So, I was nominated for Newsvine User President, ran in the primaries and have officially made the general election.
Here is the platform I ran on:
The proper role of government is to protect the rights of its citizens. My presidency would be focused on turning the country from the nanny-state to the country of self-suffiency. I refuse to handle your business for you. That is your job. I will be there to make sure you get the chance to succeed. But I am not going to hold your hand. I am not going to promise you lots of new entitlements to get you to vote for me. In fact, I am promising that there will be less government “assistance” in your life. You can do this without the government. Millions have before and millions can again.
Think of me as the anti-Hillary. I want to be on my own and I think you do too.
In my opinion, it is very important that the citizens of a city, county and state should be there for one another, when a person is in need. But the government should not compel a citizen to help out where he does not want to help. Charity will be the safety net for those who require help. First lean on yourself. Then your family. Then the church. If you can’t make ends meet with those three on your side, welcome to the military. That is the only option open as far as federal government assistance. There will be no handouts. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Let’s get down to business:
First thing I would put in place is the Fair Tax. Now people can keep all the fruits of their labor and choose to pay taxes through purchases.
Second, let’s trim down Washington a bit. If you work in the following Departments/agencies, you will want to get your resumes ready. I’m sure the state governments are going to be hiring:
- Agriculture
- Commerce
- Education
- Energy
- Health and Human Resources
- HUD
- Interior
- Labor
- Transportation – (We’ll keep the Coast Guard. They will be the lone survivors of the Dept. of Transportation. We’ll finally give them to the Department of Defense.)
- Corps of Engineers
- FEMA
- EPA
- NASA
- SBA
Seems a bit much, huh? I’m not done. Also, no more DEA. They won’t be needed on the federal level as the legality of drugs will be left up to the states.
Social Security is gone. The money people have paid in will be returned to them, via installments. Not all at once. We didn’t give it all at once. You want a nice retirement, you better handle your money right. The government is not your IRA manager.
Medicare and Medicaid do more harm than good. Say goodbye to it.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has always sounded like a great store to shop at, but a bad government agency. Deleted.
No federal welfare. If the states want to enable its citizens, it can vote to bankrupt itself. The federal government has no role in providing food for its people. That goes for businesses too. No subsidies. If you can’t make it on your own, someone else will in your place. Maybe you can work for them and learn something.
The money saved from these cuts will go directly to the loans America has. Once America is out of debt, taxes will be lowered.
The Military
Across the board wage increases. I would have the starting pay for an E-1 ground pounder up from $14,595/year to $32,000/year, or the average teacher’s starting salary.
If you serve in the miltary, you have free health care for life at the health care provider of your choice. No more of these VA hospitals. It is your health care, you should choose. The VA will just be there as a liason between the health care provider and the funds for the care.
If you serve in the military, the country will pay 100% of your college tuition at any school you choose to attend, regardless of religous affiliation. That is 100% of all education, up to your Doctorate.
Our military does not need to be stationed in foreign countries. All military stationed abroad, not in combat, will be brought back to America and stationed on the southern and northern borders. All personel will be trained as MPs and will patrol the borders. The Border Patrol will become another memory.
I would also emphasize education and training. I would want to increase the size of the military, in order to increase our reserves and the number of special ops squads in all the services.
Intelligence
I want to know what my enemies ate for breakfaast and if their stool was loose because of it. Intel is vastly important. It will be respected and funded. Protection of its citizens from outside aggression is one of the roles of government. Let’s do it right.
Justice
Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito…expect more of the same.
Local and state police will not receive any money from the federal government.
Some other things just off the top of my head: I think I would end the Cuban embargo. Government owned land would be auctioned off and the proceeds used to pay for the Social Security debts. I would not take a salary, as I would have a place to live, a ride and food.
Neal Boortz would be my Press Secretary. Just to see him handle Helen Thomas.
Oh, Noah gets to be Secretary of Sarcasm and Satire. His only responsibility is to mock anyone who opposes me.
Len Dawson can sleep in the Lincoln bedroom whenever he wants.
That’s a start. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else. Ask questions if you have them.
PS – I know the President can’t do this all himself.
There it is. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Oh, if you want, join Newsvine and vote me up.
