Politics 2016 / US Presidential Election…

September15

Here is the animated gif that best represents the 2016 political season:

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Part of my LOVES it! We are not sure what we are witnessing, we don’t know where it will end up, but this is CHANGE in some form. It is just going to take a good 1 to 15 years to see how this shakes out.

The other part of me is absolutely terrified and sad. The fact that you get polling data that says this…

54% of republicans think Obama is a Muslim.
20% of republicans are against interracial dating.

It makes me sad that such a huge portion of the country believes such a thing. I was on a bus in Ireland and a women announced that Obama wasn’t even born in the USA. I just don’t get it. He was born here, and is Christian (2 facts).

Facts are dead in politics.
Compromise is dead in politics.
Science is dead in politics.
Joint solutions are dead in politics.

How do we get to something better?

I think someone has to WIN the country over on the big argument… IE, what is “America”? Does America mean a larger government that does more? Or does it mean a small government that does little? Sure there are little arguments here and there, but this is the fundamental question on most debates.

Where do I think we are headed?

I think the Republican party is going into decline (if it stays in it’s current state). Young people and the fastest growing segments of the population don’t vote Republican. I do not see the Republican party being an equal force to the Democrats in 10 years unless they change. Trump is just leading them further off the cliff and one last death rattle. Even if he wins I think it will only speed up the decline.

What do I want America to stand for?

  • I want a strong federal government that does more.
  • Combat Climate Change and accept it is real.
  • Stronger oversight over stocks/financial markets. Possibly a tax on banks, and high frequency trading to create a better framework and tax for useless activity.
  • Stronger Food Safety. Nothing should be labeled incorrectly/deceitfully.
  • Less defense spending.
  • Universal pre K.
  • Raise saleries for teachers by xx% and start putting more money into education.
  • Universal health care & death panels.
  • Allow medicare to negotiate with pharmacies.
  • Revamp pharmaceutical pricing, I like the British system.
  • Expand State/Federal funding for University, and cap it at some ratio to the average salary.
  • Higher minimum wage.
  • Tax revamp, hopefully to a territorial system like the rest of the world. Possibly lower tax rate on C corps where you don’t worry about flow through like scorp/llc.
  • Universal child care on a progressive fee scale.
  • Remove the Social Security caps for contributions above 110k. Accept that social security is the retirement plan for most of this country and start beefing it up.
  • Fix 401ks so they have no fees, or capped at .10 of a percent.
  • Increased budget for pure scientific research / Nasa.
  • Revamp American infrastructure plan, for persistent funding year over year so it isn’t a surge and then disappears. We’ve lost so many skilled construction people because they can’t count on the business. States and the government need a consistent yearly plan.
  • Let students declare bankruptcy and clear student debt, we fucked all of them, and by we i mean the government by creating a non capitalistic backed loan market.
  • Let more immigrant entrepreneurs in. Some good progress showing here.
  • Focus on preventing WMDs from getting in terrorist hands. But otherwise find our balls and realize it is mostly fear terrorist peddle, and we just have to accept some deaths and give them the finger.
  • Focus less on troops on the ground, more on special forces. And, focus on computer, air, and navy superiority.
  • I’d love to see payroll taxes lessen, as from what I read I think it could be an interesting experiment in promoting hiring. It might not work, but right now a business pays ~20% in taxes to federal/state to hire someone. If you removed that and replaced it with income tax you could shift the tax to the wealthiest, while promoting more employment. Hard one as payroll taxes raise 33% of federal tax revenue, but I am fine with a 50% tax rate on higher brackets.
  • I’d love to explore a VAT tax for the USA, ie tax consumption, not earnings.
  • Return the estate tax to Clinton levels.
  • Reduce mortgage deduction for high income households.
  • Expand funding for SBA.
  • Raise the social security retirement age by a few years.

How do we pay for all that shit? Higher taxes, especially on capital gains. And, significantly lower defense spending back to 1996 levels. Not to mention closing a ton of loopholes and shit that we designed badly.

It is going to be a fun 10 to 20 years, I can’t wait to see where this is headed. I hope Clinton wins, but part of me wants to see Trump destroy everything so that the country really shifts.

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This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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