Re-working the system; or, What I'd Do if _I_ Ran The US...

My mother and I used to discuss politics when I was younger, about what would happen if we were a benevolent dictator of the US... It was an interesting exersize about what we felt could be improved upon, and what worked, and how we would impliment the changes. Fred and I took up the practice when we hooked up, and we've had a number of great conversations which got us thinking in new ways (at least, it did me) on how things "should" be run here.

One of the big things that always seemed to come up between my mother and I was welfare reform, as well as birth control.

All women, regardless of marital status, will have assistance on their first child for the first two years, if it’s proven that, based on NET income, they are in financial need for Welfare. WIC will be provided for the first child for the first three years, again based on financial need. The two will be separated, and they must qualify for them separately – but they can qualify for both, based on net income. The 2nd child will only receive WIC assistance, and there will be NO Welfare assistance. No further children will qualify for assistance.

Welfare assistance will include medical assistance for mother and child for the first two years, and additional medical assistance for the child for another three years, if they qualify based on income and their current employment assistance.

Fred had ideas on getting the US back on its feet as well... Basically, once we have troops back, put them to work – if they’re going to earn money, let them do what they were trained to do (Besides carry a gun and menace people). We have bridge-builders, ship-builders, engineers, etc. Send them to the places that need it the most (hurricane Katrina comes to mind) and have them clean the place up. We’re already paying them, what’s wrong with having them work here?

I have no doubt that it would be a very unpopular idea - but at the same time, think about how much has yet to be done in the US, where natural disasters have come through and wiped out whole cities. Think of the amazing amount of service that could be done throughout the US, improving the state of our nation. Not only that, but they would get practical, hands-on experience in the areas that they signed up to get training in while being IN the military in the first place.

Speaking of having the troops back, we need to focus more on what's happening here in the US than outside of it. I'm not a xenophobe - but I'll tell you what, in reading US history over the past 60 years, I've seen quite a number of things go on, not the least of which is that we've given billions of dollars in aid to other countries, with the promise of being paid back within "x" number of years, we've provided millions of man-hours, not to mention men and women, for policing countries and fighting for others' freedoms. We've spent years giving weapons to countries to help them fight against our "mutual" enemies, only to later have those weapons turned against us when we become the enemy. Meanwhile, at home, our children grow up without quality healthcare, without a decent, well-rounded education, some without even decent nutrition - and why? Because our government seems to be more interested in helping those countries outside the US, rather than helping and improving our own.

As for the government itself, it needs to be overhauled. At the very least, the Electoral College needs to be disbanded completely. It's an outdated and out-moded idea. It was fine when we were unable to communicate for weeks at a time, and relied on state representatives to vote based on the state's majority. These days, we get updates by the second - there's no reason to rely on 13 people, who will vote on their own, regardless of the people's majority vote. If we really want the ad campaigns to "Rock the vote" to work, then we need to make sure that those votes really COUNT!

Am I crazy? Possibly. Am I right? Well, I definitely think so. I doubt that anyone else will, but since it's my blog, I get to write what I want. Neener.