Being President’s Day, or as it’s formally called, Washington’s Birthday, I’m inspired to opine about the things I would do were I to hold the highest office in the land. This is offered mostly in fun since I will never be President, and most of my ideas would never get off the drawing board.
One of the first things I would do is address the climate change issue.
Is climate change real? Is it man made brought on by the industrial age? Honestly, I doubt it. Human’s have been living on this earth for millions of years. Our industrial pollution has been in existence for less than 200. And yet we are to believe that 200 years of industrial pollution could end this earth as we know it by 2030? Come on! I tend to look at the earth as a shaggy dog with fleas. As soon as us fleas (humans) get too prevalent and destructive that great big dog will scratch and shake us off like we were the insignificant insects that we are. We aren’t going to destroy the earth.
However, I am smart enough and humble enough to admit, I may be wrong. I’m not a scientist. I don’t know. AND NEITHER DO YOU!
What I do know is this, pollution of our earth, air and water is bad. And nobody of any political party would ever say otherwise. And broken down to its bare essence the climate change activists simply want to eliminate pollution. Right?
I posted the above video because I think it is unquestionably the most effective anti-pollution marketing campaign in the history of environmental awareness. It’s from the 1970s. If there is a better, more effective anti-pollution message please tell me. I haven’t seen it.
So, if I were President I would make the Environmental Protection Agency be eliminated or nearly eliminated. Stopping climate change and pollution and specifically industrial pollution should be done this way. All regulations and requirements telling people and business how and what to do as it applies to pollution would be taken off the books. They would all be replaced by the following: “DO not pollute the air, earth, or water. If you do you will clean it up at your own expense. And if you don’t clean it up we will penalize you financially out of existence and the individuals most responsible may spend some time in jail.” That’s it. No more government intrusion. Just a hard standard by which we are all expected to abide.
Then I would have the EPA establish specific language detailing “what is pollution”. These standards could change as new challenges and information become available in our growth and evolution. But, ultimately, the government would be out of the business of telling us how to do whatever it is that we do.
If I were President abortion would be legal up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy. If you don’t know that you are pregnant, or whether you want the baby or not 4-5 months into the pregnancy, I’m sorry, but you’re having that baby. Science is perfectly clear that at that point (20 weeks) that fetus is alive. It’s thinking. It’s moving. It’s receiving oxygen from its mother. It’s a human being. And killing it is murder. It always amazes me the hypocrisy of the left on this (and so many other issues). When it comes to climate change the Left jumps up and down swearing we need to trust science (some science). But when it comes to abortion science is thrown out the window, and its all about a woman’s right to choose (never mind the rights of the baby…or…for that matter…the rights of the father who also created that baby).
Gun Rights: Our Constitution guarantees our right to be armed. Period. Discussion over. The government can keep their hands off my guns until they amend the Constitution. However, that doesn’t mean some steps can’t be taken to allow for our safety by keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists, or revolutionaries who aim to do us harm. If I were President, I kind of drift towards the Chris Rock view on gun control. Let people have as many guns as they want. Just tax the shit out of ammunition. I’m only partially kidding. While I wouldn’t really tax the shit out of all ammunition, I might set a standard by which any ammunition purchased over and above a reasonable level necessary for your own self defense would face an increasingly higher tax. The more you buy, the higher the tax.
We are never going to get money out of politics. People have been trying forever, and like a slow leak the money finds a way in and its flow only increases with time. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that money, in the form of political donations, is a form of free speech. And aside from the wacky Bernie supporters, and other extreme leftists, do we really want to eliminate free speech in our country? In our lives? Hell no. So, while we can’t eliminate money in politics we can sure do more to eliminate graft. If I were President I would seek legislation eliminating campaign contribution limits. Forget Citizens United. This would be open freedom for each and everybody to help elect whoever they wanted. However, I would have all contributions be required to be made public. All income tax filings by politicians would be required to be made public. And ALL elected officials would be banned from voting on any bill, ordinance, or resolution that directly or indirectly effects those who donated money towards their election. Money isn’t the problem. Money in exchange for a vote or a policy position is a problem.
If I were President I would save hundreds of thousands of dollars by making English the official language of our country. All documents would be published in English. I don’t have any hateful feelings or discriminatory feelings toward non-English speaking people. If Spanish were the overwhelming dominant language spoken by our citizenry I would advocate for Spanish to be the official language of our government. I just feel you have to put some expectation on people to take care of themselves, and that includes learning the language of the country you have chosen to inhabit. I would also prohibit your permanent entry into this country unless you spoke English or were immediately enrolled in a course to learn it. But, we can’t be cold hearted. If we are going to expect people to learn and understand the English language it is up to us to provide an easy means by which they can do it. I would pump whatever amount of money is needed into educational programs from which non-English speaking people could learn to read and converse. An added benefit of English as our official language is that it would further dissuade illegal immigration by non-English speaking peoples.
Our infrastructure is falling apart. Roads and bridges and water transmission pipelines and aqueducts, electrical system transmission are almost all 50-100 years old. Some are older. Every President in memory has promised to address infrastructure. None have. Ultimately, Congress puts up the stop sign because of the massive cost. But here’s the thing, the long we wait the larger the problem becomes and the more expensive it becomes. If I were President infrastructure repair and replacement would be THE top priority. I would decree that no public monies could be spent on any new infrastructure unless it was to repair or replace old infrastructure. And if it’s brand new, addition private or public funding must be provided to repair or replace infrastructure that needs the work. I would authorize the Office of Management and Budget to audit the entire U.S. budget to find and eliminate wasteful spending. And I would find the money through cuts in that which isn’t necessary.
If I were President wasteful spending would be another top priority. I would operate with a zero-sum budget in order to get a fresh start. Programs that should otherwise be funded by the private sector would be gone forever. Foreign aide would not be based on what was spent last year. And no foreign aide would be provided to any country that has antagonistic views of the U.S. And no funds would be provided for NATO or any other organization or treaty unless fellow members or treaty signers were pitching in their fair share.
Lastly, if I were President I would seek a line-item veto capability, which may require a Constitutional Amendment. The line-item-veto is available to Governors of 44 of our 50 states. It’s a hedge against slipping unwanted and unnecessary spending or restrictions into a bill that otherwise would become law. Opponents argue that it makes the President too powerful. But I would argue, that it’s too late for that argument. The President is already the most powerful person in the world. And much of what can be accomplished legally with a line item veto is already being done…often times illegally.
To me, there is so much more I would do if I were President. But I’m not. And I never will be. While I admit to being Conservative with a lean toward Libertarian you have to admit I don’t completely fit the mold. There are some things in this blog that would have me drummed out of the Republican Party. And there are some things, a lot more things, Democrats wouldn’t touch. But, if you were the one writing this blog…don’t you think the same would be said of you?
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