MJ 75,good post-Kevin
Can’t help but notice many of these responses deal only with U.S. issues only. This wasn’t a “If you were in charge of the U.S.” question. Not criticizing, I’m guilty as well, but we’re veering off topic here.
Well holy cow, if we’ve got the whole world to deal with:
Big magnet should pull all the guns and stuff out of the mideast. Then require everyone to shave every day and eat a ham sandwich. That should take care of it after re-doing the borders some after the British screwed it up. Speaking of the British, no more King and Queen stuff and upper class lower class talk. That’s really middle ages stuff and its bad enough dealing with the two parties we’ve got and the noses in the air. And, they really need to sign a quit claim deed for Canada.
My answer remains the same. The first thing I’d change would be my term as king. I’d make it forever.
“Some day I’ll find out who is behind this whole war on drugs-law enforcement, distillers, consultants, who? Someone is making a lot of money on it.”
Probably the guys that are selling the drugs right now. Can you imagine how much less they would make if those drugs were legal?
I am conflicted about drug legalization. My main concern is how we deal with ill health from, say, smoking marijuana. Any inhaled smoke is going to damage the lungs severely. Maybe we could treat it like tobacco. If you smoke anything, you are required to let your health insurer know so that they can properly adjust your premium. It’s done for tobacco now, and should be done for pot if it is ever legalized, or at least decriminalized. Health insurers can’t realistically ask the big question now while marijuana is illegal.
And concerning doling out drugs: It’s already done at methadone clinics. It works for addicts that can get on the program, but the problem is that there is a limited budget. A lot of addicts would like to get on the program, but have to wait for an opening.
How about credits for riding a horse to work! My yard is big enough, hay and oats are probably comparable to gas expenses, no foreign oil dependency, I love it! Though I do the 5.5 mile to work on bicycle occasionally , even greener except for the lawn, as far as horse dumps.
@rod Knox me being a conspiricy theorist, it seems cutting social programs and conceal carry and castle law go hand in hand, why? so once the starving people try to steal your stuff you can shoot them.
True,true,everything has an effect,I personally don’t like anything you have to suck up your nose,inject or smoke (but that’s just me, I know prohibition doesn’t work) get rid of all these silly laws so there won’t be as many criminals.I don’t really need to make my term indefinite, I figure someone whose toes I stepped on (or bank account) would have me terminated in short order, but while I lasted the wheels would be set in motion for a strange concept called “Freedom” ah Bing,what a thought(parity,parity,I say)-Kevin
It occurred to me that this country was becoming a 3d world nation of haves and have nots when Perot was running for office and by 2001 there seemed little doubt of that the Republican party was on the payroll of Wall St to take us to that end, Barkydog. My greatest worry continues to be that the vast majority of America’s working families are too apathetic and uninformed and busy struggling to get by to recognize their decline until they are facing living on the street. We can look back at history to see what can result from that situation. Of course, those living in the guarded enclaves will use the civil unrest to justify their living in fortified neighborhoods.
A great deal of Europe was crushed by the collateralized debt obligations and corporate default swaps that Wall St banks used to pump and dump and cash out with the blessing of the GOP and the rubber stamp approval from the W. And FWIW I feel certain that the deck is stacked for a period of rampant inflation that will financially cripple working families while giving those who sit on $ to the umpteenth power to buy all that they don’t already own.
Of course I am not the smartest man in the room, high school was sometimes a struggle 45 years ago, but if the situation is considered objectively, ignoring the propaganda from both sides, it seems so obvious. We have allowed corporate America to take control of this country similar to the way the drug cartels took control of Columbia and Mexico. In 2003 the coming real estate crash was so obvious but I was laughed at for my concern. My mistake was being too right too soon. Hopefully that isn’t the case this time.
“A great deal of Europe was crushed by the collateralized debt obligations and corporate default swaps that Wall St banks used to pump and dump and cash out with the blessing of the GOP and the rubber stamp approval from the W.”
I agree with you on all of this. But please don’t leave the Democrat leaders out. They were only too happy to join in the game, too.
“I feel certain that the deck is stacked for a period of rampant inflation”
If you really believe this, take advantage of it and buy things that people might want to buy later. Land, houses, art, even cars. That’s how rich folks do it. I recall in the middle 1980s one of the car mags (C&T I think) had an article about buying a new Ferrari with a loan and selling it after 2 years. Inflation was so high that if you did this 3 or 4 times, you could buy one free and clear with the money you made. They showed the numbers, and it worked. But it did not take into account the risk involved in keeping the high inflation rates required to make this happen. Still, keep an eye on prices, Rod. You may be onto something and could make a lot more than your neighbors by just being alert. Maybe I should take my advice just this once, too. Remember, not all collectibles and cars are uber-expensive. You just have to devlope an eye for a bargain and a trend.
If we simply agree that the US had been living beyond its means and governemt was spending beyond its means, while a corrupt banking system cooked the books, the time has now come to pay the piper.
Under Bush for the first time in human history was a ruinously expensive war (Iraq) financed by a …TAX CUT!!! People also bought houses they could not afford by lying about their incomes and bankers lent morgages which they KNEW the holder could not pay and then bundled these morgages and sold them as “INVESTMENT BACKED” securities. A number of Europen communities who bought these bonds bankrupted themselves.
Like a family budget you can’t run a country on credit cards. European countries got into their situation by working too little (short hours, early retiement) and having too rich a bundle of entitlements.
High energy prices may contribute some to an economic slowdown, but they were a minor factor; the housing crash had nothing to do with energy prices.
Doc…I believe high energy prices are a major factor to economic slow downs. As the co founder of a major US Corp, Home Depot, said in a recent interview, it affects the price of every good they sell.
If you look at the date of every recession, they were all precipitated by high energy costs. There were other factors in place, to be sure, but the availability of investment funds, a key factor, is dramatically influenced by energy costs.
I believe in bottom up economics and buyers are influenced by energy price increases.
Think of it. If you take it to the extreme and energy was free, recessions would be non existent, wars would be a thing of the past and everyone would be holding hands and singing .
I don’t feel that people generally lie about their indebtedness. Banks needed to move money to make money with the interest rates so low. They , for all practical purposes, invited malfeasance. When jobs became slack, bankruptcies due to all sorts of causes including escalating medical cost stopped the In flux of money, banks were left holding the mortgage and no funds. The property they held had little value with few buyers. IMO, they were forced into this situation by the artificially low prime rates which were politically contrived to conceal a failing economy. Greenspan was the orchestrator of the debacle, under the influence of “his boss”.
The govt… Spending on two wars which funneled money over seas was a huge factor. The lack of investment in our own inconomy, chasing the pipe dream of Iraq oil set the stage. The housing bubble burst was symptom of the incompetence of the worse administrative decisions ever, not the cause.
oh, goddie,
- bring back cash for clunker program,
- only elec cars can be sold that year, so if you have a non-electric car that you want to sell (including hybrids) you would need to hold on to it until my reign is over.
- mandate solar panels for each new home, and phase in the requirement over 15 years for all over structures (public and pvt)
- Have a public plug in station for one car on every city block, first space next to hydrant
- permit higher speed limits under certain conditions:
a) must have electric car,
b) must have at least 50% carbon fiber body,
c) must have special high speed license
d) higher speeds would only apply on highways - institute no-gun law, no exceptions for state or local police.
- end all foreign government aid until such time that all state govts feel they no longer need assistance.
- draft registry requirement including females
- 4 year college degree is required by age 18,
- all prisoners sentenced to 4+ years must earn a college degree during stay, 10+ year sentence required to earn pro degree (ie: MD, JD,) prisoners sentenced for less than 4 years must spend the bulk of their time in prison school teaching or learning.
- circumcision is discouraged
- legislate morality
- require minimum 80% voter participation or lose state funding
- national ID, good for all govt (fed, state, local) purposed including but not limited to vote ID, electronic birth certificate, drivers license, etc …
- require minimum of 90% national employment
- require all govts to produce a minimum of 200% of their consumable energy with renewable resources.
- redo the grid and place all electrical lines under grown
- term limits for all elected officials
- outlaw all forms of unnaturally made children (test tube, clone, IV, surrogate, etc …)
wow … this is kinda cool …
LPA,some very interesting ideas,have a little problem with 5B though,I like a mostly metal car for recycling reasons and repairabilty.Like 6 because why does a cop that writes you an overload ticket,need a sidearm?Like17&18,14 and 3 have a lot of merit too-Kevin
Around No. 15 on my benevolent dictator list would be more rail grids and dedicated truck roads(more to come)Kevin
@dagosa : I agree that an extremely RAPID rise in energy prices puts a damper on economic growth. However, the lax financial controls, first initiated during the Clinton era and made progressively more lax, invited disaster. So, Greenspan bears a lot of the blame.
The great depression after the stock market crash of 1929 was the result of over “investment”; even college students were playing the stock market. Energy was rediculously cheap in the 20s. They hired Jack Kennedy’s dad to put some retraints in place for Wall Street.
Countries with “sober” econimc policies, such as Switserland, cannot understand how US leaders follow such reckless financial policies.
After the 1974 energy crisis, the countries that rapidly adapted to high energy prices, such as Japan came out best. They used it as an oppportunity to launch more frurgal cars and transform their industries.
Labor leaders tell us that the average industrial worker makes no more now than he did 15 years ago in real terms. Yet the size of the average new US homes has risen nearly 40% during that time.
If the CAFE fuel efficiency standards had applied to all vehicles used as passenger cars, the Big Three would have had competitive cars to sell during the ;last downturn, and may not have faced bakruptcy. Bear in mind that in most of the developed world gasoline is twice the price of what it is in the US.
Finally, I do agree with you that military spending overseas now that the cold war is over takes valuable funds away from domestic use. The US military spends more than the NEXT 7 countries together (read Business Week), and that includes China, Russia and other so-called nasties. Nothing wrong with developing high tech weapons domestically; that money stays in the country.
LPA:
Carbon fiber is rather expensive, so being forced to buy a new electric car made from carbon fiber, you’re looking at a vehicle price that would dwarf most housing prices.
as for #6… you can pry my gun from my cold, dead hands.
#9: How can you have a 4 year college degree before you’ve graduated high school? What would they take? Communications? Liberal arts?
At 18, no one REALLY knows what they want to do with their life, and even if they do, they might abandon the notion once they realize how much work they’ll actually have to apply to get it. Also, how would they pay for it? At 18, who is gonna have any money saved up to afford to go? Government grants can only go so far, for so long, before the money dries up.
@kmccune the officer needs a sidearm because he doesn’t know what kind of situation he may be facing. Is the person he just pulled over carrying and waiting for him to get to the window to shoot him? Is he tripping on some bad drugs? Will a pitbull jump out the window and attack him?
bscar,these people are only trying to get my hard earned dollars,the weight laws in VA are ridiculous,State Trooper maybe-low level bureauracrat-NO-Kevin(but you have some salient points)
"1) bring back cash for clunker program,
2) only elec cars can be sold that year, so if you have a non-electric car that you want to sell (including hybrids) you would need to hold on to it until my reign is over.
3) mandate solar panels for each new home, and phase in the requirement over 15 years for all over structures (public and pvt)
4) Have a public plug in station for one car on every city block, first space next to hydrant "
These items would quickly bankrupt the country, the costs for these are astronomical. Only with huge technological breakthroughs would they be possible.
Some of you guys have good ideas, and some are utter crap… Not that I would necessarily please everyone either. I’m just glad that “King of the World” isn’t an elected or appointed position. If you’re going to go for that, might as well be appointed God. Then you could make beneficial changes directly without the legislative process or petty things like human nature and the laws of physics getting in the way…
Some of us aren’t even slightly serious about this exercise. I know that I’m just having fun.
Countries with “sober” econimc policies, such as Switserland, cannot understand how US leaders follow such reckless financial policies."
So that they can get elected. Some voters will elect you if you tell them what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear. Look how far being straight with the public got Ron Paul in the Republican primaries this last year.