Friday, November 10, 2006

A Few Of My Favorite Things

I'm baaa-aack. Work has been, well, "fun" in a corporate sort of way.

Now I am lying; it was not fun: I LIVED IN AUDIT HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLL! OH, OOOOOHHHHHHH!
Instead of ranting about politics, which could take forever to catch up, I decided to take a different approach. Here is what I want (see the list below). I'm not asking for much, really, just a country whose leaders really care, and work for the betterment of the country, not just their party.

Take special note of what is not on the list, too. I'm sure some of you would have anyway.

No explanation needed

  • Term limits
  • Line item veto
  • No more motor-voter registration
  • Enact literacy requirements for people to qualify as registered voters
  • Dissolve the EPA, or at least get them out of the eminent domain business
  • Honoring private property rights
  • End of corporate entitlements
  • End of state entitlements from the Feds
  • End of local/county entitlements from the Feds and state
  • Eliminate all social services administered at the federal level
  • Tort reform to penalize ambulance chasers, and to help curb malpractice insurance premiums
  • Remove the not-for-profit status of all PACs, so that they can pay taxes
  • After that, charge an exorbitant licensing fee to become a PAC and retain that status annually. There's a tax I could support. :-)
  • Enforce the immigration laws on the books
Brief explanation needed:
  • Treat those that aren't citizens as though they aren't citizens: no rights until they work through the system to be naturalized.
  • Stop using Christ, race, gender and sex as sound-bite emotional issues. Politicians obfuscate debate when these are introduced into the discussion.
  • Impeachment of judges who fail to live up to their duty. That is, after all, the check that the legislature has over the judiciary.
  • Enforce the Constitution and Amendments - yes, all of them - as written. No more of this "reading into" an amendment or article to suit your purposes.
  • Capital punishment occurs within twelve months of the sentence. Forget having to sustain these folks for years on death row.
{Intermission}
  • Zero based budgeting - when I set my family budget, I don't start with this year's expenses, automatically increase them by 5-7%, then figure out how much more I need. I start from zero, every year. So should the government.
  • "None of the Above", or some equivalent, as a valid election choice for key races, such as Fed and State House and Senate races, and Mayoral and Council offices. If candidates run a high $$$ campain, and no one wins, the major political parties have to do it all over again. If they're going to waste my money, I don't mind wasting theirs.
  • Single-issue bills - No more of this crap, for example, where a military spending bill fails because some bozo adds a rider to save the one-eyed floozy-bird in southeastern Minot. Then the bozo's campaign advertises that his opponent failed the military bill.
Still reading? Good.
  • Governmental bodies must comply with the laws they enact - No more independent retirement fund for government agencies and representatives, whereas the general public gets social security. Do their organizations have to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley?
  • Vacate our seat in the U.N. - we keep lending credibility to 3rd world crazies who hate us, but want our money. (Who wants to be like the French, anyway?)
  • Rescind McCain-Feingold - it only makes the incumbents stronger, and causes more PACs to form to combat the incumbents. Talk about misappropriation of funds.
  • Truth in campaigning - ads are not allowed to be aired if any false information is identified, but the campaigners have to pay the fees, anyway.
See, I'm not asking for much. Nothing that the electorate can't enforce.

8 comments:

Scottius Maximus said...

Quipper!

In the name of Sam Kinison, please run for office!

Anonymous said...

Some of your desires will be found here. You knew that was coming...didn't you.

Rick said...

Scottius: I think Mrs. Quipper might have more than a few problems with that. ;-)

Scott: I'm shocked!

Anonymous said...

Quipper!

Okay, then, ask Mrs. Quipper to run for office too!

Jonathan said...

Hi Rick,

What's a 'PAC'?

What is "McCain-Feingold"?

Jonathan

Rick said...

J -

PAC = Political Action Committee (i.e. Lobby)

Read here to learn about McCain-Feingold.

Anonymous said...

Given widely expressed dissatisfaction with "lesser evil" and "one choice" elections as well as with increasingly negative campaigns, many voters wish to withhold their consent in elections to office by voting for "None of the Above" (NOTA), just as they can on ballot questions by voting NO.

It certainly makes sense: In a democracy, government must obtain the consent of the governed, and all legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent. Any state can enact a Voter Consent law giving voters a binding NOTA ballot option after each candidate list, which calls a new election, with new candidates, to fill the office should NOTA win. A model Voter Consent law is available at www.nota.org/notabill.

While NOTA by-elections are an expense, they would not occur unless voters vote to hold them, and are likely less costly than electing unacceptable candidates to office. Even candidates running unopposed would have to obtain voter consent to be elected.

NOTA based Voter Consent laws are a common sense, much needed improvement in governing ourselves, returning some power to "We the People", from whom our constitution draws its legitimacy, and taking some power from political parties and corporations, whom our constitution never mentions.


Sincerely,
William H. White
Director, Voters for None of the Above
www.nota.org

Rick said...

William,

Thank you for posting your comments. I am interested to learn how you found my site.

I am posting your link on my blog. I like what I have read at your site so far.