while i was somewhat un-impressed by a thread aimed towards me i have decided to styart this thread.
if you were president of the us what would you do?
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while i was somewhat un-impressed by a thread aimed towards me i have decided to styart this thread.
if you were president of the us what would you do?
I would create a department of efficiency, to make sure that every last tax dollar went to good use. The government needs to be efficient, and if it was, it should reduce taxes while benefeits the same, if not better.
I also have had an idea floating around in my mind recently that goes a little something like this: We split the government up into parts, and make them compete. We'll take education as an example. Education would be split up into parts, and they would compete against each other for tax money. This should have the effect of privitazation, except we still get them as free public services. I haven't thought this through 100% in my head yet, so I don't know exactly how it would work, but I am confident that it CAN work.
Also, I might start a 'manhatton project' of sorts, except instead of building bombs, we research an alternative fuel/and or energy source. If the government put as much effort into alternative energy as they did the atomic bomb, we would have it by now. Not only would it reduce our dependancy on foreign oil, it would REMOVE our dependancy on foreign oil. If this were to happen, we wouldn't have to worry about the middle east. Let the rest of the world have the oil rich region. It shouldn't matter to us if we don't need it.
Sorry, I know that my writing is less than coherant at the moment. I just hope it's understandable.
wouldn't a department of effeciency be a waste of tax dollars? thus rendering it pointless?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud No.9
yup. if i was governor (since we're under the states' jurisdiction) i would do the island a favor and make a civil war so we could get rid of all useless agencies/people/corruption and take my god-forsaken country to good steps by making the education department the best in the world.
edit-rant: the island really needs a dictator (a real mother phucker) to get it's act together.
I would make damn sure that homosexual marriages was legalized.
i would elect Cloud No.9 to head all other departments.
That's more immoral than ignoring the problems in Africa.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fithos
As for if I was president of the United States: http://www.lp.org/
More or less.
I would go on Eyes on the World and repeatedly insult the President.
Also I'd wonder how it happened considering that I'm 18 and British.
I actually agree with this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fithos
Him or Marilyn Mason. One of the two. Seriously.
Why?Quote:
Originally Posted by Leeza
If I was president of the US~I'd converge with asia! And have Kpop songs played all day long at schools everywhere! And our national sport would be SOCCER/FOOTBALL....
and every night at 6 we'd have ice cream for everyone in the world!!!!
okay so not the best president vbut at least we'd be having a good time.
Because I agree with most of what they do and the country needs a good shaking up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hachifusa
lets see.
- form a department of anti-curruption
- universal healthcare along the lines of Great Britain. c'mon it's the 21st century
- free job retraining for people on welfare provided that they teach at an inner city public school for 1 year upon receiving a degree
- manhatten project for alternative fuels
- continue to fund the X-prizes for furthur goals in space (x prize gives cash rewards for acheiving goals in space)
- increase funding for public schools
- Ministry of Silly Walks. Always good.
- I'd force all students in public schools to take a course on logic and philosophy.
- I'd support conservation and anti-pollution laws.
- I'd increase funding of public assistance for women and children.
- I'd work a great deal on ridding the inner cites of gang violence and crime, both by increasing the police and by making sure that the kids get a decent education.
- I'd increase funding to public transportation, but it would have at least minimal security included. The time has come for America to have transportation systems like Europe and Japan.
- I'd have a flat tax to pay for everything.
What? No. Where do you get an idea like that?Quote:
wouldn't a department of effeciency be a waste of tax dollars? thus rendering it pointless?
Also, I would completely revolutionize the public school system. No more bull, no more busywork. School would focus on rational thought, not pointless facts.
I like governments that are inefficient. Efficient governments tend to be totalitarian. Inefficiency keeps the government from screwing too much up.
wonder how long before it gets corrupted O_oQuote:
# form a department of anti-curruption
I concur. School these days focus on trivial subjects, like arithmetic that I can guarantee that NO ONE will ever use unless they enjoy being mathemeticians. NORMAL people *like MOST of us here* would never even come across a situation with these conditions.Quote:
Originally Posted by nik0tineAlso, I would completely revolutionize the public school system. No more bull
And if they encouraged high level thought our society might actually improve. Instead, our schools give us busy work, and not only do they not support free thought, it is subtley discouraged.Quote:
I concur. School these days focus on trivial subjects, like arithmetic that I can guarantee that NO ONE will ever use unless they enjoy being mathemeticians. NORMAL people *like MOST of us here* would never even come across a situation with these conditions.
First thing I'd do would be to fight with the Senate until someone had me shot by the CIA.
Seriously, it's not an absolute monarchy people.
But if it was, I'd largely do the same as Hachifusa.
I'd also put a small amount of money (As much as I could get away with) into researching just how much wealth there is in space, and make sure everyone knew about it.
Undo all the freaking enviornmental damage that has been caused in the past six years.
And I'd apologize when I was wrong.
i beg to differ. the fact that you're living in a house/apt building and you're using a cmputer shows that arithmetics are very useful. most philosofers based their techings in mathematics and logic and there is no denying that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Twilight PaladinI concur. School these days focus on trivial subjects, like arithmetic that I can guarantee that NO ONE will ever use unless they enjoy being mathemeticians. NORMAL people *like MOST of us here* would never even come across a situation with these conditions.Quote:
Originally Posted by nik0tineAlso, I would completely revolutionize the public school system. No more bull
A few programs I'd probably try to get in place would include:
1. A system of auditing that allows outside firms to come in and look at government spending, allowing a dramatic cut in waste.
2. Push for educational reforms that focus more on basic skills in the lower grades and critical thinking in the higher grades. University level would be encouraged to teach advanced skills in conjunction with the critical thinking skills learned in the higher grade levels.
2a. Reallocate more of the budget freed up by government officials not wasting millions of dollars on frivilous items that could be purchased for a mere fraction of the price to the education system to push teacher wages and training higher. The purpose of this would be two-fold, to make teaching a more desirable career (If possible make wages roughly equivalent with those of a doctor), and make it much more competitive so that only the cream of the crop is permitted to teach.
3. Push for judicial reforms where needed, possibly also reforms on the system of jury duty.
4. Place big business under higher scrutiny so monopolies are more difficult to maintain, while also pushing the minimum wage rate to a level that is acceptable for the work required but not too much to drive smaller businesses out.
Among other things. I'm tired, I may add more later.
two people would vote for me? great! that's 2 more than mugawbe!
me?
i would have a nhs system. increase funding dramatically for state schooling. free university and college. dental, optical, prescriptions for free like it used to be. and school milk and meals. equalise government paid jobs (including nhs and schools). re-accept the power of the UN. allow guantanamo to be inspected fully and constantly and release all non-threats. reduce the nuclear arsenal to 100. drop nthe debt. drop subisidies. drop trade tarriffs. pay vietnamese reparations. introduce progressive taxing and an earnings roof. open up the borders. agree to kyoto and aim to go beyond it.
I would not be fit to run a government ever, but there is one thing I'd love to have more here. More emphasis on art and definitely music in schools, less emphasis on trying to chase a ball. :)
EDIT: And help the environment too, yeah.
Considering my pacifist beliefs, there would be a drastic chanxge in Canada, well not that drastic, but still. I would completely disarm any nuclear weapons within Canada (I think that has already been done). Also I would allow the US to put their nuclear warheads in the Canadian Shield as they wanted to do in the past, and ask the other countries of the world to disarm all nuclear weapons, eventualy makingn a treaty for no nukes, then maybe let it evolve in a complete cease arms (Aren't I idealistic and putting too much faith in humankind?). Also I would decrease funding in the military, using that to pay for Health Care and Education, eventually wishing to make all levels of education free. I will do what many Canadian politicians are afraid of: the Constitution. I would hopefully convince Quebec to remian a part of Canada. Within the constitution I would obliterate the Canadian Senate (thus making more funds for more important things), and would find an efficient yet fair way to give the Native Americans the self-government that they want. Reform the judicial system, concentrating more on reformation than anything else (My sister's doing. Also I do not think it is fair for the poor to be on the streets whilst the amoral have shelter, food, and much more). I would make the legal age from 19 in most provinces to 18 all around. Have Canada adhern properly to Kyoto (we went up by 17% since then...),and research for alternate fuels. Also i would encourage the nations of the world to actually give the UN some power.
I can't believe how idealistic I can be...oh well.
Also I would put Steven Harper in exile...
This has to be the staff mocking us. Please let it be that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Leeza
Would this be for everyone, or for the people who are actually deserve the level of education which these ought to provide?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud No.9
HoleQuote:
drop subisidies. drop trade tarriffs. open up the borders.
the universities and colleges would still have entry requirements like they do now but it would be based purely on your skills and intelligence not on your parents income.
Cloud is the perfect liberal, so I almost always agree with him on social liberties, which he tends (tends being the key word: see firearms debate) to be quite supportive of. I mean, I hate to say it, but his views on drug and immigration are right on.Quote:
Originally Posted by I'm my own MILFHoleQuote:
drop subisidies. drop trade tarriffs. open up the borders.
i thought i was the anti-christ?
I'd kill welfare and any other similarities to a socialist state. The leechers of society would be out of luck. I'd kill a good 3/4 of the government bureaucracy. The US would be a pure capitalist state. I'd remove a good portion of the laws. The legal system would be brought back to the basics, and only the more important crimes would be illegal - crimes such as murder, rape and theft. Drug laws, prostitution, antimonopoly laws- they just congest the system. 90% of the lawsuits would find themselves with no grounds to go to court. Taxes would be a straight %, so that by default those who make more pay more. Tax brackets are confusing and unnecessary.
Education would recieve all of my attention. Dumb people annoy me. I want to trim their numbers. I also don't want my nation's education system to be as low on the international roster as it is. The US is one of the most prosperous nations in the world, and we should be proportionately better educated as a result of such. Better educated people make better businesses, doctors, scientists and such. The whole nation would benefit if everyone was smarter on average.
Military service would be compulsory at 18, similar to the system imposed in other nations. The military has a way of making people more responsible, and productive in society. Military service would be for men and women - there would be no bars to frontline service. Equal rights means equal responsibility. Women would no longer get the rewards without the risk.
The military would be streamlined. There are too many redundant branches. Army and Marines and National Guard - they're all the same. There would be one branch of the military for people who fight on the ground. There would be one branch for people who fight at sea. There would be one branch for people who fight in the air. There would be no crossovers. The army would not have airplanes, and the navy would not have ground soldiers. Keep it simple, I always say.
Congress would not be in charge of its own payrate. No government body should have the power to vote itself more money. By and large, government pay would cut significantly. The government serves the people - it's not an aristocracy. Term limits on a presidency would be removed. A good president should be allowed to run as often as the people wish it. Elections for all government positions would be held biannually. Politicians should be kept on task for their entire term, and not for only the last year before reelection. A president shouldn't have 3 years to ruin a nation before being held to task, and a senator shouldn't have 6. Government responsibility is important.
The electoral college would be abandoned. Direct elections better represent the people. Also, the democratic and republican parties would no longer recieve any national support. Their funds and power would be solely on their own efforts. Ideally, I'd like to encourage a political system where a multitude of political parties have a viable chance at government office.
Foreign relations would be given priority over national interests. I want the US to be respected around the world. The days of unilateral decisionmaking would be at an end. Free trade, Kyoto environmental treaty, many things would the US enter in on that it hasn't in the past. On the issue of foreign relations, the US would be at least militarily, an isolationist. The military affairs of other nations would remain their affairs alone, and no support will they recieve from the US. This would save a lot of money.
Money saved from the complete axing of so much of the government would first go towards removing the national debt. The US will be in the black again. After the US is in the positives again, with a healthy surplus, the money would be returned to the people. In fact, taxes would drop so that the people would never lose said money in the first place. A rich population is a productive population, and I'm all in favor of increasing society's productiveness.
Oh, don't flatter yourself. You're the average European (and American living in California). You only assert yourself a hell of a lot more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud No.9
No, I'm not mocking. I mock only Meat Puppet and Raistlin. :cat:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hachifusa
wouldnt this just defeat the purpose of the military. it is by volunteer and should stay that way.Quote:
Military service would be compulsory at 18, similar to the system imposed in other nations. The military has a way of making people more responsible, and productive in society. Military service would be for men and women - there would be no bars to frontline service. Equal rights means equal responsibility. Women would no longer get the rewards without the risk.
The military would be streamlined. There are too many redundant branches. Army and Marines and National Guard - they're all the same. There would be one branch of the military for people who fight on the ground. There would be one branch for people who fight at sea. There would be one branch for people who fight in the air. There would be no crossovers. The army would not have airplanes, and the navy would not have ground soldiers. Keep it simple, I always say.
And the reason there is a army, marine corp, navy, and air force, is not just to fight in one certain place. It is best that they fight allover. the point of having these different branches is because the styles and training are different.
the worst thing you can do is clog up the army with people who don't want to be there.
and see leeza loves me after all.
I'd rather not have compusery millitary service.
And I think the best way to end poverty, or at least reduce it is to make sure that graduates have actual skills. I don't think you can cheap-ass your way to a nation without poverty.
My logic was that a nation with lower taxes would have a population with more money. My whole plan involved cutting and streamlining, with compulsory programs such as military service, aimed at giving the population the skills it needs. A compulsory military service is only bad when a nation is at war. In my paragraph about foreign relations, I intended to hint that the Iraq situation would never happen again. I only wanted compulsory military service for the benefits it gives to skills and responsibility.
Here is my crazy idea.
Government take a flat cut of 60% taxes - Or whatever the budget would need be.
Level 1: We can say level 1 would be the government. Make sure that the government had enough money to run itself. This would basically include the suits, police, firemen, etc.
Level 2: Supply us all with Basic post grad education, health care, and other advanced neceties.
Level 3 could be more like a Gas allowance - where you basically got 20 bucks of free gass a week or whatev. Anything more would come outta your pocket. In the case that taxes need to be modded, or budget gets too tight - this is where the roll backs would happen. Then they would work thier way down the tier.
Hey - its not perfect ... just an Idea. If I knew my bases would be covered - then yes I would not mind higher taxes.
Bipper - votes twice for cloud 9
I'm with the rest of them. Personally, it sounds great (more or less), and I like that you're lowering taxes, destroying needless bureaucracy, etc. However, I see no point for compulsory military service. It's the same reason I hate a socialist state; let the people who want to be in the army be in the army, and let the rest of us alone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garland
For teaching skills, why not beef up education?
i would think all tax should be on income tax. the rest can be seen as tax on the poor. this would include a removal of fuel tax, council tax, VAT, inheritence, NI, road tax, tv license etc. just take all the money from a single source and share it out across the departments and needs. 60% income tax would actually not change people's overall spending power. but i would als like to see progressive tax and a roof limit on earnings to prevent the super rich.
In the thirties, there was an attempted constitutional amendment, one that would limit the average man's wealth to one million dollars.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud No.9
You already know where I stand on that, but I thought you might find that interesting. (Sorry, I can't remember the details.)
with the system people could still say they earn x amount. so they would still get the ego kick off it which they do now. because for the super rich there is no other reason.
if cloud was president then this world will not exist due to the fact that we would blow each other up before this happened.
why?
Yup, I'd do something like that. I think there should be more Art in schools.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rye
Quote:
if cloud was president then this world will not exist due to the fact that we would blow each other up before this happened.
He just dont like youtoo much Cloud. Dont worry, you would have my vote, unless of course I was running, cause I would make a way better president than you would. Of course, I am biased.Quote:
why?
Nope. And you can't make any claims to desiring to build a free society if you advocate any form of compulsory service to any legal adult. (Don't go changing that age, either. :p) If people want to join, good for them. If they do not, good for them. Responsibility is not the responsibility of society or the government to create.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garland
And though I wouldn't be too happy about being forced into military service myself, I will hunt down and destroy anyone and everyone who has any part in forcing anyone I love into it.
If any nation requires a draft to survive, the nation by default does not deserve to survive. If the people do not voluntarily take up arms to defend it, it cannot be worth defending.
Israel, if my memory serves me well, has compulsory military service for a lot of its citizens:
17 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) and voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are eligible for military service; conscript service obligation - 36 months for men, 21 months for women (2004).
The thing is, in Israel's case, it's necessary to keep a lot of countries at bay. Does that mean you think Israel shouldn't exist?
I know a lot of Israelis, and the general consensus is that they want to be in the military. I think that negates the argument. It's a lot like the second World War - so many Americans were volunteering that the entire draft was almost redundant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Endless
There's still a slight difference between being in the Army full time (as your profession), and being military trained and having a different profession. That said, it's obviously better if people are motivated and want to be military trained rather than if they go dragging their heels. I know that all the more that my country had obligatory military service until 1996 (at which point it went down to a 3 day service), and in 1997, the 3 days were replaced with a one "defense preapration day", which is still in place. The day's purpose now is not to train you at anything but rather to:
- detect illiteracy among people of age 18
- present what the Army is, how it's organized, its purpose, and the career opportunities now that it's only a professional army.
Since I was born in 1980, I didn't have to do the 12 month service or even 3 days, just that one day, which in fact is pretty interesting since it takes place in Army bases, so you get to meet them directly, and even eat lunch with them. Had it been obligatory, I'd have tried my best to get a "civil corp" (administration, communication) position rather than infantry.
If the Israeli people - and mark you, I'm fairly pro-Israeli most of the time - don't wish to defend their nation in large enough numbers to ensure its successful defense, then no, it does not deserve to exist.Quote:
Originally Posted by Endless
Endless: See, nothing sounds wrong with that idea. I've no aversion at all to making sure people know what the army is about and how it operates, in fact I'd quite happily volunteer for a day like that. But even so, such a day should be voluntary.
The Israeli Army's biggest problem is who it lets in. The troops that are career soldiers are, by in large, good soldiers. The problems that arise from conscription and indeed an open-volunteer policy is that undesirables slip through.
Take the Bedowen Arabs for example. They are the cause of a great deal os Israel's crimes against Palestinians. The unlawful murders, the shooting on sight. Then there are the conscripts, the people who have no desire to join, maybe with a nervous disposition, may act in a way not fitting the situation they find themselves in through nerves or simple insubordination.
I am against conscription for these reasons and no other. There are certain time when conscription is needed, major wars for example. I do not believe this is one of those times.
Quote:
Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF
I think the main reason why it's obligatory (to both guys and girls, in fact, whereas military service was guys only) and not voluntary is that they want everyone of age 18 to take litteracy tests, not particularly to educate them (*) about the army. Also, it's how they do the census of people that age, in parallel to their registration on voting lists.
(*) On a side note, you have the obligation to go to school until you're 16, so it doesn't shock me at all to have one obligatory "citizen education" day.