Post by john on Jun 22, 2012 13:53:42 GMT -5
Separation of Grievance and Solution
« Thread Started on Jun 18, 2012, 9:46am »
Here is my continued effort to take one of the list of grievances and separate out the actual grievance from its possible solution. The list is a raw hodgepodge with many ideas thrown in together.
I am modeling what I think is a more attractive an effective way of presentation.
Corporations Are Not People
Solution:
Corporations, unions, political organizations and all entities created by operation of law are not human beings and any law, rule, regulation or court ruling so holding must be overruled, repealed or overturned even if it requires a Constitutional amendment. The justification of essential powers of corporations must be justified by the courts in another way than by deciding the corporations are human.
Money Is Property Not Speech
Solution:
Money is not speech it is property and any law, rule, regulation or court ruling so holding must be overruled, repealed or overturned even if it requires a Constitutional amendment.
People control of elections has been replaced with money control of elections
Solution:
New legislation to enact a 100% public campaign finance system requiring an immediate ban on all direct and indirect private contributions of money, or anything of value, from all sources including individuals, to all politicians or political parties to be replaced by a "blind" public trust whereby taxpayers will fund all federal election campaigns. Private donors may also contribute to the blind trust for a tax deduction but those private contributions may not be earmarked for a specific candidate or political party.
In the interim a total ban on corporate and union political expenditures to or in favor of political candidates or political parties or elections should be put into effect with limitations on individual contributions.
We do not have a single payer universal health care for all like all the non-third-world countries do. The profit motive drives decisions in health care.
Solution:
Repeal of prior healthcare laws and immediate enactment of "Medicare for all" or a new single-payer healthcare system. There are enough systems out there to provide models.
Citizens who are willing and able to work can't find jobs.
Solution:
Businesses hire when and only when their is demand, when people buy their products. Demand is the major determinant of job creation. Fund infrastructure maintenance to ensure our future and to give the workers buying power. Tax incentives should be created to replace American Jobs with outsourced ones.
Income inequality between the 1% and the 99% has been rapidly growing for 30 years.
Solution:
Since we now have the income inequality of a third-world power we must reverse the destruction of the middle class.
A Progressive tax on gross income, from a minimum tax rate of X% to a maximum tax rate of 3X% could be helpful.
Replacing the bracket income tax system with an exponential formula would more rationally extend progressive income taxation to realistically include the very wealthy.
Revisit the question of tax deductions
We are always at war with some nation.
Solution:
Fund "Peace Think Tanks." Enact a surtax to pay for any war. This will allow the populace to soberly reflect on the need for any given war. Moneys spent on warfare should be transparent.
The Criminal Justice System is fostering a “Private Prison Industrial Complex” which is very expensive. We lead the world with the percent of our population in Prison.
Solution:
Curtailing the “Private Prison Industrial Complex” by removing all incentives in the legal system set-up to imprison non-violent drug offenders and the mentally ill rather than treat or provide alternatives to incarceration. Non-violent drug offenders who do not engage in drug sales, and those with mental health issues must be treated rather than imprisoned and adjudicated through specialized drug and mental health courts.
Why can't we have a permanent voting registration like other countries instead of periodically disenfranchising voters? Our districts are gerrymandered.
Solution:
Create a permanent voting roll; other countries successfully do it. The federal government could issue free photo identification cards to all voters should voter fraud ever be proven to constitute a significant threat..
Replace the practice of "gerrymandering" with a non-partisan commission to redraw all voting district lines using a neutral, objective mathematical formula or algorithm that does not take into consideration the wealth, party affiliation, race, religion or other demographics of voters.
A huge national debt seems irresponsible.
Solution:
Most of our discretionary spending going to "Defense" sets us at a disadvantage with other countries. We might consider restoring the Clinton era income tax rates, increasing the capital gains tax rate, initiation a transaction tax, ending the hedge fund loophole, ending oil and gas subsidies, and mandatory cuts.
Consumers are not protected from predatory practices.
Solution:
Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act; implementation of the regulations required under the Dodd-Franks Act; vigorous enforcement of the “Volcker Rule” and enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in all industries to enhance competition and free speech.
Have the SEC stop merely slapping the hands of criminal corporations; have them impose significant fines, and make the documentation public.
Creation and proper funding of a non-partisan task force specifically designed to regulate mortgage-backed securities and speculative financial instruments and attempt solutions to the home mortgage problem..
Prospective students increasingly cannot afford college.
Solution:
Because education is the only way to secure our future success as a nation, interest on student debts must be immediately reduced to 2% or less (plus the discount window rate currently 0.0 to 0.25%) and repayments deferred for periods of unemployment or illness or disability. Employers will receive a student loan repayment tax deduction for paying off the student loans of their employees.
Outright federal grants provided to those students who pursue and obtain degrees in the sciences, green energy, environmental sustainability, mathematics, technology and engineering.
Public and private universities and colleges that do not reduce tuition to affordable levels so that middle class-families can again afford to send their children to obtain a higher education shall lose all federal funding including grants and loans.
Broadcast and cable television, radio and print communications are controlled by too few corporations and individuals.
Solution:
New laws and regulations must be passed immediately to fund, authorize and mandate the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department to break-up the 6-10 massive media conglomerates that control virtually all media content which is an existential threat to free thought and speech in the United States.
Immigration Reform is long overdue.
Solution:
Congress should immediately pass the “The Dream Act”.
New legislation should be enacted to secure our borders while streamlining the path to US citizenship especially for those qualified to work in high demand industries or skills required in the United States.
Non-citizens who obtain their education in the United States in highly demand fields should be provided an accelerated path to citizenship so the investments made in these students remain in the United States.
It is hard to vote incumbents out of office.
Solution:
No new term limits should be imposed but new laws enacted so that Senators will not serve consecutive (six-year) terms and Representatives shall not serve more than two (two-year) terms consecutively.
« Thread Started on Jun 18, 2012, 9:46am »
Here is my continued effort to take one of the list of grievances and separate out the actual grievance from its possible solution. The list is a raw hodgepodge with many ideas thrown in together.
I am modeling what I think is a more attractive an effective way of presentation.
Corporations Are Not People
Solution:
Corporations, unions, political organizations and all entities created by operation of law are not human beings and any law, rule, regulation or court ruling so holding must be overruled, repealed or overturned even if it requires a Constitutional amendment. The justification of essential powers of corporations must be justified by the courts in another way than by deciding the corporations are human.
Money Is Property Not Speech
Solution:
Money is not speech it is property and any law, rule, regulation or court ruling so holding must be overruled, repealed or overturned even if it requires a Constitutional amendment.
People control of elections has been replaced with money control of elections
Solution:
New legislation to enact a 100% public campaign finance system requiring an immediate ban on all direct and indirect private contributions of money, or anything of value, from all sources including individuals, to all politicians or political parties to be replaced by a "blind" public trust whereby taxpayers will fund all federal election campaigns. Private donors may also contribute to the blind trust for a tax deduction but those private contributions may not be earmarked for a specific candidate or political party.
In the interim a total ban on corporate and union political expenditures to or in favor of political candidates or political parties or elections should be put into effect with limitations on individual contributions.
We do not have a single payer universal health care for all like all the non-third-world countries do. The profit motive drives decisions in health care.
Solution:
Repeal of prior healthcare laws and immediate enactment of "Medicare for all" or a new single-payer healthcare system. There are enough systems out there to provide models.
Citizens who are willing and able to work can't find jobs.
Solution:
Businesses hire when and only when their is demand, when people buy their products. Demand is the major determinant of job creation. Fund infrastructure maintenance to ensure our future and to give the workers buying power. Tax incentives should be created to replace American Jobs with outsourced ones.
Income inequality between the 1% and the 99% has been rapidly growing for 30 years.
Solution:
Since we now have the income inequality of a third-world power we must reverse the destruction of the middle class.
A Progressive tax on gross income, from a minimum tax rate of X% to a maximum tax rate of 3X% could be helpful.
Replacing the bracket income tax system with an exponential formula would more rationally extend progressive income taxation to realistically include the very wealthy.
Revisit the question of tax deductions
We are always at war with some nation.
Solution:
Fund "Peace Think Tanks." Enact a surtax to pay for any war. This will allow the populace to soberly reflect on the need for any given war. Moneys spent on warfare should be transparent.
The Criminal Justice System is fostering a “Private Prison Industrial Complex” which is very expensive. We lead the world with the percent of our population in Prison.
Solution:
Curtailing the “Private Prison Industrial Complex” by removing all incentives in the legal system set-up to imprison non-violent drug offenders and the mentally ill rather than treat or provide alternatives to incarceration. Non-violent drug offenders who do not engage in drug sales, and those with mental health issues must be treated rather than imprisoned and adjudicated through specialized drug and mental health courts.
Why can't we have a permanent voting registration like other countries instead of periodically disenfranchising voters? Our districts are gerrymandered.
Solution:
Create a permanent voting roll; other countries successfully do it. The federal government could issue free photo identification cards to all voters should voter fraud ever be proven to constitute a significant threat..
Replace the practice of "gerrymandering" with a non-partisan commission to redraw all voting district lines using a neutral, objective mathematical formula or algorithm that does not take into consideration the wealth, party affiliation, race, religion or other demographics of voters.
A huge national debt seems irresponsible.
Solution:
Most of our discretionary spending going to "Defense" sets us at a disadvantage with other countries. We might consider restoring the Clinton era income tax rates, increasing the capital gains tax rate, initiation a transaction tax, ending the hedge fund loophole, ending oil and gas subsidies, and mandatory cuts.
Consumers are not protected from predatory practices.
Solution:
Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act; implementation of the regulations required under the Dodd-Franks Act; vigorous enforcement of the “Volcker Rule” and enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in all industries to enhance competition and free speech.
Have the SEC stop merely slapping the hands of criminal corporations; have them impose significant fines, and make the documentation public.
Creation and proper funding of a non-partisan task force specifically designed to regulate mortgage-backed securities and speculative financial instruments and attempt solutions to the home mortgage problem..
Prospective students increasingly cannot afford college.
Solution:
Because education is the only way to secure our future success as a nation, interest on student debts must be immediately reduced to 2% or less (plus the discount window rate currently 0.0 to 0.25%) and repayments deferred for periods of unemployment or illness or disability. Employers will receive a student loan repayment tax deduction for paying off the student loans of their employees.
Outright federal grants provided to those students who pursue and obtain degrees in the sciences, green energy, environmental sustainability, mathematics, technology and engineering.
Public and private universities and colleges that do not reduce tuition to affordable levels so that middle class-families can again afford to send their children to obtain a higher education shall lose all federal funding including grants and loans.
Broadcast and cable television, radio and print communications are controlled by too few corporations and individuals.
Solution:
New laws and regulations must be passed immediately to fund, authorize and mandate the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department to break-up the 6-10 massive media conglomerates that control virtually all media content which is an existential threat to free thought and speech in the United States.
Immigration Reform is long overdue.
Solution:
Congress should immediately pass the “The Dream Act”.
New legislation should be enacted to secure our borders while streamlining the path to US citizenship especially for those qualified to work in high demand industries or skills required in the United States.
Non-citizens who obtain their education in the United States in highly demand fields should be provided an accelerated path to citizenship so the investments made in these students remain in the United States.
It is hard to vote incumbents out of office.
Solution:
No new term limits should be imposed but new laws enacted so that Senators will not serve consecutive (six-year) terms and Representatives shall not serve more than two (two-year) terms consecutively.