- 07 Dec 2011 02:30
#13846569
An update concerning my evolving ideology. What label or labels would you give to this line of thinking. I personally call it either "centrism" since it seems to defy left and right.
ECONOMICS
Opposition to both socialism and free market capitalism, favoring the mixed economy.
Support for public health insurance for all, however retain private delivery and require providers to meet certain cost and service guidelines in order to partake in the policy. Allow those who want private care beyond the public system to purchase it themselves. Accept that rationing is going to happen in any health system, public or private, and ration wisely. Limit the length of patents on prescription drugs and invest public money into research and development of new drugs and treatments that will be available without patents from inception. Streamline FDA drug approval.
Maintain labor union rights and oppose right to work laws. Implement card check (Employee Free Choice Act) for union elections. Any employer who sacks anybody for legal union activity will have their business seized by the government and turned over directly to the workers, including any individual shop that is part of a larger corporation. Enterprises with fewer than ten employees and all cooperatives will be exempt from these regulations and allowed to recognize unions as they see fit. I include this exemption because I recognize small businesses could be prevented from growing with too many union demands. However, if a successful businessman has to go with a little bit less so his workers can have a decent life, then I see nothing wrong with unions.
Repeal NAFTA and other free trade agreements, end American involvement in the WTO and place a 25% tariff on all imported manufactured goods.
No amnesty for illegal immigrants, prosecute employers hiring illegals and sentence those who do so with full knowledge to one year in prison per offense. Cap future legal immigration at 250,000 per year, however exclude refugees from this requirement and don't count them toward the cap allow select illegal immigrants to get refugee status if they can prove their circumstances justify it.
Increase the retirement age to 70 for anybody below age 50. Oppose any and all attempts at privatization of Social Security.
Enact reasonable environmental regulations. Instead of setting up a complex cap and trade system we should simply set limits and enforce the law, balancing the realities of the need for some environmental regulation with the fact that having any economic activity is going to have to exploit the environment to some extent.
Sell off Federal lands that do not include valuable natural resources, environmentally sensitive sites, or military installations.
In order to wean America off foreign oil, improve mass transit and rail transport using an infrastructure bill and immediately start building new nuclear power plants.
Reform education along somewhat German lines with three different tracks for students whose talents lie in liberal education, those whose talents are in math and sciences, and for those who are more suited for technical work of varying skills ranging from manufacturing to computer programming. Instead of having one sized fits all higher education have separate types of schools emphasizing the three different areas. Emphasize apprenticeships in technical work as opposed to traditional classroom based education. Get mandatory liberal arts stuff out of the way before high school for those whose talents don't lie in those areas. We need to accept that some (if not most) kids are suited for working in factories and that it is actually a minority who need a traditional four year degree. By going along the line of thought that everybody needs to learn philosophy to get a decent job you are dumbing down liberal arts all while shutting out people from decent jobs who are not liberal arts inclined. Make all higher education free of charge.
Simplify the tax code and eliminate all loopholes and deductions. Institute three tax brackets of 0%, 15%, and 30% starting at wages of $0, $40,000 and $200,000 respectively. Tax capital gains at the exact same rate as wages. Institute a flat tax on corporate profits of 30% and make sure every corporation turning a profit pays this rate.
Institute a tax of 50% on inheritances over $1,000,000 and 100% for those over $10,000,000. People should have to work for their own money and we need to avoid class distinctions from rising up.
Sole proprietors and general partnerships will be taxed as wage earners.
Allow the easier setting up of cooperatives by setting up the legal methods to do so. A cooperative enterprise will be defined as an enterprise in which limited liability will be granted as long as the following conditions are met, 1. earnings are paid directly out of profit, 2. it is not publicly traded, 3. no individual stakeholder will be able to own more than four times as large a percentage as the lowest stakeholder. Under these circumstances co-operatives will be exempt from corporate taxation and all take home earnings of each stakeholder will be taxed as wages.
Forgive all personal debt in the USA and halt all foreclosures as a one time action. This is unfair to creditors but it is the sort of radical action that must be taken to boost the economy.
Institute a Tobin tax on financial transactions in order to decrease speculation and ban short selling permanently. On the flip side insider trading is a victimless crime and should be made legal.
Repeal Dodd-Frank and restore the wall between commercial and investment banking that was put in place by Glass-Steagall Act in the Great Depression. Cap bank assets to ensure that they are not too big too fail.
Keep the Federal Reserve in place, take all the gold at Fort Knox and sell it to libertarians and use the proceeds buy a bunch of copies Atlas Shrugged use them as fuel for a giant bonfire on the National Mall.
Except for unemployment insurance, limit welfare and food stamps to a strict lifetime limit of two years for the non-disabled and those below the retirement age. Make it easier for people to get out of poverty by making childcare programs available free of charge (so single mothers can find jobs) and give a housing stipend to full time students enrolled in higher education. Resident aliens will be forbidden from receiving welfare until they are citizens.
Raise the Federal minimum wage to $10.00 per hour and peg it to inflation with yearly increases for cost of living.
Make affordable housing available through the setting up of a national bank dealing with home loans (this shall also apply to business loans) which will limit interest charged. Give housing vouchers to the very poor to help pay fair market value rent. Ease restrictions on land use in order to drive down the cost of housing in various places.
Limit foreign ownership stakes in American based companies to 50%.
SOCIAL ISSUES
Ban abortion with the exception of where medical necessity requires it. Reduce the need for abortion through comprehensive sex education in public schools and the availability of free contraceptives.
Abolish capital punishment. Personally I see no problem with it morally but I don't trust human nature enough to risk an innocent person getting executed. I follow the logic that it is better to let 1000 guilty go free than let one innocent die. It is cheesy and perhaps flies in the face of my self proclaimed "pragmatic utilitarianism" but whatever. Commute death sentences to life without parole.
All those convicted of sex offenses involving children under 14 will be sentenced to life without parole.
Allow offenders not sentenced to life without parole to choose a sentence of hard labor in a penal colony in order to reduce their sentence by one day for every day served at hard labor.
I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to own guns but I don't think that grants an absolute right any more than the First Amendment grants the absolute right to shout, "Fire!" in a crowded theater or post a billboard containing pornographic images across the street from a park, school, or church. Keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and require licensing and registration. If you can pass a background check and get it registered though, go ahead and own a gun or two or ten. I know it isn't going to keep us completely safe and some psycho is going to get past the background check but some psycho is going to get an illegal gun anyway if guns were illegal. Nothing is black and white and this issue shouldn't be either.
Make English the official language of the US government.
Oppose gay marriage but allow gay civil unions.
Ban affirmative action in public institutions and subject private employers to civil rights laws that would apply equally against affirmative action as they would against discriminating against a minority.
Legalize marijuana and other soft drugs tax and regulate it like liquor and tobacco. Keep hard drugs like heroin illegal and have a zero tolerance policy. If you get caught with heroin you go to prison for a long, long time. Say ten years. If you get caught selling it you get life without parole. We should deter people from using these things in the first place. Marijuana is no big deal though. Some will say I'm being inconsistent but I don't really give a rip. There is a reason we tolerate some pollution, but there is also a reason that in spite of the fact we tolerate some pollution, most would say we shouldn't tolerate dumping nuclear sludge into a river.
Lower the voting age from 18 to 16, lower the drinking age from 21 to 19. (I say 19 because America doesn't have a European drinking culture and 18 year old high school seniors will just buy it for their 15 year old friends, if we adopt a more rational attitude toward alcohol I'd be open to lowering it further).
I have mixed feelings about so-called "nanny state" regulations. In terms of smoking bans I personally smoke cigars but see the merit in banning it for the sake of employees. I say if over 50% of the business done is related to tobacco or tobacco related products then allow smoking in the establishment. I tend to think seat belt and helmet laws actually do not reduce health care costs as is commonly claimed, since people are more likely to die and are less of a strain on Social Security. While I feel sorry for their families stupid gets what stupid deserves, so I oppose seat belt and helmet laws. I would support them if I were convinced they saved health care costs. I have mixed views on gambling and I do not think highly of it in terms of revenue and think casino gambling attracts crime. I oppose any form of state run gambling such as lotteries and as for casino gambling, I think it should be up to the local community but I would oppose it in my community. However I don't think the government should be raiding poker games in private homes or banning online gaming, if it is going on in the privacy of somebody's home we don't need SWAT teams bursting in, as sometimes happens. I don't think government has any right to regulate what you eat.
Repeal the Patriot Act, which is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment.
I favor more or less unrestricted free speech in terms of the press, broadcasters, video games, and Internet. Of course there are limits, as I mentioned with the situation of obscene billboards in public and the like. Some extreme forms of pornography can be banned too. Other than that I am in favor of a liberal interpretation of the First Amendment and oppose censorship more often than not. If you are offended, don't read the book and turn the TV off. Burning the American flag should be legal, because to me the men who fought to establish this country were fighting for the right to do that and not allowing flag burning dishonors their memory more than burning it does.
I favor separation of church and state, however at the same time I do not think that the state should be involved in the church any more than the church should be involved in the state. I am totally opposed to taxing churches, for instance. On the other hand I don't understand how allowing public nativity scenes, crosses in public cemeteries, or children VOLUNTARILY praying in school violates this. To me separation of church and state means tax dollars cannot finance a state church but it doesn't mean that any public mention of religion should be frowned upon all the while liberal professors get state funds to preach about atheism in the classroom.
FOREIGN POLICY
Adopt a foreign policy of realism, as opposed to head in the sand dovish policy of the left and of libertarians, or the equally naive hawkish democratic Trotskyism of neo-cons.
Take American troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Promote stability in the Middle East over "democracy" in which radical Muslims will simply win all the elections. Some regions of the world are simply not ready for democracy and the Middle East is one of them.
A two state solution for Israel and Palestine is ideal, however do not risk endless American lives for Israel. In other words work toward the two state solution with the recognition that Israel chose to set itself up in the most anti-semitic region of the world and if it provokes those countries into attacking it that is a risk it took upon itself.
End all foreign aid that is not direct humanitarian aid. In other words no aid to foreign governments. America will donate food to an African country that is starving, but it isn't going to give some tinpot dictator one billion dollars so he can go build himself a palace.
Limit American military action to direct defense of America and its possessions and to occasional participation in humanitarian missions in times of major humanitarian crises.
Pass a constitutional amendment declaring America's sovereignty and prohibit foreign treaties from superseding international law. End American involvement in the United Nations.
Close down all overseas military bases not located in American territories.
Downsize the military to projected needs for a foreign policy of national defense and end wasteful programs like new fighter jet programs.
Abolish Selective Service registration, make reservist training readily available instead.
Use intelligence services and counter-terrorist operatives to fight against terrorists as opposed to conventional warfare using large armies.
Set up a missile defense shield.
An end to no-bid defense contracts. Tax defense contractor profits at the same 30% rate proposed above. Defense contracts will go to the lower bidder if certain qualities are met.
GOVERNMENT REFORM
Lower the voting age to 16, as mentioned above.
Make the US Senate representative based on population. Increase the size of the Senate and give every state one senator plus one senator for every five members of Congress. Theoretically the House would be fixed at 435 and the Senate would change in size slightly every two years. For instance today California has 53 congress members and two senators. Wyoming has one congress member and two senators. Under my plan California will have eleven senators and Wyoming will have only one. A state in the middle like Michigan (at 15) would have four senators. Senators will continue to be elected at large.
Abolish the electoral college and elect the presidency with a French style runoff system in which anybody who gets on the ballot with one million signatures will be able to run in the election and if nobody gets over 51% there will be a runoff between the top two vote getters.
Limit Representatives to six two year terms (12 years), senators to two six year terms (12 years) and the president to a single 6 year term.
Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices shall serve ten year terms and be limited to renomination to two terms, totaling twenty years.
Publicly funded elections with a $1000 donation limit and funds matching dollar for dollar.
Prohibit corporations, labor unions, and non individuals from donating money to candidates.
Ban lobbyists from donating any money to campaigns or giving gifts to elected officials.
Allow non-natural born Americans who have been citizens for twenty years to become president or vice president.
End the filibuster in the Senate.
ECONOMICS
Opposition to both socialism and free market capitalism, favoring the mixed economy.
Support for public health insurance for all, however retain private delivery and require providers to meet certain cost and service guidelines in order to partake in the policy. Allow those who want private care beyond the public system to purchase it themselves. Accept that rationing is going to happen in any health system, public or private, and ration wisely. Limit the length of patents on prescription drugs and invest public money into research and development of new drugs and treatments that will be available without patents from inception. Streamline FDA drug approval.
Maintain labor union rights and oppose right to work laws. Implement card check (Employee Free Choice Act) for union elections. Any employer who sacks anybody for legal union activity will have their business seized by the government and turned over directly to the workers, including any individual shop that is part of a larger corporation. Enterprises with fewer than ten employees and all cooperatives will be exempt from these regulations and allowed to recognize unions as they see fit. I include this exemption because I recognize small businesses could be prevented from growing with too many union demands. However, if a successful businessman has to go with a little bit less so his workers can have a decent life, then I see nothing wrong with unions.
Repeal NAFTA and other free trade agreements, end American involvement in the WTO and place a 25% tariff on all imported manufactured goods.
No amnesty for illegal immigrants, prosecute employers hiring illegals and sentence those who do so with full knowledge to one year in prison per offense. Cap future legal immigration at 250,000 per year, however exclude refugees from this requirement and don't count them toward the cap allow select illegal immigrants to get refugee status if they can prove their circumstances justify it.
Increase the retirement age to 70 for anybody below age 50. Oppose any and all attempts at privatization of Social Security.
Enact reasonable environmental regulations. Instead of setting up a complex cap and trade system we should simply set limits and enforce the law, balancing the realities of the need for some environmental regulation with the fact that having any economic activity is going to have to exploit the environment to some extent.
Sell off Federal lands that do not include valuable natural resources, environmentally sensitive sites, or military installations.
In order to wean America off foreign oil, improve mass transit and rail transport using an infrastructure bill and immediately start building new nuclear power plants.
Reform education along somewhat German lines with three different tracks for students whose talents lie in liberal education, those whose talents are in math and sciences, and for those who are more suited for technical work of varying skills ranging from manufacturing to computer programming. Instead of having one sized fits all higher education have separate types of schools emphasizing the three different areas. Emphasize apprenticeships in technical work as opposed to traditional classroom based education. Get mandatory liberal arts stuff out of the way before high school for those whose talents don't lie in those areas. We need to accept that some (if not most) kids are suited for working in factories and that it is actually a minority who need a traditional four year degree. By going along the line of thought that everybody needs to learn philosophy to get a decent job you are dumbing down liberal arts all while shutting out people from decent jobs who are not liberal arts inclined. Make all higher education free of charge.
Simplify the tax code and eliminate all loopholes and deductions. Institute three tax brackets of 0%, 15%, and 30% starting at wages of $0, $40,000 and $200,000 respectively. Tax capital gains at the exact same rate as wages. Institute a flat tax on corporate profits of 30% and make sure every corporation turning a profit pays this rate.
Institute a tax of 50% on inheritances over $1,000,000 and 100% for those over $10,000,000. People should have to work for their own money and we need to avoid class distinctions from rising up.
Sole proprietors and general partnerships will be taxed as wage earners.
Allow the easier setting up of cooperatives by setting up the legal methods to do so. A cooperative enterprise will be defined as an enterprise in which limited liability will be granted as long as the following conditions are met, 1. earnings are paid directly out of profit, 2. it is not publicly traded, 3. no individual stakeholder will be able to own more than four times as large a percentage as the lowest stakeholder. Under these circumstances co-operatives will be exempt from corporate taxation and all take home earnings of each stakeholder will be taxed as wages.
Forgive all personal debt in the USA and halt all foreclosures as a one time action. This is unfair to creditors but it is the sort of radical action that must be taken to boost the economy.
Institute a Tobin tax on financial transactions in order to decrease speculation and ban short selling permanently. On the flip side insider trading is a victimless crime and should be made legal.
Repeal Dodd-Frank and restore the wall between commercial and investment banking that was put in place by Glass-Steagall Act in the Great Depression. Cap bank assets to ensure that they are not too big too fail.
Keep the Federal Reserve in place, take all the gold at Fort Knox and sell it to libertarians and use the proceeds buy a bunch of copies Atlas Shrugged use them as fuel for a giant bonfire on the National Mall.
Except for unemployment insurance, limit welfare and food stamps to a strict lifetime limit of two years for the non-disabled and those below the retirement age. Make it easier for people to get out of poverty by making childcare programs available free of charge (so single mothers can find jobs) and give a housing stipend to full time students enrolled in higher education. Resident aliens will be forbidden from receiving welfare until they are citizens.
Raise the Federal minimum wage to $10.00 per hour and peg it to inflation with yearly increases for cost of living.
Make affordable housing available through the setting up of a national bank dealing with home loans (this shall also apply to business loans) which will limit interest charged. Give housing vouchers to the very poor to help pay fair market value rent. Ease restrictions on land use in order to drive down the cost of housing in various places.
Limit foreign ownership stakes in American based companies to 50%.
SOCIAL ISSUES
Ban abortion with the exception of where medical necessity requires it. Reduce the need for abortion through comprehensive sex education in public schools and the availability of free contraceptives.
Abolish capital punishment. Personally I see no problem with it morally but I don't trust human nature enough to risk an innocent person getting executed. I follow the logic that it is better to let 1000 guilty go free than let one innocent die. It is cheesy and perhaps flies in the face of my self proclaimed "pragmatic utilitarianism" but whatever. Commute death sentences to life without parole.
All those convicted of sex offenses involving children under 14 will be sentenced to life without parole.
Allow offenders not sentenced to life without parole to choose a sentence of hard labor in a penal colony in order to reduce their sentence by one day for every day served at hard labor.
I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to own guns but I don't think that grants an absolute right any more than the First Amendment grants the absolute right to shout, "Fire!" in a crowded theater or post a billboard containing pornographic images across the street from a park, school, or church. Keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and require licensing and registration. If you can pass a background check and get it registered though, go ahead and own a gun or two or ten. I know it isn't going to keep us completely safe and some psycho is going to get past the background check but some psycho is going to get an illegal gun anyway if guns were illegal. Nothing is black and white and this issue shouldn't be either.
Make English the official language of the US government.
Oppose gay marriage but allow gay civil unions.
Ban affirmative action in public institutions and subject private employers to civil rights laws that would apply equally against affirmative action as they would against discriminating against a minority.
Legalize marijuana and other soft drugs tax and regulate it like liquor and tobacco. Keep hard drugs like heroin illegal and have a zero tolerance policy. If you get caught with heroin you go to prison for a long, long time. Say ten years. If you get caught selling it you get life without parole. We should deter people from using these things in the first place. Marijuana is no big deal though. Some will say I'm being inconsistent but I don't really give a rip. There is a reason we tolerate some pollution, but there is also a reason that in spite of the fact we tolerate some pollution, most would say we shouldn't tolerate dumping nuclear sludge into a river.
Lower the voting age from 18 to 16, lower the drinking age from 21 to 19. (I say 19 because America doesn't have a European drinking culture and 18 year old high school seniors will just buy it for their 15 year old friends, if we adopt a more rational attitude toward alcohol I'd be open to lowering it further).
I have mixed feelings about so-called "nanny state" regulations. In terms of smoking bans I personally smoke cigars but see the merit in banning it for the sake of employees. I say if over 50% of the business done is related to tobacco or tobacco related products then allow smoking in the establishment. I tend to think seat belt and helmet laws actually do not reduce health care costs as is commonly claimed, since people are more likely to die and are less of a strain on Social Security. While I feel sorry for their families stupid gets what stupid deserves, so I oppose seat belt and helmet laws. I would support them if I were convinced they saved health care costs. I have mixed views on gambling and I do not think highly of it in terms of revenue and think casino gambling attracts crime. I oppose any form of state run gambling such as lotteries and as for casino gambling, I think it should be up to the local community but I would oppose it in my community. However I don't think the government should be raiding poker games in private homes or banning online gaming, if it is going on in the privacy of somebody's home we don't need SWAT teams bursting in, as sometimes happens. I don't think government has any right to regulate what you eat.
Repeal the Patriot Act, which is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment.
I favor more or less unrestricted free speech in terms of the press, broadcasters, video games, and Internet. Of course there are limits, as I mentioned with the situation of obscene billboards in public and the like. Some extreme forms of pornography can be banned too. Other than that I am in favor of a liberal interpretation of the First Amendment and oppose censorship more often than not. If you are offended, don't read the book and turn the TV off. Burning the American flag should be legal, because to me the men who fought to establish this country were fighting for the right to do that and not allowing flag burning dishonors their memory more than burning it does.
I favor separation of church and state, however at the same time I do not think that the state should be involved in the church any more than the church should be involved in the state. I am totally opposed to taxing churches, for instance. On the other hand I don't understand how allowing public nativity scenes, crosses in public cemeteries, or children VOLUNTARILY praying in school violates this. To me separation of church and state means tax dollars cannot finance a state church but it doesn't mean that any public mention of religion should be frowned upon all the while liberal professors get state funds to preach about atheism in the classroom.
FOREIGN POLICY
Adopt a foreign policy of realism, as opposed to head in the sand dovish policy of the left and of libertarians, or the equally naive hawkish democratic Trotskyism of neo-cons.
Take American troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Promote stability in the Middle East over "democracy" in which radical Muslims will simply win all the elections. Some regions of the world are simply not ready for democracy and the Middle East is one of them.
A two state solution for Israel and Palestine is ideal, however do not risk endless American lives for Israel. In other words work toward the two state solution with the recognition that Israel chose to set itself up in the most anti-semitic region of the world and if it provokes those countries into attacking it that is a risk it took upon itself.
End all foreign aid that is not direct humanitarian aid. In other words no aid to foreign governments. America will donate food to an African country that is starving, but it isn't going to give some tinpot dictator one billion dollars so he can go build himself a palace.
Limit American military action to direct defense of America and its possessions and to occasional participation in humanitarian missions in times of major humanitarian crises.
Pass a constitutional amendment declaring America's sovereignty and prohibit foreign treaties from superseding international law. End American involvement in the United Nations.
Close down all overseas military bases not located in American territories.
Downsize the military to projected needs for a foreign policy of national defense and end wasteful programs like new fighter jet programs.
Abolish Selective Service registration, make reservist training readily available instead.
Use intelligence services and counter-terrorist operatives to fight against terrorists as opposed to conventional warfare using large armies.
Set up a missile defense shield.
An end to no-bid defense contracts. Tax defense contractor profits at the same 30% rate proposed above. Defense contracts will go to the lower bidder if certain qualities are met.
GOVERNMENT REFORM
Lower the voting age to 16, as mentioned above.
Make the US Senate representative based on population. Increase the size of the Senate and give every state one senator plus one senator for every five members of Congress. Theoretically the House would be fixed at 435 and the Senate would change in size slightly every two years. For instance today California has 53 congress members and two senators. Wyoming has one congress member and two senators. Under my plan California will have eleven senators and Wyoming will have only one. A state in the middle like Michigan (at 15) would have four senators. Senators will continue to be elected at large.
Abolish the electoral college and elect the presidency with a French style runoff system in which anybody who gets on the ballot with one million signatures will be able to run in the election and if nobody gets over 51% there will be a runoff between the top two vote getters.
Limit Representatives to six two year terms (12 years), senators to two six year terms (12 years) and the president to a single 6 year term.
Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices shall serve ten year terms and be limited to renomination to two terms, totaling twenty years.
Publicly funded elections with a $1000 donation limit and funds matching dollar for dollar.
Prohibit corporations, labor unions, and non individuals from donating money to candidates.
Ban lobbyists from donating any money to campaigns or giving gifts to elected officials.
Allow non-natural born Americans who have been citizens for twenty years to become president or vice president.
End the filibuster in the Senate.
- By ingliz
- By annatar1914
- By Unthinking Majority
- By Godstud