I'm running for President! Well...sort of...

As a younger man, I had aspirations of a life of public service; aiding in the formation of coalitions between people whose diverse ideas and ideals could propel America forward as it had so many times in our glorious history.  Those ideas got shelved when I began to see the degeneration of the system by which we (supposedly) govern ourselves from a high minded, well intentioned forum of adversarial-ly inspired creativity through mutual repsect and progress into a street brawl.

Now, I wonder...

What would happen?  Would it be fair to occupy an office representing people who's design for America might not match my own?  After all, it's quite illogical to offer your services in the promotion or defense of concepts you do not support.  Of course, i can't agree with the electorate all the time (G-d forbid), but I wonder just how much of what I deem reasonable is also "popular"?

Let's find out, shall we?

I've decided to offer my (self proclaimed) centrist-progressive ideas for consideration.  The topics are mostly/all hot button issues, and i certainly expect much disagreement on many of the suggestions.  Those disagreements are exactly what I'm in search of.  Since I respect people's ideas enough to ask for them, I would love to hear any and other points of view in an effort to substantiate my own by making them more well researched, examined and debated.

"Let us never fear to negotiate" - JFK

So here we go:

ID efficiency in the USA - Every citizen would use their Social Security number for every official document at every level of government.  Your passport, birth certificate, drivers license, social security card, voter id, health insurance card, school id, county id, library card, etc. would all use the same id#.  There are probably thousands of people in bureaucracy whose sole job is to keep track of all these different numbers?  Why?  This way, everything from your blood type to your driving record would be easily accessible to you from one central place - at which you could change your (heavily encrypted and multi-tiered) passcode at any time.  Sure there would be glitches, but look what we have now!

Voting - Why in the world is it easier to vote for American Idol then for President?  You should have the option to create an online account at the state.gov website for your state on which you could log in and vote from 12:01 AM until midnight on election day.  This is a slam dunk for democracy.  There is no reason for this to be delayed.  You would need tons less paper, volunteers and space.  Oh, by the way...how much fossil fuel is burned by folks driving back and forth to the polling place?  yes, quite a bit.  It would also mean countless hours saved in the middle of work days where people w
would normally be leaving to wait on a voting line.

The Speed limit - If the municipalities of our country want to raise money, they should have a bake sale.  Speed traps, roving patrols for no particular reason and byzantine traffic regulations are really only serving to drain people's pockets and hike insurance rates - sapping more money from the public that can ill afford to lose it.  Furthermore, the police who are so brave, dedicated and highly equipped to fight, solve, and prevent real crime(s) have much better things to do then cite someone for their taillight being out.  There are heroin deals being made and rapes being committed.  Let's keep our eyes on the ball, shall we?  75 mph is not too much to ask.

Abortion (a biggie) - Women are going to do with their pregnancies what they wish.  That's the fact.  Since they are, it should be done in a safe, professional manner which can (from a medical standpoint) be supervised and regulated for safety.  Any objection to this process usually comes from a moral position which is founded in religious doctrine.  I am for absolute and unbending removal of all religious reference from every level of government.  G-d should be in the heart, home, house of worship, marriage, parent/child relationship and any/everywhere else individuals would like to have it...but it should NOT be in the law(s) of the land.  Too many people's beliefs (or absence thereof) are too diverse and too sensitive to enshrine any of those tenets into law.  It's not necessary to have the hand of G-d guide our country.  The responsibility (like it or not) resides with us.

Campaign Finance - This is getting absurd.  Every campaign contribution should be limited to a certain amount of money per social security number, or tax id number for corporations.  Whatever that number is (maybe $1000 per person / $2000 per corporation), it should be very easy to track in this manner.  This idea is just a start, but the root cause of our elections' significance waning is campaign finance.  It must be fixed, and the only way for that to happen is grass roots, since no sitting politician in this climate would ever dare bite the hand that feeds them.

Gay Marriage - Two people should not have to ask anyone but each other to get married.  Since when is the government involved in this anyway?  Do we have to ask to have children?  To get divorced?  If the idea is (as some say) to preserve the sanctity of marriage, why not make divorce illegal?  There are far too many other things for the government to deal with than this issue which someday will not be an issue anymore (that's 100% guaranteed).  The time is coming.  It might as well be now.  "Justice delayed is justice DENIED" - Langston Hughes

Gays in the military - This very concept (banning people from serving bravely to defend their country simply because of their sexual orientation) is a criminal violation of civil rights.  I have not heard one single bit of argument to the contrary that was not based in solely religious or discriminatory rhetoric, neither one of which have any place in the defense of a country.  How can we fight to oust dictators because of their represive nature with soldiers whose silence is rooted in our own intolerance and repression?  Institutionalized, brutal hypocrisy leads to the downfall of civilizations.  We should learn this before it's too late.

Global Warming / Climate Change - Call it whatever you want.  Trace it's cause(s) to wherever you please.  It really doesn't matter if we're dead.  The temperature of the planet is changing, as are the winds, tides, and coastline(s).  We need to get consensus on what to do about these FACTS instead of arguing about their CAUSES.  It might mean less fossil fuels, more research, less waste, or building a ladder tall enough to reach Mars...but any way we slice the pie will not be good for our future generations if we rob them of a chance to have a habitable planet because we stood around rearranging the deck chairs on the SS ClimaTitanic.

Teachers - The only justifications to pay them so little are A) Because nothing is expected of them (hence the ridiculously low amount of teachers who are removed due to poor performance - B) Some group wants to keep the populous dumb - C) They are an easy mark, since education is such a low priority.  Whatever the reason, this shortfall in merit based compensation is maybe the best example of US short sightedness since the end of World War II.

Taxes - Taxes are not too high on their own.  Or too low.  They are judged as such (either way) based on what teh money is being spent to do.  How much money is too little to be counted as a waste?  Very few Americans I speak with put the percent waste they assume in the Federal budget at less than 33%.  what does that say about the people's faith in the government?  Taxation is best kept local, since localities know best where to spend the money.  The Federal government should only be taxing/spending for those areas which are inherently NATIONAL...such as defense, interstate transportation, and exploration or the sea and space, etc.

Maturation - There should be one age for military service, alcohol consumption, firearms purchase, mariage, etc.  Either you're an adult, or you're not.  It's that simple.

Marijuana - If alcohol is legal, so should marijuana be.  It's already legal in every sense other than the actual passing of the law.  It might as well be taxed (as cigarettes are) and use the money to educate people about it's (potential) dangers, along with those of liquor, cigarettes, etc.   Some of that money should also be used to educate people about the dangers of poor diet (diabetes, cholesterol, etc.).  The amount of money the government is spending to fight this issue is only slightly more absurd than the amount of money it could be making from the taxation and regulation of it as a legal industry.

War - The concept of "pre-emptive" war is perhaps the most dangerous I have ever experienced in any context, whether current or historical.  How many lives, how much infrastructure and useful assets have been wasted in the name of unjust wars?  It must be stopped with all deliberate speed; that means NOW.  The reason(s) for military action should be active, provocative, plainly seen and unavoidable by any other means.  A rush to harness the wind(s) of war is the mark of an ill-informed, poorly educated, overly hostile, recklessly ambitious populous that will ultimately reap the whirlwind.

Stay tuned for more...and please offer commentary and suggestions!

Spread the word!