where the writers are
Lets start a new political party

I'll bring the beer. Note: this is a rough draft. Pun intended.

First and foremost, it must be fiscal conservative and social liberal. That insures that a large number of us who aren't represented by the existing duopoly can have a voice.

What do we stand for? Here are some suggestions:

  • Small, efficient and accountable government.
  1. Government shall produce a balanced budget and live within its means to set an example among its people and the people's of the world.
  2. Government shall schedule a payback plan for all its debt and shall eliminate the debt as quickly as possible within reason. A budget is not considered balanced unless it includes the appropriate scheduled pay down of the debt. 
  3. Tax laws are too complicated and inefficient: the government must restructure tax law to separate individuals from businesses and treat them as two kinds of entities.
  4. Businesses shall have their rights reviewed. Businesses do not deserve the same rights as individuals. They shall have their own tax codes and laws governing them.
  5. Individual taxes shall be changed to flat tax beyond the level of poverty. The poverty level will be set by the counties and people declared to be at or below poverty level will pay no taxes. Above poverty level taxes will increase linearly until hitting the flat tax rate which is set according to budget requirements and market conditions. There will be absolutely no tax write offs with the exception of donations to unrelated non-profits. No loopholes. You list how much you made, subtract your deductible donations, multiply by a fraction and owe that much in taxes for the year. Lets eliminate the overhead of the tax code. Lets use the existing income tax investigators to catch and prosecute cheats instead of figuring out how to interpret complicated tax code.
  6. Businesses will also have a flat tax. There will be no poverty level for businesses. However fledgling businesses can be encouraged by having reduced taxes or other tax breaks at the discretion of the government. For example: green technology could have a five or ten year exemption from taxes or a reduced tax rate to encourage growth in the industry. The flat tax imposed on businesses will be set according to fiscal needs and market conditions.
  7. A law shall be passed making it illegal for politicians and their parties or anyone involved with the campaign to know where donations come from. In other words, all donations to political campaigns must be made anonymously. Corporations / non profits and all other business entities shall be barred from donating. Only individuals may donate, but they may donate as much as they want. Companies like Banks, S&L's, Credit Unions, etcetera will be encouraged to set up special accounts which track deposits to political campaigns and insure moneys are delivered appropriately. If a party or politician becomes aware of a donation, the money must immediately be returned and the contributor may not donate again for the current election season. Parties or politicians proven to be knowingly complicit, lose their jobs immediately and are not allowed to run in politics for seven years and depending on their actions may be subject to jail time and banned from politics for life. Contributors found to be complicit will be fined two times the amount of the donation and depending on actions may be subject to jail time for attempting to bribe an official.
  8. All political party's actions and fiscal data must be released to the public. All politicians must consider themselves publicly transparent. If you don't want your life out in the open, don't run for office.
  9. All non-profit companies will be required to file fiscal reports with the government and post their financial data to the public. Non-profits must be completely transparent.
  • Free market economics with laws to protect the economy, individuals and companies from those who would abuse the system.
  1. The government will not interfere with the free market economy in any way, except by passing laws to regulate businesses and determine the boundaries for business behavior. Once again: If a company imposes its will on anyone or any other business it has broken the fundamental precept of a free society and must be punished.
  • Free social environment that promotes tolerance and compassion.
  1. No laws to protect people from themselves.
  2. No laws that tell a person what they can and can't do with their own bodies.
  3. The only law that needs enforcing is: "Thou shalt not impose thy will upon another."
  4. All crimes that are victimless should be removed from the books.
  • On Socialism:
  1. All socialistic systems withint the government should be limited but in some circumstances socialism works.
  2. We must overcome the stigma created in the fifties about socialism and accept that some things are more efficient when socialized.
  3. Socialization of services must be voted on by the general population. Any government plan that involves a large amount of tax payer money must be submitted to a general vote so that congress and the President can understand what their constituency wants. They can still do as they please, but it will give people ammunition come the next election.
  4. All current social programs must be re-thought, re-engineered, and redesigned to insure peak efficiency. The social security system and medicare are destined to fail and must be reinvented.
  5. Before we socialize medicine we should research ways to keep it public and free market. Perhaps non-profit companies should be formed to compete with the for profit entities. The current system is very broken. Too many people are not getting good care and cannot afford to buy health care. Too much money is being wasted treating symptoms. Not enough money is spent on preventative medicine. At the rate the health system is going, I predict a melt down of the medical insurance system in about ten years. The medical industry will fail after that and the only recourse we will have is to nationalize it. It would be better to nationalize the insurance industry now to at least save the medical industries. Nationalization should be avoided unless it makes complete sense.

These are just some thoughts. Care to add any?