If you were President for the next 4 years..............

[mark]

..............or have total control of the decision-making, what would YOU do to solve the following topics:
( please give some details )

1. The American economy ?

2. Terrorism ?

3. Iraq ?

I could add a lot more but that's enough for now. I'll post some thoughts in a few days.

Let's get some debate going........see ya mark

[Eddie]

OK Mark, here's some thoughts.
The Economy - Impose a 60% tax (terriff) on any product manufactured outside the USA and imporeted back, by any company previously located inside the USA. Lastly, offer 15 year inventory/manufacturing tax credits to any company located outside the US that wants to move their operations back.

Terrorism - Increase border security, and stiffin imigration laws within the US.

Iraq - Get the heck out and let them worry about their own democracy. We're doing nothing but getting American boys killed everyday over there. If Iraq is the answer to terrorism, what about Pakistan, Libia, Iran, and North Korea, we know they all harbor terrorist, but we're not going after them. Use the troops for border protection and security within the US. If they (terrorist) can't get in, they can't do harm.

Lastly heath care - Place restrictions on medication pricing. Open government ran medical facilities for uninsured Americans. Offer free medical education for doctors who will agree to practice in these facilities for a period of time. Fund these with the billions we're wasting in Iraq.
Limit the amount a person can litigate for in the court room. this will reduce the cost of malpractice insurance and lower the cost of healthcare.

[Foxy]

OK Mark, here's some thoughts.
The Economy - Impose a 60% tax (terriff) on any product manufactured outside the USA and imporeted back, by any company previously located inside the USA. Lastly, offer 15 year inventory/manufacturing tax credits to any company located outside the US that wants to move their operations back.

Terrorism - Increase border security, and stiffin imigration laws within the US.

Iraq - Get the heck out and let them worry about their own democracy. We're doing nothing but getting American boys killed everyday over there. If Iraq is the answer to terrorism, what about Pakistan, Libia, Iran, and North Korea, we know they all harbor terrorist, but we're not going after them. Use the troops for border protection and security within the US. If they (terrorist) can't get in, they can't do harm.

Lastly heath care - Place restrictions on medication pricing. Open government ran medical facilities for uninsured Americans. Offer free medical education for doctors who will agree to practice in these facilities for a period of time. Fund these with the billions we're wasting in Iraq.
Limit the amount a person can litigate for in the court room. this will reduce the cost of malpractice insurance and lower the cost of healthcare.

Well OMG! (oh my gosh)
I actually couldn’t agree with you here Eddie! The only thing I will add is that the SSI system needs revamped. They are denying people who need it and granting it to some that do not. They need to update their system to know that there are new diseases such as Lupus that they say is not terminal… but it is.

[tkcomer]

How about this?

#1 Only trade with countries that favor the U.S. No tariffs needed. That alone would starve the dictatorships that fund terror.

#2 See number one

#3. A complete pullout with an apology for attacking a sovereign nation.

#4 An overhaul of how congressional members gets money. No donations outside the state that you represent.

#5 A balanced budget agreement outside of a legal war.

#6 Be energy independent in 10 years.

There are others, but this would be a good start.

[mark]

..................here's a few of my thoughts for everyone to "chew" on.

Here's some things I would do:

1. The economy. We are living in a nation where all politicians spend waaaaaay too much money....knowing we don't have it to spend. They see the gov't as having a big ol' credit card with no spending limits. I would make it mandatory that the gov't has a balanced budget. Period! Regarding what they spend it on is always up for debate but the budget must be balanced within 2 years. If you take in a dollar, all you can spend is a dollar. Pretty simple math to me.

2. Immigration. Forget the policies currently in force. There is none. To protect our southern borders more efficiently, I would build a "Berlin" type wall across the southern border. ( I'll probably get beat up for saying this one for sure ) Yes, it would cost ton's of money, but cutting some entitlements elsewhere & all the extra pork spending should cover it.

3. Drill in ANWR & off U.S. shores. We have plenty of available oil, but liberals doesn't want cheap petroleum products anymore. They like the gas staying high & the tax revenues waaay too much. ( which goes back to #1 )

4. Tax cut. Americans needs more money to spend. If you offer Americans $$ to spend...guess what??? They will spend it keeping the economy rolling right along. We need to get away from this brainwashing liberals has placed upon us about not having any money to do things back at home mentality.

5. Term limits. We don't need any professional poliiticians anymore. The 25-30 year veterans has become waaaay to powerful in politics. 4 years is tops.

I could go on but that's enough for now.
Your comments.

Agree?? or disagree??...........see ya mark

[Anonymous Coward]

What about limiting salaries and benifits to politicians? Limiting the fact they get payed even after they are no longer serving in Washington, D.C.. What... they cannot get a job after they are in D.C.?
And "shopping around" for stuff. I know you can buy a hammer for less than $2,000. Which is what they have spent on an order of 12 hammers. And thousands of dollars on a toilet, and various other tools.
Surely there is a Walmart, Target, or Staples around somewhere,

[Curefan]

Ok, here are my two cents

Economy: National sales tax. No refunds. No getting back more than you pay in. This is a fair way for everyone to take on the burden. It is natural that the more money you have the more you spend. This also cuts out the taxes such as capitol gains, the death tax, and so on that everyone is always fighting over.

Iraq: Being a Desert Storm Vet I have mixed feelings about this one. First off, we never should have been there to start with but now that we are it's too late to cry about it. The best thing we can do is stay the course. We are now too involved in the process to pull and if we did the government that arises could and probably would be much worse than the one we just got rid of.

Terrorism: Ok, which cave is Osama in now? This is getting ridiculous. The "war on terror" has turned into a Bush grudge match forgetting the reason we started it. And before you start, I think Michael Moore is an idiot.

Health Care/Education: To me these fall into the same catagory. These, in my opinion, are rights not priviliges and should be available to everyone. Period. National healthcare? Sign me up. Just take some of the bloated salaries from Congress and their aides, their aides aides, their assistants and so on and we could keep the doctors salaries at a respectable level while providing good healthcare. I mean honestly, the argument that there will be no incentive for someone to go into the medical field doesn't really fly when you consider that practically every other country of our size has a form of national healthcare and they don't seem to be at a loss for doctors.

Just my two cents, please don't throw anything!

[GirlColumbo]

I would have to see that our veterans get more benefits without any hassle, that their medical needs are taken care of and with top notch quality medical care and that the elderly are taken care of. It does not make any sense for a young and abled bodied person to get so much help and our senior citizens have to go to haties and back to even get their medicine. that is just plain ignorant thinking. Sorry sometimes I watch so many elderly suffer, and know they have worked like dogs their entire lives, been honest tax paying citizens and they just have to fight for everything that is due them in the first place.

[mark]

Ok, here are my two cents

Economy: National sales tax. No refunds. No getting back more than you pay in. This is a fair way for everyone to take on the burden. It is natural that the more money you have the more you spend. This also cuts out the taxes such as capitol gains, the death tax, and so on that everyone is always fighting over.

We are in total agreement here. I've been on the overhauling tax system bandwagon for years....Flat Tax or Sales Tax all the way.


Iraq: Being a Desert Storm Vet I have mixed feelings about this one. First off, we never should have been there to start with but now that we are it's too late to cry about it. The best thing we can do is stay the course. We are now too involved in the process to pull and if we did the government that arises could and probably would be much worse than the one we just got rid of.

1st of all........thank you for your service to or country. I for one will thank you in person if we meet! We again are in total agreement here too, despite the normal " beatings" I take here for my stance on this issue. Due to your sacrifice ( & 1000's of other soldiers, ) we've NOT been attacked since 911......and again Thank You.



Terrorism: Ok, which cave is Osama in now? This is getting ridiculous. The "war on terror" has turned into a Bush grudge match forgetting the reason we started it. And before you start, I think Michael Moore is an idiot.


Bingo...we agree again about this issue...only because I think OSB is a dead man anyway...or....not much threat anymore. I too absolutely think Michael Moore is an idiot.



Health Care/Education: To me these fall into the same catagory. These, in my opinion, are rights not priviliges and should be available to everyone. Period. National healthcare? Sign me up. Just take some of the bloated salaries from Congress and their aides, their aides aides, their assistants and so on and we could keep the doctors salaries at a respectable level while providing good healthcare. I mean honestly, the argument that there will be no incentive for someone to go into the medical field doesn't really fly when you consider that practically every other country of our size has a form of national healthcare and they don't seem to be at a loss for doctors.

Just my two cents, please don't throw anything!

Here's where we differ. Nationalized health care sounds good in theory, but not practical in the real world.........unless there are severe restrictions. Then it wouldn't be national "free" healthcare. Even curbing the politician's salaries & bonuses, that amt. would be nickels & dimes compared to the overall total dollars needed.

When it would take 12 months to get a gall bladder removed instead of a few days that it usually takes around here, that's no good. Yes, I believe that would happen because the EMT doctors would be dealing with trivial issues such as hang nails, warts, etc. in the ER rooms.

Hmmm, why not, it would be free, right??


Please don't take this objection as an insult. The last time I disagreed with a newbie, they never came back here.

Remember, it's only my opinion & usually those "ain't " worth much......................see ya mark

[Jeremy]

Has anyone here actually seen anything by Michael Moore?

[tkcomer]

I loved TV Nation. He had a lot of good segments on there.

[Curefan]

Believe me no hard feelings here! I guess my feelings on the subject come from living in Germany for three years and watching their system work firsthand. Sure, every system has its downfalls, but from what I saw no one went without a needed procedure, medication, or surgery because they needed to put food on the table or a roof over their kids heads. I'm not saying that theirs is the perfect system, just that ours lets way too many people fall through the cracks.

[mark]

Has anyone here actually seen anything by Michael Moore?

Nope, since he's a flaming liberal, I have better things to do.............see ya mark

[Jeremy]

Nope, since he's a flaming liberal, I have better things to do.............see ya mark

That's odd because that is almost exactly what the thousands of Republicans who criticize Moore say when asked if they've ever read his books or watched his films. Even odder is that those thousands of people feel they do have the time to perpetuate the negative image of Moore that was started by the small handful of Republicans who actually did read the books or watch the films. Without a thought they can truly call their own, they just repeat the same rhetoric that some guy said, that was quoting some other guy, who saw something on a web site, but didn't actually read the whole thing, or saw a title of some book somewhere called "Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man" without ever wondering what a person's weight has to do with his ideas or politics. It's just a tired old drumbeat that goes thump... Michael Moore... thump... Michael Moore... thump... Michael Moore, blah, blah, blah. Any high school teacher will tell you that you won't get the message by reading the cliff notes.

That all said, Bowling for Columbine is an excellent film about violence in the United States, centering around the Columbine shootings. It takes a hard look at some of our thoughts about guns and violence in general and what may be some of the factors that contribute to the overwhelming rate of gun related deaths in this country that overshadow other countries by alarming numbers. It doesn't point fingers at anyone. It doesn't say owning guns or using guns causes violence. Rather it looks at the psychology of fear in the United States and how that leads to violence.

Some of the undisputed claims of the film during the segment on America being a violent nation:

1953: U.S. overthrows Prime Minister Mossadegh of Iran. U.S. installs the Shah as dictator.
1954: U.S. overthrows democratically elected President Arbenz of Guatemala. 200,000 civilians are killed.
1963: U.S. backs assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem.
1963-1975: The Vietnam War, supported by the U.S. military, kills an est. 4 million people in Southeast Asia.
September 11, 1973: U.S. stages a military coup in Chile. Democratically elected president Salvador Allende died. Dictator General Augusto Pinochet is installed leading to the disappearance and death of 3,500 Chileans.
1977: U.S. backs military rulers of El Salvador. 7,000 Salvadorans and four American nuns are killed.
1980s: U.S. trains Osama bin Laden and fellow Muslim terrorists to kill Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan War. CIA gives them $3 billion.
1981: Reagan administration trains and funds Contras to fight communist government. 30,000 Nicaraguans die.
1982: U.S. provides billions in aid to Saddam Hussein for weapons to kill Iranians.
1983: The White House secretly and illegally gives Iran weapons to kill Iraqis.
1989: CIA agent Manuel Noriega (also serving as president of Panama) disobeys orders from Washington. U.S. invades Panama and removes Noriega.
1990: Iraq invades Kuwait with weapons from U.S.
1991: U.S. enters Iraq. Bush reinstates dictator of Kuwait.
1998: U.S. bombs “weapons factory” in Sudan. The factory turns out to be making aspirin.
2000-2001: U.S. gives Taliban-ruled Afghanistan $245 million in aid for famine relief.

Idiot or not, these claims are undisputed. Still, thousands of people buy into the smear campaign. Unfortunately, the facts above can't be changed by calling the messenger big, fat, and stupid.

[mark]

............suppose all those things are really true?? Maybe so, I'm not sure. I do know if they happened...it was with both parties in office. Why didn't Moore run a movie depicting this stuff while Clinton was Prez?? .............see ya mark

[Jeremy]

That's just it. He didn't blame Republicans for all of that. That's just the what he gets credited for. He said those things in a film about this particular country's propensity for violence. In that film, his theme was that fear is what causes Americans to react first, often times with violence. He even specifically said it wasn't a Republican thing, or a Democrat thing, but rather an American thing, a problem that all of us need to deal with.

He also got blamed for being against things like the Second Amendment, and owning guns. Truth is, he owns a gun. He also pointed out that most Canadians own guns for hunting, and yet gun violence ratio by population is far, far less in Canada. He also got blamed for being against the National Rifleman's Association for a scene in the film where he confronts Charleston Heston about a rally Heston decided to have in a certain city directly following a school shooting. As he pointed out in the film, he's not against the NRA. In fact, he is a member. Rather, he questioned Heston's reasons for having an NRA rally in a city that was still dealing with the tragic loss of students. His criticisms were directed solely at Mr. Heston and his lack of judgment in that regard.

Even in his film Fahrenheit 9/11, he didn't go on a tirade about Republicans. The film was similar to Bowling for Columbine in theme where he talked about the fear that plagued the country following the events of 911 and how that fear caused people in the Bush administration to act rashly, without thinking things through. At no point in the film did he say all Republicans were like that. Even his criticisms of Bush were specific and followed by clear examples of where he thought Bush was worthy of criticism. It's no secret he doesn't like Bush, but again he took the stance that it doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democrat, Bush isn't the right man to be doing what he is doing. He gives many examples that I won't bother to go into, but at no time does he say that it's a Republican thing. In fact, he places everything solely on Bush and Bush controlled people (his administration) by showing the ties of the entire Bush family to Middle East oil czars, including meetings with such people who were supposedly enemies of the U.S. Even members of bin Laden's family were allowed to fly out of the United States without being questioned, or detained, when all other non-military aircraft were grounded.

Whether or not all of his claims are true, one thing is certain. If you watch the films, you will know that all of his criticisms are specifically targeted to certain individuals who are at least worthy of suspicion, each claim is backed by some sort of specific evidence, and each claim has nothing to do with an entire party's politics. Of course, you have to actually watch the films to see that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bet anyone can watch anyone's home video, and take things out of context and make you look bad. That is all he has done. Heck people have been doing that to the Bible for years trying to get people to see that how they read it is the correct reading. That is what Michael Moore does, he takes snippets of life and arranges them to try and get people to follow him. I am not saying that everything he shows is wrong or misleading, but I find that a lot of it is.
For the record I have seen Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, The Best of R.E.M., and plan to see Fahrenheit 9/11 and 1/2 due out in 2007 and Sicko when it comes out. (can't wait **eyes rolling**)
After seeing these I still think he is an idiot regardless of his wieght or apperance.

[Jeremy]

See now, informed decisions are cool. Obviously the handful of Republicans who saw the films might think he's an idiot, and Anonymous Coward thinks he's an idiot after seeing the films, but people should really still see the films. Who knows what your own opinion might be. I personally think the films were well thought out and well executed. I personally count Bowling for Columbine as a must see film for any American, especially for those concerned about violence in schools and violence in general. I personally look forward to his release of Sicko for many of the reasons early on in this thread. It promises to be a look at the health care situation in America from the standpoint that health care is a right, not a priviledge. Of course I won't know if I agree with him until after I've seen it.

[tkcomer]

These politicians are all in it together. It’s not a Republican thing, it’s not a Democrat thing. Their ideology is not that much different. But money sure does talk. How come, when I go to a store to buy something, my only choice is a product that is from a country that is hostile to us? I have to have the product, and my money goes to a country that is suppressing its people or worse, arming them. Why am I able to buy ANYTHING from a country that is run by a murderous dictator? Because our politicians on both sides allowed it. The quickest and easiest way to shut these monsters down is to starve them. You don’t make deals with them. You don’t trade with them. You don’t trade with anyone that does. Money talks. It’s that simple. But our politicians on both sides use the military for foreign policy. If I were president, I’d bring the military back home. And shut down all trade with countries that don’t like us. Over a period of time as we can no longer feed or clothe ourselves right now. Big business would have to move their factories back home or to countries that are friendly to us. And if attacked, no mercy. No precision bombs. We tried that in WW II. Didn’t work. All it did was get more of us killed. Carpet bombing until the people themselves give up. And once we stop sticking our nose in other country’s business, then we can concentrate on fixing what is wrong with this country.

[Foxy]

have to have the product, and my money goes to a country that is suppressing its people or worse, arming them. Why am I able to buy ANYTHING from a country that is run by a murderous dictator? If I were president, I’d bring the military back home. And shut down all trade with countries that don’t like us.

TK I agree 100%. When we buy and use those hostile countries goods and services, we are aiding and abetting the enemy, which I thought was illegal, like treason or something. If we starve them then I might actually be able to call customer service and speak with someone that understands the english language, not just how to say "I am sorry you are having trouble, I will be glad to assist you" over and over agian, then have no concept of what my problem is, and just leave the "valued" customer frustrated!

[GirlColumbo]

have to say I totally agree with tkcomer.

[FreeOurPOWs]

If I were President for the next 4 years..............

1. The American economy ?

Abolish the Fed and reinstall the gold standard. Close the borders. Remove all illegal aliens. Fine largely all people who knowingly hired illegal aliens. Create laws to end the environmental wackos attacks on our manufacturing base. Create laws that place tarrifs on goods manufactured by American companies operating on foreign soil and are then imported to America. End NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, and all the other alphabet soup globalist efforts to raise the standard of living in the rest of the world while lowering the standard of living in America. Abolish the IRS and end the taxation of income moving to a national sales tax on consumption instead. End foreign aid to communist nations and nations that support muslim terror. End aid to the UN. Shut down the National Education Administration immediately. There is a lot more.

2. Terrorism ?

Kill them all and let God sort them out. Empower our military to do thier jobs without interference from an anti-American leftist press and lawyers. Get the press out of Iraq and Afghanistan now. Empower our military to use any means neccessary to extract information from these godless scum who murder innocents in the name of a false god that allegedly promises a child molestation paradise. Remove all Muslims from America that do not renounce these radicals and watch those that remain very closely, with whatever means neccessary.

See the border coments above. If someone wants to emigrate to America, fine, let them do it legally with vastly lower numbers allowed in and place them on a probationary citizenship until they prove themselves worthy of American citizenship which is a gift from God, not a right for every person in the world. No more muslim immigrants until the war on terror is won with the help of those muslims that call themselves Americans.

Return to hanging people for treason. Start with Hanoi Jane, Ho Chi Kerry, Ramsey Clark, Sean Penn, the fat 911 farenheit fellow, Tom Hayden, and the Californication punk who fought for the Taliban, and use them as examples.

3. Iraq ?

See number 2. End the Hussein kangaroo court and kill him and get it over with. He is being used as propaganda and it is time to say bye bye. Model thier government on the Holy Bible and our own Constitution, guard them for a couple of decades until they show themselves worthy of world citizenship and taking care of themselves, and then get out. Pay for our sacrifices to them with thier oil into our economy to help with number 1 above also.

[mark]

If I were President for the next 4 years..............

1. The American economy ?

I agree. I would also add we need a tax cut along with a full pork spending reduction plan--immediately.



2. Terrorism ?

Kill them all and let God sort them out. Empower our military to do thier jobs without interference from an anti-American leftist press and lawyers. Get the press out of Iraq and Afghanistan now. Empower our military to use any means neccessary to extract information from these godless scum who murder innocents in the name of a false god that allegedly promises a child molestation paradise. Remove all Muslims from America that do not renounce these radicals and watch those that remain very closely, with whatever means neccessary.

See the border coments above. If someone wants to emigrate to America, fine, let them do it legally with vastly lower numbers allowed in and place them on a probationary citizenship until they prove themselves worthy of American citizenship which is a gift from God, not a right for every person in the world. No more muslim immigrants until the war on terror is won with the help of those muslims that call themselves Americans.

Again, I agree.

Return to hanging people for treason. Start with Hanoi Jane, Ho Chi Kerry, Ramsey Clark, Sean Penn, the fat 911 farenheit fellow, Tom Hayden, and the Californication punk who fought for the Taliban, and use them as examples

This is where I slightly disagree. Hanoi Jane, Kerry, Sean Penn & other protestors are idiots that very few smart American takes seriously. They do have a right to be stupid, the Constitution allows that. Hanging should go to murderers, serial killers & others like them. No more 17 year's worth of appeals of the death penalty if I were in charge. I would personally help build a hanging booth right downtown on Market Street for murderers if needed.


3. Iraq ?

See number 2. End the Hussein kangaroo court and kill him and get it over with. He is being used as propaganda and it is time to say bye bye. Model thier government on the Holy Bible and our own Constitution, guard them for a couple of decades until they show themselves worthy of world citizenship and taking care of themselves, and then get out. Pay for our sacrifices to them with thier oil into our economy to help with number 1 above also.

Again I agree. I would only stay as long as necessary, hopefully that wouldn't be several decades. The kangarooo court needs to be shut down. If it were the other way around, Hussein would have shot & buried someone on trial in his country.
Great post...............see ya mark