Platform

Government Oversight

Those who argue that “government IS the problem” and that government should not be regulating businesses and the financial sector are the same ones who then turn to the government for taxpayer-funded bailouts. An efficient, honest, and trustworthy government can be the guarantor of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

• Dismantling of “too big to fail” institutions;
• Cap on executive pay and bonuses;
• Limiting the influence of the Federal Reserve, a group of unelected officials with ties to Wall Street and who are the powerfully unaccountable fourth branch of government;
• No more taxpayer-funded government bailouts.

Government Lives by the Rules

Government needs to live by all the rules which they debate, pass, and then expect Americans to live by. Some of these rules include:

• Working the same hours, days, and schedule as the average American; i.e., 8 hour days, 2 week’s vacation, and 10 sick days (get rid of all those month-long recesses);
• Give up their taxpayer-funded health plans and throw themselves at the mercy of the health care system that most of them are refusing to reform;
• Forced retirement at 65.

No Government Perks

Some examples include:

• Private jets (example: the state of Florida has two private jets which its politicians have been using on jaunts between their various homes);
• High paid aides and assistants, especially if these assistants are related (Lincoln only had two secretaries!);
• Strict accountability when traveling: no more first class accommodations and large entourages (Florida Governor Crist’s entourage on his last jaunt abroad included a photographer!);
• Get rid of the Congressional gym (let them find a health plan that covers gym membership … after all, Congress only uses the gym when they are in Washington … which is not too often!);
• Free and preferred parking at the airport;
• Those sneaky “discretionary funds” that politicians can use as they see fit.

Election Reform

This is critical to get rid of the many dinosaurs that currently occupy high office, some of whom don’t even know the price of a quart of milk or how to use a computer. Let’s face it, most Americans at the polls always vote for the incumbent. The name recognition works like a charm and, unfortunately, the challenger has to work extra hard and get gobs of money to get noticed by the electorate.

• Free and equal election time to all qualified candidates. Let’s have intelligent debates on TV and no more mudslinging attack ads and “swiftboat” character assassinations.
• Term limits. Once entrenched and secure in their position, politicians are more open to corruption, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement. A political office should not be a dictatorship or a tenured position. Just like intermarrying produces genetic abnormalities, the same stale parade of politicians introduces abnormalities, weakness, and rot in our political system.

Put the Lobbyists Out of Business

Simply put: Lobbying = Corruption.

Regulate Basic Human Necessities

Basic human necessities include:

• Health Care
• Medicine
• Electricity
• Water
• Oil

These are the basics for human survival that should not be “for profit” or at least “for obscene profit”. Florida Power & Light is asking for a 30% rate increase after posting a 700 million dollar profit (my pay raise this year – and I was lucky to get one – was 1.9%).

Equitable Taxes

• Eliminate tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations;
• Raise the tax rate on the wealthy;
• No more UBS (Swiss bank accounts) for American citizens.

This is not “class warfare”. The wealthy have benefited from numerous tax breaks during the past decades while earning obscene profits. Our glimpse into the lifestyle of Bernie Madoff only illustrates how the “have and the have-mores” are living. It is time they gave some of their profits back.

Bring Back Civility and Ethics

• Politicians who lie, cheat, break the law, or abuse the public trust are automatically impeached and lose their benefits; if it happens to teachers, policemen, and other working Americans, it should happen to politicians who should live by a higher standard.
• No tolerance for badmouthing, mudslinging, shouting down your opponent, politics of destruction, intolerance for the opposite viewpoint from any politician nor their supporters. Anyone who disrupts an organized political meeting, forum, town hall should be removed. Free speech does not include bullying.