|
Home| About Us| Background | Related Links | Issues | Events | |
LOUISA VIRGINIA
|
Home| About Us| Background | Related Links | Issues | Events | |
LOUISA VIRGINIA
Project Master Plan
Primary Goals:
Reestablish USA as a world class economic power while continuing our social progress at home and while leading the effort for improving human rights, health and economic conditions throughout the world.
Resources:
The world’s strongest economy.
The world’s most brilliant minds and universities.
The world’s most diverse population.
The world’s best democracy.
Constraints:
A stagnant economy and unemployment with no significant improvement in sight.
A seriously divided nation leading to an almost dysfunctional congress.
War, terrorism and world poverty throughout the world. The threat of global warming.
A massive ever increasing national debt.
World resource shortages of energy and water with emerging nations competing for these resources.
Basic Approach:
Reorganize government, private industry, academia and the citizens in this country toward coordinated pursuit of these goals. Do it without further increasing the national debt and include steps to eliminating that debt.
Reorganize government, private industry, academia and the citizens in this country toward coordinated pursuit of these goals. Do it without further increasing the national debt and include steps to eliminating that debt.
Provide world leadership to better confront globalization.
President Obama, having saved us from “the second great depression” in his first 2 years, must now lead the nation in fulfilling this plan.
Here’s How:
Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Speech should blow the populace out of their doldrums.
He must tell the people what they NEED to hear, that we have a massive national crisis here
He should set forth BOLD ideas, even more bold than JFK did.
He must explain where we are and how we got here!
Then he must provide his ideas of how to deal with our predicament. This Project Master Plan should form the baseline of his recommendations.
He must ask the people to share in the responsibility of our problems and then in the rewards of our efforts.
Note: This "Strawman" Master Plan was initially drafted by a progressive liberal but reflects what he considers as "Middle Of The Road" perspective. It should be noted that this is only a "strawman startup document." Input will be requested from across the political spectrum and the eventual "Middle Of The Road" perspective will be determined by polling.
It should be noted that pursuing this plan will not only require massive funding to embark on the approaches suggested to get our economy back on track but none of this funding will come from increasing our national debt. In fact, this plan also involves early pay off of our national debt. The funding to accomplish this will come from re-adjusting our national priorities and a simplified tax structure to eliminate unjustified tax shelters and target tax increases.
To deal with the complex issues involved, a series of subplans will be developed to address major problems and their proposed resolutions. This will involve several major subplans but it must be understood that all initiatives are vitally important and all subplans must be coordinated with all other subplans.
Major governmental subplans include:
Jobs – Several factors have led to a totally unacceptable unemployment problem in this country including moving jobs over seas, worker productivity increases and the current major recession. This problem will not be corrected by an improved economy alone. A strategic perspective of this problem is required.
Class Disparities - Growing number of people in poverty and a reduced life style of the vast middle class while a small upper class reap most of the rewards of technology enhancements just be addressed.
Education – we cannot lead the world or even compete effectively if we continue our current trend in failing to properly educate our primary resource – our children.
Infrastructure – Our crumbling, second class infrastructure puts us at a serious long-term disadvantage in competing globally. Improvements must include high-speed Internet, liquid and solid waste removal and an efficient electrical grid.
Energy – The days of cheap energy are over and our current dependence on fossil fuels endangers our global economic stance and our environment. The single greatest improvements can be realized with conservation. Transition to alternative sources must be greatly accelerated.
Innovation and Research – For the past thirty years and more, America has led the world economically primarily because we have been the primary innovators of the world. Today we spend less on research and development than we did thirty years ago. If we are to grow our economy and be competitive as a global power, we must return to basic research and to develop the innovational forces of our past.
Defense, Intelligence and Homeland Security – These functions are all related to our national security and as such should be combined into one superdepartment. However, they are all super-bloated departments oversized way beyond the need. For example, the Navy has way too many submarines and the Air Force has way too overly sophisticated aircraft. Home land security was expanded like a bloated pig post 9/11 and our Intelligence Community has proven itself ineffective. All of these departments most get leaner and meaner. I suggest they all submit plans to operate with two thirds of their current combined budgets.
Revenue and taxation – We have a most complicated, biased, corrupt taxation process imaginable. A simplified process should be devised that would include a maxim of three pages, one page for personal taxes, one page for business taxes and one page for entitlement taxes.
Entitlements – Social security must be restructured to pay for it self. Medicare must be enabled to manage itself effectively, to combat waste and abuse and to establish an alternative to compete with private insurers.
Health Care – We have the best health care in the world but its availability to all is constrained. We rank too low in many categories of health care - such as infant mortality – compared to other industrialized nations. We should be tops or close to it in all categories. Ever escalating health care costs due to fraud, waste and abuse, an aging population and newly developed but expensive technologies must be reviewed and reformed.
Transportation – We need to build high-speed rail, expand local transit systems and increase air travel efficiency. This effort could be accomplished with fuel tax revenue.
The Massive National Debt – The recent Presidential Commission on Debt Reduction Report provides an excellent starting point to achieve this goal.
Immigration - Comprehensive immigration reform must be enacted. One major compromise that might help resolve this issue is to provide “legal status” to current undocumented immigrants but not provide an “automatic” path to citizenship. There could be ways these immigrants could “earn” citizenship through processes like those proposed in the “Dream Act.”
Politics and Government – We have the best government that money can buy, albeit near dysfunctional. Our laws do not keep pace with technological or social change. Many areas need to be examined including such political issues as “gerrymandering,” term limits, campaign finance reform. A Constitutional Convention Commission should be formed to review this alternative.
International Affairs – Our State Department has operated fairly effectively in an ever increasingly complex world environment. We should have more out reach programs like the Peace Corps, student exchanges and a USA propaganda system like Radio Free Iran, a USA Propaganda Internet site and global equivalents of C-Span.
Other Possible Issue Areas include:
Terrorism - TBD
Crime and Our overcrowded prison system - TBD
Drug and Alcohol and Other Addiction Problems - TBD
Racial Problems - TBD
Private Industry Subplans:
The primary strength of America has been and will continue to be a robust capitalistic private sector. In recent times, greed and corruption have adversely affected this strength. Corporate America must come to realize that draining the middle class to the benefit of wealthy is harmful to the long-term sustainability of all.
Corporations for America Committee – A major national organization with membership from all corporate disciplines should be founded that will focus on means to best achieve a strong America with equitable responsibilities and rewards for all.
Management and Labor Committee – A major national organization should be founded that will focus on improving relationships between management and labor.
Corporate Contribution Committee – A major national organization corporations should be founded that will solicit donations from its members to support a United States Charity Program.
Academia Subplans:
America still leads the world in having the best college and university system in the world. The research conducted at these schools helps to keep us competitive on the world stage. A more efficient use of these resources would have a significant affect on achieving the goals of this plan.
National Collegiate Research Association – Patterned after the NCAA, this group would help coordinate university research efforts across the country.
American Collegiate Medical Association – This group would coordinate medical research both in academic and private institutions.
Joint Government, Private Industry, Academia Applied Research and Development Panel – This group would coordinate joint technological R and D.
Private Citizen Subplans:
Citizen Self-help Initiatives – This will be a joint government, industry and academia commission to set up self-help programs designed to enable individual citizens to improve themselves through adult education courses etc.
Charity - America is endowed with many charitable individuals and organizations. Charity and Philanthropy contribute to our national character in many ways. This master plan will not attempt to alter the current charity or philanthropy organizations but suggests that a small “Organization for Charity and Philanthropy Improvements” be established that will research charity methodology and provide efficiency ideas to all charity organizations which might help them operate more efficiently and more effectively.