Political candidates

[Don Morace]

Hi Folks,Don here with a suggestion for questions posed for candidates running for a Senate seat,congressional seat or presidential elections.Just 2(two) one word answers;#1-How would you vote to extend the patriot act and how would you vote to abolish the federal reserve bank??Any opinions?Don out.................................

[Jeff Sheets]

Sorry, can't tell you in two one-word answers how I would vote. I guess I would have to see the bills themselves and then vote.

If I were running tho,

I would have to say that the Patriot act can turn into a national holiday, and all the money saved should be put into a serious effort at strengthening our border patrol agency. I would put them in command of National Guard troops at all no-corporate-stores-here! to get control of things like paramilitary drugrunners and Coyotes moving illegals and look for terrorist organizations and criminals. Then give the Border Patrol and local police agencies a linkup in data and responsibility.

Then I would tax all wire-transactions out of the country and prepaid phone cards, purchased by individuals, banks, and corporations, and use that tax base as a sole source of Foreign aid, abolishing most other forms of foreign aid. Then author bills to make it illegal to send foreign aid as cash, but rather only as food, infrastructure, and tech resources; paid for by the foreign aid.

Flat tax for everyone. rich, poor, corporations, banks investments, congressmen, military, oil companies, big pharma, mcdonalds, and me all pay the same rate of federal tax with no exemptions or deductions. Close the IRS and force the individual state tax agencies to collect the tax. With that much in the pool, the rate could be below 10% without significantly reducing federal government's budget.

As for the other one, I wouldn't vote to abolish the Fed, but rather to lower the barriers of entry for another financial organization to compete with them, then I would offer a bill in Congress that would severely limit highly speculative financial transactions and restore the previous prohibition on banks engaging in real-estate that was lifted by the Clinton administration.

Really hard to do anything reasonable in government. All crooks sadly, so it could never happen.

[Bob137]

Jeff we think a lot alike!

[Moon]

My ideas would be much different:

Health Care:

1. Lower the age to become eligible for Medicare to 55. Many people have to pay more as they get older, and if they lose their job it is almost impossible to get insurance after a certain age.

2. Start Medicare E (for everyone). Anyone who wants it would be able to join Medicare E, which people would be charged according to their income. The E version would follow people and their family members no matter what job they go to or where ever they move. All pre-existing conditions would be covered.

3. Start Medicare G for companies who want to do a more affordable healthcare system for their workers. Retailers, restaurants and small businesses would benefit the most as the costs would be much smaller than larger corporations which get better coverage deals.

4. Allow Medicare and Medicaid to purchase drugs through other countries and also purchase generic drugs. The way it is now, they cannot get drugs through any other way than through Big Pharma. This would also apply to states and private citizens who choose other methods.

The way to save the money is through preventive care and early detection methods. Also, people should never worry about health care. Insurance companies should not be in the health care business, although if people want private insurance companies, they can still have them. It is a matter of choice for others. The savings would be $200 billion a year as there would be a healthier pool of people in the system. Also the preventive care measures would save money and productivity in the private sector.

Social Security:

1. Right now the age to get Social Security is 62 for limited benefits and 67 for full benefits (depending on when a person was born). I would change that to 65 for minimum benefits and 70 for full benefits. Blue collar, pink collar, retail and other workers who do physical labor would be eligible for full benefits by age 65. This is the toughest part of my ideas, but we do need to make sure this program will last. With people living much longer and eventually getting healthier, it won't be as bad.

2. Do not raid the Social Security fund for anything. It should never be touched by Congress, and that should be enacted as a law to make sure it doesn't happen.

Jobs:

We need a massive infrastructure program. The last one was boggled down by tax cuts and less infrastructure work. The bridges, roads, sewer and waterways, etc are falling apart and it is going to cost a fortune if we do not start working on it now. This will cost money, but the cost of lost lives and tragedies such as the interstate bridge collapsing is much higher. This would also create jobs and give a much needed boost to the construction and supplies industries. That alone would help keep the costs down as the companies and support (feeding people, spending by those working etc) would see revenues increase also.

Taxes and Debt:

The best thing to do is let the Bush (now Obama) tax cuts expire so we can pare down the debt. In addition to the savings in Medicare and using smarter government, it should not be difficult to eliminate the $14 trillion debt. It is not going to be easy and EVERYONE must pitch in to do this. After the debt is taken down, then we can give tax cuts and have a new base.

$500,000 and above 30%

$250,000 to $499,999 20%

$249,999 and less 10%

The rates would be tiered so a person making over $250K would have the fist part of it taxed at 10% and $250K and above at 20% etc.

I would eliminate the death tax as it is double dipping. I would keep the capital gains tax at 15%, but it would not be put on the sale of a house (one only, so if you have more than one home you would pay it on the extras).

I would also get rid of Homeland Security as it is more of a boondoggle than what we really need. I would keep the Education Department, but they would not be involved in funding, just making national standards for learning and coming up with programs and affordable student loans. The Energy Department would merge with the Interior Department, and Department of Human Services would merge HUD, Health and Welfare and others that deal with people.

For Immigration reform, I would give amnesty to those who are hear illegally. They would have to pay a fee as they become legalized though, and can pay it off through their working here. Let's be honest they do the jobs most people won't do such as farm labor and house cleaning. This is very controversial and it doesn't have to be.

I am also a civil libertarian and would repeal all of the Patriot Act. We have lost our national soul because of that and other acts that curtail freedoms.

While I am pro life personally, I do think this should be decided by the states. No federal funds for this. While were at it, NEA and other groups that get federal funds would also be cut off. They can do those boring beg fests that they always do anyways. Every penny saved goes to deficit reduction.

I also believe in the right to bear arms and would be against any firearm ban. However, I do think there should be background checks to purchase one.

Also, I would legalize all drugs and make sure treatment is available. As Dr Ron Paul stated at a debate, just because heroin would be legal, does not mean everyone will be in line to try it. We could tax the substances and the money saved from incarceration costs would be in the $100 billions.

I would get out of the marriage business, but use civil unions for legal and inheritance purposes.

This is part of my platform in a nutshell: Some socialism, some libertarianism and other stuff thrown in.

[Bob137]

I think what we need is a new party. A Commonsense Party. One that is neither based on greed, nor big government, but on the needs of all the people, not the few rich, and corporations. What we really need is people who have common sense, and cannot be bought by corporations, or organizations. Then we could change the laws to reflect a more common sense approach to our government agencies, the laws they utilize, rights/privileges of all citizens, guarding of America, and it's interests, the military, social programs, and infrastructure. Having a government that is broken up by only two political parties, has brought about dire results of greed, stupidity, laziness, and illegal activity amongst the politicians, and in government.We need a strong third party that is not an extreme of the right or left, but a middle ground common sense approach party, who neither favors the right or the left, but utilizes common sense instead of conservative or liberal view points and does not fall in with the religious, or greedy, or corporate party lines, but is the peoples party.

Then we could rebuild our government into a lean green, smart, intelligent, workable, efficient, and effective government of agencies that are bound to the rights and needs of the people and the planet, without being controlled by the few, the corrupt, and the greedy.

For protection outside the United States, we have the Regular Military and Reserves. For protection within the United States we have the National Guard. That is the real purpose for these organizational military institutions. The regular military should not be utilized within the United States unless under attack by a foreign country and only if the National Guard cannot sustain integrity within our no-corporate-stores-here!, and only for that, other than that, they are for protection from other countries/forces outside the United States. The National Guard is for protection by each State, and the Federal Government of the United States within it's no-corporate-stores-here!, that is what we should utilize them for, not for a back up for the regular military, but for real homeland security, we can then spend less money on the Regular Military, and spend more on the National Guard, and in the long run, we will be spending less money all together, since we will not need a Homeland Security Department . Then we could get rid of the Homeland Security Office, and the Transportation Security Office and utilize the one that has been around since 1776, the National Guard, and in the process, we could require all citizens, (that are physically and mentally capable), to join the National Guard for protection and emergency assistance of their state for at least 2 years, which would intern assist with that persons personal development, and also assist in our countries overall needs and stability. Then we could also require each and every Congressman, Senator and President to have had at the very least a 2 year term served with the National Guard, which is community, and country service, and at least a 4 year term of service in the Regular military, which would give them a better well rounded view of what being a citizen of this country means, and should bring them to better serve the peoples needs, not just the rich and corporations needs.
We do need to slim our government agencies down, but we do not need to hurt the citizens of the United States in the process. We can start with, making pork barrel projects illegal for politicians, that only a state can request money from the federal government, not just a congressman, or senator, but the state department of that state has to do the request for that state, (and show just cause), that will keep the congressmen, and senators greedy hands off that money for the states. Make the federal money that goes to each state, be split by size, and occupancy, and resources, not by which congressman, or senator can talk the best BS, or is more of a bully. Special needs can then be assessed for each state by state request. Emergency funding would be more available this way for each state, already set aside by those standardized requirements. Exceptions of course would fall under special needs due to disasters of natural or other forms.
We should not let religions make decisions for out country, but common sense, should prevail in the overall running, and protection, of our country. That is what this country was started, and built upon from the beginning, and that is what we need to get back to, not a puritan run country, that was not what our founding fathers had planned at all.
If the people could get this implemented, we could not only win back our government, politicians, politics, and respect, but we could be what America was meant to be, a real country that is looked upon as a leader of integrity, common sense, for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and justice for all!

[Ace Rimmer]

Ok Bob and Max, you guys run for President and Vice President and I'll vote for you.

[OutsideBox]

Ok Bob and Max, you guys run for President and Vice President and I'll vote for you.

I'd vote for them also,but I think that a new party formed should be named Moderates, with a platform built somewhere in the middle of extreme left and right,something Washington needs desperately.

[Ace Rimmer]

Ok Bob and Max, you guys run for President and Vice President and I'll vote for you.

I'd vote for them also,but I think that a new party formed should be named Moderates, with a platform built somewhere in the middle of extreme left and right,something Washington needs desperately.

And no Illuminati connections either.

[Moon]

The problem is some want the country to go back to the way it was when it was founded, and that is now impossible. The early United States was an agrarian society and did much trading in barter. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, people moved away from the farms and into the cities to work in factories. Gone were the blacksmiths and locals who built furniture in favor of mass producing items for use.

It did not help when they needed more workers and started a massive immigration movement to the USA. These people also toiled in the factory and plants to mass produce items and clothing for us. Slavery was also used for huge plantations, which would not survive if they had to pay people to work them. After slavery, there were many improvements to farming, but they paid miserable wages to the sharecroppers.

The country has a population of over 300 million people, and the social nets like Social Security and Medicare are needed. Yes, it means big government to some, but what do they suggest to all the millions of middle class workers who are living paycheck to paycheck?

I thought it was amusing that a news network out there was stating what poor people have and are still considered poor. They were marveling that having a refrigerator meant a person was not poor. I guess it is OK to have spoiled milk, meats and other items as that is what would happen. Still, there are some households that do not have a refrigerator in them.

It has always been about the haves and the have-nots. It has been over 2000 years and the meek ain't inherited nothing.

What is needed is a new economic system that is free market but takes the 21st Century needs of the population into consideration. What we have now is the Robber Baron Capitalism that makes the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The austerity cuts they are making now will make things much worse. All this in the name of deficit reduction, when most of the economists out there say the government has to stimulate growth to create jobs. Nothing else is going to do it as the banks are sitting on over $2 trillion worth of money they could use to create job growth.

I am a civil libertarian and do believe in personal responsibility, but I also see how the world works and it is not like it was when the country was first founded.

Part of me wants to nationalize the banks, oil companies, health care and other entities that profit on stuff we need. But that won't go over too well. At least not yet, but keep people out of work long enough and these ideas start to sound good to them.

[Bob137]

I remember the big damn projects that put thousands of Americans to work, and yes our infrastructure is crumbling, and to fix all of that would put millions of people to work today in our country, from hard labor to management, supervisory, to technical,. engineering, architectural, advertising, etc.. .

[Moon]

I remember the big damn projects that put thousands of Americans to work, and yes our infrastructure is crumbling, and to fix all of that would put millions of people to work today in our country, from hard labor to management, supervisory, to technical,. engineering, architectural, advertising, etc.. .

We need trillions of dollars of infrastructure work: Sewer and rain water separation projects, electrical grid upgrades, railroad and highway bridges, lock and dam upgrading, highways themselves, high speed rail and commuter upgrades and new routes, school and building repairs, etc.

This would put many people back to work, and also in the millions of jobs to support these projects. But not with the austerity cuts in some peoples' minds.

[Bob137]

That is all true. I look forward to a day when this country can get back on it's feet, and not be down trodden by the rich minority who control the ruin of this country, and other countries. You know the constitution tells us it is our responsibility to rid this country of a Government that is not for the people.

[Ace Rimmer]

That is all true. I look forward to a day when this country can get back on it's feet, and not be down trodden by the rich minority who control the ruin of this country, and other countries. You know the constitution tells us it is our responsibility to rid this country of a Government that is not for the people.

Oh Bob, you have such a great sense of humor!

I keep having images of the great depression and the dust bowl clouding my thoughts.

[Bob137]

I know that Congressmen, and Senators are supposed to know the Declaration of Independence, but I think they have forgotten what they do not want to apply to them. the Constitution states: WE hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable, (the part of us that is not Extraterrestrial Biological Entity), that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying it's Foundation on such Principles, and organizing Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most like lt to effect their Safety and Happiness.
In a nutshell, we have the human right to get rid of our government the way it is, and start a new one, based on something a whole lot better, than what it is now, I say we make one like the Star Trek one, and make peace with our fellow humans around the globe, and that is just the human side of my thinking. The alien side says screw the Stupid Stinky Monkey People, and take your brain out and play with it! Not gonna do it!

[Don Morace]

Hi Folks,Don here.Perhaps I worded the statement the wrong way let me reiterate;a simple yes or no answer to the questions,'How would you vote to extend the patriot act?yes or no?"how would you vote to obsolve the Federal reserve? "yes or no?Now if he or she votes to extend the patriot act then you will know right away that this person is another shill for big government and shouldn't be elected not even for dogcatcher,same with the answer to the federal reserve question.Don out..........................

[Bob137]

Dog Catcher, that was Dennis Raider's job, the BTK! I'll bet he really wanted to be a politician, since they are psychotic also!

[Pons Asinorum]

Bob, you mangled the quotation of the Declaration of Independence. Here is the actual quotation:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The reason that the Creator phrase is so important is because it makes those rights something a person is born with; no man, institution or government grants them and therefore no such entities can morally take them away.

Without the Creator who endows them on His/Its creations, then those rights are free to be stripped by the lesser authorities inherent in creation, without moral consideration. (The Creator can be viewed as God in a religious sense or Nature in an agnostic sense.)

In essence, this document put to words the idea that human beings have worth and value above title, occupation, wealth, etc -- regardless of any edict from a king or law from a state. Our rights our inherit and unalienable by any earthy entity. In a matter of decades this powerful idea would be expanded to include all human beings regardless of race or gender. This document put all that into motion.

Its justification -- its heart and soul -- is in the Creator phrase.

Don't feel too bad about misquoting it Bob, you are not the only one who messed it up. In a speech, our current President made the exact same mistake you did -- twice (the second time after being corrected).

And he is a Constitutional Scholar

[Ace Rimmer]

"(The Creator can be viewed as God in a religious sense or Nature in an agnostic sense.) "

Or the Anunnaki in an Ancient Alien Theory sense.

[Pons Asinorum]

Good one Metaluna!

Not sure if that would make sense in the context of what Jefferson was writing, the idea being that Liberty and other Rights do not come from anything in creation but from the Author of creation (in whatever form).

In the AAT sense, the Anunnaki are intelligent aliens and therefore part of creation just as we humans are.

Therefore, they would not have any moral authority over our Rights any more so than an earthly king or government or gang or priest...

In the AAT sense, if they tried to take our Rights, then we would be morally justified to fight, just as we were against the King of England a couple of centuries ago.

Of course, if the Anunnaki were the authors of creation in the religious sense (ie the Creator extant), then that would be a different ballgame.

My two-bits, anyway

[Bob137]

Bob, you mangled the quotation of the Declaration of Independence. Here is the actual quotation:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I'll bet th e President got that statement from the same book I did: "The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence" from the Commission of the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution!

[Moon]

Why not just have some realistic candidates who will tell it like it is:

When in office, I plan on working for the very rich and the multinational corporations. If you have the money, I will consider passing your legislation. Wall Street is my master, not you. But I have an initial after my name so your base will vote for me no matter what. You will never, ever elect Ron Paul (stars laughing) or Ralph Nader (starts laughing so hard he falls). I plan on running some of the most vicious attack ads and refer to people who are opposed to my ideas as anti-American.

But remember, he who has the most cash gets my attention. You poor people can go suck it!

[Bob137]

Ain't it the truth!