How to Save America . . or at least American Money

I tried to leave this comment on the Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest blog. *sigh*, it got longer than the allotted 4k (4096 characters) max length. 6713, by Microsoft Word count. 21 paragraphs, 1383 words, 8141 characters with spaces. And so many great . . uh, well . . so many ideas!

So theotherryan, here is my response to your hat tip to Onion News Network's "Nations Girlfriends Unveil New Economic Plan: "lets move in together""
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I have a better notion.

Live with one or the other in-laws, until the first child at least completes first grade.

Next best is the polygyny method. Have the wife invite two to five additional women for an . . intimate . . sharing. Combine energies for child care, shopping, reduce the number of home decorations and remodelings by three (3) to six (6) times. Of course, this likely increases the amount of time the husband gets to be . . supervised . . by a similar margin. Three coins, and all that.

One approach that I personally favor, is to limit Congress to two staff members each, and require that all proposed laws be typed/entered by the sponsoring Representative of Senator, personally, on pain of dismissal from office. With no replacement until the following regular election. Eliminate the Department of Education, dismiss all domestic enforcement agencies except the Coast Guard, Customs inspections, and FBI; limit each of these to 75% of JFK administration staffing levels. Dismiss the ATF; limit the Secret Service to 25 total officers and 12 support. Give the IRS thirty days to confer with Congress - to arrive at a new regulation to replace all current forms, regulations, and guidelines - limited to 12 letter sized pages, 1.5 inch margins, 14 point Georgia font with 2 point leading and no kerning, no referenced documents, no appendixes, unless they fall within the 12 page total. Headings and subheadings must be 16 point Arial font, with 3 point leading. Start with taxing only voting citizens of the US - companies and businesses collect taxes, they don't pay them. All future changes and amendments, when incorporated, shall be disregarded unless the resulting amended regulations with guidelines all combined still meet the required 12 page total. I take that back - tax all corporations and businesses and other organizations at 1% gross income less business expenses, rate to be frozen forever. We want the IRS to keep their books honest.

Invite the northern tier of Mexican states, individually, to apply to enter to become part of the United States. If so many of their people are living here and sending money home - let's make it official. It would make our southern border much shorter. And we could make sure their schools teach English.

Legalize drugs; tax substances on today's controlled substance list at 20% VAT at each transaction, and turn enforcement over to the IRS.

Limit jail sentences to seven (7) years. The only term more severe would be the death penalty. Add exile as a punishment. Exile the miscreant by one to three states away from home for one to twenty years; separate the bozo from the bad influence of the home turf. Punish exile violators in the time honored fashion, with summary execution.

Convicted felons can't own guns. Why should their marriage be preserved? Impose mandatory dissolution of marriage, with forfeit of all assets by the convicted felon, on initial conviction. Let him/her make amends, if they can, if they get released, pardoned, or conviction is overturned. At least the family won't be pining and depending on the state for handouts.

Let the biggest farms with the biggest debts go broke. Then divide the property into 16 acre patches for homesteading by dismissed Federal employees and long term unemployed, on a voluntary basis. Provide a minimal prebuilt home and well/water, septic/sewer, a bag of seed beans and a hoe, a subscription to Mother Earth News, Internet connection, a goat, three chickens, and an 18 month termination date for subsidies and support; title of property to be held by the state until the patch has been occupied, with taxes paid, for 10 years. Then title would revert to the homesteader. Or let Sheriff Joe kick the idea around with Sharon Astyk; they could probably have the inhabitants weave their own tent or yurt instead of building a place for them.

You remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio, don't you? The one that showed that bologna has to get really green before you get too sick?

The military has quotas; 70% of inductees must be high school graduates, or the equivalent. Colleges and Universities should be required to have a bond of tuition, board, and books posted for 70% of all newly enrolled students. Let's cut the crap of borrowing lives away to send kids to college. And teach democracy in political science, for crying out loud. The Obama administration seems to have studied everything *but* democracy. Or the Constitution.

Require all males age 18 and over to register with the selective service board. Wait - that is already the law. So take that list, in each community, and introduce five (5) of the guys that are unmarried, chosen at random or by the local selection board, to a given unwed mother. She chooses one, and they are married, on the spot. Select guys within four (4) years of the lady's age when possible. Guys would remain vulnerable for selection until they hit 26 years, enter the military for at least three years active service, or get married. Allow deferments for missing limbs or running away to Canada.

Unwed mothers unwilling to "select" would be deemed wards of their parents, their grand parents, uncles or aunts, or their neighbors, whichever the courts deem most suitable, until age 35 or youngest kid completes high school, or equivalent.

An alternative to selective marriage, would be to hold an act of birth is an act of marriage; on giving birth, the mother is married to the biological father. Such "act of marriage" nuptials could only be ended by dissolution by reason of abandonment - leaving all assets of any parent to the remaining parent. Note that this would cross and absorb any existing marriages, partnerships, or alliances - they would all be married with merged assets and group responsibility for each. Take that, adulterer!

Decree that driving a motorized vehicle on public roads is unsafe, risky, and take at the risk of driver and passengers, joint and severally. Your car gets wrecked, you have a bill - you can make no claim on anyone else, there is no fault, just as a fallen rock climber has no claim on a friable cliff face. Car insurance then covers only what losses you might experience. Don't want someone drunk to run over you? Stay off the road. As a side issue, remove all speed limits; thin the gene pool by letting those with no judgment remove themselves from the propagation pipeline. States can sell salvage rights to wrecked cars. If you take a motor vehicle onto a public road, and can't drive it off - the state confiscates it.

Water power. Get back to the old mill stream kind of thing - creekside craft shops, creek-level power generation. How many times could you put a water turbine on a mountain stream, if you only needed 2 feet of water head? How many creeks and streams could provide a 2 foot water head for a new, low-head type turbine (or paddle wheel?) generator.

Tax commutes. For each company with three or more employees, evaluate the daily commute of each on a weekly basis. Each week, tax the employer $1 per commute mile per employee, with a deduction of 5 commute miles per employee. Think of Houston, Phoenix, and LA. If employers hired local people only, neighborhoods would change, and rush hour commute would dribble to something manageable.

Outlaw public contributions, or state or community involvement, in mass transit. If it makes sense, let the community address the issue through private interests. Keep taxi rates minimal.

Impose a $0.01 tax per 10 miles over the first 120 miles per pound on produce, fruits, vegetables, etc., that competes with produce available, at any quantity, within 100 miles. Let's go green - develop local resources for improved food security.

If I think of something else, I'll let you know.

Oh - one last thought. Engines. Replacement engines. Engines that run well, for a long time, cheaply, cheap to maintain. Engines to replace faulty, or just high-emission or low miles per gallon engines. It takes a *lot* of energy - fossil fuel - to build a new car. Tax the carbon out of new cars, and encourage the development of robust, low-priced or endowed or subsidized replacement motors. The cost of a "green" engine should be lower than the cost to rebuild a "clunker" engine. Teach auto paint, Bondo and glass repair in Junior High shop.
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Another thought. Any employer paying less than minimum wage plus $1, has to offer minimal room and board. Chambers of Commerce can help re-establish the inexpensive boarding house. Minimal room and board would *not* include child care, Internet, TV, or all-you-can-eat.