OldManBear

Repeat after me...

Posted on 11/03/09, 07:43 pm

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Okay, you've been nominated, elected and inaugurated. You're sitting at the queen Anne desk in Oval Office. You have a friendly Senate and House. The opposition does not have the vote to override your veto or defeat your legislation. You will probably replace at least one Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.


Tell me your plans to run the country and fix things. What are your hot-button issues and what are your fixes?

• Reply #1 11/03/09  10:11pm
  
  LindaJean
  Hot-button issues and fixes:
  
  1. Promote health-care reform WITH a "robust" public option. How to fix it - get out there behind the Senate and the House and support this reform - verbally. Campaign for it - talk about it but don't just sit there!!!
  
  2. Bring the troops home and announce that intention NOW! Begin the process and advise Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan they are on their own. We'll protect our country from within our country - not theirs.
  
  3. Reinstate the Glass-Steigel Act, so that we do not return to the financial crisis we have just gone through. Glass-Steigel was in place until 1999 for the purpose of avoiding another Great Depression.
  
  4. Make banks that farmed out their sub-prime loans to security houses for bundling into AAA securities - take those loans back and deal with them.
  
  5. Force the companies that received hundreds of billions of dollars from the TARP, to start doing business with the banks that service Main Street loans.
  
  That's enough for now :)
• Reply #2 11/03/09  10:16pm
  
  OldManBear
  More! More! Who else has ideas?
• Reply #3 11/04/09  10:13am
  
  Testycatlady
  I can't really say how I'd fix your economy since I'm Canadian. One thing I would do in Canada however, is reform the way certain things in our Health care system are handled.
• Reply #4 11/04/09  11:49am
  
  ThePepperMan
  I would push for fiscal responsibility. But since both parties love the pork laced system we have, fat chance of getting that done.
• Reply #5 11/04/09  5:23pm
  
  Happy2
  Balance Budget. No pay increases for Congress that is not also in effect for everyone.
  More money for Space Exploration and for defense.
  Same-sex marriages in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
  Make Big Business, Insurance and Banking Institutions accountable for their money. No major pay raises or bonuses for CEOs unless their product cost is reduced to the public.
  Heath-care Reform that helps the little man and not the Doctors and Insurance companies. No public option.
  
• Reply #6 11/04/09  6:28pm
  
  LindaJean
  Put more of the stimulus money into creating jobs. Only 3% of the stimulus was marked for infrastructure repair and expansion. We need the work done - the money is there - it just needs to get to the people who can do the work.
  
  
• Reply #7 11/04/09  7:30pm
  
  ChrisAz
  I agree with all of Linda's issues in Reply #2.
  
  I would add - credit card reform.
  
  And accountability.
  
  The credit card companies have become very abusive - if you ask me. In fact, they have become usury. How is it that they can charge people because they don't use their cards enough? Or raise the interest rates arbitrarily.
  
  The fix: Credit card reform. Reign in how and how much they can charge in interest and make the contracts readable by the average person.
  
  
  
  
  And it seems to me that people in our government haven't been held accountable - for much of anything. Like the people who were supposed to be inspecting airplanes. Or the SEC.
  
  The fix: If an entity is supposed to be overseeing something and they don't, there should be real consequences.
  
  
  
  I also think education is very important. We need to reform our schools and go back to actually teaching kids - and teaching them to think for themselves. Not just rote learning.
  
  The fix:
  1. Pay teachers more - especially if based on how well they do. This would attract more people to the teaching profession.
  
  2. Use the money that the schools do have for education, not administration. And distribute school funds by city, not by district or school.
  
  3. Get rid of tenure
  
  4. Make education more interesting for the kids. (See #8)
  
  5. And go back to phonics, etc.
  
  6. Equal education for all student.
  
  7. Bring back Art, Music and PE
  
  8. Have more real-life lessons, such as how to handle money, how to be a parent
  
  9. Reduce class size.
  
  
  

A place for members to Have true debate over issues without name calling. The Object is to have healthy debate on both sides of an issue that is intelligent , informed and insightful.