Proposed

The United States is currently rotting its way from an industrialized nation to a third world country, and unless we get the economy turned around—and fast—it is simply going to be too late to stop. Quite frankly, both political parties are partially to blame, but that isn’t the root of the problem. The root lies in how our political system functions, specifically the disproportionate influence of not only money, but also of media. Until regular citizens, whose interests are far different from those of the power elite, exercise the same measure of influence, the system will continue its dysfunction, as will the political parties that represent the interests of those that inhabit and do business in this nation.
To this end, several key things must be accomplished in order to right the ship, and therefore I propose we, as American citizens, create a voting block dedicated to accomplishing some very simple goals, that everyone who is rational and reasonable, should be able to support, regardless of party affiliation or differences in mainstream viewpoints.
In doing so, we shall agree to support candidates, regardless of political affiliation, who agree to seek to accomplish these stated goals. Our support, of course, is conditional. Significantly before each election, our voting block will ask candidates who seek our endorsement, to apply for our endorsement, explaining how they intend to bring about accomplishing the goals of our organization. In addition, each member of the organization will be provided with information detailing each candidate’s voting record, stated views, campaign donations, etc. Then, our members will vote on which person to endorse in the upcoming election. Once the vote is tallied, every member must agree to vote for that candidate that wins the endorsement. Since our goals are national in nature, every discussion on endorsement will be national, whether we are considering voting for the President, a Senator, or a House member.
In order to be truly effective as a voting block, members must be extremely loyal to the decisions of the organization as a whole, completely ignore partisan politics, and focus entirely on the actions of each candidate seeking our endorsement, and how those actions can bring about the goals we seek to achieve.
In the coming year, I will work hard to set up a website, facebook page, twitter account, and other social networking tools so that this voting block can begin functioning before the 2012 election. Each member will have a user name and password, and in this way, votes will be confidential, as well as secure. Once I have done more leg work and finalized some of the details, I will let everyone know, but for now, I think we should decide what it is we would like to see accomplished.
Here are some of my proposals—please let me know what you think:
1) Amend the constitution to specify that corporations are not people, and that only individuals or groups that are American citizen enjoy the right to freedom of speech.
2) Amend the constitution to endow congress with the right to regulate federal, state, and local elections.
3) Cut the corporate tax rate to 15% and end all deductions and subsidies to private industry.
4) Reform our educational system. One idea: create a graduated education tax credit for each student from age 4 to 22, and then allow schools to compete for students, setting their own price of tuition. For example, for taxpayers making less than $20,000 a year, the tax credit would be for $9,000, between $20,000 and $50,000, $8000, between $50,000 and $100,000, $7000, between $100,000 and $250,000, $5000, between $250,000 and $500,000, $3000, and beyond that, there would be no tax credit. The numbers would have to be figured out more exactly, but something to this effect. To receive the tax credit, one would have to prove that they have a dependant child who is attending an accredited school. Teachers and administrators would still need to receive their licenses through the states. Currently owned public schools could then be leased either whole, or piecemeal, to competing schools with a price ceiling in place to ensure access to public facilities, and at the same time, allowing the government to take in more revenue. Schools would be responsible for their own agenda and curriculum, but would be subject to state testing and evaluation to provide parents with information on each individual school. Finally, the federal government would set up a fund that would match private or public investment in building and/or maintaining more schools, which would provide badly needed jobs in construction, and encourage communities to invest in local schools.
5) Nullify all trade agreements and treaties with foreign nations. All future agreements should be exactly the same for both countries—for example, if Great Britain puts a tariff on a U.S. good, then we put exactly the same tariff on British goods. Tariffs and agreements should also take into account prevailing wages in those countries and be adjusted to make U.S. goods competitive with foreign goods.
6) Allow a public option to participate in the health insurance exchange. Basically, this will lead to a single payer system, because the public insurance would be a non-profit that is only responsible for paying medical bills. Ironically, the deficit commission that met recently containing several prominent conservatives, made this same recommendation.
7) Cut military spending so that the Department of Defense may comprise no more than 12% of the federal budget (it is currently about 19%).
8) Reform Social Security so that upon age 65, every citizen receives $750 per month until their death, regardless of lifetime payments. Cut Social Security taxes to reflect this (average benefits in 2010 were around $1,100 per month).
9) Create a 5% additional tax on the revenues of televised media, since they are benefitting from the public airwaves, and use the revenue to fund education.
10) Institute a wealth tax on private individuals worth more than $50 million, and tax their total worth by 0.1% annually (meaning, for an individual worth more than $50 million, in addition to other taxes they are subject to, they would pay an additional $50,000 per year to the treasury. For someone worth 1 billion, this amount would be $1 million).