I started watching Obama's concession speech yesterday, but then realized I didn't need to. I'd already seen this speech, and consequent actions, for 2 years now. People showed their reaction to his non-leadership by re-electing leaders with spine, even if they will "drive the economy into a ditch" - again.
I'm done with Obama. Tonight I am going to meet with some people who want to start a new political party along Geoist lines. The Tea Parties are already way ahead of me, and I'm sure other 3rd parties are working along the same lines. On Tuesday, I voted along Working Family party lines, even while voting for mainstream local politicians, just because I couldn't stomach voting for the Democrats anymore, even though both lines offered the same candidates.
Pundits=idiots. Politicians too. I'm tired of panderers, conciliators, and communicators with no spine. It's time for real solutions and real leadership. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are offering that, and we'll continue to see this ping-pong game between Tweedledum and Tweedledee played by desperate voters, while the majority of voters vote for none-of-the-above by simply not going to the polls at all. (We could encourage voting compliance by imposing a small penalty for not voting, as Australia does, but, of course, the political parties are not really interested in a full democracy; then they'd have to respond to actual voter needs, not to corporate interests and money).
Enough talk. There ARE solutions to our economic malaise. Here are just a FEW:
1. Create State Banks in every state, like North Dakota (<5% unemployment, $1 Billion surplus) has had since 1919. This would free up state money from Wall Street Investment Houses, who lost trillions in state pension and other funding in 2008-2009, and then had the temerity to have their political cronies go to the taxpayers and tell them to tighten their belts to pay for what ere really investment losses, and not "spending beyond our means." For example, New York State mis-managers lost $40 billion in the state pension fund on the markets, while the (formerly) $155 Billion fund spent just <$5 Billion on actual pension outlays, leaving us with a so-called "underfunded" pension fund of $110 Billion. This is typical in every state. We should fund state bank reserves which would never have to actually be spent with "All state funds and funds of State institutions as (the law of the State Bank of North Dakota does)."
2. Replace income, sales, and corporate taxes with Resource and Land Value Taxes; there're trillions in natural resources that line private pockets, even though natural resources were created by nature, not Man, and rightfully, belong to all of us, according to Geoism. Only production should be 100% rewarded to the labor that created it, not the fruits of the Earth or locational values in dense urban areas.
3. Impose a 1% financial transaction tax on all stock transactions to raise billions and dampen unproductive speculation that only enriches lightening quick traders and destabilizes the markets.
4. Impose penalties on any imported good that comes from a country that does not meet our basic environmental and labor laws. This is not really a tariff, though it's often called that, because any country can eliminate them by meeting our (too minimal) standards. Work with the U.N. on this too. This will go further towards meeting Greenhouse requirements than anything proposed so far.
5. Set up a public option for Money, by bypasing the Fed and creating U.S. Notes (as Republican Abraham Lincoln did to fund the Civil War!). Pay for infrastructure, universal healthcare, and a new energy grid with U.S. Notes (aka Greenbacks), skipping the Central Bank. These areas are all in DEFLATION (the 20% of Americans not currently insured are in deflation, not the overall healthcare industry, so care would have to be exercised in meeting the needs of this group with new U.S. Notes; perhaps this money would be better spent on new gyms for schools and in subsidies for healthy food in poor neighborhoods), so INFLATION would be a good thing for them now as would job creation in all of these depressed fields. Set a tight limit on the amount of Greenbacks that could be issued, as post-Lincoln Administrations did for 100 years, and legislatively limit increases to the rate of population growth thereafter to prevent inflation. Do not use Greenbacks to pay off national or corporate debt so as not to devalue the international dollar; use U.S. Notes only for domestic needs.
6. End both Middle East wars in 3 months, bringing home all troops except those needed to guard our embassies. Scale down the military while scaling up domestic infrastructure spending (see #5 above). Instead of funding wars, fund microcredit, and other existing NGO efforts to bring schools and services to these regions. Set up independent evaluation overseers to ensure taxpayer money is well spent, but don't spend more than 10% of what we are currently spending on military outlays in those regions (the rate of return guarantees this is more than enough). Increase port security in America by another 10% of what we previously spent on the wars to improve security and create jobs.
7. Phase out the embargo on Cuba. This 50-year embargo has long passed its usefulness and only serves to reinforce America's image as a bully. Trading with Cuba would open markets worth billions, especially for our agriculture, allow us to tap into their inexpensive successful health clinic model for providing for our own healthcare needs, and undercut Chavez's claims that America is simply an imperialist nation.
Doubtless, you can think of many more solutions. Why can't our politicians? Are they too cut off from imaginative people? Are they surrounded by corporate shills promoting the same tired rhetoric?
How do we get our country back?
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