Mierin
Donor
Let's say there's an election, and the winner gets their way with the country. Let's assume any/all of us would get corrupted by this power, so 20% of all the $ goes to gold-plated mansions in every major city. Or whatever you want. That out of the way, what are your policies that would make the U.S. a better place and help its people on the whole? I'm gonna post mine. I'd like to see others but if not I guess this is just my blog post.
a) I would make it illegal for corporations and their employees to be involved in writing policy. This is something that goes on a lot right now, and it's wrong. I would make extremely harsh punishments for people who are caught paying politicians to pass laws that help only corporations and hurt the public. (Or paying them to pass any type of law, really).
Former employees of industries with laws potentially being passed about would be allowed on panels so they can give their two cents, but they can't currently be getting paid by any companies in those industries. - The last idea has to do with oil company employees or pollutant causing industries being involved in environmental policy. Soda/candy companies being involved in making health policy, etc. It's everywhere. It's wrong.
b) If not option a, raise taxes on the rich/and or corporations who abuse the system by doing what I want to shut down in option a. What we need option a for is why I think taxes on the rich should be raised. It isn't an even playing field out there. They are paying for United States policy. They are paying our politicians. They are trying to buy elections. If they can get laws passed that help them get richer and hurt everyone else, they should be paying more taxes to make up for the damage they've done.
The above is one of the biggest reasons I'm not a Democrat and never will be. I agree with a lot of what they claim they're for, but they haven't stopped the erosion of laws that kept these things from happening and I doubt they really plan to. I'm guessing they make a crapton of money from corporations and are bought off at the same rate as Republicans. I'm no expert on all of the laws that have changed but I know FECA started getting eroded in the 1970s and it's just kept getting worse from then. This is my number one issue. If money can buy policy, it doesn't matter if something harms the general public. If it makes someone a lot of money, it will be allowed. That's not right.
One topical example of the above is that Hillary Clinton got a lot of money from drug companies as far back as the 1990s to shut down her fight for health care. My problem with the coverage on her now is that so many of the people up in arms about her various controversies are guilty of doing the same exact sh#t and acting like they're above it all. If she's guilty I want her in jail - but we need a complete overhaul of how things work. Lots more belong in jail if she does.
2. Scientists should be on science panels.
If 1 out of 100 scientists think that humans don't breathe oxygen, and you're a politician who sides with that 1 scientist, you should not oversee the senate subcommittee on human lung research. I'm looking at you Ted Cruz.
3. I would undo this:
H.R.1422 - EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2014
Directs the Board to ensure that:
persons with substantial and relevant expertise are not excluded from the Board because of affiliation with or representation of entities that might have a potential interest in the Board's advisory activities, and
members do not participate in advisory activities that involve review or application of their own work.
What this is saying is that people with corporate interests can be on the board and advise the EPA - for instance companies that pollute can help the EPA to make decisions about pollution laws, and researchers cannot advise the EPA on issues that are related to what they research. wtf? - I'm sure there are many other gems like this that I don't know about.
4. Funding for public schools would not be based on how much money people in the area make. If you have enough money and want to send your child to private school, you still have that choice.
This is part of the reason the poor and especially minorities are kept down. They're not starting at the same place.
5. I would eliminate farm subsidies the way they currently are. Most farm subsidies go to huge, wealthy farmers who are making big profits. We're currently subsidizing corn. Corn mostly goes to ethanol, which I believe I heard still uses 80% of the oil to make as regular fuel, or corn syrup, or feed for McDonald's food.
I'm not against government support for farmers because I know how unpredictable it is, so I would replace the current subsidies with disaster funding. The farmers who are just families doing it need something in place so if there's a drought or a hail storm they aren't just out of luck, because most farms get passed down families. If they don't have something like that, I'm not sure who's going to replace them.
6a. Food stamps could not be used for non-essentials, such as soda or potato chips. This would be really hard to put in place without a tax, because I believe most grocery stores differentiate between eligible items based on whether there's a tax on them or not.
I know this idea is unpopular but I would also tax non-essentials. I would limit it to the obvious ones - those with 0 nutritional value whatsoever. So potato chips would not be taxed but soda would be. The taxes would go to health care.
6b. Food stamp income eligibility would remain the same but any places where work/charity are not required, it would now be required. In Nebraska it's required. I know this because I was on them for 1 year. They checked my eligibility at the start, after 6 months, and after 12 months (I was no longer eligible after 12 months 'cause I wasn't poor enough). I had to include all paystubs from all jobs to prove I had 20 hours and they usually only gave 5 days after mailing to submit my information. It was annoying to get all of the info together, which is a good thing. I don't think it's as easy to cheat the system, or as prevalent, as a lot of people think.
8. I don't think the Bible mentions anything about marriage certificates being handed out/overseen by the government. Since getting married gives you some benefits from the government, homosexuals should be allowed to marry.
Oh wait, already solved.
9. Marijuana legalized nationwide - same rules for driving/etc. as alcohol. Age 21 because I believe it damages kids' brains. Taxes go mostly to healthcare and a little to researching the benefits of marijuana.
10. I would look into doing something, not sure what, about college education costs. College is not worth what it once was but it costs way more. Many jobs that once only required a high school degree, and which people with only high school degrees can still perform, now only look at applicants who have a college degree (see - administrative assistant). You almost have to have one now. This is why I don't think it's so crazy to at the very least talk about lowering the price somehow. I don't have a solid idea here but I don't agree with people who think it's batsh#t crazy to talk about it being free. High School is free. College is the new High School. There should at least be a dialogue here.
- NUMBER ONE (with a bullet) One of the following (a or b):
a) I would make it illegal for corporations and their employees to be involved in writing policy. This is something that goes on a lot right now, and it's wrong. I would make extremely harsh punishments for people who are caught paying politicians to pass laws that help only corporations and hurt the public. (Or paying them to pass any type of law, really).
Former employees of industries with laws potentially being passed about would be allowed on panels so they can give their two cents, but they can't currently be getting paid by any companies in those industries. - The last idea has to do with oil company employees or pollutant causing industries being involved in environmental policy. Soda/candy companies being involved in making health policy, etc. It's everywhere. It's wrong.
b) If not option a, raise taxes on the rich/and or corporations who abuse the system by doing what I want to shut down in option a. What we need option a for is why I think taxes on the rich should be raised. It isn't an even playing field out there. They are paying for United States policy. They are paying our politicians. They are trying to buy elections. If they can get laws passed that help them get richer and hurt everyone else, they should be paying more taxes to make up for the damage they've done.
The above is one of the biggest reasons I'm not a Democrat and never will be. I agree with a lot of what they claim they're for, but they haven't stopped the erosion of laws that kept these things from happening and I doubt they really plan to. I'm guessing they make a crapton of money from corporations and are bought off at the same rate as Republicans. I'm no expert on all of the laws that have changed but I know FECA started getting eroded in the 1970s and it's just kept getting worse from then. This is my number one issue. If money can buy policy, it doesn't matter if something harms the general public. If it makes someone a lot of money, it will be allowed. That's not right.
One topical example of the above is that Hillary Clinton got a lot of money from drug companies as far back as the 1990s to shut down her fight for health care. My problem with the coverage on her now is that so many of the people up in arms about her various controversies are guilty of doing the same exact sh#t and acting like they're above it all. If she's guilty I want her in jail - but we need a complete overhaul of how things work. Lots more belong in jail if she does.
2. Scientists should be on science panels.
If 1 out of 100 scientists think that humans don't breathe oxygen, and you're a politician who sides with that 1 scientist, you should not oversee the senate subcommittee on human lung research. I'm looking at you Ted Cruz.
3. I would undo this:
H.R.1422 - EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2014
Directs the Board to ensure that:
persons with substantial and relevant expertise are not excluded from the Board because of affiliation with or representation of entities that might have a potential interest in the Board's advisory activities, and
members do not participate in advisory activities that involve review or application of their own work.
What this is saying is that people with corporate interests can be on the board and advise the EPA - for instance companies that pollute can help the EPA to make decisions about pollution laws, and researchers cannot advise the EPA on issues that are related to what they research. wtf? - I'm sure there are many other gems like this that I don't know about.
4. Funding for public schools would not be based on how much money people in the area make. If you have enough money and want to send your child to private school, you still have that choice.
This is part of the reason the poor and especially minorities are kept down. They're not starting at the same place.
5. I would eliminate farm subsidies the way they currently are. Most farm subsidies go to huge, wealthy farmers who are making big profits. We're currently subsidizing corn. Corn mostly goes to ethanol, which I believe I heard still uses 80% of the oil to make as regular fuel, or corn syrup, or feed for McDonald's food.
I'm not against government support for farmers because I know how unpredictable it is, so I would replace the current subsidies with disaster funding. The farmers who are just families doing it need something in place so if there's a drought or a hail storm they aren't just out of luck, because most farms get passed down families. If they don't have something like that, I'm not sure who's going to replace them.
6a. Food stamps could not be used for non-essentials, such as soda or potato chips. This would be really hard to put in place without a tax, because I believe most grocery stores differentiate between eligible items based on whether there's a tax on them or not.
I know this idea is unpopular but I would also tax non-essentials. I would limit it to the obvious ones - those with 0 nutritional value whatsoever. So potato chips would not be taxed but soda would be. The taxes would go to health care.
6b. Food stamp income eligibility would remain the same but any places where work/charity are not required, it would now be required. In Nebraska it's required. I know this because I was on them for 1 year. They checked my eligibility at the start, after 6 months, and after 12 months (I was no longer eligible after 12 months 'cause I wasn't poor enough). I had to include all paystubs from all jobs to prove I had 20 hours and they usually only gave 5 days after mailing to submit my information. It was annoying to get all of the info together, which is a good thing. I don't think it's as easy to cheat the system, or as prevalent, as a lot of people think.
8. I don't think the Bible mentions anything about marriage certificates being handed out/overseen by the government. Since getting married gives you some benefits from the government, homosexuals should be allowed to marry.
Oh wait, already solved.
9. Marijuana legalized nationwide - same rules for driving/etc. as alcohol. Age 21 because I believe it damages kids' brains. Taxes go mostly to healthcare and a little to researching the benefits of marijuana.
10. I would look into doing something, not sure what, about college education costs. College is not worth what it once was but it costs way more. Many jobs that once only required a high school degree, and which people with only high school degrees can still perform, now only look at applicants who have a college degree (see - administrative assistant). You almost have to have one now. This is why I don't think it's so crazy to at the very least talk about lowering the price somehow. I don't have a solid idea here but I don't agree with people who think it's batsh#t crazy to talk about it being free. High School is free. College is the new High School. There should at least be a dialogue here.
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