I'm sitting in my condo in Maui, from whose lanai I can see the ocean. From our pool, I can see the islands of Lanai, Molokai and Oahu in the far distance. The beach could be better - some seaweed and rocks - but I'm not complaining, as within a mile's drive (or walk) are some phenomenal, clean, sandy beaches. Life is good.
So I have little about which to complain. But I will say that this morning, I caught a snippet on the news about President Obama being in Ghana, with his children. They showed a clip of him saying how important it was for his children to be there, what a great educational experience that was for them.
Great. Having paid for a romantic Valentine's Day weekend with the missus in Sweet Home Chicago, then a Broadway Show in New York that he purportedly promised her while on the campaign trail - apparently the first campaign promise he's kept - now we, the humble taxpayer (which disqualifies us from his cabinet, by the way) get to pay for a family trip to Ghana so the kiddoes can get in touch with their African heritage.
The news bit I was watching then attempted to cut to a speech he reportedly gave before the Ghanan version of our Congress. But instead, we were treated to a repeat of the clip of him saying what an important trip it was for his daughters.
Which begs the question: did he even speak before the Ghanan lawmakers? Or was he absent from their proceedings, as he usually was during his all-too-brief tenure as a US Senator?
I do hope his daughters learned a great deal from their experience. The plight of many in Africa is deplorable. And I hope they learn enough to ask Daddy some questions. Such as, "Daddy, are you going to do something about the holocaust in Darfur?" Or, "Daddy, do you plan to continue providing aid to sub-Saharan Africa to fight AIDS, like your mean old predecessor, George Bush? Or is that one of 'the failed policies of the last eight years' that you mention every other sentence?"
Or, "Daddy, can we go see great-Grandma this trip? Or do we simply not have enough time, like your last visit here?"
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
My Obama
As I sit in the Salt Lake City airport, still groggy from the crack-of-dawn flight here from Kansas City following the three and a half hours' sleep I got, and awaiting the six-plus hour flight to Maui, here's a little gem I penned a while back. I do some songwriting (one of my pieces may wind up on a CD soon), and occasionally I'll re-work the words to a familiar tune, usually for the sake of satire. This is an example.
My Obama
(To the tune of “My Sharona”)
Ooh, you love to tax and spend, tax and spend,
When you gonna give us a break, Obama?
All this madness has to end, it has to end,
How much do you think we can take, Obama?
Treasury is broke, that’s no joke, Geithner’s printing fast,
China and Japan plan a ban, so it cannot last
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
You want health care for us all, for us all,
Where’s the money coming for that, Obama?
Government will overpay, every day,
Will you tax us for being fat, Obama?
All the Docs will quit, pack their kit, practice somewhere else,
Then if we get sick, up a creek – universal health?
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
Now you wanna run GM, run GM,
Do you even know what it takes, Obama?
What else will you wanna seize? We’re on our knees!
Please, you gotta put on the brakes, Obama!
You can’t socialize; it’s not wise – take a look at France
Even they now say: “USA, time to change your stance”
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
Didn’t pay my income tax, that’s a fact –
Can I get a spot on your team, Obama?
Simple little oversight, it’s alright,
Wasn’t some nefarious scheme, Obama!
Cabinet gets a pass, don’t harass, get upset or curse;
See the bank execs – what the heck? What they did was worse!
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
My Obama
(To the tune of “My Sharona”)
Ooh, you love to tax and spend, tax and spend,
When you gonna give us a break, Obama?
All this madness has to end, it has to end,
How much do you think we can take, Obama?
Treasury is broke, that’s no joke, Geithner’s printing fast,
China and Japan plan a ban, so it cannot last
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
You want health care for us all, for us all,
Where’s the money coming for that, Obama?
Government will overpay, every day,
Will you tax us for being fat, Obama?
All the Docs will quit, pack their kit, practice somewhere else,
Then if we get sick, up a creek – universal health?
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
Now you wanna run GM, run GM,
Do you even know what it takes, Obama?
What else will you wanna seize? We’re on our knees!
Please, you gotta put on the brakes, Obama!
You can’t socialize; it’s not wise – take a look at France
Even they now say: “USA, time to change your stance”
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
Didn’t pay my income tax, that’s a fact –
Can I get a spot on your team, Obama?
Simple little oversight, it’s alright,
Wasn’t some nefarious scheme, Obama!
Cabinet gets a pass, don’t harass, get upset or curse;
See the bank execs – what the heck? What they did was worse!
My my my I yi – woo!
M-m-m-my Obama!
M-m-m-my Obama!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Random Pre-Vacation Musings
Tomorrow morning I board a plane at the unspeakable hour of 6 am - bearing the colors of the unspeakable airline, Delta - to fly to Maui for a well-deserved (if I do say so myself) vacation with my two favorite people in the world. Before I go, some random thoughts on three topics.
First, a follow-up to my proposed reforms posted yesterday. Here are some more, some proposed by my good buddies at d2football.com, some fleshed out from what I already came up with, and some that I forgot about, or came up with later.
1. I'd also do away with the party conventions. I'd like to do away with the parties, period, and have the election process simply be "Citizen A running for president, not Member X of the RNC," as one of my d2 pals put it. Not sure how to pull that off though.
2. I'd also do away with caucuses, in favor of primaries. And no dual-selection processes like we have in some places in Texas.
3. I'd scrap the electoral college. Not that a popular vote doesn't have its flaws, but the electoral college today simply leads to candidates playing a numbers game, and focusing on "key states" and "swing states" while ignoring others, either because they're a foregone conclusion to go to one party or the other, or because they don't carry enough electoral votes to matter. EVERY vote MUST matter!
4. To clarify, POTUS could take AFOne on a leisure trip, but would have to pay the costs for it and the security detail out of pocket. If s/he can't afford it - too bad. There are plenty of opportunities to visit New York on official government business, and the prez could take in a Broadway show then. Besides, DC has decent entertainment. If a national crisis breaks out on a self-funded leisure trip, of course the taxpayer funds would come into play to pay for the altered travel plans.
5. I might reconsider the deductibility of charitable contributions. If I did, I'd remove the caps. If somebody wants to give 100% of their substantial income to charity, they should be able to do so, and have a tax incentive for doing it.
6. From the same d2 guy, I'd strip all official positions from the political parties, including Speaker and committee chairs. Let the congresspersons run for chairmanships, and be voted on by their peers. There'd be a new voting process with each election cycle.
7. From the same guy (maybe I should make him Chief of Staff), I'd reinstate the peacetime draft, with certain exemptions - disability, or employment in certain fields. Pay would be based in part on length of service commitment.
8. I would provide tax incentives for saving and investment. I'd up the IRA/401k limits, and remove the caps. We have to get back to being a nation of savers and investors, not borrowers and consumers.
************
I hate even giving this blog space, but I'm sickened by the whole Michael Jackson thing. He was a marketing genius who surrounded himself with very good producers; he wrote catchy pop tunes with little substance or meaning; he was a prodigious child talent, but an average singer as an adult; and he could only have been popular as an entertainer in our current/recent culture.
And he was a pedophile.
Yet they're selling tickets to celebrate his life. What does that say about us?
When we heard on the news that there'd be all-day coverage of this media circus today, my wife lamented that it wasn't tomorrow instead: we'll be on airplanes all day.
Some news talking head commented that it was "highly unusual" to find the surgical drug Propofol in a private citizen's home. My first thought was that the words "highly unusual" fit Michael Jackson like ... well, like a glove.
A very excellent book I'm reading called "The Reason for God" made a very appropriate point that applies to Jackson's life. I believe the author, Tim Keller, might have been quoting C.S. Lewis. To paraphrase, he noted that there's a God-shaped hole in all of us. And when someone finally reaches the zenith of one's chosen field - the pinnacle of what one is really good at - and finds they're still the same broken schmuck they were when they were nobody, with all the attendant warts, hurts and demons, it has to be devastating. At that point, what else is there? What else can they do to be somebody different, the somebody they thought fame, fortune, success, whatever, would make them? When they realize that they're not that butterfly, but still the same old worm, what then?
It can only end badly, and we've seen it too many times.
When you've got one puzzle piece left, you fill it with the only piece that will fit. Try filling it with a perfectly round piece, or a square piece, and there's still a hole. Get the message?
************
As a cycling fan, I find this year's Tour de France intriguing. It is fitting proof that experience can often trump youthful vigor. To wit: the sporting press are making a mountain out of the molehill that Lance Armstrong, at age 37, managed to be in the lead group that split from the peloton yesterday, just when the group hit the stiff Mediterranean winds near the French coast, while his compatriot, young Alberto Contador, reportedly and presumably the leader of their Astana team, got caught in the back group.
I say it was no rivalry-bred conspiracy, but a simple matter of the experience of a seven-time Tour winner, who's forgotten more about racing tactics than most in the peloton will ever know, versus the lack of savvy of a young stud who's won three major tours, but with the guidance of cycling's greatest tactician, Johann Bruyneel.
Look back at past Tours. In those nervous, early stages, Armstrong always rode near the front. Always. That's what leaders do. You avoid the surprises, the unexpected breakaways, the field splits, and the crashes. That Conti was leisurely making his way from the back of the pack to the middle at that point just shows that he has a lot to learn.
Former Armstrong lieutenant George Hincapie, now a rival, was in the front group. Conspiracy? Nope. Big George is himself a veteran of 14 Tours. He knows the game. Two Astana teammates were with Armstrong. Team rift? Doubtful. If I were on Armstrong's team, I'd be on his wheel as long as I could hold it. You don't win 7 Tours by being lucky. The only reason I wouldn't be on his wheel would be if I were an arrogant young buck who thought his climbing prowess and his post-Armstrong successes made the leadership of the team his birthright. And that may prove Contador's downfall.
What if Armstrong and his two teammates had stayed back with their "leader," Contador?
Well, first, it was no accident that Astana had positioned itself as the leading team headed into today's team time trial. I have to believe it was part of Astana's strategy. Knowing the TTT was coming on the fourth stage, and that the leading team is last to hit the course, you'd want to be that team, so that you'd know all the other teams' split times at each of the three checkpoints. That strategy was also likely led by Armstrong and Bruyneel.
After stage one, in which Astana smashed the opening time trial, placing four riders in the top ten, and stage two, Astana held the team lead by 31 seconds over yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara's Saxo Bank team. The split between the lead group - containing Armstrong, the two other Astana riders, and race leader Cancellara - and the main group on Wednesday was 41 seconds. There were no other Saxo riders in the lead group.
Had Astana had zero riders in the lead group, they'd have possibly lost the team lead. As it was, Armstrong's two teammates in the lead group put the hammer down, putting distance between the two groups to maximize the TEAM's advantage. (That also fueled the conspiracy theories.)
Of course, with the benefit of being able to start the TTT last, Astana destroyed the field today. Looking at the average times from the lead five riders - those whose times count in the TTT for the team time - from Saxo and Astana from Stage 1's 15.5 km time trial, and extrapolating the distance to today's 39.9 km, produced a 44 second gap between Astana and Saxo Bank.
Astana beat Saxo by 40 seconds, enough to put Armstrong in second by a scant 0.22 second - a margin so small that the race officials had to go back to to Stage 1's results and, combined with today's, calculate the times to the hundredth of a second.
That margin almost put Armstrong in yellow for the 84th time in his career. But more importantly, it set up Astana for a cinch victory in this year's Tour. Cancellara can't climb, so he's not a GC contender. The other contenders? They have too much time to make up to overcome the Astana lead. Carlos Sastre, who won last year only because Contador and Astana were excluded from the race (don't get me started on that travesty), is 2:44 behind Armstrong, 2:25 behind third-placed Contador, 2:21 behind fourth-placed Andreas Kloden, and 2:13 behind fifth-placed Levi Leipheimer. Between those four Astana riders, they have 12 Tour podium appearances. Tough to make up that much time on that set of riders.
Two-time bridesmaid Cadel Evans is 2:59 down on Armstrong, and 2009 Giro winner Denis Menchov is nearly another minute back.
Heading into the steep stuff on Friday, Astana also has a couple of other mountain goats in seventh and 11th place. Only Team Garmin's Christian Vandevelde and Columbia's Hincapie have a decent GC shot at this point. Things are setting up nicely for a 1-2-3 finish for Astana, an unprecedented feat that would put a nice feather in Bruyneel's cap, regardless who's in what position.
Armstrong is smart like a fox - ask Jan Ullrich. And Contador can either learn from him, or congratulate him on the podium in Paris.
First, a follow-up to my proposed reforms posted yesterday. Here are some more, some proposed by my good buddies at d2football.com, some fleshed out from what I already came up with, and some that I forgot about, or came up with later.
1. I'd also do away with the party conventions. I'd like to do away with the parties, period, and have the election process simply be "Citizen A running for president, not Member X of the RNC," as one of my d2 pals put it. Not sure how to pull that off though.
2. I'd also do away with caucuses, in favor of primaries. And no dual-selection processes like we have in some places in Texas.
3. I'd scrap the electoral college. Not that a popular vote doesn't have its flaws, but the electoral college today simply leads to candidates playing a numbers game, and focusing on "key states" and "swing states" while ignoring others, either because they're a foregone conclusion to go to one party or the other, or because they don't carry enough electoral votes to matter. EVERY vote MUST matter!
4. To clarify, POTUS could take AFOne on a leisure trip, but would have to pay the costs for it and the security detail out of pocket. If s/he can't afford it - too bad. There are plenty of opportunities to visit New York on official government business, and the prez could take in a Broadway show then. Besides, DC has decent entertainment. If a national crisis breaks out on a self-funded leisure trip, of course the taxpayer funds would come into play to pay for the altered travel plans.
5. I might reconsider the deductibility of charitable contributions. If I did, I'd remove the caps. If somebody wants to give 100% of their substantial income to charity, they should be able to do so, and have a tax incentive for doing it.
6. From the same d2 guy, I'd strip all official positions from the political parties, including Speaker and committee chairs. Let the congresspersons run for chairmanships, and be voted on by their peers. There'd be a new voting process with each election cycle.
7. From the same guy (maybe I should make him Chief of Staff), I'd reinstate the peacetime draft, with certain exemptions - disability, or employment in certain fields. Pay would be based in part on length of service commitment.
8. I would provide tax incentives for saving and investment. I'd up the IRA/401k limits, and remove the caps. We have to get back to being a nation of savers and investors, not borrowers and consumers.
************
I hate even giving this blog space, but I'm sickened by the whole Michael Jackson thing. He was a marketing genius who surrounded himself with very good producers; he wrote catchy pop tunes with little substance or meaning; he was a prodigious child talent, but an average singer as an adult; and he could only have been popular as an entertainer in our current/recent culture.
And he was a pedophile.
Yet they're selling tickets to celebrate his life. What does that say about us?
When we heard on the news that there'd be all-day coverage of this media circus today, my wife lamented that it wasn't tomorrow instead: we'll be on airplanes all day.
Some news talking head commented that it was "highly unusual" to find the surgical drug Propofol in a private citizen's home. My first thought was that the words "highly unusual" fit Michael Jackson like ... well, like a glove.
A very excellent book I'm reading called "The Reason for God" made a very appropriate point that applies to Jackson's life. I believe the author, Tim Keller, might have been quoting C.S. Lewis. To paraphrase, he noted that there's a God-shaped hole in all of us. And when someone finally reaches the zenith of one's chosen field - the pinnacle of what one is really good at - and finds they're still the same broken schmuck they were when they were nobody, with all the attendant warts, hurts and demons, it has to be devastating. At that point, what else is there? What else can they do to be somebody different, the somebody they thought fame, fortune, success, whatever, would make them? When they realize that they're not that butterfly, but still the same old worm, what then?
It can only end badly, and we've seen it too many times.
When you've got one puzzle piece left, you fill it with the only piece that will fit. Try filling it with a perfectly round piece, or a square piece, and there's still a hole. Get the message?
************
As a cycling fan, I find this year's Tour de France intriguing. It is fitting proof that experience can often trump youthful vigor. To wit: the sporting press are making a mountain out of the molehill that Lance Armstrong, at age 37, managed to be in the lead group that split from the peloton yesterday, just when the group hit the stiff Mediterranean winds near the French coast, while his compatriot, young Alberto Contador, reportedly and presumably the leader of their Astana team, got caught in the back group.
I say it was no rivalry-bred conspiracy, but a simple matter of the experience of a seven-time Tour winner, who's forgotten more about racing tactics than most in the peloton will ever know, versus the lack of savvy of a young stud who's won three major tours, but with the guidance of cycling's greatest tactician, Johann Bruyneel.
Look back at past Tours. In those nervous, early stages, Armstrong always rode near the front. Always. That's what leaders do. You avoid the surprises, the unexpected breakaways, the field splits, and the crashes. That Conti was leisurely making his way from the back of the pack to the middle at that point just shows that he has a lot to learn.
Former Armstrong lieutenant George Hincapie, now a rival, was in the front group. Conspiracy? Nope. Big George is himself a veteran of 14 Tours. He knows the game. Two Astana teammates were with Armstrong. Team rift? Doubtful. If I were on Armstrong's team, I'd be on his wheel as long as I could hold it. You don't win 7 Tours by being lucky. The only reason I wouldn't be on his wheel would be if I were an arrogant young buck who thought his climbing prowess and his post-Armstrong successes made the leadership of the team his birthright. And that may prove Contador's downfall.
What if Armstrong and his two teammates had stayed back with their "leader," Contador?
Well, first, it was no accident that Astana had positioned itself as the leading team headed into today's team time trial. I have to believe it was part of Astana's strategy. Knowing the TTT was coming on the fourth stage, and that the leading team is last to hit the course, you'd want to be that team, so that you'd know all the other teams' split times at each of the three checkpoints. That strategy was also likely led by Armstrong and Bruyneel.
After stage one, in which Astana smashed the opening time trial, placing four riders in the top ten, and stage two, Astana held the team lead by 31 seconds over yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara's Saxo Bank team. The split between the lead group - containing Armstrong, the two other Astana riders, and race leader Cancellara - and the main group on Wednesday was 41 seconds. There were no other Saxo riders in the lead group.
Had Astana had zero riders in the lead group, they'd have possibly lost the team lead. As it was, Armstrong's two teammates in the lead group put the hammer down, putting distance between the two groups to maximize the TEAM's advantage. (That also fueled the conspiracy theories.)
Of course, with the benefit of being able to start the TTT last, Astana destroyed the field today. Looking at the average times from the lead five riders - those whose times count in the TTT for the team time - from Saxo and Astana from Stage 1's 15.5 km time trial, and extrapolating the distance to today's 39.9 km, produced a 44 second gap between Astana and Saxo Bank.
Astana beat Saxo by 40 seconds, enough to put Armstrong in second by a scant 0.22 second - a margin so small that the race officials had to go back to to Stage 1's results and, combined with today's, calculate the times to the hundredth of a second.
That margin almost put Armstrong in yellow for the 84th time in his career. But more importantly, it set up Astana for a cinch victory in this year's Tour. Cancellara can't climb, so he's not a GC contender. The other contenders? They have too much time to make up to overcome the Astana lead. Carlos Sastre, who won last year only because Contador and Astana were excluded from the race (don't get me started on that travesty), is 2:44 behind Armstrong, 2:25 behind third-placed Contador, 2:21 behind fourth-placed Andreas Kloden, and 2:13 behind fifth-placed Levi Leipheimer. Between those four Astana riders, they have 12 Tour podium appearances. Tough to make up that much time on that set of riders.
Two-time bridesmaid Cadel Evans is 2:59 down on Armstrong, and 2009 Giro winner Denis Menchov is nearly another minute back.
Heading into the steep stuff on Friday, Astana also has a couple of other mountain goats in seventh and 11th place. Only Team Garmin's Christian Vandevelde and Columbia's Hincapie have a decent GC shot at this point. Things are setting up nicely for a 1-2-3 finish for Astana, an unprecedented feat that would put a nice feather in Bruyneel's cap, regardless who's in what position.
Armstrong is smart like a fox - ask Jan Ullrich. And Contador can either learn from him, or congratulate him on the podium in Paris.
Monday, July 6, 2009
I'm Ba-aack!
I decided to return to the blogosphere after all, and the topic for today is reforms.
Having grown completely and entirely sick, tired and disgusted of all politicians and of politics in general, I spent part of my hiatus from this blog thinking about what I'd do differently "if I were king," to rip off the Wizard of Oz.
If I were prez, this would be my agenda, in no particular order (recognizing that in the current environment in DC I could never accomplish it, and that some of these things would be beyond my purview as POTUS - either states' issues or congressional ones):
1. Complete campaign reform. This includes limiting campaigning for president to a nine-month period running prior to the election - none of this running for two years crap. Debates would be set in advance, limited to three for the primaries and three for the general election, and would follow the same format for each. Every candidate would have an opportunity to answer each question - no more limiting questions to some candidates, as happened to Huckabee and Paul in one of the last GOP debates. The moderator could not come from the mainstream media - I'm not sure whom I'd pick, maybe draw from a lottery, or maybe have all questions submitted from the people, electronically via a website, e-mail or phone. A switch would be placed on each candidate's mic, and when they hit their time limit for a question the mic would shut off. Likewise, if their answer were off-topic, or if they tried to veer off-topic after giving an answer, the mic could be shut off and we'd move to the next question. Three infractions, and they're out of the debate, and all subsequent ones. If they can't play by the rules in a debate, they're unlikely to in office.
There would also be significant campaign finance reform, including the elimination of all PACs, and a cap on funds raised - any funds donated above the cap would go to pay down the national debt.
2. Congressional term limits, two terms for senators and six for representatives. Twelve years is long enough to serve in any job. Also, congressional bennies would expire after a time period equal to the time the congressperson served. So if the lawmaker serves the full 12 years, they'd get 12 years of post-service bennies before they expired and they had to get a real job. If a rep serves one term then loses, they'd get two years of bennies. The bennies would be those they'd get during active service; the pension would be equivalent to 80% of their annual pay the last year they served, with no COLAs during the payout period.
3. Congress could no longer approve their own pay raises. They - and the president - would get an annual COLA equal to headline CPI for that year, period. And in any year there was a budget deficit, they'd get nada. If the deficit exceeded 5% of GDP, they would each take a pay cut that year equal to the deficit as a percent of GDP (this year they'd get whacked by about 13%), with the money going to pay down the deficit. And they'd get no chance to recoup that pay cut, just the annual COLAs.
4. I'd pursue real, meaningful tort reform. There would be caps on awards, including medical malpractice suits, maybe dependent on the nature of the injury. I'd want to consult more on that with my HHS Secretary, a very smart doc I know. I'd also streamline the FDA drug approval process - it shouldn't take any longer to get a drug approved here than in other developed countries. And I'd break the insurance companies' stranglehold on medicine - again, I'd defer to my HHS Secretary on the details.
5. Neither the president nor congress would have more than six weeks' paid vacation per year, and there would be no junkets. Camp David would only be used if the president had to be whisked out of DC for security reasons, or to entertain foreign dignitaries - never for a leisurely getaway. It would be a working retreat. AFOne could not be used for weekend trips on leisure, at least on the taxpayers' dime - if the president wanted a weekend getaway, he'd still use AFOne and have the appropriate security detail, but it would come out of his own pocket (or hers). In fact, the president and each elected congressperson would have an annual travel budget that could not be exceeded except if there's a national emergency that required travel, and any expenditures over budget would come out of pocket.
6. It would be law that former lobbyists could not be given cabinet appointments, and no elected official could serve as a lobbyist after their term for a period of time equal to the term served in office.
7. The Fed would function solely as a central bank and lender of last resort, and its balance sheet would be limited in size. It could not regulate. And it would be completely independent, by a constitutional amendment if necessary.
8. There would be a line-item veto. Also, no spending bill could be voted on until the people had a chance to review it for three weeks, and no lawmaker could vote on a spending bill without signing an affidavit, subject to legal action, attesting to his/her having read and understood it.
9. The IRS, Dept. of Education, and probably the DEA and ATF would be eliminated. A flat tax would be imposed in place of the current structure, with no itemized deductions.
10. Unemployment benefits could not be extended by Congress. Thirteen weeks, period.
11. Any state that wanted federal funding for education would have to make financial literacy a part of the core public school curriculum, beginning at the elementary school level and continuing through high school.
12. Usury limits would be put in place. Payday lending would be illegal. Any financial institution that offered car loans in excess of five years and/or mortgages other than fixed-rate loans with at least 10% down, documented income, and maximum debt-to-income ratios would have to hold all such loans in portfolio.
13. Derivatives markets would be regulated, and the old CFTC rules relating to hedging would be brought back. Wall Street firms could not qualify as real commodity hedgers, only qualified end users.
14. I'd kill the cap and trade idea.
15. Illegal immigrants would be just that: illegal. If they wanted to apply for citizenship, they could, following the same rules as anyone else, after the appropriate punishment for being in the US illegally. If someone was in the US illegally and had a child, that child could not be a US citizen without going through the application process. No free education, welfare, etc.
16. The US would pull out of the UN, and the UN would be kicked off US soil.
I'm sure I could think of more, but that's a decent start for my first term.
Having grown completely and entirely sick, tired and disgusted of all politicians and of politics in general, I spent part of my hiatus from this blog thinking about what I'd do differently "if I were king," to rip off the Wizard of Oz.
If I were prez, this would be my agenda, in no particular order (recognizing that in the current environment in DC I could never accomplish it, and that some of these things would be beyond my purview as POTUS - either states' issues or congressional ones):
1. Complete campaign reform. This includes limiting campaigning for president to a nine-month period running prior to the election - none of this running for two years crap. Debates would be set in advance, limited to three for the primaries and three for the general election, and would follow the same format for each. Every candidate would have an opportunity to answer each question - no more limiting questions to some candidates, as happened to Huckabee and Paul in one of the last GOP debates. The moderator could not come from the mainstream media - I'm not sure whom I'd pick, maybe draw from a lottery, or maybe have all questions submitted from the people, electronically via a website, e-mail or phone. A switch would be placed on each candidate's mic, and when they hit their time limit for a question the mic would shut off. Likewise, if their answer were off-topic, or if they tried to veer off-topic after giving an answer, the mic could be shut off and we'd move to the next question. Three infractions, and they're out of the debate, and all subsequent ones. If they can't play by the rules in a debate, they're unlikely to in office.
There would also be significant campaign finance reform, including the elimination of all PACs, and a cap on funds raised - any funds donated above the cap would go to pay down the national debt.
2. Congressional term limits, two terms for senators and six for representatives. Twelve years is long enough to serve in any job. Also, congressional bennies would expire after a time period equal to the time the congressperson served. So if the lawmaker serves the full 12 years, they'd get 12 years of post-service bennies before they expired and they had to get a real job. If a rep serves one term then loses, they'd get two years of bennies. The bennies would be those they'd get during active service; the pension would be equivalent to 80% of their annual pay the last year they served, with no COLAs during the payout period.
3. Congress could no longer approve their own pay raises. They - and the president - would get an annual COLA equal to headline CPI for that year, period. And in any year there was a budget deficit, they'd get nada. If the deficit exceeded 5% of GDP, they would each take a pay cut that year equal to the deficit as a percent of GDP (this year they'd get whacked by about 13%), with the money going to pay down the deficit. And they'd get no chance to recoup that pay cut, just the annual COLAs.
4. I'd pursue real, meaningful tort reform. There would be caps on awards, including medical malpractice suits, maybe dependent on the nature of the injury. I'd want to consult more on that with my HHS Secretary, a very smart doc I know. I'd also streamline the FDA drug approval process - it shouldn't take any longer to get a drug approved here than in other developed countries. And I'd break the insurance companies' stranglehold on medicine - again, I'd defer to my HHS Secretary on the details.
5. Neither the president nor congress would have more than six weeks' paid vacation per year, and there would be no junkets. Camp David would only be used if the president had to be whisked out of DC for security reasons, or to entertain foreign dignitaries - never for a leisurely getaway. It would be a working retreat. AFOne could not be used for weekend trips on leisure, at least on the taxpayers' dime - if the president wanted a weekend getaway, he'd still use AFOne and have the appropriate security detail, but it would come out of his own pocket (or hers). In fact, the president and each elected congressperson would have an annual travel budget that could not be exceeded except if there's a national emergency that required travel, and any expenditures over budget would come out of pocket.
6. It would be law that former lobbyists could not be given cabinet appointments, and no elected official could serve as a lobbyist after their term for a period of time equal to the term served in office.
7. The Fed would function solely as a central bank and lender of last resort, and its balance sheet would be limited in size. It could not regulate. And it would be completely independent, by a constitutional amendment if necessary.
8. There would be a line-item veto. Also, no spending bill could be voted on until the people had a chance to review it for three weeks, and no lawmaker could vote on a spending bill without signing an affidavit, subject to legal action, attesting to his/her having read and understood it.
9. The IRS, Dept. of Education, and probably the DEA and ATF would be eliminated. A flat tax would be imposed in place of the current structure, with no itemized deductions.
10. Unemployment benefits could not be extended by Congress. Thirteen weeks, period.
11. Any state that wanted federal funding for education would have to make financial literacy a part of the core public school curriculum, beginning at the elementary school level and continuing through high school.
12. Usury limits would be put in place. Payday lending would be illegal. Any financial institution that offered car loans in excess of five years and/or mortgages other than fixed-rate loans with at least 10% down, documented income, and maximum debt-to-income ratios would have to hold all such loans in portfolio.
13. Derivatives markets would be regulated, and the old CFTC rules relating to hedging would be brought back. Wall Street firms could not qualify as real commodity hedgers, only qualified end users.
14. I'd kill the cap and trade idea.
15. Illegal immigrants would be just that: illegal. If they wanted to apply for citizenship, they could, following the same rules as anyone else, after the appropriate punishment for being in the US illegally. If someone was in the US illegally and had a child, that child could not be a US citizen without going through the application process. No free education, welfare, etc.
16. The US would pull out of the UN, and the UN would be kicked off US soil.
I'm sure I could think of more, but that's a decent start for my first term.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)