What would America look like if DUers ran the country?

Be specific and try to state how we can make that happen.

For example, free health care. What would it look like (no private insurance? tiered system?) and how would it be funded?

I see so much complaining about how things are run, how about some positive, constructive thoughts for a change.

"Comedy is best left to professionals."

:)

:hi:

No wonder I don't wade into GD in an attempt to start serious dialogue anymore.

Gee, thanks. I won't return the favor, though.

eom

Yes, free health care for all...

And I would fund it by changing the tax rate for the very rich, by having them pay the same rate as the rest of us.

I would also change how we finance campaigns by making Clean Money the law of the land.

Of course, I would end our participation in the Iraq mess by bringing our troops home.

And I would greatly reduce the money going to the armed services.

And this is just for starters....

Next?

Exactly the type of answer I was looking for

Lounge Sex Thread.

universal health care
gay marriage
diplomacy and less military spending
a social safety net
equal rights for all

There would be a lot of arguments about how to achieve these things, but those would be about what is the best way to get them, not the underlying desirability

The devil is in the details with all the other plans...

Why is this so hard to grasp?

shut down all corporate polluters, the corporate farmers and coal factories first target. We are seriously 'screwn' if our food/air/water sources are all contaminated.

Corporations that outsource would have to pay a good living wage to the workers in the country. Corporations would be levied large taxes for any profits made from outsourced work.

A living wage for all. Health care for all.

Corporate "personhood" would be shoved up the as.., nevermind.

Anyone that can start a war, or their family, friends and cronies, CANNOT PROFIT FROM ANY WAR!

A Council of Citizens, by lottery?

Too tired to go on for now...

We could do good things.

:smoke:

Use our money wisely, everybodt happy.

In honest though, I would hope it would look like...

Equal rights for ALL - no exceptions.

And by "equal rights" I mean:
-healthcare
-marriage
-serious prosecution of harassment and hate crimes
-human rights for all, including those labeled as terrorists, enemy combatants, convicts, immigrants, the poor, and everyone else the world likes to ignore

An eventual breakdown of the corporate stranglehold on everything.
The PEOPLE making the big decisions.

There's so much more really.

to give "humanitarian aid" since the US did so much to destroy that country in the last few years. Next, immediately proclaim that the #1 domestic goal of my administration would be to provide health insurance for every single American citizen. I would propose a Canadian style single payer system--every single person is covered from cradle to grave. How to pay for such a system? We already spend more money than most countries on health care without the same results that other civilized countries provide--health care for all. Furthermore, if we can spend billions every year on Iraq we can certainly divert that money towards giving every American, no matter what, health care--and we can do it without spending nearly as much as we are in Iraq. In the long run such a system would pay for itself. People would be healthier because of preventive care and a healthier and happier person can contribute more to society.

Next I would immediately ask congress to begin following the constitution and repeal the Patriot Act. I would tell the nation that the so-called war on Terror is as much a fraud as the 50-year cold war was (used by politicians to promote scare tactics). I would pursue those who really did have an active part in 9/11 and begin a dialogue with our enemies as a way of decreasing the chances of a "terror attack." If we begin respecting others who disagree with us and find understanding with them maybe they wouldn't want to kill us.

Next, I would put a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies which are enjoying record profits. With that extra money we could begin a major restructure of our infrastructure in this country which is collapsing. We could repair/build bridges, roads. We also need to put a major effort into rebuilding N.O., Louisiana. We cannot let a major American city die.

Along with providing health care for all Americans we have to make sure that this country offers every American a "living wage." Who can live on $5.80 per hour or whatever the new minimum wage is? I would immediately ask congress to provide a minimum wage of at least $10 per hour--which is still too low.

I would stop the exporting of American jobs by withdrawing from NAFTA. I would ask congress to begin real work on protecting our environment. We need a major investment in alternative fuels and energies including Solar. We need tougher emmissions standards and more investment in mass transit (which could be partially paid for by that Windfall Profits Tax on big oil).

I would repeal the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy and corporate welfare and put that $$ towards providing a college education for every person who desires it and has the grades to prove that they have earned the right to a higher education--but may not have the money to pay for it.

There is a lot more we can do. We do have the means to pay for it. If we can always find the money to go into places like Iraq then we can find the means to pay for a country which puts people first.

Some of us have neither the time or inclination to fight the "I'm more PC than you" battles. I am sure that it would be much improved over the current situation.

What would you, a member of DU, change to make America a different, better place?

It's back to basics-

Don't antagonize the world. If we can't get it by force, we don't need it badly enough. Like fuel. Which leads to energy research.

With money not spent on wars, we'd have money for not only health care, but energy research.

I had this discussion with someone today. Things are so entrenched, I find it hard to see ways to make these changes without major disruptions. Take the metric system for example. I spout off about how we didn't accept it as a standard. In many ways it's easier. But when you start looking at how a machinist thinks, or how a carpenter builds a wall, it starts to get a bit daunting. And so good ideas can fall on their face this way.

My answer is to start. Start spending less on war. Start spending more on renewable energy.

But again I run into a problem. After spending time on this forum watching the way politics works. I can see that no matter how good an idea is, there is resistance. Even sandbagging.

So good ideas are great. But reality in implementing them seems to be a bigger job. Man, I have a hard time being as idealistic and positive as I used to be. It's common sense to me. Life could be so good, so easily. But...

Probably the easiest and most beneficial thing to do is stop spending on the military.

Circumcisia and Foreskinland can not and will not peacefully co-exist!

:dem:

We would be used as a model to emulate much like France, Germany, and Japan are envied for the schools, mass transit systems, and health care systems.

A series of constitutional amendments banning private cash in public elections in favor of taxpayer funded elections, instituting either proportional representation or a mixed system of represention to break the two-party system once and for all, and abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote would be passed into law.

only against its domination by a psychotic right-wing. Constitutional amendments require a 2/3 majority.

Happy peanuts soar over chocolate covered mountaintops and waterfalls of caramel. Prancing nougat in a meadow sings a song of satisfaction to the world.

coca cola optional, of course.

yeah, that.

:grouphug:

the reins of power for a day, one domestic program that I would institute would be making education a priority. If young people can attend K thru 12 for free, then it would seem that further education should be a similar option. Perhaps having students "pay" for their education by some type of service to their community/state/country.

I'd also revisit the concept of the CCC camps.

This was the woman's adagio in the 80s. This thread is destined to produce similar crap.
First of all, DU'ers can't agree on too many things (which I applaud and which distinguishes us from the dark side). Secondly, having good intentions is a very weak basis for leadership.
I rather see us as the rabbling masses. Let others do the governing and we will let them know how they are doing. A better question would be: "What would America look like if politicians listened to our arguments?"

If DUer's ran all governments they would all likely be too drunk or stoned or just plain high to get anything done. I am quite frankly shocked at just how many DUer's brag about how drunk/stoned/high they are all the time.

are you talking about??

What is wrong with you??

when he heard that Grant was a heavy drinker.

"Find out what he drinks, and send a case to all my other generals!"

Being sober doesn't make you a good leader. It doesn't even make you good. Too many people wear it as a mark of pride--and half of those probably binge on ice cream.

What Lincoln actually said was "send a barrel of it to all my generals"

#2 - Anyone who didn't believe Crystal Mangum's version of that night's events would be condemned as "blaming the victim".

Oh wait, #2 has already happened. Go back and look at some of the Duke rape case threads from a year ago if you don't believe me. Now that some time has passed, the mantra is "well, something happened that night."

Granted, that is from one small (but vocal) faction here. I really wouldn't want people who don't believe in "innocent until proved guilty" running the government.