“Then I’ll get on my knees and pray that we don’t get fooled again.” (The Who)

 

Introduction

This site is created to encourage US citizens to move to the middle on political, economic, social and environmental issues.  The extreme left and extreme right have polarized our country to the point that the government is at a stalemate where nothing constructive is accomplished.  Most US citizens live and work based on common sense principles and reside in the middle politically.  They need their government to create an environment where it’s citizens can thrive.  They want a government that is big enough to protect and defend them but not too big to complicate their daily lives.  Most people want everyone to pull their own weight and be personally responsible without depending on government handouts.  Obviously, people who are physically disabled or mentally handicapped need help and if they can’t get help locally, the federal government should step in to help.

Corporations and businesses also need to act responsibly and grow a heart and soul.  Some corporations have become to big to care.  These organizations need to act responsibly, not only to their stockholders/owners, but also to their employees, customers and the environment.  Without these positive relationships, businesses are doomed to failure in the long run.  More on this later.

Hopefully, this blog will give voice to middle America and those who participate will bring reason and common sense to light and enlighten legislators and politicians to what is important to the majority in the middle.  This blog will also upset people on the far right as well as people on the far left by supporting both licenses for guns and licenses (ID) to vote.  We require licenses to drive, to fish, to operate a business and for other rights and privileges of citizenship, so to require licenses to vote (to confirm citizenship) and own a gun (to pass background checks and competency test) are not unreasonable.

In this blog there are sections on jobs, healthcare, social security, education, gun control and government reform, all of which need to be redesigned to make them politically and economically viable.

These are the sections and topics included in this blog:                                                           1.  Jobs, the way to prosperity and less government dependence                                               2.  The economy and life necessities                                                                                        3.  Corporate responsibility as a way to share the wealth                                                     4.  Healthcare including the cost side                                                                                           5.  Immigration, good fences make good neighbors                                                               6.  Government reform from the Senate to Federal Agencies                                               7.  Cure the environment with alternative energy and penalties for polluters                   8.  Fix Social Security by improving incomes and eliminating leaks                                      9.  Education and student lending can be improved                                                          10. There can be a middle ground for gun control                                                                                                           11. Our flag, the symbol of freedom, democracy and free speech                                            12. Criminal Justice Reform

1. Jobs

One of our top priorities has to be good jobs to help citizens keep up with the increasing cost of living and move more people into the middle class.  We don’t need more service jobs.  We need good paying jobs, jobs in durable goods production, such as, in the auto industry, appliance industry and computer manufacturing.  A lot of this production has moved off shore.  We need to bring them back on shore and to cities where unemployment/underemployment is high, which will help rebuild our work force and our cities.  Retraining the work force must also be a priority.

One way to do this is to reemphasize a “Buy America” attitude.  US citizens must realize that when they buy foreign made products, it hurts us all.  The loss of jobs, which leads to the loss of income, which leads to the loss of purchasing power, lowers the standard of living for all of us.  Doctors who buy Mercedes, lawyers who buy BMWs or carpenters who buy Honda trucks are all transferring wealth, in the form of salaries and profits, from the US to other countries.  And, the buying power of US workers is diminished.  These workers are no longer able to afford to go to a doctor, hire an attorney or buy a new house.  Chinese, Japanese, Korean or German workers are not going to buy many US products, use US services or be patients or clients of US professionals.  This is a cycle that lowers the Gross National Product of our entire country.

We don’t need a law passed to force Buy America but if education and leadership don’t work, tariffs would be the next logical solution.  What we need is full disclosure by manufacturers of the country of origin of product components and educate the public about the benefits of buying US products.  The percentage (by dollar amount) of each component or part should be listed on the product along with the country of origin (similar to the nutritional values displayed on food products or auto window sticker).  People should then be encouraged to buy products with the highest percentage of US components to support the mutual benefit to us all.

To help encourage Buy America, a campaign should start at the White House and be driven down through all levels of the government, including State and local units, US companies, trade unions and media.  Each new vehicle, appliance, TV and other durable goods should be required to display the above country of origin information in a list and pie chart that will give people the knowledge they need to make an informed decision before they buy.  By making informed decisions about product purchases and where the profits go, products made with a majority of US parts should increase.

However, tariffs should also be considered to protect US markets from dumping by foreign countries.  Funds from tariffs should then be used to support industries hurt by any subsequent trade war (i.e. Farmers) and training facilities to help US workers to compete for higher level jobs.  More emphasis should be placed on technology and trade schools as alternatives to a four year college education (see section on education).

So much of our manufacturing has been moved overseas, especially to China, that we are at risk of not having the necessary supplies to support our current standard of living, equip our front line medical and emergency workers or wage war.  As we have seen in the 2020 pandemic, China can ration these supplies so that we are left short of the necessary equipment for our hospitals to function, while Chinese hospitals have all they need.

Its time to take back our manufacturing from these foreign countries and be more self-sufficient for the necessities of life, health and security.  We need to build PPE (personal protective equipment) manufacturing facilities on Indian Reservations, Appalachia and other poor areas to replace the dependence on foreign suppliers.  Many Indians and others have the skills to produce PPEs and need the income to pull themselves out of poverty.  Factories also need to be built or rehabilitated in our large cities to produce auto parts, appliance parts and technology components to rejuvenate the economies lost in our cities, give employment opportunities to minorities and other under-employed workers and bring back this manufacturing.  Our government and corporations need to make this a priority.  Even if production costs are a little higher (shipping costs should be much lower), we will be supporting US workers and increasing our independence and lowering the risks of foreign control of our economy, health and security.

There should be a minimum wage to protect workers from employers who take advantage of a soft labor market, but what the correct minimum wage should be depends on several factors.  The local economy, the supply of unskilled workers and the unemployment rate all have an affect on what the minimum wage rate should be.  Therefore, this rate needs to be set by States to reflect the local environment.

Controlling the influx of migrants can have a large influence on the supply of unskilled workers who compete for entry level and manual labor jobs which keep the wage levels lower than if  controlled migration is maintained.  In addition, at full employment there may not be a need for a minimum wage as controlled supply and growing demand should help increase wages.

2. The Economy and Life Necessities

Life necessities are an obvious priority.  Two of these are food and fuel or energy and to insure the US has enough of both, the government should protect our interests.  To stabilize farm prices and provide foreign aid, the government should establish price supports for crops (used in food production) which are subject to the risks of weather and the forces of supply and demand.  Price supports should be based on the last ten year’s prices.  In times of excess production or low demand, the government will buy the excess at this average price and either feed hungry citizens or use it for foreign aid.  In times of low production, the price would be allowed to float with the market of supply and demand, as it does normally.  All other forms of farm support and supplements would cease.  This will stabilize the income for farmers who provide food for all of us, which is a life necessity.

The feasibility of piping water from the Midwest to California and states in between should be considered.  Much of the country’s fruits and vegetables are produced in the western states and this production must be maintained.  This is discussed further in the section on the environment.

The price of fuel should also be regulated so that gas prices cannot be manipulated and to eliminate wide fluctuations in the cost of gas along with unreasonable profits by energy companies.  Price caps can be based on the last ten year average and energy companies can use this average to budget their future income.  In this case, the government would control the upward movement in price but not the downward movement, as supply and demand would set the price below the controlled price.  These controls would stay in place until adequate alternative fuels are available.  Gas price controls are necessary because there are few alternatives and the country needs gas to carry on commerce.  This is also necessary because an oligopoly exists in the energy market where there are few major suppliers, suppliers follow each other in lockstep pricing and last-in-first-out accounting leads to predatory pricing.

3. Corporate Responsibility

Corporate Boards and business top executives need to realize that their success depends on everyone in the organization from the janitor to the CEO.  All of these employees should be compensated based on their contribution to the success of the organization.  All employees are just as important to their company as the CEO to maintain the daily operations and serve customers.  Companies can operate for several months without a CEO but can’t operate successfully for any length of time without front line and middle management employees.

Andrew Carnagie said no one in an organization should make more than 75 times their front line employees.  Some believe the factor should be more like 50, but regardless which factor is correct, executive pay has escalated way out of reason.  In 1980, CEOs made 42 times what the average worker made, but then in 2006, the factor increased to 400 times the average worker’s pay.  This has lead to pay inequities and stagnation in the US and needs to be corrected.

Tax incentives should be given to companies who bring down their CEO pay factor below 75 times their front line worker’s pay (average pay should not be use because it can be distorted by large numbers of highly paid executives and/or tech employees).  Corporations have other ways to compensate executives, such as stock options and deferred compensation.  Pay should be allocated to all employees equitably and small amounts of stock should be granted to all employees on a proportionate bases to encourage them to buy into the success of the organization.  Businesses should also be made to prove they follow an equal pay for equal work policy for all employees regardless of gender or age.

The current corporate tax rate should stay in effect for those companies below the 75 pay factor and the tax rate should increase for companies over this factor.  Tax rates for highly paid individuals should be reinstated to their pre-2018 levels.  Corporate taxes should remain low to encourage companies to stay and move to the US but lowering taxes for highly paid individuals was not a good idea.  They need to carry a higher tax burden as part of our historic tax equity philosophy.

Businesses and corporations should be held to a higher standard of environmental protection and should be responsible to their employees, families and citizens of this country for keeping our air, waters and land clean and sustainable.  Large penalties should be assessed to those businesses which don’t.  In addition, companies should not be allowed to buy environmental credits from other companies.  This is counter productive.

4. Healthcare

US citizens deserve to have the best possible medical care without penalties for pre-existing conditions.  If government spending can be controlled, install equitable tax laws and get to a place where we have full employment in good paying jobs, we should be able to provide universal healthcare.  Until then, the cost side of healthcare needs to be controlled.

It is time for insurance companies to be held accountable for treating policy holders fairly and provide affordable, competitive coverage that is portable and accessible nationwide.  In addition, the medical profession and drug companies need to be held accountable, as well.  Not only is there waste and abuse in the healthcare industry, there is also skyrocketing, double digit cost inflation when the average consumer price index for the last ten years has been less than 3%.

There aren’t many ways to control cost and price increases except price controls and tax incentives.  It has been proven that drug companies have colluded to increase prices above what was necessary for reasonable profits.  If the government won’t institute price controls, then it should tax these unreasonable profits to the point where companies cease these practices.  These price control tactics should be used on hospitals and doctors, as well.  Healthcare providers and drug companies will not voluntarily hold back or drop prices without being forced to do so or given negative incentives for accelerating prices.  These prices are not subject to the normal affects of supply and demand because most people don’t shop around for health care based on price.  They take the drugs and go to the hospitals recommended by their doctors.

There are other ways to improve healthcare in the US, especially the cost of drugs and Medicare costs to the tax payer.  Medicare must be able to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs so that we are getting the best price available for those insured.  These drug prices should be compared to those paid in other countries to insure we are getting fair prices.  Those individuals who did not pay into Medicare should not receive benefits unless they were disabled or mentally handicapped before they were old enough to work and pay into the fund.

Basic healthcare, non-Medicare, coverage can be improved “by adopting reforms that inject market forces into the system to insure that every American has access to affordable coverage that fits their needs.

The Affordable Care Act failed to live up to its name.  Average monthly premiums for plans sold on the exchanges established by the law have risen 75 percent and average deductibles for mid-level silver individual plans are north of $4,000.  People don’t have many plans to choose from.  In 2019, nearly four in ten counties had only one choice of insurer on the exchange.  And yet, ObamaCare still has support of much of the public largely because the law prevents insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.  Consequently, any plan to replace ObamaCare must address this concern.  Here’s how that could work…

The first step is to make individual health insurance more appealing.  That can be done by offering universal, age-based tax credits to help cover the cost of coverage.  Unlike ObamaCare’s incom-based subsidies, these credits would not change if someone got a raise or new job with higher income.  This system tracks the cost, which tend to increase as people age.  Credits could start at $1,200 for people age 18-35.  Everyone between the ages of 35 and 50 would receive $2,100, and those over 50 would get $3,000.  Families could claim an additional $900 for each child (up to a limit of 4).  According to the Government Accounting Office, these credits would have covered the cost of a basic insurance plan before ObamaCare went into effect.

The replacement plan can further empower individuals by expanding health savings accounts (HSAs).  These accounts allow individuals to save money tax-free for medical expenses.  Currently, HSAs are only available to people with high-deductible health plans and can’t be used to pay insurance premiums.  A good replacement plan would lift these restrictions.

Armed with tax credits and more flexible HSAs, people should flock to the individual market.  Insurers would rush in to compete for the business of these new customers. Without Obamacare’s coverage mandates, insurers could design plans that fit a wide variety of consumer needs.  Some plans could be expensive and comprehensive, while others could be cheap and bare bones.  Increased insurer participation would yield lower cost.  Adding one insurer to an exchange reduces premiums by 4.5 percent, on average.

Then there is the challenge of protecting those with pre-existing conditions.  Obamacare required insurers to cover everyone and charge them the same rates no matter what.  That was well intentioned but encouraged people to wait until they got sick to sign up for coverage.  That leaves the insurance pool disproportionately composed of sick, costly patients — and thus yields higher premiums.

Instead, insurers should be required to cover everyone who stays covered from year to year, without raising premiums (more than CPI) if they get sick.  With so many affordable plans, tax credits and pre-tax dollars at their disposal, people would have an easy time maintaining coverage.  A continuous coverage requirement will encourage young and healthy people to buy insurance.  That should provide insurers with enough premium revenue to cover the cost of older, sicker enrollees.  People should be given time (e.g. 6 months) to acquire coverage before the new plans are in place.

For those who truly can’t find coverage in this reform market, policy makers could seed high-risk pools and fund reinsurance plans that would handle the highest-cost claims. Separating the relatively few patients with extremely costly conditions from the bulk of patients, who have more actuarially predictable claims costs, would allow insurers to keep premiums affordable and stable.” (Paraphrased from an article by Sally Pipes.)

Medical malpractice laws should also be addressed so that doctors are free to care for patients without the fear of losing their practice or paying exorbitant premiums to stay in business and thus adding to the healthcare cost problem.

5. Immigration

It should be agreed that most of us are immigrants, unless you are descendent from American Indians and that we have immigrated here from all over the world.  Now that we have an onslaught of migrants from Central America, immigration has become a big issue.  This issue should have been resolved by Congress years ago.  Prior Presidents, including the last two Democrats, have agreed that unlimited migration from Central America should not be allowed.  Those on the left want the flood gates opened for all to enter and those on the right want the gates closed to unlimited migration. The reasonable answer is some where in the middle.  There needs to be a balanced immigration policy which would allow limited migration from all over the world on an equitable bases.  There is no logic that would allow unlimited migration from one sector of the world.

“Let’s look at the cost of open borders and mass immigration from Central America:                                                      > $153 Billion is the cost to police and care for migrants each year.                                            > 90% of all heroine and fentinole come across our southern border.                                      > Over 10,000 kids have been sex trafficked across the border each year.                             > 56,000 aliens are in our federal prison system, countless more in state prisons.                  > An illegal alien in Arizona is twice as likely to commit a crime than citizens.

In addition to the cost, there is a fairness issue that must be considered.  Immigrants from other parts of the world must apply for citizenship and wait their turn in line while being processed.  Some of these migrants are suffering similar or worse living conditions as those migrants from Central America.  So, why are we giving preferential treatment to those coming across our southern border?

There is also a sovereignty issue.  Without control of our borders, we have no control of our economy, our safety or our culture.  Mexico and Central America have very different economies, security and cultures that don’t mesh with ours.  These differences cause confusion and conflict when those cultures are illegally mixed together.  If we don’t control our borders, we might as well annex Mexico so we can control the economy, the security and the culture.”  (Paraphrase from a video by Turning Point USA.)

Short of annexation, the US needs to help resolve the problems in the countries from where these migrants are coming.  Political and economic unrest in other countries is very difficult for the US to affect solutions, however, we must help these people resolve their problems one way or the other.  Many countries over the centuries have thrown out dictators, monarchs and outlaws without everyone leaving their home country. Many of these revolutions and law and order campaigns have not been peaceful but many times the only way to accomplish change is by force.  Unfortunately, people on both sides can be sacrificed during armed revolts but if the will of the people is to change an unjust government, a positive result should justify the means.

The point is, that sometimes people have to stand and fight for what they believe in, even if it cost them their lives, and not take the easy way out and run to a safe haven.  Liberals may cry that fighting for freedom is cruel.  Ask them how many people died in the American revolution, in the French Revolution or in the Spanish revolution.  Revolution or arming a police force should be an options to resolve problems in Central America.

Revolutions will take time and can be the subject of another discussion.  However, immigration needs to be resolved now.  The money spent to manage these non-citizens is a waste and should be spent on our own citizens.  The source of the current migrant problem is not just from turmoil in Central America, but also from Mexico’s problems. They have no control over their southern border and make it easy for migrants to travel north to the US.  We need a fence or wall on our southern border to control immigration and balance Central America immigration with the rest of the world.

Migrants should be stopped at the border and managed by Mexico.  Let them bare the expense and they will soon realize the need to control their southern border.  While being held in Mexico, we can take the time necessary to process these migrants to determine those eligible for entry.  After a few years of this process, Mexico will appreciate our concerns and help control this mass migration.

Sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants should also be enforced.  Not only are illegal immigrants supported by tax payers for the costs mentioned above, employers who hire illegals encourage this influx and support their families in Mexico by send dollars out of the US economy into the Mexican economy.  There should be steep fines on employers for hiring illegals and higher fines if employers don’t withhold taxes from illegals’ payroll.

Amnesty should be considered for those illegal immigrants who have families here, have been in the US for a number of years (e.g. 3-5 years), have a job and pay taxes.  All others should be deported to their home country.  This is a reasonable compromise to this issue.

The official language of the US is English.  No federal funds should be use to support bilingual programs for immigrants.  Community organizations and churches should be responsible for this activity.

6. Government Reform

Our Founding Fathers did not invision a professional Congress.  Serving in Congress should be an honor, not a career.  Representatives of the people were suppose to go to Washington, do their job of law making and go home, back to their regular jobs.  We have probably gone too far to turn back the clock on a full time Congress.  But, we should set up rules and policies to focus and require Congress to get their work done based on what’s good for the majority of US citizens and not what’s politically expedient.  This does not mean that we forget about the poor, underprivileged and disadvantaged, but that the majority interests should be considered first and predominantly.

Term limits should be imposed for both Senators and Representatives to encourage fresh ideas and to keep politicians from becoming intrenched in their positions and beholding to large contributors and lobbiests.  Representatives terms should be changed to four years with a limit of three.  Two year terms are too short, requiring these Reps to be constantly campaigning and not focused on their job.  Senator terms should remain at six years but limited to two.  Presidents are limited to two, four year terms, so this seems like a fair distribution and limit on political power.

Senate rules also need to be changed.  Filibusters serve no logical purpose, are a waste of valuable time for everyone and should be eliminated.  Speakers should be given a time limit and the legislative body should stick to the limit.  There should also be a limit on the number of speakers on each side of the issue.  At the end of these time limits, the body should vote the issue up or down with majority rule.  Roberts Rules of Order should be followed when ever possible to help streamline the work of Congress.

Allowing any one Senator to block a bill must be stopped, whether in committee or in the whole Senate.  No one Senator should have that much power.  If a bill has the approval of a committee, it should be considered by the entire body.

There may be other rules that should be reviewed for relevance and whether the rule helps the body to be efficient at law making.

Senators, Representatives, their staffs and all government employees should be offered the same healthcare and retirement plan options as all other citizens.  They should also be included in Social Security and earn retirement income credits by year’s of service similar to commercial pension plans.  Congress men and women should be elected to a second term before any retirement credits are vested.  IRA and 401K plans can also be made available to these public servants.  The “Immediate Retirement Fund” should be cancelled.

Presidential and Congessional campaign contributions should be limited to bring campaign spending back into reason.  Spending has gotten out of control and we can imagine what could be done with the money spent on the last several Presidential and Senatorial campaigns, such as, education improvements, healthcare improvements or college loan debt reduction.  There should be no PACs.  Money should be donated directly to the candidates campaign fund with limits on both individual and corporate contributions.  Unlimited contributions create unlimited persuasion, loyalty and power.

Ten percent of all campaign spending should go to a campaign watchdog fund that would pay for research and disclosure to the American people the truthfulness of the ad, commercial, email, blog, video or billboard.  Some a-political organization like Snopes or Wikipedia could be tasked to do this work during national election campaigns to give voters a truthfulness seal of approval.  Ads without this seal would be suspect for misleading information.

Senators and Representatives have limits on the number and cost of staff.  They should also have budgets for travel and entertainment and if the expenditures are not the business of government related, they should not be allowed.  The President should also have a limited budget for staff, travel and entertainment which can be based on the lowest expenditure for the last four or five Presidents or some other reasonable value.  Expense reports can be reviewed and approved by the GAO.  Anything not approved by the GAO, would have to be reimbursed by the government  official.  These politicians are all public servants and should be good stuards of public funds intrusted to them.

Government agencies should have functional audits every 10-12 years to determine, first of all, the need for the agency, and second, is the agency providing a value added service in an efficient manner to the American people.  Millions or even Billions of dollars could be saved by downsizing government agencies.

Tax payers need to stop subsidizing the US Post Office and force it to at least break even.  If they have to close non-profitable offices or stop Saturday delivery, so be it, whatever it takes to compete with other delivery companies and not lose money, which has to be made up by tax payers.

Another way to save public funds to be used for other necessary programs is to require those who want to qualify for government welfare and/or housing to be drug free and prove they are working or looking for work, as long as they are not disabled.  If they can’t find a job, they should be given a public service job.  It may be picking up trash, painting and repairing public housing or cleaning public buildings.  People will find there is honor in work and will be encouraged to look for better jobs.  This will help them learn to be responsible for themselves and their families.

Military contracts and the bidding process need to be reviewed by GAO or some other third party to guarantee arms length dealing, open competition and necessity.  The Pentagon spends billions of dollars every year and should not be given blank checks without proper overbite.

Human space exploration should be left to private corporations.  It is too expensive for the US government to support on it’s own.  Near space utilization should be for communication and defense purposes.  We need to conserve our public resources to solve the problems here on earth, develop alternatives to fossil fuels, aid in disaster recoveries, move poor people to prosperity, education issues and healthcare.  We would be better off exploring the ocean than wasting money in space.

The government can also increase income by charging foreigners an entry fee to visit national parks and monuments or if there is a fee for citizens it should be increased for non-citizens.  Maintaining and improving our public parks and monuments is expensive and should not be covered only by tax payers.

Foreign Aid should be discontinued in its current form for every country except those which have starving citizens or are victims of natural disasters.  All of our past aid has gained us little respect in the eyes of the world.  When we have abundance of agricultural products, we should share it with the those in need but we have plenty of hungry and homeless citizens that need our help and care.  Military arms should not be part of any aid package and selling arms to friendly nations should be done in a controlled manner to insure our interests are a priority.

Marijuana should be legalized as it is less harmful than alcohol.  It can be regulated and taxed like alcohol and the penalties for driving under the influence should be the same as DUIs for alcohol.

A great deal of money can also be saved by eliminating the penny.  It cost more to produce than its worth and its no longer necessary for commerce.

And last, but the most important thing Congress should do for the long term financial health of this country, is pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.  This amendment would require the government to keep annual spending within the limits of revenue except in the case of a declared war or extreme national disaster.  If we are ever to regain control of the national debt, we have to start by controlling spending.

7. The Environment

There has been a debate about whether global warming is real but as the artic ice melts, cities across the world set high temperature records and the seas rise, there can be little doubt that the earth is warming.  And, as we continue to lose large amounts of timber lands and forests, the environment is truly in trouble.  But, rather than planning and working on ways to build communities on Mars, we would be much better off using those resources to save planet Earth while it is still habitable.

As stated in Corporate Responsibility, businesses need to be held accountable for their pollution activities.  Clean-up actions and fines should be levied on all abusers and their on-going practices should be monitored.  Environmental/pollution credits, which are traded between companies, should not be allowed.  This just encourages negative environmental activity.  Countries that don’t control pollution and deforestation should be sanctioned with fines and/or boycotts to support environmental protection.

The US and all other countries need to establish major restrictions on the use of plastics.  If it can’t be recycled in a useful way, it should not be produced.  Plastic bags should be completely eliminated, there are many alternatives.  All other plastic containers should have high deposits charged on them to ensure the plastic is returned for recycling.  There should also be large fines for dumping plastics or other non-biodegradable objects.  We need to get control of plastic waste before it’s too late to save our water ways and landfills.

The US should have an aggressive plan to eliminate fossil fuels and move to renewable options, such as, solar, wind, water and hydrogen.  Not only can we reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but also improve or reduce our trade deficit.  We are missing a large opportunity to limit our use of fossil fuels by not taking advantage of hydrogen power.  It may be more volatile than oil but it’s byproduct is safe and should be on the top of our list for development, whether oil companies are interested in it or not.  Electric and hydrogen powered vehicles should be the only vehicles allowed to be sold in the US within ten years as we phase out fossil fuels.

Drought in the western states has been predicted by several forecasters.  This can be mitigated by building water pipelines from the Midwest.  Pipelines can be sourced from the Mississippi, Missouri or Arkansas rivers which rarely run dry.  They can be paid for by charging western states and farmers along the way for the water.  There are dozens of oil and gas pipelines all over the country.  Therefore, adding water pipelines should be achievable within ten years and could happen sooner if we divert funds from low value projects like human exploration of Mars.  We need to save this planet rather than trying to colonize a dead planet.

8. Social Security and other benefits

First of all, if a person has not paid into Social Security, they should not receive benefits unless they are a citizen who became disabled before adulthood and their ability to work and contribute to the Social Security fund.  We also need to find ways to eliminate fraud in the Social Security system.  A possible solution would be to use bio-identification technology tied to a direct deposit account.

To improve income for the fund, the Social Security tax limit on payroll should be removed.  This limit was always an inequitable tax favoring highly paid individuals allowing them to pay a lower overall percentage tax.  The business portion of this tax could continue to be limited but individuals should pay Social Security tax on their total salary.

To lessen the dependence on Social Security, the limits on IRAs and 401Ks should doubled.  As businesses downscale their retirement plans and benefits, individuals need to save more for their own retirement security.

The retirement age should not be changed for Medicare benefits but the age for full Social Security benefits should remain on its current schedule to encourage people to retire after the age of 65.  Retirees should not be taxed on their Social Security benefits.  These funds were taxed when they were deposited to the fund as part of the employee’s total payroll tax.

The Social Security fund should be kept separate from all other government accounts and only used for it’s originally intended purpose.

Medicaid recipients should be drug tested and alcoholism tested on a regular basis before benefits are granted.  If people want to improve their health and receive free benefits, they need to avoid these harmful elements.

9. Education

There are many theories on how to improve the US education system and it’s cost.  Education needs to be improved from elementary school through college because we have fallen behind the rest of the developed world.  The first thing that should be done is to eliminate the “one size fits all” curriculum in elementary and high schools.  Bright students need to be encouraged and challenged to study advanced material while slower students need to be educated on the basics so they can compete for jobs that don’t require college degrees.  (Slower learners may develop into college material but without a solid basic education, it will be difficult.). Science and math need to be priorities so that the US can compete in a global market place.

There should be national standards for curriculum and measures of success.  However, States should be allowed to make stricter standards and customize implementation.

Teacher salaries need to be improved and on par with teacher pay in other developed countries.  They should be paid a livable entry level wage and then given increases based on merit, not length of service or some artificial tenure system.

The cost of higher education must be controlled.  Over the last 30 years, the cost a college education has skyrocketed, much faster than the cost of living.  Public universities should not be allowed to raise tuition more than CPI.  They have other ways to raise funds; alumni donations, grants and sports revenue.  These funds should be used to improve education not to build monuments to the administration or the football program.  Tenure should be eliminated at all colleges and universities and place all faculty members on a merit program.

In addition, students and parents need to be more realistic about the cost and value of a college education.  $40,000 for a four year degree may be affordable but $40,000 per year is like buying a new luxury car four years in a row.  The normal payoff for such a car is five years at $857 a month.  But when you stack four of these tuitions on to a college graduate, it is equivalent to making payments of the same amount for twenty years.  Not many entry level, degrees jobs can support that kind of commitment.

There are many alternatives to a full time, four year university education.  Community colleges offer an opportunity to obtain a good education at a reduced cost, determine a major field and learn if a college degree is the right direction for each individual.  An online education, night school and part time enrollment are good alternatives to mortgaging your life for a full time, four year education.  Trade schools and technology training schools are also alternatives to a college education and should be considered for people with these aptitudes.

Government guaranteed student loan rates should be limited to 3% after graduation and 0% while in undergraduate and graduate degree programs.  Then after graduation rate should also be allowed to float down with other short term rates.

10. Gun Control

The Second Amendment is an important part of the Constitution because it protects citizens from violence, foreign invasion or an oppressive government.  However, most rights have limits; a free press should be limited to the truth, free speech should limited to speech not actions and the freedom of religion is limited to legal actions.  The right to bare arms should also have limits.  Assault rifles and weapons were intended for the military and should be limited to use by the military and police, not for regular citizens.  (The ban on assault rifles should have never been lifted.)  Bump stocks, silencers, and high-capacity magazines should also be ban.  Once banned, the government should launch a buy back and enforcement program to get these weapons out of everyone’s hands, including parents who don’t control their guns, radical therorists, white supremacists, theaves and gang bangers.

Some will say: “If we outlaw assault weapons, only outlaws will have them and use them on law abiding citizens”.  This may be the simple truth but it is the responsibility of all of us, law abiding citizens and the police to search out these weapons of mass murders and remove them from society.

There needs to be a nationwide, universal background check system with strict controls for convicted felons and people with mental health issues and excessive purchases.  There should also be increased penalties for gun-related crimes.  Based on “Know your customer” regulations for banks, online fire arms and ammo purchases should be ban until a system can be developed to guarantee the identity and background check of the buyer.  There are some purchasing systems where the online weapons are shipped to a local supplier who can verify the identity of the buyer and do the proper background checks.  This system should be continued and promoted as a competent method for selling fire arms and ammo.  Sales at gun shows should also require identity and background checks.  There is no logical reason to allow these sales to go unchecked.  So it takes time and a internet link, if it stops one felon or mentally challenged individual from obtaining a gun, it will be worth it.

Parents should be held legally responsible for the security of their weapons and held accountable for their use or misuse.  Many of the past school shootings could have been avoided with the proper security of these weapons.  Children do not always think clearly, therefore, it is the parents responsibility to teach gun safety to family members and maintain control of their weapons.

Conceal carry laws should be uniform throughout the US.  States should be responsible for issuing and monitoring licenses after required, universal training and testing to insure citizens are competent to use their weapons.  If a person already has a license, testing is all that would be required at license renewal.  Then these licenses should be accepted nationwide.

11. The Stars and Stripes

The US flag is a symbol of freedom and democracy for its citizens and the world.  Freedom of speech is one of the principles for which it stands and helps maintain a strong democracy.  However, burning the flag is an action not speech and should be outlawed.  There should be steep fines for burning the US flag, our countries symbol, in order to discourage this action.  Fine amounts should start with law enforcement and court costs and doubled with additional infractions.

12. Criminal Justice Reform

Criminal justice is difficult and sensitive issue.  One of the factors of injustice is racial bias.  Racial bias exists in the US and this fact must be recognized before it can be addressed and corrected.  Racial equality and tolerance should be taught in our schools, demanded in our work places and enforced by our officers and in our courts.  Police departments must be trained on tolerance and integrated so that different races can become compatible and learn to respect each other.  Police departments must also become neighborhood based and reflect the ethnicity of the surrounding population.  Courts need to require more scientific evidence, more corroborating witness testimony and less circumstantial evidence to determine guilt.

This may sound simplistic, but if we don’t start with educating this generation and this current police force, we may never eliminate racial bias and reform the criminal justice system.

 

“All lies and jest still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”                               (Simon and Garfunkel)

Creator: J David Osborn