If you can.

[Moi]

Every day I read posts on the board regarding some sort of problem. Gays. Crime. Terrorism. Government waste. Sycophants. The list is endless. Many of us debate these topics indirectly as to whom: we’re going to vote for, we believe is telling the truth, is at fault, etc. What I’d like to know is, while both groups (liberals and conservatives) have had the chance to fix these problems, not much has been fixed. In fact, it seems that the problems are escalating- not only in number but in intensity.

Slavery didn’t last. Welfare isn’t working. Intolerance didn’t work. Tolerance isn’t either. Segregation was faulty but integration is too. Ignorance is shameful but public education has stumbled and ultimately no better.

So, let’s all hear some thoughts as to what the solution is. Not a diatribe about whose fault it is or who is lying, etc. I want to hear concrete solutions. If you can.

 

[wonderwench]

Concrete solutions:

- Balanced budget amendment
- Descoping government to eliminate entitlements of all sorts
- Significant reduction in taxes to eliminate the incentive for career politicians
- Eliminate government pensions; let them all save and invest like the rest of us
- Require that Congress be held to the same laws it passes for the rest of us

For starters

 

[William Joyce]

Those all sound fine. I would add

- Close the border with Mexico and deport the illegals.
- Make any judge, bureaucrat or politician who "desegregates" a neighborhood LIVE in that same neighborhood.
- Stop the war on terror by stopping our blind support of Israel.
- Require President of the United States to have read more than 10 books.
- Require Morris Dees to live in Harlem.
- Make supporters of affirmative action fly on "Affirmative Action Airlines," a new enterprise made up entirely of affirmative action hires, from the mechanics to the pilots.
- Make failure to speak English (unless you are a tourist) a deportable offense.
- If you were born in the U.S., are over 18 and speak not a word of English, you will be installed as a 911 operator hooked up to the telephones of all immigration enthusiasts.

 

[Bullypulpit]

...Raise standards in schools, starting with teaching the classics. Require classes in logic, ethics, the hard sciences. Teach our children to think and reason rather than absorb and regurgitate.

Make lawmakers accountable for the consequences of their actions, in or out of office.

Push for labor and environmental reforms that are equally as strong as business protections in the WTO charter.

Give self-employed individuals a full income-tax credit for their health insurance premiums and provide business large or small with a generous tax credit for their contributions to employee health and pension plans.

Large tax credits for reasearch leading to environmentally friendly technology to wean us from our dependence on oil. And tax credits for start up production of these technologies as well as for their installation and use.

 

[jon_forward]

I would like for our elected officals...our senators and congresspersons to get paid a fair wage...by fair I mean fair to the taxpayer....a living wage is one thing...
stop the ability to double-dip...one fat retirement check from uncle sam should be enough
increase funding for sex education to prevent /lower teen pregnecys set a flat tax for everyone and exempt the first 15K for singles and 30K for marrieds for starters
Make the fed,state and local gov show where the spent OUR money every year...esspecailly locally!!!

 

[AtlantaWalter]

I think one of our main problems is that America has grown too large and with a population that is far to diverse to exist as a so-called democracy. We have too many people/groups pulling too many different ways. Nobody is interested, in the main, about what's good for the country but rather what's good for "my" group. We no longer think as "Americans".

I am not sure there is a solution. You are most correct in that everyone wants to blame everyone else for their particular problems. People seem to have forgotten that each person/group is responsible for their own actions and, as Americans, we seem to have lost that "individual responsibility" that once existed in this country. We have also, carefully over the years, lost the "American work ethic" that we used to possess.

I think it would be most interesting to see something like the "Freestate Project" tried just to see what happens. Maybe we could divide the nation up into 4 smaller nations, each consisting of a population that has similar interests/goals within their own nation.

I know that solution sounds like it's from way out in left field but if anyone else has a better idea that hasn't been tried, I'm all ears.

http://www.freestateproject.org/index.jsp

 

[wonderwench]

One more:

- Eliminate withholding of taxes via payroll. Send each taxpayer a bill and make them right a check.

 

[Isaac Brock]

- Flat tax for all - avoid lawyers and its fair.
- Minimum social saftey net including medicare and workfare (notice i said workfare, not welfare)
- Shift tax to production from profits with corporations(this will help to improve efficiency, not consumption and help the environment considerably)
- Requirement for immigrants to speak to native language (English for US, English or French for Canada)

 

[jon_forward]

some of you here on the board may not be aware of this...this is from personal experences... having operated a auto-repair and Tire center it was normal to do business with the city and country on an almost daily accurance. Along about the first of Dec the Superintendent of the county made an appointment to see me.. I was a little puzzled as to why because all he had to do was walk in the door at anytime..but did as he asked. during this little meeting he brought to my attention that the fiscal year was ending for the county and he had a little money he needed to spend before Jan 1 of the new year. Of course I said no problem..thinking OK he has a couple of hundred that he is going to spend on tubes and other small things that the county shop got from us... When he informed me he had 17,500 dollars that he had to spend or his next year budget would be cut by this amount I was floored to say the least. This was money from tax-payers like you and me!!! After calling MY store super- who advised me to sell him the whole store if that is what made him happy I wrote up one of the single largest tire orders the company had ever had. he didnt even WANT the tires..just an invoice to turn in...he said he would like the tires to be delivered in JUNE...OMG..talk about making my bosses VERY happy...after all was said and done I asked him why he had so much to spend at the end of the year. He said that every year since he could remember [about 25] his shops budget had increased on average 10 to15% a year but if he did not spend it he would not get it. I was the third and last appointment to spend the LOOT....the local NAPA store got 8500.00 and Snap-on man got 10,000!!!!! this is just one county out of 99!!!! My friend was a county supervisor so after the first of the year I had a little visit with him...too late to stop the money that had already been spent for the prior year but this did put the board of supers on notice that something was a mess... the yearly spending spree continued but not nearly at such a high level..I can only assume that it is not a county only problem.....

 

[DKSuddeth]

put more responsibility in to states rights to govern themselves. Stop letting federal government mandate how states enact laws and legistlation.

The reason most policies come down to blaming one side or the other is that people do not want to compromise on their ideals.

 

[Moi]

1. Eliminate the tax system in this country. Adopt a flat tax of 10% per PERSON. No deductions, no marriage penalty, etc.

2. All federal congressman, senators, president, cabinet members, judges would receive double the poverty level income and would not receive pensions.

3. No governmental entity should be forced to pay reparations, liability or other amounts due to legally exercising their duties. If a person/entity is found to have breached the limit of their authority or otherwise illegal act, the victim shall get actual costs only.

4. All welfare, medicare, medicaid, social security and any other handouts from the government stop. The government should create housing, transportation and food banks (making meals available, not money) If you don’t have the money to afford such services you will be assigned duties either within such institutions (such as cooking, cleaning, repair & maintenance, etc.) or other duties (such as cleaning parks, repairing streets, providing child care for others, etc.).

5. Civil and criminal penalties would be capped at the cost to the victim or victim’s family. (i.e., if someone dies, their family can collect an amount equal to the average of their 5 year salary history for their life expectancy). If the crime is particularly egregious, damages can be imposed but they would be limited to 2x the amount of the 5-year salary average. Criminal penalties for civil disputes should be strictly enforced.

6. Unions would be abolished as would any protected employment classes and affirmative action.

7. Illegal aliens would be deported within 2 weeks. All costs shall be subtracted from any amount we owe to their home nation or added to what that nation owes us. Any nation not paying their debt within the time period allotted will be prohibited from doing business within or trade with the US and shall not receive any aid from us.

8. All services in this country would be for legal immigrants or citizens only.

9. The judicial system would be reformed so that penalties would be absolute. Those convicted of capital offenses and/or child molestation and rape would receive the death penalty. Appeals would be limited to one per court.

10. Eliminate all government documents, translators, operators, etc. for those who don't speak english.