Your Vision For America

[pegwinn]

I went to this site. It is pretty cool. It was like working a message board with polling features. At the end of the process they want you to email your friends and family. Rather than spam, I will open it up for discussion. This is the letter they wanted me provide names for so they could email it on my behalf.

From: Jim Gilliam <[email protected]>
To: Their Name <[email protected]>
Subject: Your name asked me to invite you to join whitehouse2.org

Hey there...

My name is Jim Gilliam, Your name suggested I invite you to join White House 2, a website where U.S. citizens are coming together to tell President Obama what we need him to do. Check out my video introduction here: Introduction to White House 2

We need change, big change. Now is the time to start getting specific. Here are Your Name's top 10 priorities:

1. Replace the federal income tax with the FairTax
2. Restore, Uphold, and Defend the Constitution
3. Cut Spending / Reduce National Debt
4. Build Nuclear Power Plants
5. Drill for oil in our own country
6. Protect Gun Owners Rights
7. Balance the federal budget
8. Stop the Bail outs and implement free market solutions
9. Revamp the VA, making our Veterans a #1 priority
10. Approve Stem-Cell Treatment & Grant Research

If you agree, you can endorse all those priorities right away by clicking on the big yellow button here:

http://whitehouse2.org/user/5419-pegwinn

What are YOUR priorities for President Obama? Go to the website and make your own list. The homepage automatically keeps track of the most popular priorities and ranks them like the Billboard charts. You can see priorities rise and fall in real time, based entirely on the ingenuity of the American people.

White House 2 - Where YOU set the nation's priorities

Please forward this email. The more people who join, the more clout we will have with the President and the media. Too often our national dialogue is driven by sensationalism. We cannot let the media trivialize the task at hand, or scare us away from the change we need. With a large enough network, *we* will set the national agenda and make the most of this historic opportunity for change.

Thanks for your time, I won't bother you any more, it's only the future of your country at stake. You aren't added to any email list, don't worry about getting spammed.

Jim Gilliam
Chief of Staff, White House 2
[email protected]
3DNA

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I would change replacing the income tax with a fair tax, to abolishing the income tax and replacing it with nothing.

 

[bigdaddygtr]

not gonna sign anything that wants to protect gun laws when its those damn laws that are the problem

 

[RodISHI]

"8. Stop the Bail outs and implement free market solutions" What would these proposed solutions be?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

not gonna sign anything that wants to protect gun laws when its those damn laws that are the problem

Ya over 200 million guns in private hands and deaths by guns are less then by vehicles every year. Accidents are generally under a 1000 per year. Explain again how owning a weapon is so much a problem?

 

[DiamondDave]

I would change replacing the income tax with a fair tax, to abolishing the income tax and replacing it with nothing.

I don't think we will be getting rid of income tax... just a sad fact... but I do believe it can be revamped to the point where we can have the equal treatment in the taxation that so many others scream for in all other aspect of our lives as citizens...

1) Eliminate loopholes and severely simplify the tax code.
2) Severely reduce the size and expense of the IRS.
3) Since most other taxes are not punishment based, eliminate the progressive/punishment setup of our income tax code. Every person should be taxed the exact same amount on every dollar earned. No exceptions. Make the percentage burden EQUAL

 

[DiamondDave]

not gonna sign anything that wants to protect gun laws when its those damn laws that are the problem

Gun laws protecting the constitutional rights of American citizens who are without criminal records and who are not mentally ill, is a bad thing? Sorry libby, that is flat out wrong.

Having laws that have stricter punishments against those who use weapons in crimes or against those who are caught with an illegal weapon would be one good thing. Improving the checks on ensuring a citizen can rightfully own a weapon? I would even go along with that.

 

[DiamondDave]

"8. Stop the Bail outs and implement free market solutions" What would these proposed solutions be?

I think implement is a bad choice of word.

Should be more like:
Stop the bailouts and allow the free market to come up with the solutions it needs. The government does not need to "implement" a free market solution.

 

[jillian]

Gun laws protecting the constitutional rights of American citizens who are without criminal records and who are not mentally ill, is a bad thing? Sorry libby, that is flat out wrong.

Having laws that have stricter punishments against those who use weapons in crimes or against those who are caught with an illegal weapon would be one good thing. Improving the checks on ensuring a citizen can rightfully own a weapon? I would even go along with that.

I agree. But no one is going to get rid of guns. There's an amendment that mitigates against it.

 

[Frolicking Dino]

I would like to see the US go to the point just before Ronald Reagan took office and undo basically everything the neo-cons have done to this country. True conservatives and liberals could have done a far better job.

 

[DiamondDave]

1. Replace the federal income tax with the FairTax
2. Restore, Uphold, and Defend the Constitution
3. Cut Spending / Reduce National Debt
4. Build Nuclear Power Plants
5. Drill for oil in our own country
6. Protect Gun Owners Rights
7. Balance the federal budget
8. Stop the Bail outs and implement free market solutions
9. Revamp the VA, making our Veterans a #1 priority
10. Approve Stem-Cell Treatment & Grant Research

The only one I have a major problem with is #10... not against stem cell research itself... but I think it needs to be more clearly laid out to be FOR stem cell research but against embryonic stem cell research where the stem cells are farmed from fetuses...

And now that I think about it... #9 just sounds too "touchy feely" without any real substance... I'm a vet, so I would like to see improvement to veterans benefits and the VA, but just saying to "make our Veterans a #1 priority" does not say anything above the existing mission statement of the VA....

 

[DiamondDave]

I would like to see the US go to the point just before Ronald Reagan took office and undo basically everything the neo-cons have done to this country. True conservatives and liberals could have done a far better job.

Yeah.. because Carter and the DEMs had it SOOOO right...

 

[Bern80]

"8. Stop the Bail outs and implement free market solutions" What would these proposed solutions be?

The market needs to be allowed to 'find the bottom' in this downswing. Regardless of who's fault you think it is, what is happening is the credit bubble, which has essentially inflated the price of everything has finally burst. It was a simple market reaction for sellers to see the ease with which people could purchase their products (namely homes) meaning they could raise the price of selling their home to above what the real market value would be.

We have debated at length whether we should let real free market capitalsim with minimal to no government regulation be the drive of our economy. I would NOT wholly agree with that. I think there will always be a need for some level of government regulation. In this particular case however, letting the free market work would be the best thing for the economy.

 

[Old Rocks]

I would change replacing the income tax with a fair tax, to abolishing the income tax and replacing it with nothing.

Very intelligent. And how long before we would be saluting a foriegn flag, idiot! The machinery and military that defend this nation are costly.

 

[RodISHI]

The market needs to be allowed to 'find the bottom' in this downswing. Regardless of who's fault you think it is, what is happening is the credit bubble, which has essentially inflated the price of everything has finally burst. It was a simple market reaction for sellers to see the ease with which people could purchase their products (namely homes) meaning they could raise the price of selling their home to above what the real market value would be.

We have debated at length whether we should let real free market capitalsim with minimal to no government regulation be the drive of our economy. I would NOT wholly agree with that. I think there will always be a need for some level of government regulation. In this particular case however, letting the free market work would be the best thing for the economy.

No doubt housing is beyond the limits of any reasonable value and has been for some time now.

Housing only accounts for a portion of the problem. Daily living expenses and few viable means of employment that produce goods are a very large problem.


This is a portion of what this country is facing: Should a former Maytag worker take a three dollar an hour cut in pay and be expected to leave her family and go overseas for three to four months to train employees over seas? She and her husband both formerly worked for Maytag earning fifteen dollars and hour. Now her and her husband's jobs have been sent overseas. They need to support their family so she stayed on with the new Maytag owners (japanese if I recall properly).

If this is what you are all calling a free market I cannot go along with it. I do not imagine there will be to many other Americans that will either if they know fully what is happening.

 

[Old Rocks]

The market needs to be allowed to 'find the bottom' in this downswing. Regardless of who's fault you think it is, what is happening is the credit bubble, which has essentially inflated the price of everything has finally burst. It was a simple market reaction for sellers to see the ease with which people could purchase their products (namely homes) meaning they could raise the price of selling their home to above what the real market value would be.

We have debated at length whether we should let real free market capitalsim with minimal to no government regulation be the drive of our economy. I would NOT wholly agree with that. I think there will always be a need for some level of government regulation. In this particular case however, letting the free market work would be the best thing for the economy.

The bottom, in this case, as in 1929, will lead to major changes that you in no way will approve of.

My list;

1. Get moving on alternative energies. Cut all subsidies to fossil fuels, and use the money for alternatives.

2. Start using real science on the problem of global warming. For the last eight years most of what our scientists on the government payroll have had to say has been filtered by government hacks.

3. Get out of Iraq. Get Bin Laden and get out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have far more important places for our money to go.

4. Replace the present 19th century health care system with a real health care system such as Europe, Japan, and Taiwan have. Why spend double the amount and continually get inferior results.

5. Return to Constitutional rule. Eliminate the parts of the Patriot Act that are illegal. Punish all those that instigated warrantless spying on US citizens. As far as the Second Amendment goes, I fully support that. Anything up to twin .50s are all right with me. The last eight years have demonstrated the need for an armed citizenery.

6. Keep church and state seperate. No government support for church charities, no mixing of government and church, period. Such mixing is bad both for church and the state.

7. Get the regulations back on business. The deregulation of business is the source of the debacle in 1929, and the source of the present economic debacle. The calls for more deregulation by the conservatives on this board is why if we slide into a major depression, it will be known as the Second Great Republican Depression.

8. Create a nation wide distributed grid to pick up energy not only from gigawatt point sources, but also the rooftop solar of citizens, so that we all can be part of the solution. Not only energy consumers, but also energy producers.

9. Pass laws that make sure that we never become a nation that officially sanctions torture again. America was better than this, America must be better than this again.

10. Subsidize major research to put our transportion, public and private, running on something other than petroleum. We have only 3% of the worlds petroleum reserves, and use 25% of the worlds petroleum. There is no way that we can drill our way out of our dependence on foriegn oil. We can develop ways for transportation to use other energy, and manufacture that, and sell it to the rest of the world.

 

[Old Rocks]

No doubt housing is beyond the limits of any reasonable value and has been for some time now.

Housing only accounts for a portion of the problem. Daily living expenses and few viable means of employment that produce goods are a very large problem.


This is a portion of what this country is facing: Should a former Maytag worker take a three dollar an hour cut in pay and be expected to leave her family and go overseas for three to four months to train employees over seas? She and her husband both formerly worked for Maytag earning fifteen dollars and hour. Now her and her husband's jobs have been sent overseas. They need to support their family so she stayed on with the new Maytag owners (japanese if I recall properly).

If this is what you are all calling a free market I cannot go along with it. I do not imagine there will be to many other Americans that will either if they know fully what is happening.

Not only that, but a great many of our profitable manufacturing plants have been sold to overseas owners. I work in one of them. The owner is a Russian Company, and we are a steel mill, the only one on the West Coast capable of rolling armor plate. The sale to the Russian Company was approved of by the Bush admin.

 

[RodISHI]

Not only that, but a great many of our profitable manufacturing plants have been sold to overseas owners. I work in one of them. The owner is a Russian Company, and we are a steel mill, the only one on the West Coast capable of rolling armor plate. The sale to the Russian Company was approved of by the Bush admin.

Makes one wnder what his library recieved in the way of donations.

 

[DiamondDave]

My vision..

1) Bring equality into the income tax system, as stated earlier in this thread and in other recent thread. (I am sure you all have seen my thoughts)
2) Eliminate most (if not all) government entitlement programs and cut wasteful government spending in areas the government has no business being involved in.
3) Balance the budget (the WHOLE budget and not just the 'Clinton' budget.. this includes intra-governmental holdings, social security, etc) and make it illegal for the government to dip into social security and other funds unless of extreme emergency
4) Allow for more domestic drilling. Possible tax incentives to businesses to research and advance in alternative energy technologies. OK the creation of new nuke plants to have in the electrical grid.
5) Reduce the size of government. Reduction in areas like the IRS, elimination of things such as the NEA, hunt down programs such as "voicemail for the homeless" and eliminate them. (Yes, that is something our Federal govt is paying for)
6) Institute term limits on Senators and Congresspersons. Place more scrutiny on campaign financing, donations, etc.
7) Reduce corporate tax rates and ensure that they are equal across the board. Simply the corporate tax code as we simplify the income tax code. Increase tariffs and/or taxes on foreign products.
8) Create law where all have availability to purchase health and life insurance. Do not have government run or government provided health insurance, but insure all have access to obtain their own. Make expenses of health insurance deducted from total income for tax purposes.
9) Start eliminating government subsidies of industry. Eliminate this power play by the government.
10) Step up the battle against terrorism, extremism, etc. Increase our defenses and detection systems. Work with Iraq, continually, towards their self sufficiency and welcome the day when it is advantageous for both the US and Iraq to have our presence reduced to possibly just a friendly base (as we have with other allies). Hunt down, with ferocity, any and all terrorists who plot against or operate with attacks against our country or our citizenry.

 

[editec]

3) Since most other taxes are not punishment based, eliminate the progressive/punishment setup of our income tax code. Every person should be taxed the exact same amount on every dollar earned. No exceptions. Make the percentage burden EQUAL

You call that fair?

No that's not really that simplictic fairness that you so strive for.

Childish fairness isn't that every dollar is taxed equally, childish fairness is that every person pays exactly the same amount of taxes regardless of income.

In 2007 every persons FAIR SHARE of the taxes would have been about $9,100.

A family of four would have owed $36,400.

Now THERE'S your childish FAIRNESS in action.

That solution, much like your flat tax is completely undo-able, but it does satisfy that childish concept of fairness that some of you are clinging to.