Allow me to announce my candidacy ahead of the current front man for this empire. Don is three years older than me and light years behind me intellectually and spiritually. His massive popularity gives weight to the adage ( mine actually) that ‘ Bullshit and super riches trump ( no pun intended) truth and justice’. He has the money, the BS and the followers. I have the rest.
Issues! Issues! Issues! and concrete ideas are what our nation is thirsting for. Factor out the 1/4 of 1% of us and everyone else should appreciate my platform:
* Clean Election Laws for the entire nation– Maine, in 2015, counteracted a Supreme Court ruling that wiped out its 1996 Clean Election Law. Since then it has once again been a pathfinder for getting private money OUT of political campaigns:
Candidates who voluntarily choose to participate in Maine’s Clean Election system follow three simple steps to qualify for public funds:
- Demonstrate their grassroots support by collecting $5 Qualifying Contributions from voters in their district (60 for House, 75 for Senate and 3,200 for Governor).
- Agree not to raise or spend any private money.
- Limit spending to the amount received from the Maine Clean Election Fund.
Candidates who qualify successfully receive an equal and limited amount of public funds with which to run their campaigns. Candidates in competitive races can collect additional qualifying contributions and receive additional funds. Visit the Maine Ethics Commission website to learn how to make a qualifying contribution
Just imagine if we had such a system in place. The Two Party/One Party monopoly would be damaged enough to allow a myriad of third party and independent candidates to gain office. That school teacher, dock worker, nurse and any one of a million working stiffs could have a chance of winning.
* Universal Basic Income for All Citizens- Public banking advocate and scholar attorney Ellen Brown has written extensively on this idea. She categorically maintains that such a plan would NOT increase inflation at all. Actually, a $ 1200 or $ 1500 monthly check to each of us over the age of 18 ( families with children would receive 50% for each child up to four children per family )would positively stimulate the economy. Imagine for a minute how many more of us would be able to either save for or put a down payment on an apartment or home, instead of having to be a renter at the whim of a private landlord. Imagine how many of us working stiffs could afford to buy a new or better used car, and how that would stimulate the economy. Americans could use some of the basic income to fix up their living quarters, once again stimulating our economy. More homes being built, thus more hardware and other construction supplies needed, would just be astronomical for our economy. Methinks that every retail and wholesale outlet nationwide would increase profits and with that the need for more labor. Who would be opposed to this idea, tell me?
* Decrease the Excess Military Spending – When about half of our tax dollars goes towards military spending and keeping close to 1000 overseas bases in over 100 countries, enough is enough! Former presidential candidate and libertarian politician Ron Paul thinks we could stay protected with just 25% of the current military spending. Those of us on the ‘ True Left’ would be happy with 50% of the current spending. Imagine if almost $400 billion was taken from the obscene level of military spending and used for progressive policies like , Duh, Complete Medicare and Dental Care For All Americans . How many lives would be saved and how many of my fellow Americans would be able to either keep their teeth or get implants, instead of walking around with holes in our mouths ( as I did before dentures). Of course, along with real national health care, we need to get private insurers OUT completely. No need for a ‘ For Profit’ industry when it comes to insuring our health. Which leads me to:
*Medicare and Dental Care for All- Imagine the federal government being the insurer with NO profit. I would charge each citizen a meager $ 5 or $10 each time they wish to get medical or dental treatment. This would cut down a bit on frivolous use of this right. Doctors who wish to participate would have the option of being salaried with NO need for malpractice insurance, with the government handling any malpractice claims. If a doctor is found to be incompetent , he or she would have the medical license in jeopardy. Big Pharma would have to negotiate with the government on all pricing, at huge discounts from what we have now. The local pharmacy would still handle the patients, but at much lower prices. Once again, with the savings that citizens receive, it would mean more money in our pockets and out of the hands of the predatory insurance and Big Pharma companies.
* Community Owned and Operated Mortgage Banks- Imagine a local community running a ‘ Overhead Only ‘ mortgage bank, which would charge at most perhaps 1% for a mortgage, allowing current renters to possibly purchase a home. Once again, as with the Universal Basic Income, the home building and peripheral industries would do extremely well, and again creating more and better jobs. {There would be restrictions so as to stifle piggish absentee landlord schemes so prevalent nowadays. Once a person gets such a mortgage, they can no longer qualify for another one until their current residence is sold}.
Here’s a great rhetorical question: How can we pay for all these great ideas? I say ‘ Keep it simple stupid’. As mentioned earlier in my platform, by cutting around $ 400 Billion yearly from the bloated military spending, most of these ideas would be covered to some extent. Now, add this one:
* 50% Flat Surtax for Mega Millionaires- The first $ one million a person earns is taxed at the current rates. Every dollar earned over that will be flat surtaxed at 50% with NO DEDUCTIONS… PERIOD! So, if a person earns $ 10 million , then $ 4.5 million goes right to the US Treasury. Think of how much that would add up to, with the slew of mega millionaires we have. Meanwhile, do you think a hedge fund manager or sports owner ( and some players too) earning let us say $ 20 million a year could live on over $ 10 million of that money TAX FREE? Ask that question to the 300+ million of us working stiff Americans.
There are a myriad of other important and vital issues I have not addressed or we would be here for way past any election. A woman’s right to choose, gay rights, transgender protections, tenant’s rights, voter’s rights, economic boycott rights, even teacher’s rights are all under fire currently. It would take a progressive ( better to say Socialist) thinker like yours truly to see these things properly addressed.
A vote for Philip A Farruggio is never a wasted vote.
Philip A Farruggio is regular columnist on itstheempirestupid.com website. He is also frequently posted on Nation of Change and Countercurrents.. He is the son and grandson of Brooklyn NYC longshoremen and a graduate of Brooklyn College, class of 1974. Since the 2000 election debacle Philip has written over 500 columns on the Military Industrial Empire and other facets of life in an upside down America. He is also host of the ‘ It’s the Empire… Stupid ‘ radio show, co produced by Chuck Gregory. Philip can be reached at [email protected]
