I don't get it. How are our elections so close? What would happen if a politician said this.
I'm running for office to get the government back in the job of governing. Government is NOT a dirty word any more than Business is a dirty word. Our communities need both to prosper.
Here are my bullet points:
A woman's body should be inviolable. No person and certainly no government should be telling her what to do with it. Forcing a woman to grow a child she doesn't want to grow is preposterous. Period.
We should be doing our utmost to end war, not perpetuate it.
Israel and Gaza. We should stop sending money to Israel as they exterminate Palestinians. I don't support Hamas attacks on Israel, but those attacks do not give Israel the right to massacre tens of thousands of non-combatant Palestinians. By supporting Israel we are now complicit in those Palestinian deaths.
Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine. We should keep sending money to Ukraine as they fight for their very existence. It is hard to understand how this is debatable.
Our economy is humming, but the details are not good. Multi-millionaires and billionaires are doing well. The middle class and the poor, not so much.
There are a few really basic changes we can make that would make a WORLD of difference for many of us.
Health care should be FREE. You walk in the door, show your social security card, and you are good to go. Doctor's visits, hospital stays, teeth cleanings, hearing and eye care, mental health care, all should be FREE. If your doctor says you need the care, Uncle Sam pays for it. Period. But "Uncle Sam" really means our tax dollars, doesn't it? Will the costs be astronomical? Maybe. But they'll be far less astronomical than they are with insurance companies in the mix. Insurance companies add two key elements to health care: profits and overhead. Both are completely unnecessary for our health. Both are expensive. So we've got two choices. Pay for health care that includes the cost of insurance out of our household budgets or pay for far cheaper health care out of our tax dollars.
Basic income. Every man, woman and child should get a monthly stipend from the federal government. Nothing huge. It's not to make us lazy. It's to ward off poverty. The free market system is the best way we know to keep people employed and vibrant, but it has holes. Companies move. Companies close. People lose their jobs and have to recover. There is no excuse for a nation to have companies making mega profits, people turning into billionaires, while others face starvation or have to choose whether to pay the rent or buy food for the kids. The government has made the rules that allow companies to profit. The government should also make the rules that allow people to survive. A basic income is basic.
Federal job guarantee. I admit, this is complicated. But I also think if we can create the internet and send humans in rockets to outer space, then we should have the ability to keep every able bodied United States citizen employed. I know the government is capable of organizing people because we already have the most powerful and sophisticated armed force the world has ever known. We can also create a work force of citizens who value public service over profit, and who are paid a livable wage. Simultaneously we eliminate unemployment!
Monopolies. Stop them. Monopolies are not good for the community. Companies like to float the idea that they can save money and lower prices by combining resources. While this may be true logically, it never materializes. Savings don't get passed on to the consumer. Savings go into the pockets of the shareholders, the owners. But isn't that how the free market system should work? Yes! Savings belong to the shareholders. But competition keeps the game from being rigged. If shareholders get too greedy, another company should be able to compete with lower prices and level the playing field. That doesn't happen when a monopoly exists. The monopoly can stifle dissent, buy out competition, thwart innovation. Monopolies must be stopped or regulated.
Speaking of monopolies, they are composed of corporations. Corporations are not people. They are businesses. People have a constitutional right to free speech. Corporations do not. People can contribute to political campaigns, subject to contribution limits. Corporations should not have the same right. They are not people.
Only white men could vote in our nation's early elections. Blacks, other people of color, and women fought hard for the right to vote. That right should not be taken away by state law. Last minute voting registration purges, too few voting booths, spurious challenges to signatures, these have to be illegal. Voter suppression should be a crime and people perpetrating voter suppression should be jailed.
Taxes. They should be progressive. That means we don't all get taxed at the same rate. As our income increases, the higher dollars are taxed at a higher rate than the lower dollars. Why? Why don't we just have a flat tax? Everyone pays 5%, not matter what they earn. The problem comes down to fairness. The government created rules that allow businesses to prosper in the free market system. It should also create rules that allow workers to prosper. Workers do not prosper if most make starvation wages while a few make millions. Taxes encourage the millionaires to share some of their wealth. It's simple fairness.
The federal budget. I've left this for last because it is the least well understood issue in government. Yet it drives the entire government. Part of the issue is obvious. We need a budget. The government can't do anything without a budget, without a means for paying for things. Where we get the money is less obvious. Well, it's a little less obvious. The government prints its own money. Most people know this, but don't think about it a lot. Everyone in Congress should know this or they shouldn't be in Congress. Because the federal government, and ONLY the federal government, prints its own money, its budget is very different from state, town, and household budgets. Your budget and my budget and our state and town budgets need to be balanced. That means whatever we spend money on, we have to earn. What goes out must come in. That is not true for the federal budget. The federal government can spend more money than it brings in, because it can create it. It can print it. This has been going on for years. Well, sure, you say, but won't we all have to pay more taxes eventually to pay back the debt? The simple answer? NO. We don't pay taxes to pay off the federal debt. We pay taxes to keep inflation down. That's the only reason we pay taxes. If inflation is not rising, the government can print whatever money it needs to, to continue paying for the federal debt. It doesn't need to increase taxes. It doesn't need to cut programs. So the real question is not "can we have a federal debt?" Of course we can. The real question is "Will the federal debt cause inflation?" That answer is both simple and complicated. When inflation is low, the answer is simply "NO, the federal debt is not causing inflation." When inflation is not low, the answer is not simply, "Yes, the federal debt is causing inflation," because there may be other reasons for inflation: monopolies, supply chain problems, wars, lack of resources or workers.
The federal budget and the federal government are complicated and necessary in a vibrant society. Governing is not easy. It requires hard working, thoughtful, honest people, elected by thoughtful, hard working, honest voters. It is not easy, but it can make our lives, ALL of our lives, richer, more full, if done well. If you like my ideas, please give me a shot. But don't just vote for me. Find other people like me and support them too. Governing is a team effort.
