How would you fix America?

[curiousabout...]

If you could change one thing about America, what would it be?

Some things you may want to consider:
- the economy
- corruption in business
- the wars in the Middle East
- how Americans treat one another
- political divisiveness
- issues related to global warming
or any other issue you think is most important.

Your response can be short or long, developed paragraphs or lists,
anything as long as it is reasonable and well thought out.

P.S. This would be for my Senior Project. The goal is to see what citizens would do, instead of only hearing the opinion of politicians. Thanks!

[SugarShack]

1. Hand counted paper ballots

[blue neen]

2. IMHO, the Supreme Court's ruling on The Citizens United case has impacted our country immensely.

I can't remember the last time there was such rampant corruption in our elected officials...money from corporations is now running all of our elections and had a major, major impact on the November 2010 elections.

It's the very reason we got stuck with all of these idiot Republican Governors who are doing their best to take away workers' rights.

I could tell you more, but that would take away the fun of doing your research! ;)

Good luck with your project!

[Aerows]

3. A few things

1. Enforce corporate tax laws, and do away with tax loopholes
2. Tax the rich
3. Hold the powerful as accountable, i.e. jail sentences, when they break the law
4. Back to paper ballots
5. Campaign finance reform - it goes absolutely public
6. Outlaw Lobbyists, and heavily enforce public bribery laws with stiff jail sentences

Fix those things, and a lot of our problems will disappear.

The number 1 thing, though, is we need to start enforcing the laws we already have on the wealthy and the powerful. They have entirely too much influence and power.

[Toucano]

4. If I ran the zoo, the Department of Justice would be all over Wall Street.

And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would be under indictment for violating RICO statutes.

And the FBI would be at the door of the governor's mansion in Wisconsin.

And I'd order an immediate withdrawal of U.S. armed forces from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.

[rpannier]

5. Tidal Wave

If not that, rapture

[snot]

6. A few top items:

Restore election integrity via 100% verifiable voting and campaign finance reform.

Restore media integrity by restoring the restrictions on consolidated ownership that were rolled back during the last few decades and also enacting legislation to assure genuine net neutrality. In addition I would consider legislation that might restrict businesses from owning news media outlets if they also own substantial interests in non-journalistic businesses, to reduce conflicts of interest, and I would also consider legislation along the lines of an anti-trust law of information.

Public education: I'm not sure what, if anything, needs to be done here, but I would start by rolling back efforts to defund and privatize it. I would also like to take a look at whether we need a bit more emphasis on (1) how to detect and analyze bias or specious logic in the media and elsewhere and (2) the Constitution, in particular, why the various rights assured to the people, which we've given up so easily lately, matter.

I would end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I would put our currency back on the gold standard and/or take it out of the hands of private banks.

I would restore the Glass-Steagall Act and modernize it to encompass new kinds of investment. And I would regulate derivatives. I would consider banning naked shorts and other types of financial insurance or "bets" where the person doing the betting has no "insurable interest."

I would investigate and prosecute war crimes and other high crimes by members of the U.S. government, past and present.

I would raise taxes on the very rich.

Re- healthcare, I would institute at least a public option, or possibly go straight to single-payer.

I would enact legislation that provided that employers can hire as many or few part- or full-time employees as they like, and they can provide as many or as few benefits as they like, but whatever they do provide to full-time employees, they must also provide to part-time employees, on a per-hour basis -- in other words, a 15-hour-per-week job should provide the employee 15/40ths of whatever benefits are afforded for a 40-hour-per-week job.

I would explore whether the laws that shield corporate executives from liability for their corporations' actions and omissions has become too thick.

I would also prioritize environmental issues.

I also believe some of our difficulties come from organizations getting too big, so big that those at the top are no longer transparent or answerable to those at the bottom. This applies to nearly all kinds of organizations -- e.g., unions as well as corporations, and even countries. So I would consider research to study whether that's so and what the solutions might be.

And I believe some of our difficulties come from having too short of a time-view -- looking for quick fixes, or jacking numbers up for the next quarterly report, or people wanting instant gratification even if, say, the environmental health of the planet is jeopardized in the longer run. So I'd consider research on that as well.

[grillo7]

7. I'd divest corporate capitalism from the political process as much as possible

This would take shape in a number of ways, from switching campaign funding to public financing, to enforcing and reevaluating corporate law, to breaking the strangehold of the military-industrial complex.

[TransitJohn]

8. End corporate personhood now.

eom

[prairierose]

9. End corporate personhood...this was the beginning of...

the rise of corporate power and we have ended up in a mess.

[rucky]

10. Change campaign finance laws first.

We won't see real change until we take the money out of politics.

Sadly, the people with the power to change those rules are the same ones benefiting from the current system. So the only way to get decent people into Congress is on the ground, educating voters. We have the mainstream media largely working against us on that front, so we have to do it ourselves.

So I guess the thing I'd change about America is to have us be more tolerant, more open-minded and more supportive to our communities. This self-serving isolation we voluntarily force ourselves into is killing us. The world is moving fast and has become more diverse and complicated, so I can see why some people may find it overwhelming and retreat to a smaller locus of influence - but that's not a way to adapt. I look at China and the Middle East, India & South America and I see exciting changes going on. I look at us, and we're getting left in the dust. Maybe we've been on top for so long we just can't adapt.

We need to be more thoughtful and smarter about how we move forward in a shifting world.

[Newest Reality]

11. Add the word

"natural" before "person" in the 14th Amendment, to begin with. That would begin a move to roll-back the rights and powers that corporations have acquired as "super-persons".

We would form a national alliance to reform voting processes in this country in order to assure that all votes are counted correctly and that a bona fide paper trail is created in order to confirm accuracy.

Of course, we have to increase the tax-rate for the upper percentiles and move to assure that corporations actually pay a substantial amount of taxes without the subsidies they are used to.

Begin a movement to re-localize and create more self-sustaining communities as we move into the effects of Peak Oil and peak everything else as all major resources begin to grow more scarce. The emphasis would no longer be on the work-watch-consume cycle and the goal of profit would, by necessity have to diminish as survival, (and in what manner) becomes an essential aspect of future life. There would be national programs to support and sustain small-scale food production, on the personal and business levels. Education and information, as well as supplies and materials would be subsidized to begin a transition from fossil fuel-based production to other, less energy-intensive means, including till-less methods and hydroponics. Conserving water would also be an essential component of this program.

I would nationalize all energy-related industries and relegate them to the public good while creating a nation-wide effort to collectively find and implement ways to use less energy across-the-board along with ample funding to support efforts to economize, insulate, and build in ways that decrease usage drastically. Entrepreneurs and inventors would be encouraged to find small and large-scale solutions with financial rewards and backing readily available for their ideas and efforts. There would be a national goal that would stress a transition period of five to ten years in which we would phase-out as much petroleum-based energy and materials production as is possible and that would include funded research into new forms of packaging and other goods that are created from petroleum.

Of course, Universal health care would be a given. All citizens would be entitled to free health care, (including dental). This would have a largely positive impact after the initial glut of new patients who could finally seek medical attention. The benefits to people and business would become obvious in a short time.

We should probably begin the process to break-up the media conglomerates and go back to some strong antitrust policies that will allow and encourage smaller, independent media competition in order to assure more accuracy and less bias concerning the information that is portrayed to the American public. Currently, we are seeing this media monopolies impose a strong, self-serving bias that has a detrimental effect on both our culture and our politics. Accountability as to the accuracy, intent and bias of reporting should be a major issue in order to turn the tide from propaganda and paid-for punditry, serving the interests of corporations and wealthy, towards a media that is for the people and their interests. This would provide less incentive for sensationalistic, divisive radio and television shows that have such large exposure and are exclusive in that no other views are presented fairly. The American people would most likely be more unified in such a climate than they are currently due to the artificial schisms created in order to maintain division and consolidate power for via manipulation.

Due to the number of jobs that have been purposefully sent overseas, as well as the increasing amounts of automation that are assured to decrease the number of workers in many sectors for the foreseeable future, I would propose a special tax on the corporations that participate in these kinds of activities. That tax would then be distributed as a form of "national wealth dividend" to the people like a negative income tax. The profits of our losses should not be allowed to only support and sustain those who engage in these practices.

I would transform the school system with an emphasis on education over training in the understanding that exposing children to a practical spectrum of ideas and skills initially would not only give them a greater scope of awareness, but it would help them to discover their own strengths and capabilities as they choose their path in life. There would be no more cardboard cutout molding of minds and critical thinking and creativity would be important aspects of the education process. This would be extended to Middle and High School and new curriculum would also include practical, hands-on exposure to sustainability and survival-oriented capacities that will help to provide the skills and techniques necessary for a post-peak civilization. The science curriculum would also include whatever subjects are deemed essential to a transition society. That is how we will build the future that is coming for us all.

We also have a duty to assess and change the predominance of the financial sector in our society. Any efforts to dethrone and diminish this rather parasitic growth that produces nothing that is tangible or relatively useful to the masses could be considered well spent. That sector should be officially decoupled, (since it is behaving that way already) from our main street needs and purpose in the future as it has become merely a money feeding machine that skims our national wealth into the pockets of our least productive citizens at a dear and demonstrable cost to the masses.

I would also begin an effort to shift the type and tone of those who are supposed to serve us in political offices to a far more humble and common style of governing in a way that discourages professional politicians from using their position as a means to prosper and assure themselves lucrative positions in the private sector in exchange for favorable legislation and policies. I'm sure we could re-imagine this and bring it back to service of the people instead of corporations, banks and tycoons. We simply have to change it.

I'm sure I could go on and on, but others will probably give you more ideas of their own.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. Puclic Funded Elections !!!

[defendandprotect]

13. Pretty much we're facing government being run by organized crime ....

nothing short of that --

Are we still expecting corporte-elected officials -- millionaires and

multi-millionaires to write legislation in the public interest and vote for it?

Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime -- and that's where we are now.

We can pretty much start anywhere -- but we have to all have the same understandings

about what is wrong before we can fix anything. We are fighting fascism here in America.


How did this happen -- ?

The only way the right wing can rise is by political violence and we've had more than

50 years of that taking our president and our people's government from us -- and it has

been killing rising liberal and progressive leadership since then.

Stolen elections -- GOP voting computers and the LARGE computers used by "MSM" --

otherwise known as our corporate-press.

Lies -- right wing propaganda which is highly effective -- especially when it is not

responded to by the alleged "opposition" party.


Right now we have no one liberals in power who could begin to reverse this --

we have to do it ourselves.

[Cleita]

14. Having the three branches of the Government

respect and follow the Constitution would be a start.

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. I would make Bernie Sanders President. n/t

[Arkana]

16. Start with eliminating or severely restricting the Senate filibuster.

It stops the tyranny of the vindictive minority.

Second, I sign an executive order declaring Election Day a national holiday.

For the economy, I start by putting up public works projects like FDR did. Since digging ditches now is probably not the best use of time, I put it into public infrastructure projects, expanding broadband internet access, developing alternative fuels, and moreover, developing more efficient engines FOR those alternative fuels. For people without the skillset, I set up a government-funded job training program. Slashing the defense budget will give me most of the money I need, raising taxes on the richest people in the country will give me the rest. After that, it's up to circumstance--I can't relax business regulations, so I have to nudge business into hiring by offering tax incentives for new hires. The government will liberally interpret that phrase in the Constitution that says "promote the general welfare".

This will, of course, set off my political opponents. I'm the President, so I don't get involved in the bomb-throwing--but I make sure that I have a coordinated message that my subordinates and Congressional allies are pushing at every opportunity. I tell Republicans that I'm glad to listen, but only if they're willing to sit at the table instead of drawing draconian lines in the sand.

The wars in the Middle East need to stop. Now. We pull everyone out that we can pull out immediately, and phase the withdrawal of the rest over about, oh, six months. The troops that remain will take part in no combat operations.