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I think the primary problem is the Militarism that drives the need for the expansion of the American financial and military Empire. The colonial wars in Asia, South America and the Middle East are bankrupting our economy and destroying our Republic. I think this is the primary problem that must be solved before we have the resources to work on the others.
#2 should be the Economy - and is too broad of a term. Whatever the terminology ends up becoming it should encapsulate:
- offshore outsourcing/captive outsourcing/nearshore outsourcing of all types of positions (skilled labor and unskilled labor) - intelligently doing something about these things will increase the number of jobs in the US for US Citizens.
- doing what it takes to balance the trade deficit
- fixing the holes/weaknesses of the welfare, food stamp, and disability systems which enable criminals to get away with fleecing America
- fixing the holes/weaknesses of the social security system to ensure only people who pay into it can get money from it, and to also ensure there is adequate money for the future
- fix the immigration laws to among other things ensure that if you choose not to be a citizen (work and pay taxes), that you cannot collect any government/public funded benefits. If you are not a US citizen and you do not pay taxes, your children cannot attend public school without paying for it.
- Corporate law reform so that all corporations operating in the US (not just headquartered here) are no longer protected with special rights which really should be unique to individuals. Corporations should be held accountable for all things they do and should not enjoy special tax advantages over individuals A component of this should absolutely be environmental protection.
#3 should be fixing the US Government. Goal should be to kick corporate interest right out of the government by making it completely illegal for corporations (of any type or size) to donate money to election campaigns - and likewise illegal for politicians to accept any money or gifts at any time from corporations or any individuals outside of immediate family while in office. Continue to cap the contribution individuals can make to political campaigns to a very low number. Make it illegal for any corporation (any type or size) outside any politician's immediate political campaigning organization to advertise or to attack a politician 1 year before and during election time (leaving only individuals to have this right - individuals who must disclose fully their income sources/investments for at least the previous 4 years). The mass media will be required to report facts with journalistic integrity and reply to inaccuracies quickly and effectively. Any corporate backing or connecting interest in all media organizations operating within the US must be fully disclosed and easily apparent as well. Lastly, political party coffers should be no longer allowed (there's little way to track the sources, and more often than not, the sources are corporate or people making decisions which illogically support a party rather than individual politicians). All election monies need to be allocated to/sent to individual politicians directly (this will essentially eliminate political party dominance in the US - but is that really such a bad thing?). There should be an absolute spending cap on all monies used for political campaigns (and this cap should be relatively low) - all excess money collected/raised should be put towards whatever top ranked issues that particular politican prioritized during their campaigning (regardless of whether they win or not).
#4 should be healthcare reform
#5 educational system reform
I have run out of steam after writing about #1, #2, and #3. But the other issues are just as important in my mind not to overlook. I think the agenda of the US government can easily consist of 10 or more major goals each election cycle and to focus on just 1 or 2 is doing an injustice to a system which needs major help right now.
Lastly, somewhere in all this, the most ridiculous US Government practice needs to be ended... that of Congress voting for their own raises! Economic, Environmental and Educational indicators perhaps could be used to incent our politicians. Just as sales people are ideally rewarded for doing their job well, why not put in a system that likewise rewards politicians. Or best yet, make it so that serving the government as a politician does not make one wealthy... because you are "serving" the public - keep their incomes directly tied to the median US income, and adjust accordingly up and down year to year (that ought to make them a bit more patriotic in their actions) :-)
All that said, I am not strongly opinionated about any of these things as much as they just reflect a snapshot in time for the way I think right now. If you can poke holes in these ideas, feel free... Ultimately I would just like to see voters and politicians alike start acting more intelligently before it's too late to reform some of the above things.
Last edited by belovenow; 08-24-2007 at 08:12 AM..
Howard Dean predicts the Top 4 issues in the Presidential election (notice he didn't say Democrat primary) will be:
1. Iraq
2. health care
3. the economy
4. the culture of corruption in Washington
Regardless of your position on those 4 issues, do you agree or disagree that these are the Top 4 Issues in the minds of voters?
If you agree, is the above the correct order?
If you disagree, what are the Top 4 issues?
These will be the four things the Democrats will talk about the most in the election. Only in that sense will they be "the top four issues." If the American people were to be polled about which issues are most important to them, the list would be different, and immigration would be either number one or number two on the list
Howard Dean predicts the Top 4 issues in the Presidential election (notice he didn't say Democrat primary) will be:
1. Iraq
2. health care
3. the economy
4. the culture of corruption in Washington
Regardless of your position on those 4 issues, do you agree or disagree that these are the Top 4 Issues in the minds of voters?
If you agree, is the above the correct order?
If you disagree, what are the Top 4 issues?
Eh... I don't care about the corruption. I care if the representatives do what's best for the constituents and for the nation. If they take a little from corporations while doing that, then more power to them.
Also economy ranks higher. And Immigration is higher than health care.
Howard Dean predicts the Top 4 issues in the Presidential election (notice he didn't say Democrat primary) will be:
1. Iraq
2. health care
3. the economy
4. the culture of corruption in Washington
Regardless of your position on those 4 issues, do you agree or disagree that these are the Top 4 Issues in the minds of voters?
If you agree, is the above the correct order?
If you disagree, what are the Top 4 issues?
I disagree with Dean's assessment. I think Iraq will be first, immigration will be second, economy (including China's part in the trade issues) will be third and foreign policy will be fourth. By foreign policy I mean various levels of intervention, in the middle east and Asia. Watch out for China and Taiwan as an issue of concern which may start to bubble up on the international scale this year.
I think the democrats overestimate health care as an issue. I believe most citizens are OK with their personal situation, and aren't overly concerned about it.
I also don't think corruption plays as a legitimate concern because USA citizens view both parties equally bad here, and view neither as inclined to fix the issue permanently, except when the other team is in power.
Iraq
Immigration
Economy (Govt. spending)
Dependence on foreign oil
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