If you were the president...

[MFpoker]

If you were the president, what would your administration be like? What would be some important issues that you would like to address? I'm not fit to be the president because I didn't pay attention in history class well enough and I don't know much about foreign policy, but those things didn't stop our current president, so why not dream?

I think America has really weakened under the Bush administration, so as president I would put a really high value on strengthening the USA and regaining its reputation as the dominant power in the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that I would be an [censored] about it, but America would certainly be unquestionably strong and not to be [censored] with. How would I go about this?

<u>Peace through superior firepower</u> - I'm really a dove at heart and i hate war. I've seen the damage that war has on people that survive it as my grandpa happened to be serving in the Navy during Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked and he was never quite the same after that experience, to say the least. War is something to be avoided if possible. However, I would commit to fighting a brutal war if absolutely necessary. Not a war of careful attempts at preserving innocent life or precise surgical strikes with little collateral damage, but one of broad strokes of merciless death and destruction. America cannot afford to lose another war and I will not pussyfoot around at the expense of my own nation. If, for instance, Iran were to force my hand while I'm serving as president and I were forced to declare formal war with them, at least a million Iranians would die in the first 24 hours. If a nuclear device or dirty bomb went off on American soil and it so much as smelled like Iran, I would unleash a nuclear attack so intense and widespread that the humans in the area would sooner evolve to tolerate the radiation levels than will the radiation sink to safe levels again. My war machine would be so brutal and disgusting that in the future people would rather risk death by overthrowing their anti-American government than face certain death in a war against the United States or the terrible existence in the decrepit ruins of the country they once knew as home.

<u>Oil Dependence</u> - Many people would say that we've already fought wars because of oil, but that is nothing compared to what will happen when we really begin to run out. While I think that the U.S. free market is robust and responsive enough to find a way around oil dependency in time, I don't feel that much of the rest of the world is rich or free enough to. That is why it is in our interest and in the interest of the whole world to eventually become independent of oil. I think America can lead the way in this struggle, and a triumph would help secure our position as a world leader and help to win the hearts and minds of the world. We may also make some money on the technology.
<u>
Clean Water</u> - The world is approaching another even more important resource crisis, especially in developing countries. A lot of places are running out of water fast. America needs to lead the way in developing cheap and convenient technology so that everyone has enough water. Otherwise, there will be a water refugee crisis and probably more war for land that has abundant fresh, clean water. This is another essential world saving technology that the U.S. can have a part in contributing, further securing our position as a world leader.

<u>Climate Change</u> - It's clear that the average temperature of the atmosphere is rising. There's no debate about that. However, no one has yet shown me any compelling, beyond a reasonable doubt evidence that human pollution is contributing to global warming in a meaningful way. The American economy relies so heavily on the burning of greenhouse gas emitting fuels, why would I want to make a huge national economic sacrifice when:

A)we don't even know if the fossil fuels contribute to global warming in a way that can be measured yet
B) the U.S. has so little influence over what many more populace nations, such as India and China can do with greenhouse gases, so our efforts might not do any good
C) if it's observable, it's probably too late.

I think our best bet as a nation is to brace ourselves for climate change. That means more storms, the wet places get wetter, the dry places get dryer, and the temperature either rises a great deal and the water level rises a good bit, or the currents change and the temperatures drop sharply in many places, or somewhere in between. Either way something is going to happen so we might as well spend some time, energy, and money figuring out ways to best get through it.

<u>Iraq</u> - This is a tough one because I have no idea how to fix this. What I do know is that when we went into Iraq we assumed a responsibility to make things right in Iraq. We cannot go in, break something, and forget about it. I don't know if this problem can be solved militarily, diplomatically, or both, but I do know that America must make right what is wrong, and not rest until Iraq is safe and prosperous. I would start by employing a think-tank of very smart, very Iraq-cultures savvy, very american politics savvy, and very persuasive people working on this problem. but I suspect that the beginning of the solution might be to bomb the [censored] out of Iran.

<u>The Drug War</u> - The drug war is stupid and it doesn't work. I would immediately ask congress to draft a bill that would federally legalize medical marijuana. I would then try to get all federal drug laws abolished and turn over drug laws and enforcement to the states (as opposed to the federal government). I would also sign a bill that would limit prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders because our prisons are too crowded and too many people that commit real crimes get off easy because of this.

<u>Taxes</u> - I would sign a bill that abolishes income tax and property tax almost completely. The only exceptions would be that i would collect federal income tax from gambling casinos, liquor companies (not beer companies), tobacco companies, and drug companies. If any of these types of establishments were based in another country but wantd to do business in the U.S., they would agree to pay tariffs. The nation's entire tax revenue would be based on sales tax, and thereby would be completely evenly distributed among the population with respect to a fixed percentage of the goods and services that people bought. Sales tax on food, clothing, and shelter will be omitted completely.

<u>Abortion</u> - While I hate abortion personally and would seek to end abortion in America as president, I would not do so by criminalizing it. I believe it is against a woman's nature to have an abortion, and that the vast majority of abortions are a result of the direct influence of a man imposing his will over the woman's will. With this in mind I will try to take steps to limit a man's power to exert his will in those situations. Ideally I would hold a man that was proven to be an accessory legally and financially responsible for the abortion, though I don't know how yet. Secondly, I will do my best to provide realistic alternatives to abortion that give real hope and security to pregnant women so that abortions are totally unnecessary. Abortions may still exist under my plan, but they will be greatly reduced.

<u>Election Reform</u> - The two party system is bunz and it needs to change ASAP. I don't know how I could make it happen as the president (or make any of these changes happen, for that matter) but I would like the Republican party to split into two parties, one libertarian and one socially conservative. I would also like the Democratic party to split into two parties, one more socialist and the other more capitalist. This would make elections much more interesting and we would be more likely to find a president that we could actually tolerate. Secondly, I would like to have instant runoff voting. If you don't know what this is, imagine the following. There are 4 candidates on the ballot and you vote by listing the candidates in order of favorite to least favorite. Imagine I voted like this...

1st)Ron Paul
2nd)Hillary Clinton
3rd)Barak Obama
4th)Rudy Guiliani

wikipedia says...
[ QUOTE ]
In an IRV election, every voter has one vote, but can express more than one choice. Ballots are initially sorted according to their expressed first choices. If no candidate achieves an overall majority of first choices (more than half of the total vote) then the candidate with the fewest first choices is eliminated. That candidate's votes are recounted and are distributed to the remaining candidates according to the second choices expressed by each ballot paper. If there is still no candidate with an overall majority of votes then the candidate with the fewest votes in this round of counting is eliminated and his or her votes recounted in the same way, according to the second or third preferences expressed by each ballot paper. This process of counting and eliminating continues until a candidate has obtained an overall majority of votes in the final round of counting.

[/ QUOTE ]This way you can vote for Ralph Nader if you (really) want to and have Clinton as a second choice and still have your vote matter.

<u>The Federal Reserve Bank</u> - I'm with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and John Kennedy. The Fed is unconstitutional and should be abolished. Let us return to the gold standard.

<u>Poker and Gambling</u> - LDO. see Taxes.

I think this is all I want to rant about right now. I'll let you know if I think of anything else. What kind of president would you be?

[pvn]

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If you were the president, what would your administration be like?

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TL;DR. However...

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<u>The Federal Reserve Bank</u> - I'm with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and John Kennedy. The Fed is unconstitutional and should be abolished. Let us return to the gold standard.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whoa, Abe was a big fan of central banking. I'm sure he would have loved to have devised something as sinister as the Fed.

[MFpoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you were the president, what would your administration be like?

[/ QUOTE ]

TL;DR. However...

[ QUOTE ]
<u>The Federal Reserve Bank</u> - I'm with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and John Kennedy. The Fed is unconstitutional and should be abolished. Let us return to the gold standard.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whoa, Abe was a big fan of central banking. I'm sure he would have loved to have devised something as sinister as the Fed.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, but

[ QUOTE ]
In his First Inaugural Address, Lincoln made a point to discuss the role of Capital and Labor. Significant national issues were, at that time, in the first official speech, immediately after a Presidential Election.
Lincoln spoke on finances and government: "In his First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861, Abraham Lincoln stated: "Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed, if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights."
President Lincoln needed money to finance the Civil War, and the international bankers offered him loans at 24-36% interest. Lincoln balked at their demands because he didn't want to plunge the nation into such a huge debt. Lincoln approached Congress about passing a law to authorize the printing of U.S. Treasury Notes. Lincoln said "We gave the people of this Republic the greatest blessing they ever had - their own paper money to pay their debts..." Lincoln printed over 400 million "Greenbacks" (debt and interest-free) and paid the soldiers, U.S. government employees, and bought war supplies. The international bankers didn't like it and wanted Lincoln to borrow the money from them, so that the American people would owe tremendous interest on the loan. Lincoln's solution made this seem ridiculous. Shortly after Lincoln's death, the government revoked the Greenback law which ended Lincoln's debt-free, interest-free money. A new national banking act was enacted and all currency became interest-bearing, debt instruments, again.

[/ QUOTE ]

amirite?

[GoodCallYouWin]

My administration is simple :

Congress : Sup?

Me : Veto

[MFpoker]

I don't get it

[Nielsio]

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If you were the president, what would your administration be like?

[/ QUOTE ]


I'd make clear to everyone that power is not something that is supposed to be. Then I'd advice everyone to start private arbitration and security companies and then I'd self-destruct my office.

[clowntable]

[ QUOTE ]
My administration is simple :

Congress : Sup?

Me : Veto

[/ QUOTE ]
Hello Mr. Paul.

[GoodCallYouWin]

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I don't get it

[/ QUOTE ]

I would veto any bill that did not drastically reduce the scope of government spending.