. Require those on SS Disability to provide medical proof every six months of continued disability. Drug testing for everyone every six months if receiving any of the above listed benefits.
Outlawprofessional lobbying altogether. None. Nada. Ziltch. Nobody representing any special interest allowed to visit the WH. No lobbyists or ex-lobbyists allowed to be employed by the WH.
Institute terms limits for all federal elected positions. Two terms and gone. House. Senate. President. Let the states and local governments decide for themselves what they want to do.
Eliminate all Affirmative Action initiatives and strengthen enforcement of equal opportunity for all programs, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation. Eliminate focus on more equatable hiring (ie. specific number of females, African Americans etc.). Purely merit based.
Eliminate school lunch programs. Eliminate all social programs in schools and get back to teaching academics. No fancy programs. English. Math. Science. History. Physical education at all levels.
Boots on the ground in foreign countries ONLY when they are a definate threat to the safety and security of our nation. Fight the war to win it. Don't try to win over hearts and minds of the locals, and don't try to nation build while trying to fight a war. Get in. Win. Get out. Help to clean up the mess after we have won.
Eliminate all foreign aid. Our country is broke and needs to help itself. They're on their own until we fix our own house.
Hard sentencing for anyone possessing a gun illegally. Harder sentencing if the gun is used in the committment of a crime. Leave lawful gun owners alone.
Taxpayers pay for those running for the highest office. No Super PACs. No private donations to any presidential candidate's campaign. We give the final two candidates $500 million each. Spend it as you see fit. When it's gone, it's gone and you don't get anymore.
Revamp SS and Medicare. Throw out Obamacare and find a way to cover the 30 million who are not covered. Leave everyone elses health care covered the F alone.
Hire indendent counsel (a whole boat load of them) from someplace far away from DC - maybe Kansas - to fully investigate the slugs on Wall Street. They almost brought down the entire world economy. Maybe - just maybe - somebody ought to get in trouble for that.
Place a 10 year moratorium on immigration in this country. Those trying to do it legally are mired in a mess of beaurocracy that is costing them a fortune and taking years to find their way through. There are so many doing it illegally we don't know if we have 10 million or 15 million or 30 million. Get the entire system caught up and squared away, and then try it again. Also deal squarely with the question of how many unskilled and uneducated and financially impoverished new people we need coming into this country.
Re: prison population. Basic tv, basic food, basic housing, basic clothing, basic medical care. I can't afford some real niceties right now and I don't think those who broke the law and are in prison should live better than I am able to.
I could do this all day but that'll do for now. So..........who's gonna vote for me?
Some good ideas. I would add constitutional amendment to limit campaign spending, making job creation a top priority until we get to 4%, no tax breaks for shipping jobs out of the US, funding high speed rail, end ethanol subsidies. Taxes on capital gains closer to those on earned income. Lower college tuition and replace loans with scholarships.
I believe the government should provide our roads, basic infrastructure, military and police force, and should serve as a regulating body to ensure the equitable exchanges of capitalism.
I will give you what I would like to see in bullet points and I consider myself a libertarian leaning conservative.
-The FairTax enacted with a prebate up to the poverty level to minimize the chance of it becoming overly regressive.
-drug war ended
-most overseas troops brought home
-private retirement accounts with social security as a means tested program
-this is where I buck party lines....I think we should eliminate Medicare and Medicaid in lieu of a Medicare for all, single-payer system. It is more cost effective and would result in less per person cost over the long haul because we all end up paying for the uninsured regardless...it also minimizes our admin cost. I consider the reduced overall cost to be fiscally conservative.
-full marriage equality
-Defense budget cut substantially
-Leaner regulations on the financial industries...more efficient ones.
-the government should be removed from all enterprises that mandate private entities assume financial risk for people that can't maintain their debt....CRA and other associated legislation iin particular.
-I'm not a huge fan of the minimum wage....it artificially inflates the cost of labor that may or may not be worth it. The value of work should be dictated by the work itself...not where you live or what someone other than your employer says its worth. Im sorry but flipping a hamburger isn't worth 8 bucks an hour. It requires no skillset and could LITERALLY be completed by someone with a severe mental defect. But it will never go away, so Im basically apathetic to it.
-repeal NAFTA and discourage offshoring by offering heavy tax breaks to companies that hire here in the USA.
Ultimately...I guess in a nutshell I feel that the government is responsible for ensuring our general welfare, positive liberty, basic infrastructure, safety, and promoting the interest of our citizens.
Hell...I'd SERIOUSLY consider voting for you.
Why is it only non-politicians think this clearly?
Cut spending in every federal department across the board by 10% the first two years. Get your departments lean and mean, or get out.
5 year lifetime limit on welfare, food stamps, Section 8 housing spending. Require those on SS Disability to provide medical proof every six months of continued disability. Drug testing for everyone every six months if receiving any of the above listed benefits.
Outlawprofessional lobbying altogether. None. Nada. Ziltch. Nobody representing any special interest allowed to visit the WH. No lobbyists or ex-lobbyists allowed to be employed by the WH.
Institute terms limits for all federal elected positions. Two terms and gone. House. Senate. President. Let the states and local governments decide for themselves what they want to do.
Eliminate all Affirmative Action initiatives and strengthen enforcement of equal opportunity for all programs, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation. Eliminate focus on more equatable hiring (ie. specific number of females, African Americans etc.). Purely merit based.
Eliminate school lunch programs. Eliminate all social programs in schools and get back to teaching academics. No fancy programs. English. Math. Science. History. Physical education at all levels.
Boots on the ground in foreign countries ONLY when they are a definate threat to the safety and security of our nation. Fight the war to win it. Don't try to win over hearts and minds of the locals, and don't try to nation build while trying to fight a war. Get in. Win. Get out. Help to clean up the mess after we have won.
Eliminate all foreign aid. Our country is broke and needs to help itself. They're on their own until we fix our own house.
Hard sentencing for anyone possessing a gun illegally. Harder sentencing if the gun is used in the committment of a crime. Leave lawful gun owners alone.
Taxpayers pay for those running for the highest office. No Super PACs. No private donations to any presidential candidate's campaign. We give the final two candidates $500 million each. Spend it as you see fit. When it's gone, it's gone and you don't get anymore.
Revamp SS and Medicare. Throw out Obamacare and find a way to cover the 30 million who are not covered. Leave everyone elses health care covered the F alone.
Hire indendent counsel (a whole boat load of them) from someplace far away from DC - maybe Kansas - to fully investigate the slugs on Wall Street. They almost brought down the entire world economy. Maybe - just maybe - somebody ought to get in trouble for that.
Place a 10 year moratorium on immigration in this country. Those trying to do it legally are mired in a mess of beaurocracy that is costing them a fortune and taking years to find their way through. There are so many doing it illegally we don't know if we have 10 million or 15 million or 30 million. Get the entire system caught up and squared away, and then try it again. Also deal squarely with the question of how many unskilled and uneducated and financially impoverished new people we need coming into this country.
Re: prison population. Basic tv, basic food, basic housing, basic clothing, basic medical care. I can't afford some real niceties right now and I don't think those who broke the law and are in prison should live better than I am able to.
I could do this all day but that'll do for now. So..........who's gonna vote for me?
OK...VP for you...but only because the other dude started the post.
Or maybe Secretary of Good Ideas and Gettin' Crap Done!!!
I like the OP's points but about minimum wage....I wouldn't wave at cars on a street corner for less than $8 an hour. At $5 an hour, working on your feet during the lunch/dinner rush over a hot stove you would only get $30 after a 6 hour shift and that's before taxes. Positions like that, ALL POSITIONS actually, also come with certain requirements that happen outside the view of the public, outside the core of "flipping burgers" so to speak. Whether it's cleanup, maintenance, prep, etc. Those are jobs someone has to do and no matter how unskilled or unworthy you personally think it is no business is going to survive without it. If an employer can't afford to pay that, or provide some other sort of benefit, then they shouldn't be in business anyway.
Reorganize the Federal government from 118 agencies down to less than 20, cap the federal budget as a percentage of GDP and place limitations on the size of the federal government, including contractors.
Pass an amendment to the Constitution establishing a Right to Privacy.
Decriminalize the possession of most illegal drugs and place current convicts on a path to rehab, in the process closing prisons and saving money.
Abolish government meddling in the labor market by eliminating almost immigration rules. Unless you're wanted for crimes in your home country, you can come here. U.S. citizenship after 2 years if you pay your taxes and not commit any crimes.
Eliminate all agricultural subsidies and create a national crop insurance program instead
Nationalize all school curriculum based on recommendations from leading national colleges.
Single payer health insurance system with optional private care.
Require firearm owners to register their weapons, have insurance, take a proficiency and safety test, period weapons inspection, and background/criminal/mental health evaluations, and tax ammunition.
Reorganize the Federal government from 118 agencies down to less than 20, cap the federal budget as a percentage of GDP and place limitations on the size of the federal government, including contractors.
Pass an amendment to the Constitution establishing a Right to Privacy.
Decriminalize the possession of most illegal drugs and place current convicts on a path to rehab, in the process closing prisons and saving money.
Abolish government meddling in the labor market by eliminating almost immigration rules. Unless you're wanted for crimes in your home country, you can come here. U.S. citizenship after 2 years if you pay your taxes and not commit any crimes.
Eliminate all agricultural subsidies and create a national crop insurance program instead
Nationalize all school curriculum based on recommendations from leading national colleges.
Single payer health insurance system with optional private care.
Require firearm owners to register their weapons, have insurance, take a proficiency and safety test, period weapons inspection, and background/criminal/mental health evaluations, and tax ammunition.
If you threw free pizza for all citizens on Tuesdays into your platform, I'd create an off-shore island kingdom especially for you and name it USA2. All liberals would be required to move there and you could be their king.
If you threw free pizza for all citizens on Tuesdays into your platform, I'd create an off-shore island kingdom especially for you and name it USA2. All liberals would be required to move there and you could be their king.
I like thin crust.
Granted: Free Pizzas on Tuesdays.
The first 5 ideas are Libertarian/Conservative, which of the other three did you not like?
I believe the government should provide our roads, basic infrastructure, military and police force, and should serve as a regulating body to ensure the equitable exchanges of capitalism.
I will give you what I would like to see in bullet points and I consider myself a libertarian leaning conservative.
-The FairTax enacted with a prebate up to the poverty level to minimize the chance of it becoming overly regressive.
-drug war ended
-most overseas troops brought home
-private retirement accounts with social security as a means tested program
-this is where I buck party lines....I think we should eliminate Medicare and Medicaid in lieu of a Medicare for all, single-payer system. It is more cost effective and would result in less per person cost over the long haul because we all end up paying for the uninsured regardless...it also minimizes our admin cost. I consider the reduced overall cost to be fiscally conservative.
-full marriage equality
-Defense budget cut substantially
-Leaner regulations on the financial industries...more efficient ones.
-the government should be removed from all enterprises that mandate private entities assume financial risk for people that can't maintain their debt....CRA and other associated legislation iin particular.
-I'm not a huge fan of the minimum wage....it artificially inflates the cost of labor that may or may not be worth it. The value of work should be dictated by the work itself...not where you live or what someone other than your employer says its worth. Im sorry but flipping a hamburger isn't worth 8 bucks an hour. It requires no skillset and could LITERALLY be completed by someone with a severe mental defect. But it will never go away, so Im basically apathetic to it.
-repeal NAFTA and discourage offshoring by offering heavy tax breaks to companies that hire here in the USA.
Ultimately...I guess in a nutshell I feel that the government is responsible for ensuring our general welfare, positive liberty, basic infrastructure, safety, and promoting the interest of our citizens.
- death penalty at a federal level, not state. Method is a single bullet. Murder and rape would be the only eligible crimes, and never mandatory
- fines for jail overcrowding
- jury size set at six
- gay marriage legal
- abortion legal through first trimester
- a federal pension for those in wheelchairs and other mobility devices
- ban on hiring and school enrollment quotas
- paid fire and ambulance required at the state level. Volunteer departments still allowed, but all territory shall also be served by a paid department
I could go on, but it's a bit late.
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