Jason Tangen for President in 2012
This ought to be fun:
I have decided that I am going to run for President of the United States in 2012 as a candidate independent from any party. This will give me lots of time to prepare.
Why, you may ask, have I waited so long to run for President? Well it is because I haven't been old enough to run the country until this election.
What is my platform? I will tell you.
- Abortion - I don't know why we still consider this an issue. There is never anything that will be done at a national level to cure this dilemma. We are too divided as a nation on this issue. I suggest that we put it on the individual states ballots and let the locals decide for themselves. Then, if North Carolina says that abortions are illegal and you don't agree, you can move to another state that agrees with your morals and ideals.
- Campaign Fund Raising - Any money I receive will be turned over to local charities. I hope that other candidates put at least 10% of their campaign funds to charity as well.
- Campaign Ads - You can only use the "I" form of advertising (be it radio, TV, or whatever). The moment you say anything about your opponent (good or bad), you lose your right to advertise on that medium. Speak only about yourself and the issues at hand.
- Line Item Veto - We can get rid of the pork. I understand that most things in congress get done under the dust cloud of some other bill, but no more. If a bill hits the President's desk, he/she can cross out the things that don't belong in that bill. The rest has to go back and get re-voted on through Congress and the Senate. I would hate to be the first person who votes for war against Canada just because they got $10 Billion for their state to clean up a cheese factory spill.
- Balanced Budget - We only get to spend within our budget. Millions of Americans struggle every month to stay within their means, it is the government's job to do so as well.
- Social Security - It will be long gone by the time I'm old enough to receive it so how about if we work on our escape plan. Nobody my age or younger will receive any social security. Deal with it. That isn't the worst. People born on or before 01/01/2020 will have to pay into social security until they are 30. Anyone up to the age of 45 by the time I am in office only gets 33% of their entitlement, and beyond that as much as we can afford. The rest of us, we had better start saving now.
- Health care - The VA is not necessarily the greatest health care in the world, but it is definitely better than it seems like most people have now. We will work to have everyone get the same health care afforded to our military personnel.
- Taxes - I always liked Steve Forbes' idea of a flat tax, but I think that we need to phase it in over time somehow. Maybe we start with a 1% across the board sales tax increase on everything the first year (plus regular income taxes) and every year get a little bigger on the sales tax but collect a little less in property and income taxes. That will soften the blow rather than imposing a nearly 20% sales tax on everything year on year one.
We know our current system is flawed and needs some help, but we are all too afraid to try something else. I say, rather than promising a ton of things, we try to accomplish a few.
What do you think?
