Shots Across The Bow

John Hawkins' 24 in 24: My Take and My List

John Hawkins over at Right Wing News posted a quick list of 24 items he'd like to see changed in the American political landscape. His ideas are...well, interesting to say the least. His list, with my thougts in italics:

1. Amend the Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
   No. The Federal government has no business getting involved in marriage. The States only have the right to regulate the financial/corporate aspects; the number/sexual orientations of the participants is none of the State's business.
   
2. Term limits: Four 2 year terms in the House and two 6 year terms in the Senate.
   Sure. It won't accomplish much. Presidents are term limited; I haven't noticed a huge disparity in quality between recent presidents and the Congress.
   
3. A Balanced Budget Amendment of some sort.
   Absolutely. This should be part of the Constitution, as long as it is crafted to allow for emergencies.
   
4. The Supreme Court would be banned from considering foreign law to interpret the Constitution.
   This should go without saying, but since it must be said, it must be in the Constitution. While some may say it won't do any good, that the Justices will be still be free to consider whatever they want in their deliberations, it will force them to find some grounding in the US Constitution for their rulings. Of course, for a group of people who are capable of interpreting "shall not be infringed" as an open door to restrict, remove, and outright ban some firearms, that shouldn't prove to be too difficult a task.
   
5. A Constitutional Amendment banning desecration of the American flag.
   Absolutely not. Free speech must be defended, most particularly political speech, and even more particularly, political speech that offends the status quo. Otherwise, the First Amendment is meaningless.
   
6. A bill that would build a fence between the US and Mexico, crack down on people employing illegals, prevent all government services from going to illegals, and put an end to dual citizenship.
   Worthless. Illegal immigration will not stop as long as we have work that needs doing, and Mexico has workers that want to do it. Building a fence is not the answer; building a program that will allow the US to meet their labor needs with legal foreign workers is.
   
7. Overturn Roe v. Wade.
   Yes. Not for Pro life reasons, but because this should never have been decided in the courts in the first place. This should be decided at the State level.
   
8. Institute a flat tax with a minimum level below which nothing needs to be paid.
   Yes. Right now, the tax code is used both to generate revenue and as a social engineering tool. A flat tax with a floor at twice the poverty level or so is not regressive, and will not hurt those who are struggling to make ends meet. At the same time, it will reaffirm the value of work by allowing those who work hard to keep what they earn.
   
9. Institute a loser pays system where in most cases, the loser of a lawsuit has to pay the legal fees of the winner
   As much as I would like to say yes to this, we all know what would happen. This gives too much power to the well heeled client, who can intimidate poor plaintiffs, dragging out proceedings forever, racking up mountainous legal fees. I can bet that as soon as this passed, the instant reaction would be to require each litigant to post a bond in the expected amount of the legal fees. Yes, the system now allows the little guy to file frivolous suits that are settled because it's cheaper than fighting, taking advantage of the wealthy corporations. But that is preferable to allowing the powerful to take advantage of the powerless.
   
10. Allow any business to fire employees for joining a union if they so choose.
    No. Simply joining a union is not grounds for dismissal. Firing should be performance based; layoffs should be economically justified. Simple affiliation with a group isn't enough. By the same token however, closed shops should be outlawed. Nobody should be forced to join an organization simply to be able to work.
    
11. All parents would be provided school vouchers that could be used at the public or private school of their choice as long as it met minimal standards.
    No. The Federal government should not be involved in education at all. Again, this is a State issue.
    
12. Health Care reform bill which would include, Tort reform, streamlining the regulations that make bringing a new drug to market so slow and expensive, health care savings accounts, and allowing health insurance companies from anywhere in America to compete for business in any state.
    Needs more detail, particularly on the tort reform, and drug regulations. The combination of the two could be very bad. Rush a drug to market, kill a few hundred people who can no longer sue for dmages because of the tort reform.

    Not good.
    

13. Drill Anwr.
    Sure
    
14. Change the rules so it takes the support of a supermajority in Congress to raise taxes.
    Absolutely
    
15. Support Social Security reform including private accounts, raising the age limit incrementally until it reaches 70 by 2030, permanently tying the age limit to the average lifespan of Americans, & indexing Social Security payments to prices, instead of wages.
    Some yes, some no. Extending retirement age, OK. To 70? Nope, too far.
    
16. Completely dump the Medicare Prescription Drug Reform.
    And replace it? Or not?
    
17. Declare Affirmative Action to be Unconstitutional.
    I never understood the whole concept of eliminating racism by legalizing racial profiling, but that's the federal government for you.
    
18. Rewrite Sarbanes-Oxley to make it much less burdensome to businesses.
    I'm going to skip this one, 'cause I have no idea what it means, and I have to go to bed soon.
    
19. Get rid of the minimum wage entirely.
    Federal, yep. States set it according to their needs.
    
20. Set up non-partisan commissions in every state to create non-gerrymandered districts.
    What is non-partisan? Does it actually exist?
    
21. Set up simple and basic campaign finance laws that allow any American to contribute as much as they wish to any candidate or organization, as long as their identities are revealed.
    Nope. That way lies oligarchy. Instead, outlaw corporate giving entirely; limit individual contributions to parties (soft money), allow unlimited giving to candidates; remove all restrictions on advertising
    
22. Overturn Kelo.
    Yep. Provate property is just that.
    
23. Have the Supreme Court correctly interpret the Establishment clause of the First Amendment.
    Yep. Freedom of religion, not from religion. On the flip side, that means that all religions, even the crackpot ones made up by mediocre science fiction writers on a bet have equal standing under the law.
    
24. Allow organ donations from willing (and deceased) owners to go forward without the consent of family members.
    If documented by the deceased, sure. And by more than a casual remark made during a TV show.

OK, now it's my turn. I don't know how many I'll come up with, but let's just see what happens.

1. End the war on drugs. Legalize them all. Not only will the crime rate drop immediately, but we'll also eliminate a huge source of income for organized crime, which is always a good thing. However, make it clear that those who abuse the drugs are not entitled to government assistance to get cleaned up, nor will addiction be considered as an excuse for criminal acts.
   
2. Rescind all blue laws. What people do in the privacy of their bedrooms, or rented motel rooms, is not business of the State or Federal goverment. If the right to privacy covers killing a fetus, then it certainly covers hanky panky in the bedroom. Or the kitchen.
   
3. Revamp the Department of Homeland Security. Split the functions into two organizations, Domestic Defense, and Disaster Assistance.
   
4. Revamp the FCC. I'd say abolish, but that's not practical. There are some functions of broadcasting that do need Federal control, but controlling content isn't one of them.Content control should be limited to the channel selector on your TV set.
   
5. Congress must append to every new Bill the specific Constitutional reference that empowers them to make the legislation.
   
6. The President should have a line item veto, subject to Consgressional override similar to the standard veto.
   
7. Executive orders should be subject to judicial revue, but only on their constitutionality.
   
8. Establish a flat national tax based on consumption rather than wages. Exempt spending on food, clothing, housing, and medical care up to a limit equal to twice the poverty level. At that point, tax everything but food.
   
9. EPA regulations must show a positive cost-benefit analysis. The cure cannot be worse than the disease.
   
10. Civil Service pay raises, including Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court Justices, should be linked to military pay raises. If the guy in the trenches has to make do with 2.5%, then so should the rest of the Federal government.
    
11. The US should stop propping up the UN, and withdraw from that corrupt, ineffectual den of weasels. Additionally, no US troops will ever wear the colors of another government.
    
12. Repeal McCain-Feingold, the DCMA, the Patriot Act, and all other legislation that needlessly abridges our rights as recognized under the Constitution.
    
13. Open the gates of legal immigration; allow those that need jobs to fill the vacancies in our economy. Closing the borders will stop the flow of illegals about as effectively as Prohibition stopped the flow of booze. As long as the demand is there, it will be met.
    
14. Revise House and Senate rules to prevent attaching unrelated bills to "must pass" bills.
    
15. Require Congress critters to actually read any bill they vote "Yes" on.

Ok, enough. I have to get up in a few hours.

I wonder if this list will make any sense when I read it tomorrow.

Posted by Rich at March 22, 2006 12:10 AM | TrackBack