Monday, June 05, 2006

my democratic platform

1. work towards getting rid of patriot act/re-instating the original constitution- no more domestic spying without warrants; no more mining randomly for information.
2. scrap homeland security and start over. priority given to sealing up loose borders; revamping and modernizing INS; securing water, food, energy sources; securing transportation; secure the country's information databases so that personal info does not get lost; work on a plan with credit card companies, etc. to combat identity theft- get a plan in place to do so. restructure cia so that it is actually an intelligence agency/fbi as well.
3. get an exit plan in place for iraq and start bringing troops home. timeline- within a year. if the iraqis want us out- sooner the better.
4. education reform. there needs to be a better way to fund the education system- this needs to be addressed so that our compulsory education system is teaching as many kids as we can reach. money seems to be the biggest issue. let's get it out of the way so we can focus on teaching our young people. work out a plan for financial aid- whether it be loans, grants, etc. to insure that young people can afford college.
5. health care reform- reform medicaid and medicare so that it is not falling solely on the homeowners and property owners to foot the bill. we need to revamp the entire system and somehow come up with a solution that is fair and allows all americans at least basic access to healthcare.

this is my barebones platform. i realize that it lacks specifics on how to implement- but really- isn't that the job of my elected representatives? i elect them to do that job for me. i have already met them halfway.

7 comments:

Spadoman said...

Who is your running mate?

billie said...

that's like asking who's going to be your maid/matron of honor at your wedding- when you have many people who you would like to ask. :) i hadn't thought about running at all :) if i did harbor a thought- it might be...my lovely assistant isaac. he is loyal and smart and always at my side. he would go fearlessly into any fray and be honourable to the end. no lies there- just food, water and a litter pan and he is ready to go.

Dardin Soto said...

... I knew I saw something in ya' you are dangerously close to being a closet Libertarian... come to the Dark Side :)
The devil is in the details as they say.. but i dig the skeletal framework of your platform... except the Education part...but that is a rant for another day... i celebrate your efforts,.. very cool!

billie said...

i limited it to 5. i also would add- alternative energy, welfare reform, environmental protections, etc. these are top in my mind for immediate attention. like yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Medicaid and Medicare are employment taxes. The onus of funding them does not fall squarely on the shoulders of property owners.

...and even if it did, so what?

Property owners are taxed because they reap a disproportionate amount of benefit from a system that inspires them to be property owners in the first place. Only if property owners were taxed to the point of realizing negative equity could their tax burden be considered unfair. In my Democratic party, affordable housing is a right. What we have now is simply unsustainable. There is no place for a rapacious real estate industry that uses market principles to establish a de facto policy of economic segregation, and puts the health of our nation's economy in the hands of another.

The already bloated public education system has been "reformed" (ie: additionally bloated) before, with increasing failure. In my Democratic party, "reform" does not mean throwing money after more of the same. Our education needs have outgrown our current socialist system, plain and simple.

Anonymous said...

That last one's from Taryn, by the way. I don't know what's up with the word verification thing. It's made my browser view messy.tgnslyll

billie said...

while what you say is true- i dislike having to bear the burden of having my taxes raised everytime we do currently throw money at the 'need to be rehauled' education or medicaid problem. i just think we need to do something differently to both institutions. had to put the word verification in because i got spammed. very annoying.