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

[serista.livejournal.com]

Those don't seem too bad, though I think auto companies should be required to increase their fuel efficiency.

[singewulf.livejournal.com]

Oh man, SEX MARRIAGES!!! What a revolutionary concept!!! You have my vote, good sir!!! :D

(I know you meant same sex marriages, but just reading that made me burst out laughing at work).

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

heck, tax weed x10. Once it's legal the costs come down, so taxing it more would still likely be cheaper than the street prices.

[think-too-much.livejournal.com]

I'd vote for you.

[moirla.livejournal.com]

I could get behind that. My platform (assuming we had the technology to back it up) would also include mandatory sterilization reversible upon completion of a Fit for Parenting assessment and licensing process (ala Bujold's Beta Colony).

I don't think people should have the right to fuck up more people.

[aeliakirith.livejournal.com]

As painful as #1 would be, I think you're right and would probably vote for you, depending on the specifics of the constitutional amendment supporting abortion.

[glenmarshall.livejournal.com]

1) Adjust taxes enough to establish and maintain parity with EU prices.
2) Require Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers to NOT cover smoking-caused disease
3) Adjust taxes enough to establish and maintain parity with EU prices.
4) Use taxes from #3 to pay farmers to not grow tobacco.
5) Legalize and tax all recreational drugs, and use tax to increase funding for Medicare and Medicaid pharmacy benefits.
6) 2 terms for Senators, 6 terms for Representatives.
7) I'd like to veto the current president, line by line.
8) I support polyamorous and sexuality-neutral marriages, regulation of abortion on parity with all other medical procedures, and commuting all death penalties to life at hard labor.

My two cents ...

[greene-man.livejournal.com]

Mike,
I like yours, even if they're unlikely to occur. Here's some things I'd like to see enacted.

1)Eliminate tax exemptions for all religious organizations. That includes eliminating Dubya's "Faith Based Initiative", which is nothing more than government subsidizing of religion. Keep religion out of government, AND govermment out of religion.
2)Voting days to be a holiday.
3)Some form of national health care. The current system is FUBAR.
4)Stop encouraging wasteful and counterproductive ethanol production by eliminating subsidies and tax breaks. Build more nuclear power plants.

[hairness.livejournal.com]

If you drop the sugar import tariff as well you've got my vote.

[jkusters]

I'd support most of that platform, so you'd have my vote.

My only objection is #6, unless the term limits were way up there.

JOhn.

[charles-midair.livejournal.com]

Let's try this again :)

That is a very good list. I only disagree with #6 and #7. #6 because we can always vote people out of office. If we don't, well, that is what we want. And #7 because, well, imagine Bush with a line item veto. It would make it almost impossible to Congress to function.

[hedewigis.livejournal.com]

I would vote for you!

[jducoeur]

I actually disagree with a few of these:

4. Impose an export tariff on all tobacco products.

Why? Export tariffs rarely serve much useful purpose: they shove supply around a bit, but they usually don't achieve all that much meaningful. I see no likely effect save to cause other countries to buy their tobacco elsewhere.

6. Term limits on congress.

Mixed feelings here. The incumbency effect is an unfortunate one, and I'd like to combat it, but I generally dislike term limits.

Writing good legislation is hard work, and takes a long time to learn: some of the more senior legislators are also conspicuously among the best at making the hard choices and compromises that make government work. So I tend to view term limits as throwing out the baby with the bathwater: I'd rather look for other ways to fight the incumbency advantage.

8. Constitutional amendments supporting same-sex marriages and abortion. And one making the death penalty illegal.

Absolutely not as stated. I'm opposed to amendments supporting the first two for much the same reason I'm opposed to amendments banning them -- these are matters of *law*, and don't belong in the constitution, which is about higher-level philosophy (and governmental structure).

The closest that would possibly be appropriate IMO would be higher-level (and more difficult) statements of philosophy. The first isn't about marriage, it's about *equality*. If you're going to make a statement, it shouldn't be a narrow statement about marriage (which belongs in law), it should be essentially an equal-rights amendment. That would, frankly, be a much harder fight, but it's the only correct one. (And it should be about more than sexual orientation -- it's really all about what the government's rights are to discriminate among its citizens, and what its responsibilities are to prevent discrimination. That's a broad, difficult, and important topic.)

The second is harder yet, because it's legally messing in philosophical and religious territory. Unfortunately, most people in the pro-choice camp are unwilling to viscerally admit that this is really a debate about how you define a "person" -- at what age a lump of cells becomes a citizen. There is, in all likelihood, no objective measure that actually works for this. The pro-choice view is one way of slicing that decision -- giving the mother the decision -- but that's not really any more philosophically valid than the pro-life view, which gives the state that decision.

Putting this whole mess together, I honestly don't think the constitution is the right place to put it. We have to decide these issues as a society before it's appropriate to codify it at that level: otherwise, we're just as guilty of politicizing the constitution as the right wing.

As for the death penalty, I'm actually a little more sympathetic to that one, but again I'm suspicious that we're not ready for it as a society. That one is code for the more fundamental debate about whether we are focusing on retribution or healing in our judicial system -- one of many related problems. The only reason I'm sympathetic to it is in a variant form: "The State does not have the right to kill its citizens". That one I actually like philosophically, but it's not at all the same statement...

You get my vote!

[riversol.livejournal.com]

Okay, the line item veto is one more executive power I would have major issue with, however, substantial pork barrel reform is needed!

I would not ever win in a political election either. My top 3 platforms.

1) Design extensive human breeding legislation (every effort to reduce world population is needed) as every other world issue is exacerbated by the growing human population. 10 Billion by 2035...unbelievable!

2) Ban US military involvement except to respond when directly attacked (on attackers only with sufficient evidence disclosed to the public) or as the UN requires by majority vote. Citizen owned weapons limited to hunting weapons or sports weapons....all requiring wireless security locks that are unlocked during registered periods.

3) Strengthen separation of church from state legislation. Only a truly secular government can support the liberties and freedoms of people of all faiths and none.