Hypothetically, one of us to (rectify all wrongs) "through our hat into the ring" for State office..

What would your platform be?

- what kind of candidate would U envision yourself to be'...?
- what trajectory would you envision...
- what would your starting 'tapestry' O' change to be...?

 

I'd run on small government, states responsibilities (not rights), anti-corruption and getting the feds out of anything not explicitly put in Article I, Section 8. In other words, I would lose the primary.

 

Do I want to do what's best or do I want to win?

 

I would run on a platform of educating the people on the differences between, "through" and. "throw".

 

I was once quoted by Jack Cafferty, on the Cafferty Files, on CNN. It was funny because I never do anything like this. I heard him ask a question of a related nature to this thread. I spontaneously jumped on their website and replied "If politicians did what voters want them to do, they would never get reelected."

About an hour later I was working away and had almost forgotten about my uncharacteristic response. Suddenly I heard him reading my response on TV. WHAT?!?!

The point being, what is really best is generally not popular. And most people say they want things that would result in disaster if actually implemented. Problems are usually complicated and can't be solved with pop solutions. That's why we elect representatives to make it a full a time job to study the issues.

 

... and prostrate and prostate.

 

As Emperor of the World I would convert the majority of the world to use of algae-derived, carbon-neutral fuels, in five years.

In the US I would impose a risk-based tax on risky or unhealthy lifestyle purchases, and use this to pay for health care. Just sugar alone accounts for 1/3 of all health care costs - about $1 Trillion per year. So simply taxing sugar at the point of purchase could pay for 1/3 of all health care. Doing the math, that results in a tax of about $20 per pound.

Keep in mind that we are all paying for the cost of sugar now at a rate of $20 per pound, through the cost of health care insurance, and or taxes.

Apply this to junk and fast food, salt, processed foods, added fats.... all of which could be done at the wholesale level to simplify the system. The same for cigarettes, booze, pot, skydiving, skiing, motorcycles, etc etc. The insurance companies already have highly developed statistics for risky activities. These same numbers can be used to impose a tax on purchases to pay for the associated health care cost risk. It is a pay as you go, pay as you choose health insurance plan. It is fair. It holds people accountable for their choices. But it doesn't restrict choice or impose putative taxes. It isn't a moral judgement. It is just a practical method of paying for health care cost based on the actual risk; a method of paying for your choices in a fair and balance manner, so I don't have to pay for your choices through increased insurance costs, or taxes.

I've estimated that these taxes alone could reduce the cost of health care by around 50%.

 

I mentioned this to my cousin, who lives in France. He said you pay for the health care insurance risk for skiing, when you buy a lift ticket. So that is is great example of how it can be put into practice.

 

Why not Through and threw?

 

Work to convert large cities to a combination of rail and personal electric vehicle use.

Rail cars design to accept small, personal electric vehicles, solves the problem of range and speed for small electric vehicles. It also reduces the load on highways, helping to reduce gridlock, and improves the local air quality. Simply drive to the nearest rail stop. Then drive onto the train without ever exiting your vehicle, for a high-speed trip to key distribution points in the city. From there you drive to your destination. A relatively expensive classic car can be traded in for an inexpensive to purchase and operate, electric vehicle. The typical suburban family could get by with one regular car and one small PEV.

 

Amend the Constitution:

Define a "person" to be a living being, and not a corporation.

Roll back the structure of the government to more of a Federation of States and do away with much of Federal Law. In effect, allow States to overrule Federal Law. And greatly reduce the power of the presidency and the Federal Government. The US no longer works. Trump is proof of that. And the South never stopped fighting the Civil War. Religious extremists cry about Sharia Law, which isn't a threat, but seek to impose Biblical Law at every opportunity. So fine, let places like Alabama have their own laws based on the Bible. Other States can choose to live in the 21st Century.

But most importantly, amend the Constitution to allow Secession. Begin implementing an exit plan for the US, rather than waiting for the next civil war. At least agree to a peaceful deconstruction and let each State make it's own choices.

 

Solve the plastics problem: The amount of plastic in the oceans in some parts of the world, exceeds or will soon by weight, the total amount of fish. China has simply been stockpiling garbage for profit and not recycling the plastics. Now they won't accept the world's trash.

Whether it be that plastics need to be limited in type, or all made biodegradable, or a fee built into the cost of the material that covers 100% of recycling costs, or the replacement of plastics with paper and other alternative products, the plastics problem need to be solved.

 

Require that the military take over security operations for every nuclear power plant. Treat any nuclear plant or handling facility like a weapons site, because it is!

I will never forget that even right after 911, security cameras showing private guards at nuclear power plants sleeping on the job, were common.

 

Another option that keeps crossing my mind is the idea of a City State. The great divide in the US is not so much North and South, or State by State, but cities vs rural. So, allow the largest cities to assume the status of an independent State that can make its own laws. Rural areas outside of the City can in turn have their own laws.

 

Divert the $10 billion in farm subsidies for ethanol and other shams, to feed the 12 million people in the US who don't regularly get enough food to eat. This amounts to about $20 a week for fresh vegetables, for every hungry person in the US.

 

Legalize all drugs. Redirect all of the money put towards incarceration and apprehension of non-violent drug offenders, towards free drug treatment programs and job training.

Just the incarceration costs $20 billion a year.

Impose significant tax increases on the uber rich. After WWII, during all of those years when "America was great", the top marginal tax rate was as high as 92%.

10% of the nation holds about 80% of the wealth. This is unacceptable. The wealth needs to be redistributed through taxation.

 

If it were within my power, I'd make you Emperor of the loosely allied states of America.

I don't know if you'd last long though. I think that special interest groups couldn't afford to let you run things.

 

I considered going into politics. I decided that I would most certainly end up dead. But that was because of where we lived.

As it was I ended up going to war with the local KKK. LOL! I had no idea what I had stumbled into. Even the local cops were involved. But thanks to the DOJ, not a problem. It only took one phone call and that was the end of that!

 

So we have bottomless pit of self-proclaimed experts here. Yet when asked for constructive solutions to real problems, and not just BUILD THE WALL, or everyone should have a closet full of guns, not a peep from the right.

That's because in order to have ideas, you have to be able to think for yourself.

 

Dr. Savage has nailed it, imho, 'Borders, Language, Culture'... Combine that message with the bold unflappability of trump & the depth of insight / articulation of Ted Cruz; that is the mold of candidacy that I would try to emulate. (go figures, Michelle Malkin is my 'role model', lol).

 

I hear ya, & agree to some extent...
I submit (using Trump 2016 as an example) that the 'popularity litmus test' is way too fleeting & inherently deleterious... Why not run on the rudiments of our founding - the (imho) un-impeachable tenets of our Constitutional Republic & not the fickle whimsies of an uninformed, MSM barraged constituency! Truth rings clear as a bell & even inconvenient - unpopular - troublesome truth sets the mind at ease; knowing that there is an undergirding of reality to it... Run on that & win or loose the victor has REAL power; not the temporally elusive, pandering power bestowed for a moment - by the masses.
(As I always am prone to do... 'Gladiator moment', lol)

 

It would be best if we followed the wisdom of HG Wells and put scientists and engineers in charge of the world.
Things to Come - 1936


It tells the story of how trumpers destroyed the world. But it rose from the ashes thanks to California liberal academics.

 

Sorry HWGA, I was comatose after the 1st 10 sec... perhaps you should just give us the 'Cliff'sNotes' version, lol...

 

As a metaphor, I wasn't kidding.

The full name is The Shape of Things to Come.

 

- Prior to receiving a state issued
Sec. 245a.2 Application for temporary residence. | USCIS
identification card, applicant is automatically put in the 'queue' for a Concealed Carry permit. A snippet from MY political platform, lol...