Top 5 issues for the President: What would YOU list as Priorities?

[emilynghiem]

A friend at Pacifica Public Radio posted this question and his top 5 Priorities:

HANK LAMB:
If you were President of the United States, what are the first 5 problems you would look to address and why?

As for me...

First I’d address energy and move from fossil to green/reneable, as it contributes to problems with ecology, polution, economy, politics and national security.

Second political concerns such as returning to more free and fair elections, ending gerrymandering and voter suppression, as well as ending Citizens United and getting ALL big money out of politics by requiring broadcast media to hold equal time for all candidates free of charge and a set number of literal debates on issues by candidates (not the crap they serve up as debates today), as they affect everything on every level and have become unrepresentative of what most Americans want and need.

Third, Pentagon spending and the hundreds of billion lost annually, along with many billions moore in fraud waste and abuse, end the more than 800 overseas bases, opting for stronger bases here in the US and a select few in other nations, ending enelss warfare we’ve been in nonstop since the beginning of WWI, at least and use that money for infrastructure and other items at home.

Fourth, I’d use some of the Pentagon savings to move us to nationalized healthcare, which would cost us at least ten billion less over ten years than we currently spend and cover every person in our nation, which means we’d get more than 30 million more people covered and still save that much, making the nation healthier, less loss of prodcutivity and more.

Fifth, I’d work to end prohibition of drugs, which is another winless, endless war coosting us trillions over the years with no end in sight. Treatment has long been shown to be a better option and our laws have ruined more lives than the drugs have.

Then we could have a better nation, less incarceration, less court and law enforcement costs, etc. which could help us pay for the infrastructure and healthcare, as well.

If I could add a sixth item, it would be a sales tax on every Wall Street purchase, just like on every other purchase and end personal income tax.

Seventh I’d end property tax after the initial sale, auto taxation after the initial sale, etc.
-- HANK LAMB, community member at KPFT public radio
========================
My 5 part response will be posted below (too long to add here, takes up 5 separate posts) but basically I would delegate 5 major areas to the Green, Libertarian, Democrats, Republicans
and Veteran/Constitution/Natural Law parties to take on to organize, lead and implement mass reforms.

 

[emilynghiem]

1. [Delegated to the GREEN PARTY]
1. Environmental corrections, restoration and development including crediting taxpayers back for past destruction or abuse/waste of public resources on corporate profits at the expense of people paying for it. And setting up a federal reserve credit and financing system to manage these debts, hold property and programs as collateral, and rewarding investors for lending money against these debts to finance jobs and education in environmental restoration and development to rebuild the economy of California and other affected areas to be sustainable under local control of ownership over land to protect wildlife and wilderness.

 

[emilynghiem]

^ I'd delegate this reform to the Green party to organize through various schools/depts that focus on Environmental sciences and clean energy development.

2. Charging the Democratic Party with reforming the Prison and death penalty systems to create teaching hospitals for effective medical and mental health treatment in order to support Universal Health Care through paid internships and residencies that would serve the greater public. In other words, using the same resources and taxes currently wasted on a failed criminal justice and mental health system to fund and support medical education programs in every district to reduce and prevent crime while providing cost effective health care on a sustainable basis. I'd ask Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to head up this campaign to transform prisons into hospitals and jails into schools, where we fund jobs for teachers and students, by paying pairs of Mentor/Interns 50,000 per year instead of wasting that much on every inmate incarcerated.

 

[emilynghiem]

3. I'd delegate to the Republican Party the task of reforming the VA and military to require police and Constitutional training and oath and military service to all citizens (whether natural born or naturalized or mixed status) to clean up the border and all areas overridden with crime or corruption that is costing taxpayers. As above, Democrats or others who believe in universal health care not war can opt for mandatory Medical service and training instead of military. All restitution for crime and corruption that has incurred debts or damages to victims including taxpayers would be managed through federal reserve credits to finance the costs of building military prisons, teaching hospitals, campus towns for sustainable housing, jobs, education and services so that workers and students can enroll in programs and work off any debts or infractions they might own for past violations. This would treat law abiding productive workers differently from minor infractions, while also collecting restitution against career criminals, traffickers and CORRUPT GOVT OFFICIALS who also owe taxpayers for their collusion and corporate crimes. www.earnedamnesty.org (NOTE: priests and other church organizations guilty of trafficking or covering up sex abuse can also help pay restitution by setting up treatment programs within prisons on the border so all such convicted dangerous offenders can be housed there for treatment and rehab/restitution in place of the death penalty, exchanging life for deportation and trading citizenship for immigrant applicants on the waiting list for citizenship)

 

[emilynghiem]

This overlaps with
4. Reforming courts and justice system to assess collect and invest restitution owed for Rape, Trafficking, and other sexual and labor abuses to build and finance business, schools, and communities to support women and minority business and govt leaders. I would ask for the Astrodome in Houston Texas to be used as a Congress for international groups and leaders to organize such a global effort to refinance sustainable development programs against debts and damaged from sex abuse, rape, trafficking, war crimes. etc. And would lobby to use all 5 stations of Pacifica Radio to organize support and financing in advance of assessing and collecting the legal debts to back up the refinancing. (WBAI in NY to focus on women recovering from rape abuse and trafficking, KPFA and KPFK in CA to focus on Environmental restitution and restoration for sustainable economy jobs and education and on worker/immigration reforms to rebuild the border by granting ownership to residents to build their own sustainable communities and campus towns to manage restitution owed for trafficking invested in education and services through school supervised work-study programs, KPFT in Houston to organize a hub for converting prison and death penalty funding into sustainable health care through teaching hospitals and clinics to reach and serve every district locally with the same budget currently wasted on crime and corruption of our prison and mental health systems, WPFW in DC to focus on VA and military/police reforms and Constitutional education, enforcement, and public service/screening requirements for citizenship [this Constitutional education and outreach I would delegate to the Veteran/Constitution/Natural Law and Tea Party www.ethics-commission.net]

 

[emilynghiem]

5. I'd hire Libertarians and Law schools/student teams to take on the legal system and set up localized means of Redressing Grievances and complaints of govt abuse, so that taxpayers invoke restitution or credits for past misspending or misdirection of public funds and deter corporate or govt abuses by any collective organization that threatens to disparage individual rights of complainants. I would recommend expanding both the Electoral College system and the Party Precincts to provide equal or proportional representation and input by Party, so all people can have their interests, objections and beliefs included in policy decision and democratic process regardless of creeds. I would call for a separation of taxes, choices of programs and jurisdiction by Party when it comes to issues of conflicting beliefs that both demand equal inclusion and protection under the law. So where people cannot agree, they can have their own terms and conditions for social programs or benefits managed collectively by their Party of choice, on local state or national levels, without interfering or infringing on each other. And I would call for separating Internal and External roles for VP/President where domestic issues of national policy can be managed with States and parties for localized democratic representation, while global issues of national security and economics can be addressed separately as a full time job without distraction from internal policies that can be shifted back to people and states. I would recommend splitting both offices into 2, where a Pres/VP pair is elected to handle only national security and foreign relations and economic/trade policies etc. and a separate Internal Pres/VP pair works to delegate the domestic policy issues back to states and parties to manage as locally as necessary, where only the policies and programs that all states people and parties agree to fund through federal govt is authorized on that level and the rest is reclaimed state by state.

Again, I can see using the Astrodome in Houston, Texas as a people's congress for representation by party, while using the Electoral College Districts to organize reps and process for every party per precinct, and dividing both taxes/social benefits so different parties can elect their own terms and conditions for their members, as well as dividing internal and external duties of Govt to empower people to govern themselves democratically by state or by party districts and limit federal govt and authority to just matters of national security, economics and policies the public agrees on for that level. The rest we disagree on should be resolved or managed locally, to ensure equal protection and inclusion of diversity in our democratic process, public policy and taxes.

 

[Oddball]

1. [Delegated to the GREEN PARTY]
1. Environmental corrections, restoration and development including crediting taxpayers back for past destruction or abuse/waste of public resources on corporate profits at the expense of people paying for it. And setting up a federal reserve credit and financing system to manage these debts, hold property and programs as collateral, and rewarding investors for lending money against these debts to finance jobs and education in environmental restoration and development to rebuild the economy of California and other affected areas to be sustainable under local control of ownership over land to protect wildlife and wilderness.

Too much power to The State...The EPA has already shown how despotic that "green" fundamentalists are.

 

[emilynghiem]

1. [Delegated to the GREEN PARTY]
1. Environmental corrections, restoration and development including crediting taxpayers back for past destruction or abuse/waste of public resources on corporate profits at the expense of people paying for it. And setting up a federal reserve credit and financing system to manage these debts, hold property and programs as collateral, and rewarding investors for lending money against these debts to finance jobs and education in environmental restoration and development to rebuild the economy of California and other affected areas to be sustainable under local control of ownership over land to protect wildlife and wilderness.

Too much power to The State...The EPA has already shown how despotic that "green" fundamentalists are.

Dear Oddball the point is actually to take it out of State hands and
delegate this locally to research and development through scientists and schools.

Only where all people and parties AGREE should be State or Federal policy,
we can agree what works and adopt that on higher levels upon consent of those people affected (to avoid taxation without representation).

NOTE: Mike Savage is a far right advocate against big bureucratic govt mucking everything up.
Even he as a Environmental Conservationist believes in pursuing protections and corrections the RIGHT way.

If Mike Savage and other Rightwing God based environmental conservationists
(who don't believe in man-made global warming but DO believe in cleaning up and stopping pollution and destruction from killing natural wildlife and wildnerness)
are DIRECLTY involved in the democratic process - on local state and national levels - and ensuring effective research and solultions
to fix these problems on a sustainable basis, wouldn't that prevent the politics from mucking it up and buying and selling these issues for the wrong reasons?

 

[Oddball]

1. [Delegated to the GREEN PARTY]
1. Environmental corrections, restoration and development including crediting taxpayers back for past destruction or abuse/waste of public resources on corporate profits at the expense of people paying for it. And setting up a federal reserve credit and financing system to manage these debts, hold property and programs as collateral, and rewarding investors for lending money against these debts to finance jobs and education in environmental restoration and development to rebuild the economy of California and other affected areas to be sustainable under local control of ownership over land to protect wildlife and wilderness.

Too much power to The State...The EPA has already shown how despotic that "green" fundamentalists are.

Dear Oddball the point is actually to take it out of State hands and
delegate this locally to research and development through scientists and schools.

Only where all people and parties AGREE should be State or Federal policy,
we can agree what works and adopt that on higher levels upon consent of those people affected (to avoid taxation without representation).

NOTE: Mike Savage is a far right advocate against big bureucratic govt mucking everything up.
Even he as a Environmental Conservationist believes in pursuing protections and corrections the RIGHT way.

If Mike Savage and other Rightwing God based environmental conservationists
(who don't believe in man-made global warming but DO believe in cleaning up and stopping pollution and destruction from killing natural wildlife and wildnerness)
are DIRECLTY involved in the democratic process - on local state and national levels - and ensuring effective research and solultions
to fix these problems on a sustainable basis, wouldn't that prevent the politics from mucking it up and buying and selling these issues for the wrong reasons?

The scientists and schools?.....They're already infested with statists, through and through.

And Michael Savage is also a statist, who approaches his political philosophy as though it's a Golden Corral buffet.

 

[kyzr]

My list of priorities are:
1. Strong economy, including fair trade agreements that protect US jobs, tariffs when needed
2. National defense, keep the US strong, but get US troops out of the EU. The EU needs to step up.
3. Balance the Budget and pay down the Debt, implement a 3% Federal sales tax and raise the top tax rate 7%
4. Immigration reform, including
a. No catch & release
b. No diversity lottery
c. No asylum claims unless pre-approved
d. No chain migration
e. Only merit based immigration for who the US needs
f. No birthright citizenship, i.e. no cottage industry for anchor babies
g. DACA kids get green cards but NOT citizenship
5. Authorize a "Grace Commission II" to audit the Fed and Federal government to eliminate waste and cut spending

 

[candycorn]

A friend at Pacifica Public Radio posted this question and his top 5 Priorities:

HANK LAMB:
If you were President of the United States, what are the first 5 problems you would look to address and why?

As for me...

First I’d address energy and move from fossil to green/reneable, as it contributes to problems with ecology, polution, economy, politics and national security.

I’m with Mr. Lamb on the energy question. I’d propose far different remedies though.

We’ve had nuke power on Navy vessels for what, 60+ years now. The safety record is something I would describe as outstanding if not almost as close to perfect as possible….
There is zero reason to continue to pretend that safety of nuclear power is a reason it shouldn’t be used. It’s cleaner than fossil fuels and more practical than the renewable alternatives.

 

[emilynghiem]

1. [Delegated to the GREEN PARTY]
1. Environmental corrections, restoration and development including crediting taxpayers back for past destruction or abuse/waste of public resources on corporate profits at the expense of people paying for it. And setting up a federal reserve credit and financing system to manage these debts, hold property and programs as collateral, and rewarding investors for lending money against these debts to finance jobs and education in environmental restoration and development to rebuild the economy of California and other affected areas to be sustainable under local control of ownership over land to protect wildlife and wilderness.

Too much power to The State...The EPA has already shown how despotic that "green" fundamentalists are.

Dear Oddball the point is actually to take it out of State hands and
delegate this locally to research and development through scientists and schools.

Only where all people and parties AGREE should be State or Federal policy,
we can agree what works and adopt that on higher levels upon consent of those people affected (to avoid taxation without representation).

NOTE: Mike Savage is a far right advocate against big bureucratic govt mucking everything up.
Even he as a Environmental Conservationist believes in pursuing protections and corrections the RIGHT way.

If Mike Savage and other Rightwing God based environmental conservationists
(who don't believe in man-made global warming but DO believe in cleaning up and stopping pollution and destruction from killing natural wildlife and wildnerness)
are DIRECLTY involved in the democratic process - on local state and national levels - and ensuring effective research and solultions
to fix these problems on a sustainable basis, wouldn't that prevent the politics from mucking it up and buying and selling these issues for the wrong reasons?

The scientists and schools?.....They're already infested with statists, through and through.

And Michael Savage is also a statist, who approaches his political philosophy as though it's a Golden Corral buffet.

Dear Oddball and again, let these Statists be under their own Party and principles, terms and conditions.
And let others elect and represent their own.

So what if we organize Environmental research, development jobs and educational internships
through Schools where they INCLUDE "statists" and greenies, and corporate capitalists, and socialists etc.

Let them ALL have their own input and solutions THEY AGREE TO FUND THEMSELVES.
If YOU agree to fund your own experimental study on what will work to solve environmental problems,
get your own grants or investors and PROVE YOUR SOLUTIONS work.

Prove this scientifically where other people AGREE to pay and adopt or develop those solutions!

This is capitalism and free market at its best.

You want it, you pay for it and get others to invest in your business plans and solutions!

So this process would be open to anyone of ANY partisan beliefs or creeds.
Anarchists, socialists, statists, capitalists.
If you have an idea for how to correction environmental problems
with cost effective clean energy and production or restoration processes,
Go for it!

So we set up representation by party per district or precinct,
and take this input and formulate the most cost effective sustainable
solutions. And everyone gets to vote which policies they support
and agree to fund. Just like organizing business networks where
people choose which is their favorite enterprise to patronize and recommend to friends and
investors to work for and grow that business.

 

[Oddball]

1) Abolish no less than half of the cabinet....DHS, Education, Commerce, Energy and EPA departments right off the top of the deck....Privatize TSA, abolish BATF, DEA, and gut the FBI.

2) Abolish the Patriot Act and FISA star chamber... Cease all NSA domestic spying, and haul any and all violators of 4th Amendment protections off to prison.

3) Close all military bases in Europe, Korea, Japan, and elsewhere, and make rhos people defend their own damn dirt.

4) Immediately audit the Federal Reserve and Pentagon.

5) Too many other things to be abolished or devolved to the states to pick any one for #5.

 

[Oddball]

1. [Delegated to the GREEN PARTY]
1. Environmental corrections, restoration and development including crediting taxpayers back for past destruction or abuse/waste of public resources on corporate profits at the expense of people paying for it. And setting up a federal reserve credit and financing system to manage these debts, hold property and programs as collateral, and rewarding investors for lending money against these debts to finance jobs and education in environmental restoration and development to rebuild the economy of California and other affected areas to be sustainable under local control of ownership over land to protect wildlife and wilderness.

Too much power to The State...The EPA has already shown how despotic that "green" fundamentalists are.

Dear Oddball the point is actually to take it out of State hands and
delegate this locally to research and development through scientists and schools.

Only where all people and parties AGREE should be State or Federal policy,
we can agree what works and adopt that on higher levels upon consent of those people affected (to avoid taxation without representation).

NOTE: Mike Savage is a far right advocate against big bureucratic govt mucking everything up.
Even he as a Environmental Conservationist believes in pursuing protections and corrections the RIGHT way.

If Mike Savage and other Rightwing God based environmental conservationists
(who don't believe in man-made global warming but DO believe in cleaning up and stopping pollution and destruction from killing natural wildlife and wildnerness)
are DIRECLTY involved in the democratic process - on local state and national levels - and ensuring effective research and solultions
to fix these problems on a sustainable basis, wouldn't that prevent the politics from mucking it up and buying and selling these issues for the wrong reasons?

The scientists and schools?.....They're already infested with statists, through and through.

And Michael Savage is also a statist, who approaches his political philosophy as though it's a Golden Corral buffet.

Dear Oddball and again, let these Statists be under their own Party and principles, terms and conditions.
And let others elect and represent their own.

So what if we organize Environmental research, development jobs and educational internships
through Schools where they INCLUDE "statists" and greenies, and corporate capitalists, and socialists etc.

Let them ALL have their own input and solutions THEY AGREE TO FUND THEMSELVES.
If YOU agree to fund your own experimental study on what will work to solve environmental problems,
get your own grants or investors and PROVE YOUR SOLUTIONS work.

Prove this scientifically where other people AGREE to pay and adopt or develop those solutions!

This is capitalism and free market at its best.

You want it, you pay for it and get others to invest in your business plans and solutions!

So this process would be open to anyone of ANY partisan beliefs or creeds.
Anarchists, socialists, statists, capitalists.
If you have an idea for how to correction environmental problems
with cost effective clean energy and production or restoration processes,
Go for it!

So we set up representation by party per district or precinct,
and take this input and formulate the most cost effective sustainable
solutions. And everyone gets to vote which policies they support
and agree to fund. Just like organizing business networks where
people choose which is their favorite enterprise to patronize and recommend to friends and
investors to work for and grow that business.

That still further empowers The State....We've had quote enough of that.

 

[g5000]

Top 5 issues for the President: What would YOU list as Priorities?

1. The debt.

2. The debt.

3. The debt.

4. The debt.

5. The debt.


Secrets of the Federal Budget Revealed

In February 2018, President Trump released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2019. Under his proposal, the federal budget would be $4.407 trillion. The U.S. government estimates it will receive $3.422 trillion in revenue, creating a $985 billion deficit for October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019.


The federal deficit by year:

 

[kyzr]

A friend at Pacifica Public Radio posted this question and his top 5 Priorities:

HANK LAMB:
If you were President of the United States, what are the first 5 problems you would look to address and why?

As for me...

First I’d address energy and move from fossil to green/reneable, as it contributes to problems with ecology, polution, economy, politics and national security.

I’m with Mr. Lamb on the energy question. I’d propose far different remedies though.

We’ve had nuke power on Navy vessels for what, 60+ years now. The safety record is something I would describe as outstanding if not almost as close to perfect as possible….
There is zero reason to continue to pretend that safety of nuclear power is a reason it shouldn’t be used. It’s cleaner than fossil fuels and more practical than the renewable alternatives.

Actually there are reactors that make more fuel than they use. They are called breeder reactors. They would be much more efficient and cheaper than most renewable energy sources.
Are fast-breeder reactors the answer to our nuclear waste nightmare? | Fred Pearce

 

[kyzr]

Top 5 issues for the President: What would YOU list as Priorities?

1. The debt.

2. The debt.

3. The debt.

4. The debt.

5. The debt.

Secrets of the Federal Budget Revealed

In February 2018, President Trump released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2019. Under his proposal, the federal budget would be $4.407 trillion. The U.S. government estimates it will receive $3.422 trillion in revenue, creating a $985 billion deficit for October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019.
The federal deficit by year:

We finally agree on something, except you need to put up how you plan to address the Debt.
So how do you plan to fix it?

 

[emilynghiem]

A friend at Pacifica Public Radio posted this question and his top 5 Priorities:

HANK LAMB:
If you were President of the United States, what are the first 5 problems you would look to address and why?

As for me...

First I’d address energy and move from fossil to green/reneable, as it contributes to problems with ecology, polution, economy, politics and national security.

I’m with Mr. Lamb on the energy question. I’d propose far different remedies though.

We’ve had nuke power on Navy vessels for what, 60+ years now. The safety record is something I would describe as outstanding if not almost as close to perfect as possible….
There is zero reason to continue to pretend that safety of nuclear power is a reason it shouldn’t be used. It’s cleaner than fossil fuels and more practical than the renewable alternatives.

Thanks candycorn
I think he'd be glad to have your support and hear your additional remedies!
I know him through KPFT public radio, and he posted this top 5 list on FB.
I will send him the link to direct him to respond to your msg here on USMB.

I recommend organizing Environmental reforms through the Green Party
and KPFA in Berkeley CA, with the goal of refinancing the State budget
and economy of CA on environmental restoration and corrections, so that
debts and damages from past corporate and govt abuses are paid back into
a fund, used to finance the education and work to restore the natural environment
and wildlife ecosystems. SEE also the Green Party "independent currency"
(www.paulglover.org www.ithacahours.com)
I would recommend for managing labor-hours and educational credits for
interns against the debts and damages owed to taxpayers for corporate abuses.

for a test case to launch a pilot program, I recommend using the case of
MAXXAM seizing land through Pacific Lumber at an est. cost to taxpayers
of $1.6 billion in junk bond bailouts and interest over the years, plus $580
million spent by the fed govt to buy back 5 groves of redwood rainforest
while the rest of the land transferred to the GAP company after Maxxam dissolved.
Headwaters Forest Campaign History | Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters and here's the
music campaign version written for Pacifica Radio: www.rocktheearth.us

 

[Asclepias]

A friend at Pacifica Public Radio posted this question and his top 5 Priorities:

HANK LAMB:
If you were President of the United States, what are the first 5 problems you would look to address and why?

As for me...

First I’d address energy and move from fossil to green/reneable, as it contributes to problems with ecology, polution, economy, politics and national security.

I’m with Mr. Lamb on the energy question. I’d propose far different remedies though.

We’ve had nuke power on Navy vessels for what, 60+ years now. The safety record is something I would describe as outstanding if not almost as close to perfect as possible….
There is zero reason to continue to pretend that safety of nuclear power is a reason it shouldn’t be used. It’s cleaner than fossil fuels and more practical than the renewable alternatives.

I agree nuclear energy is pretty safe but I liken it to bear traps someone puts out in the woods. Its all good while everything is functioning and the owner is still alive but when or if society breaks down those nuclear sites are going to be forgotten and kill off the people that are left.

 

[g5000]

Top 5 issues for the President: What would YOU list as Priorities?

1. The debt.

2. The debt.

3. The debt.

4. The debt.

5. The debt.

Secrets of the Federal Budget Revealed

In February 2018, President Trump released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2019. Under his proposal, the federal budget would be $4.407 trillion. The U.S. government estimates it will receive $3.422 trillion in revenue, creating a $985 billion deficit for October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019.
The federal deficit by year:

We finally agree on something, except you need to put up how you plan to address the Debt.
So how do you plan to fix it?

1. Ban the $1.4 trillion of annual tax expenditures. Tax expenditures are paid for by higher tax rates and heavy borrowing from countries like China. Banning tax expenditures would not only balance the budget, it would provide a surplus we could use to pay down the debt and lower tax rates for everyone. Then when the debt was paid off, we could lower tax rates for everyone even more.

2. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility age to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population going forward. We are living longer, we should be working longer.



Easy peasy, man! We just need politicians with some spine.

But our politicians do EXACTLY what we demand of them. "Gimme, gimme, gimme and make that guy over there pay for it."

We get the politicians we deserve.