First thing, I dont condone political posts on here, and this is political no matter how you look at it.
I'll violate my golden rule just once, hopefully this will remain civil
We need socialized medical care. Thats a basic right, just like free speech, freedom of religon, etc... We are not in the 18th century, we are in the 21st century. We are advanced enough to be able to make sure ALL children recieve the best medical care possible. It should not be true that any child has to suffer with inadequate medical care because of their parents neglect or inability to afford insurance. same goes for adults, medical care is a RIGHT, not a privilege
I think EVERY citizen should serve a minimum of 2 years public service after graduating HS. Thats everyone...no deferments for college, special allowances because your father has $$ or is a senator or mayor or whatever. You can choose to go into the military, or a civilian branch of service. You serve two years, you get two years of FREE advanced education, 4 years gets you 4 years of free school. EVERYONE serves, period.
We need the government to step up and fund the infrastructure in this country better, and stop wasting $$ overseas on ill advised military adventures that return hundreths of pennies on the dollar of investment. We dont own the world, and it's not our responsibility to ensure everyone is safe from tyranny. You need our help, request it and we'll see what we can do, and what you've done for us in the past. If you like to oppose us at every turn in our diplomatic efforts, dont expect any help from us when that 8.5 earthquake hits.
We need to protect our borders, and insure eveyone here is here legally. It's a great disservice to all of those who enter this country legally and follow all the rules to let those who choose to bypass those rules stay and even benefit from those of us who pay taxes.
We need to aggressively persue our enemies, but do so in a way that does not alienate our allies. the first Gulf war is an excellent example of this, this excurrsion into Iraq is exactly what we should not do. We need to finsh the job in Afganistan and get out...the Soviet Union learned that country is a quagmire you can never get out of cleanly. It's been that way for centuries.
You get thrown in jail, you work. Not sitting around thinkin about what scam you are going to run when you get out...hard physical labor for your term and maybe you pick up a skill so you get a job after you get out. I believe in the 3 strikes rule...three offenses and you get life of hard labor, with a lottery every month where a certain small percentage of these hard-core criminals gets the death sentence.
We need a graduated income tax, no flat tax deal. You benefit from this country's freedoms, you give back to it. You make more than 10 million a year as a individual, your rate is 50%. Includes all type of income. No tax shelters, no incorporating yourself. One of the richest men in this country is Warren Buffet, and he's on record that the tax rates he pays are obscenely low. Dont like the tax rate, go to another country and make your living there. you make that much money, you can afford to pay the taxes to help the less fortunate. I'm willing to pay more, and i dont make anywhere near 300K a year. Nobody needs that much $$ anyway, it just breeds greed. People need to stop valueing the dollar as GOD. Give back to the country that enabled you to succeed. Start a education fund for innercity or poor country kids, donate some of your time to help those less fortunate than you.
Want to go on welfare, be prepared to go thru testing to see if you are able bodied to work. If you can work, then you earn that welfare check. You can answer phones from home if you have little kids, we can use you somehow. You like popping kids out without any consideration for their future? We can get a court ordered sterilization.
Want a divorce? It wont be easy, and you WILL pay for the kids future, i dont care if it's the mom or dad that the kids live with. Dont want to pay, strike one of my 3 strikes rule. that will entice the vast majority of those deadbeats to pay their child support or maybe work on their marriage a little harder to avoid the divorce in the first palce
Gas guzzler taxes, helmet laws for bikes, sales taxes...all for them. Your actions do have consequences on others, help pay for them. You want that 12.2 MPG Viper, you can afford the extra $$ to help fund public transit to reduce congestion and pollution. Maybe you'll never ride it, but the air will be a bit cleaner, and the congestion on the roads will be less.
You want to own a gun? fine, i have no problem with that, but be prepared to go thru screening, wait a little bit to make sure you are not a criminal or a nut case. No automatic weapons, assault rifles, etc...no good use for those things except to kill people. You can hunt with a bolt action rifle or a shot gun, You need to carry a piece, again, be prepared to justify that need. if you get caught with a handgun and dont have the permit...strike two, mandatory 5 year sentence.
Term limits..YES, legal $$ limits on lawsuits...YES. Provisions for not allowing lobbyists from entering government and vice-versa...YES.
I've already said too much
One last thing
You believe in your GOD, I believe in mine (or nothing if thats the case). Dont tell me I'm less patriotic because of my beliefs, or what part of the country i live in. I love this country just as much as you, and I'm not stupid, ignorant, or immoral just because I dont see things like you do or voted for someone you dont agee with. I respect your opinion, you respect mine. Oh, and EMBRACE diversity, it's what made this country so unique. It's a different world today than it was just 30 years ago, I see the difference in my children, and I'm damn proud of how far it's come and i believe our best times are coming. We've always been able to do our best in the most trying of times, to sacrifice to better our country, as long as we come together, and not split apart.
