How to fix the country:

Texanmike

Active Member
Aug 11, 2011
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Any ideas? Here's where I would start:

My biggest problem is the debt. While I generally agree that society is broken and I think that our liberty is in constant jeopardy I don't think it matters if we fix that but neglect the debt. I think our country is in serious trouble. The kind of trouble that threatens our existance. I want to stop spending money. I want us to cut the budget by 30% across the board. Why? Because I don't think that compromise will ever result in any substancial cuts. Compromise is a dirty word. It is exactly why we will most likely never get out of the situation we are in without some sort of financial collapse.

I have been thinking and actually I want to change my plan of action to fix this country.

1. Raise the pay of congressmen to $1.5 million a year. With a pension that includes 500k/yr after they leave congress. After they are done in congress they should be permenantly retired. If they perform act for which they receive compensation after that, they immediately lose their pension and all of their retirement benefits. The idea is that you go to congress, you serve and you are not for sale. I know, that seems wasteful at first but I want congressmen paid well enough that they are not for sale. Paying a billion or two annually for congressmen is peanuts compared to getting rid of the wasteful spending/social handouts. Abandon the idea that there are 535 altruistic people running this country. Don't let congress give themselves raises... that should be done by the states. Also, don't start that policy until the next congress comes in.


2. Increase representation to the point that no representative represents more than 100,000 people. More, well compensated, representation makes it harder for someone to be bought. For a large corporation with lobbysts to buy 200 people in the house and 40 people in the senate, when they are paid less than 200k a year isn't that difficult. When it is buying 2 or 3 times that number of people at 5-10 times the ammount... THAT is a huge investment that becomes harder to hide.

3. Reduce congress to 1 session every other year unless called in for special sessions which are never to be longer than 10 days unless authorized by a majority of the state executives (governors).

4. Cut all spending 30% across the board.

5. A Constitutional Amendment that prohibits congress from increasing the budget in any year that a national debt exists. If the country needs to spend money on an emergency situation, then the emergency should be important enough to cut funding to somewhere else. If more money is needed when we are in debt then it should be important enough to receive the blessing of 75% of the states (legislatures or executives, I'm not sure about that yet).

6. Repeal the 17th amendment. (I know you can't repeal one, so we'll have to reamend the Constitution.)

7. Amend the Constitution to allow the States to recall supreme court justices with a 2/3 majority vote.

That is a start.

Mike
 
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Just a question, why was this labeled as old the second that I posted it? What are the criteria? Is it a rep based/post count based thing?

Mike
 
Impeach Obama.
Re-Institute Constitutional Government.
End the Fed.
End the IRS.

We are the United STATES of America not the United GOVERNMENT of America. We did just fine without a Fed and IRS until 1913. Since then our dollar has devalued 95%.
 
Congress was necessary because we simply had no means of communicating our votes in a timely manner in the past. Perhaps it is time to change how we get things done. Voters would be required to meet standards in order to vote. Graduated high school, held a job for at least a year at some point, and read the bill under consideration. Then you get a user name and password for voting.
 
Congress was necessary because we simply had no means of communicating our votes in a timely manner in the past. Perhaps it is time to change how we get things done. Voters would be required to meet standards in order to vote. Graduated high school, held a job for at least a year at some point, and read the bill under consideration. Then you get a user name and password for voting.
I'll apologize for the long post and I'm sure some know this but the reason we have a representative form of government must be presented completely in a historically accurate manner.

Actually that is not the reason that Congress was introduced. (oh no, friendly fire)

This country was not and was never meant to be a national uion. It is a federation of soveriegn states. The people did not create the union, the states did. The only reason the Union extended its authority beyond Franklin's "firm league of friendship" is due to Knox's propoganda following shay's rebellion.

If you want the honest truth, the Constittuion was never authorized. The delegates were sent to amend the AoC, not to Constittue a new government. It is pretty likely that unless Washington was convinced that the country's existance was threatened he never would have attended or supported the 2nd Constitutional congress. Knox exaggerated Shay's Rebellion, which was actually an example of the ability of the states to deal with rebellion, threat to the Union. Prior to that, Washington was officially and completely retired to his "house on the Mount (vernon)". He had no desire or design for politics after his presidency, he was in ill health. He gave the rebellion in several letters for example to Madison in late 1786

A letter which I have just received from Genl Knox, who had just returned from Massachusetts (whither he had been sent by congress consequent of the commotion in that State) is replete with melancholy information of the temper & designs of a considerable part of that people. among other things he says, "there creed is, that the property of the United States, has been protected from confiscation of Britain by the joint exertions of all, and therefore ought to be the common property of all. And he that attempts opposition to this creed is an enemy to equity & justice, & ought to be swept from off the face of the Earth." again "They are determined to anihilate all debts public & private, and have Agrarian Laws, which are easily effected by the means of unfunded paper money which shall be a tender in all cases whatever." He adds. "The numbers of these people amount in Massachusetts to about one fifth part of several populous Counties, and to them may be collected, people of similar sentiments from the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, & New Hampsh[ire] so as to constitute a body of twelve or fifteen thousand desperate, and unprincipled men. They are chiefly of the young & active part of the Commun[ity]. [1]
.

This is important to understand because Madison ulitmately had designs on securing his place in history by writing the Constitution. He studided the works of Plutarch, Hume and Locke at length.
Madison in federalist papers #10 said:
From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction

We have a republican form of government because there must be a restriction on the auhtority of the people. Why? In a pure democracy, 50% + 1 voter can vote to confiscate the property of 50% - 1 voter in a country.

Representative democracy requires (even though we abuse the system to the other extreme) representatives to consider the needs and desires of groups of people. The restrictions on what laws this country may exact on its citizens cannot be changed with a simple majority, in fact the states (who are the official members of the Union) must allow that to happen via the Amendment process.

at work, I'll come finish this a little later.
Mike
 
I do not think that the deficiet (or the national debt) is the major problem we are facing right now.

A 30% across the board reduction in Government spending would cripple the economy.

That might be a good target to shoot at though over the next couple decades.

CLEARLY our governments are wasting dough, nobody on the right or left disagrees with that, I suspect.

The debate is mostly what kind of spending needs to be reduced, and how quickly can that be done without completely knocking the economy into a depression.
 
I do not think that the deficiet (or the national debt) is the major problem we are facing right now.

A 30% across the board reduction in Government spending would cripple the economy.

That might be a good target to shoot at though over the next couple decades.

CLEARLY our governments are wasting dough, nobody on the right or left disagrees with that, I suspect.

The debate is mostly what kind of spending needs to be reduced, and how quickly can that be done without completely knocking the economy into a depression.

In many ways, the economy is begging for a depression. We had a major opportuinty with the housing crisis to reduce the threat of hyperinflation by erradicating a large supply of money that should not exist.

You realize that the Fedearal and state governments spend 12,000/person/yr to "govern them". In fact if you look at all government employees:
This is from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website (I'm not allowed to post URLs yet :-|)

Federal 2,846,000
State 5,250,000
Local 14,491,000
Total Government employees 22.5 million

Unemployed 11,000,000 (approximately)
Unemployed + Govt employees 33.5 million

Total employed people 130.9 million

Now maybe I'm not as smart as I think I am. I will allow for that possibility, so one of you smart numbers kind of guys please explain this to me. Let me try to wrap my head around this: 1 in ever 5.7 workers works for some level of government? And over a quarter of the workforce (25.7%) either works for the government (non military/NSA/CIA/FBI or other security agency... not sure if TSA is included but I don't think it matters by the way) or is unemployed? Every fourth person in the work force is either unemployed or is employed by the government?The government does not produce a dime. It consumes. Now sometimes it refines resources or money but it must consume money first and it almost never gives you a good return on your investment. (I know shocking). Go to the end of your street. Every 4th person on your street consumes resources from the private sector to accomlish their job? I know I know, I'm not advocating getting rid of government but do we really need 1 person playing nanny for every 3 of us in the work force?

That means that, in very simple terms, you and 5 of your neighbors are all paying one of your other neighbors a large enough portion of your salary (not all government workers work for nothing) to babysit you and the other one to be unemployed?? Tell me where I'm wrong in this.
This isn't a get rid of federal employees or state employees but surely the private market can take a money pit (post office *ahem*) and make something profitable out of it?

I just had to point out that 1/4 of our workforce either consumes outright or works for the largest wealth consumer in the entire world... and we wonder why we're having problems.

Mike
 
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Yep, between a government worker and an illegal immigrant to support, it is a wonder I make enough to support me and the wife.
 
Yep, between a government worker and an illegal immigrant to support, it is a wonder I make enough to support me and the wife.

I don't know your situation enough to know how to read that.

Mike

I'm just saying that at a ratio of 1:5.7 on government employees to private, I have a large burden. Combine that with illiegals and you have a lot of people depending on the actual American worker. Just let it out Mike. If I disagree, we'll discuss it and maybe I'll make a little fun at your expense. :eusa_angel:
 
I'll tell you how to fix our economy. Take all of the Prog Socialisms, Democrats, wealfare reciepiants and dead beat dads and place them into a work camp for four or five years and tax them 100 percent while wortking their asses off. The only benifits they would receive would be medical treatment (when needed) and three hots and a cot, and a change of clothes twice a week. No air conditioning or hot showers, than maybe, just maybe they will see what is like to be screwed.
 
I'll tell you how to fix our economy. Take all of the Prog Socialisms, Democrats, wealfare reciepiants and dead beat dads and place them into a work camp for four or five years and tax them 100 percent while wortking their asses off. The only benifits they would receive would be medical treatment (when needed) and three hots and a cot, and a change of clothes twice a week. No air conditioning or hot showers, than maybe, just maybe they will see what is like to be screwed.

They won't even let us do that to illegal immigrants. You forgot to mention TV. Just saying.
 

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