Do's, Don't's and a Solution

From the Internet (of course! I do this so you don’t have to!):

“Don’t like cigarettes? Don’t smoke them.

Don’t like abortions? Don’t get one.

Don’t like sex? Don’t do it.

Don’t like drugs? Don’t use them.

Don’t like porn? Don’t watch it.

Don’t like alcohol? Don’t drink it.

Don’t like gay marriages? Don’t have one.

Don’t like guns? Don’t buy one.

Don’t like your rights taken away?

Don’t take away someone else’s.”

If I watch my own side of the street (my own life), my hands are full. I have no right or entitlement to judge others. Their hands are full managing their own lives. So leave them to the task. Should they experience problems due to their ‘do’s’, they will figure out how to handle them. If they need help in doing so, they will ask and we will help. That is their job to do, and ours too. Leave the judgment out of the equation. We will all get along a lot better!

Of course the above also applies to legislation. There is no need to make laws on most of the items. Minister to the problems that come from some of the practices – drunk driving, crimes committed with guns, etc. – and demonstrate that we can live well by helping others. First we have to let the others make their own decisions and mistakes.

Also from the Internet, a quote from President Obama:

“There are some in Congress right now who would rather see their opponents lose than America win. And that’s got to stop. We’re supposed to all be on the same team. Especially during tough times.”

To that I say Amen! How many problems have been lifted up for solution? How many proposed solutions have we heard from the White House? How much discussion in Congress have we had on these proposals? And how were the decisions made? Partisan lines only? Yes, for the most part.

The issues include:

• Bank regulatory reform
• Deficit reduction plans
• Affordable health care for more people
• Access to health care for the poorest among us
• Education for all who are deserving of it
• Alternative energy creation to reduce oil and gasoline demand
• International cooperation and collaboration to manage terrorism
• Job creation by funding infrastructure maintenance
• Immigration reform

sThese are just a few topics. There are many more.

The White House has started many conversations with proposals to act on, to alter and expand upon. That takes teamwork within Congress and throughout the political world nationwide. Instead we have obstructionism. We have nitpicking. Those who are against everything related to the ‘other political side’ do not propose alternate solutions. They just stop progress. They do that so the other guy doesn’t get credit for solving a problem. Well, he hasn’t, but neither have they. So both get the credit for accomplishing nothing.

The republican leadership has a great deal to answer for. Their incivility and divisiveness is poisonous to our nation. I hold them responsible for that circumstance. Only they can solve that issue so we can go on and solve the rest of the problems.

This is America where no problem is too big for creative solutions. I firmly believe that. But when the politicians play games to the point of hurting all of us, it is high time for us, the voters, to retake control of the nation from them.

Consider that, please. It is not term limits (we can discuss that another time). It is about leadership and followership. It takes both to make a working government.

A solution I suggest for starters is this:

1. Remove from office all senators and representatives who have not authored a bill or sponsored one with a ghost of a chance to solve the problem being addressed
2. Remove from office all politicians who have not addressed with their own solutions the top ten issues facing the United States of America
3. Elect only those candidates who do have clearly written proposals for solving at least three problems we currently face
4. Eventually reduce the size of the Senate and House of Representatives by half. Only one senator per state; only half the congressional representatives we now have. The Congress at 535 seats is way too big a board of directors to be manageable. Force each elected federal office holder to represent more of his citizens’ needs and views so they focus on what’s good for all of us, not just special interest groups
5. Fund all federal elections from the US Treasury: $1 million for each senate candidate; $250,000 for each representative candidate. All private funds are to be illegal. No special interest funding of any kind will be allowed
6. Change congressional rules to a simple majority for passage of bills; super majorities are not allowed
7. Eliminate all arcane congressional rules not understandable in plain English in less than 125 words
8. House of Representatives elected to four year terms, not two year terms.

That’s it. Simplify the whole shebang. It is currently unworkable. But to acquire these changes each of us needs to get off our fannies and get involved. You don’t have to be elected to do this; just speak up and lead the charge toward sanity. Please?

Now, who will step forward to do this? I’ll volunteer but would rather not. Or at least help get it started and then withdraw to the background.

Any takers?

July 5, 2012