RANT ALERT!
You've been warned ...
Instead of advancing an agenda that actually addresses the problems of everyday Americans, Der Furor - master of misdirection and diversion that he is - has resorted to the language of fear to spin up his followers, who generally lack the knowledge to understand that they're being played. Specifically, Der Furor invokes the terrifying specters of communism and socialism in an attempt to equate his liberal opposition to discredited economic systems. American liberals, on the other hand, fed up with the inability of the traditional Democratic party to address their concerns and turned off by the rage and incipient fascism of the GOP, play into Der Furor's tiny linguistic hands by embracing something called democratic socialism.
Oh, for gawd's sake, people, stop using scary labels! Don't talk about what you want to call your system of government - think about what you want it to do. Think about what you want your government to spend your hard-earned money on, not about what some clueless blowhard with an agenda wants you to think.
For my part, this is what I think a good government that actually cares about its citizens would do:
1. Provide for the common defense. Just like it says in the preamble to the Constitution. It's a hard world and we need powerful armed forces to protect us from external threats. But these forces shouldn't be used to attack other countries that do not pose a direct threat to us (Venezuela and Iran) or threaten allies that don't give us what we want (Greenland belongs to Denmark, and Canada is a proud and independent nation and a good friend). We need a competent Department of Defense again, run by someone who knows what he (or she) is doing.
2. Promote the general welfare. Once again, just like it says in the preamble to the Constitution. In my opinion, "promoting the general welfare" means things like:
a. Taxpayer-funded, single-payer medical care for all citizens. The United States has some of the finest medical facilities and personnel in the world ... and most of it is beyond the ability of most people to pay. I believe that a single-payer, taxpayer-funded national system, buttressed by strong safeguards against fraud and abuse, is the only rational alternative to the bizarre hodgepodge of profit-based, insurance-driven providers too many of us can't afford. Keep supplemental plans for those who want to pay extra for them, but make sure that everyone is covered without the extra expense.
b. Taxpayer-funded free public education through attendance at a trade school or two years of college. Our educational system was once the model to which other nations aspired ... no longer.
3. Restore faith and confidence in an honest, competent, transparent government based on free and fair elections and a professional civil service independent of the whims of an individual leader or party. Don't you think it's odd that we never had a problem with our elections until Der Furor couldn't accept that he lost one? At a minimum ...
a. Stop the wealthy from buying government offices and processes. The Supreme Court has, with a long series of decisions not based on reality or fairness, made our government offices at all levels available not to the best candidates, but to those willing and able to spend enough money to buy them. The amount of money spent by parties, political action committees, special interest groups, and individual candidates for office is utterly obscene, and would be far better spent on health care, public education, infrastructure, and any number of other beneficial things.
b. Reinstate all Inspectors General at Federal Agencies and let them do their jobs. Der Furor fired many of them for various reasons; bring them back and let them find the fraud, waste, and abuse we're told exists everywhere.
c. Enforce ethical standards for all Federal employees, including the President and Supreme Court justices. I thought that in this country, nobody was above the law*. Silly me.
d. Conduct a full audit of the Department of Defense (not War). We spend uncounted billions of dollars on our military, at the expense of many other valuable programs, and yet DoD has failed comprehensive audits of its programs for eight years in a row. We deserve to know that our tax dollars are being wisely and legally spent**.
e. Get rid of the abominable "Schedule F" designation that undermines the professional Civil Service. Our Civil Service is meant to be a professional, merit-based system that serves the best interests of the American people, not the whims of the administration of the moment.
4. Ensure civil liberties and provide equal justice under the law for every citizen, regardless of wealth or station. Our dream of "equal justice under law" is a joke - the quality of justice one gets is dependent upon one's ability to afford the best lawyers ... and is greatly affected by one's skin color.
a. Guarantee the fundamental freedoms outlined in the Constitution: speech, press, assembly, redress of grievances, religious belief (or not). Today's Justice Department no longer deserves its name, being interested not in equal justice, but in ensuring that Der Furor's enemies suffer his vengeance for real or imagined slights. Civil rights are not protected, only favored speech is considered worthy of protection, and
the "Christian" religion is preferred and protected over all others, contrary to the clear wording of the Constitution.
5. Have a taxation system that looks like it was designed on purpose.
a. Ensure every individual and business is required to pay appropriate taxes, and that those taxes are based based on the ability to pay. It's hardly fair that a teacher, a housekeeper, or a trash collector pays more in taxes (proportionally) than a billionaire or a gigantic corporation.
b. Use taxes to pay for government operations and services to the American people - not as a vehicle for social engineering, political favors, or helping businesses be more profitable.
6. Have a rational immigration policy that balances our tradition of welcoming immigrants with the needs of employers and legitimate national security concerns.
a. We need a professional, legally sound, dependable, and competent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Ban the wearing of masks, insist on uniforms and proper identification, get rid of the heavy, military-style weapons, and weed out violent and incompetent personnel.
That'll do for a start. What do you think? Leave a comment.
Have a good day. More rants thoughts coming.
Bilbo
* Except, of course, Der Furor and his family and businesses, who get a freedom from taxation that you will never see.
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