Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
1. Eliminate federal environmental laws (where the pollution does not greatly impact neighboring states or nations, IE not dumping radioactive waste into the Mississippi River) and leave it to the individual states to set them.
2. Eliminate federal minimum wage (give individual states total control over their minimum wage).
3. Cut spending (bureaucracy, social programs, military, etc. whatever it takes to reduce debt).
4. Revamp education (kick kids out that do not want to learn as a start).
5. Use prisoners for manual labor to offset the cost of their imprisonment.
6. End the war on drugs (for everything save crack, meth, heroine and other hardcore drugs) and release those in jail on charges related to the now legal drugs. Tax the living hell out of the now legal narcotics.
7. Flat tax (~15% or whatever it takes), no deductions or write offs.
8. Voluntary free permanent sterilization or contraception to anyone on government assistance.
1. No, except where such laws provide no actual health, environmental, or aesthetic benefits. Failure to protect the environment will drastically raise healthcare costs, cause negative psychological impacts resulting in a whole host of issues, and WILL eventually kill us all. The environment is VASTLY more important than all the jobs and wealth in the entire world. We will always find some other way to live, so long as the planet will support us. The moment it won't, there won't be any people to have jobs or an economy.
2. Agreed. In fact, I'd go even further to beg the states not to fall victim to the minimum wage myth. However the government should also carefully instruct all citizens to stand up for their rights and show them how to stand together to destroy any business which is abusive to employees or consumers. It must also carefully regulate ALL industry for rights and safety violations. Finally the government should never give dollar one (not directly, not in tax breaks, nothing) to any business period.
3. 1000% agree. This should have been your #1.
4. And those kids you kick out will then be a burden on society, which if you ignore will utterly destroy you. Education isn't a luxury, it's an absolute necessity. The reason kids 'don't want to learn' is because society teaches them that intelligence is geeky and money is godly. The reason kids fail is because crybaby parent won't knock their kids into the dirt for being arrogant, egocentric, disrespectful, lazy, etc. You CAN fix education: First, let educators control education COMPLETELY. No businessmen, no politicians, no parents. Second, give HUGE benefits to couples with children where one parent's ONLY job is to be a stay home parent caring for house and children. Third, give teachers the right to attitude correction of problem students. Fourth, quit teaching to the average. Teach EVERY child to their maximum potential. Abandon the idea that everyone is equally intelligent. Fifth, use the great body of available research to instruct children in the manner which they'll learn best. Sixth, require that EVERY teacher have at a minimum a degree in every subject they will teach, a degree in cognitive/developmental psychology, and a degree in education. Finally, praise intelligence and creativity in society...not only for industrial development, but for it's own reward. End the whole 'nerd hate' thing. Between athletes and brainiacs there's only one that deserves praise and adoration...bring up the kids to realize this.
5. Can't be forced. Only way to make that work is if you allow the state to kill prisoners who don't comply, and most crimes don't warrant such a sentence. You COULD use it as a voluntary program earning points toward early release however...basically teaching a system of reward for hard work. However, this plan will also remove jobs from the total available, and therefore sustain elevated unemployment levels.
6. I'll go farther. End the war on pleasure. The government has no right to outlaw prostitution, drugs, alcohol, or anything else. End it all, totally. Implement TERRIBLE and swift punishment for crimes committed in association with those things, but do not legislate them. Regulate them, educate about them, tax the hell out of them (and implement a 5% tax on munchies sold at convenience stores in heavy pot areas), and work towards a society that doesn't need as much of them for a means of self-medicating away from the dismal horrors that await so many citizens.
7. I have no big issues with a flat tax, except that I realize the absolute necessity of one parent staying home with the kids in a marriage...therefore I would need to see an option for those arrangements...if not a big tax break then some sort of subsidy or support. I think tax breaks are better, but if you insist I'll entertain other options. Oh, btw, I'd also require ALL money to be EARNED by a single individual, one way or another, and therefore subject to a single set of tax laws. No hiding earning in companies, or other such nonsense. If money is made it MUST belong to someone, and that someone is fully responsible for it, and the tax on it.
8. Contraception should be free for everyone anyway. The benefits of population control outweigh the costs by many orders of magnitude. If not everyone, then there has to be a program in place for low income people, along with careful instruction and reinforcement.
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