Political ideas that will keep me from ever being elected

[mikekn]

If elected I will push for the following:
1. $1-2 per gallon gas tax (in addition to all current gas taxes), collected money to be used for alternate energy research.
2. Federal law making smoking illegal in all public spaces (especially bars, restaurants, casinos and sidewalks).
3. $1-2 per pack cigarette tax (in addition to all current taxes), collected money to be used for Medicare (or some other heath care program that needs it).
4. Impose an export tariff on all tobacco products.
5. Legalize marijuana, and make it subject to all of the taxes and restrictions imposed on cigarettes.
6. Term limits on congress.
7. Line item veto for the president.
8. Constitutional amendments supporting same-sex marriages and abortion. And one making the death penalty illegal.

There are probably more, but I think those will do the job.

Comments

[glenmarshall.livejournal.com]

That could be remedied without changing the basic premise, i.e., that smoking is a avoidable harmful addiction with well-documented health consequences. I see no reason why Medicare, Medicaid, or other payers should underwrite it, especially when it increases overall insurance costs to those who do not smoke.

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

What would people who suffer these diseases from secondhand smoke do? Say, someone who developed (insert disease) after a childhood of living with smoking parents who were total asses about it (smoking in the house, refusing to quit when their kid was sick, etc). Would the person then be stuck when they grew up either paying out of pocket or dying? Or would there be legal recourse to force the jerkass parents to pay? What if the jerkass parents didn't have any money or assets? I dunno, it just seems like you should separate cases of people who smoke personally and people who were subjected to others' smoke.

[glenmarshall.livejournal.com]

In my experience the legislative and regulatory processes, which are inclusive of all stakeholders, would deal with the relevant fairness issues.

I'm deeply involved in healthcare IT standards, and peripherally in the regulatory and legislative/lobbying arenas. It's like the proverbial process and ingredients for making sausage that one doesn't want to know about, especially if one likes sausage. I make some of the sausage and am trusting of the process, if not the ingredients.