The American Change Party
It doesn’t matter who does it, just do it!
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The FairFlat Tax 10-10-10 Combination
The only possible way is a combination of a smaller sales tax and a smaller flat income tax. The FairTax could be set at 10%, instead of the intended 23% as the book ‘The FairTax’ states, and only applicable to purchases less than $10,000. The $100K Federal Flat Income Tax could be set at 10% of annual gross income over one hundred thousand dollars, whether that entity is a person, corporation, small business, etc.; any entity whose gross income is over one hundred thousand dollars must pay 10% of their gross income, not the net income. This would eliminate the current federal income tax, the corporate tax, and capital gains; after all, if BP pays 10% of their gross ($284 Billion in 2007, Smith Barney), other taxes would not be necessary. Both taxes used together would be very simple for people to figure out, economically beneficial and sufficient to fund the government.
The First Budget Cut & Pay-Off The National Debt
The first budget cut should be our 21st century military being distributed via a 20th century method. The way this military continues to distribute their bases all over the world in a post-WWII method needs to be changed. In 1946 it made sense to have military bases in Japan and Germany, but not now, in a 21st century world where anyone can call anyone on my cell phone almost anywhere on the planet’s surface. Today, if we want to know if there is unrest in Egypt, we either turn on CNN or go to the nearest internet receptacle and watch live video from Tahrir Square. There is absolutely no need for a 20th century distribution of a 21st century military. Most bases could be simply phased out, however some facilities and equipment can be leased back to the countries who want the base to stay and serve & protect their area. The best part is they can use their own people and their own money. The leases could be structured to allow for a transition of equipment, buildings, area, and personnel over a period of several years. Also, the leases could be on a lease-to-own basis over many decades. The leases could have clauses that would maintain the political direction of the host nation, the tenant; fines and retrieval of leased items could be the penalties for un-American acts. The revenue generated from the countries who want the bases to stay and the savings from the closed ones due to the lack of expense of keeping the American bases American would be so enormous, we could have the best and most effective military force in the world stationed at home along our Mexican border where they should have been a long time ago.
There may be several changes necessary in the future, but, to start with, a law should be created that mandates all federal insurance underwriting requires the health insurance company to obtain and maintain non-profit organization (NPO) status. That is, all health insurance companies must have NPO status to be federally underwritten. To make the switch to NPO status, the current shareholders could have the value of their shares amortized toward their health insurance premiums over their remaining years with a bump at age 65 to compensate for retirement; much the same as a reverse mortgage. At death, the remaining sum, if any, would be paid out as a life insurance payment to a previously designated beneficiary; much the same as term life insurance. The federally underwritten health insurance companies will all be non-profit organizations, thus all insurance company employees still get paid, profits are funneled back into lowering premiums and the insurance lobbyist in Washington loses most of the reason for staying in Washington and remaining as an insurance lobbyist
Term Limits
A law could be created that would limit any citizen of the United States to a total of ten cumulative years of elected public service during a lifetime. After ten years of elected service in any combination of offices, the citizen would no longer be allowed to run for elected office; the citizen can be appointed to positions, but not elected. Congress people who vote for this law will have their ten cumulative years of elected civil service “grandfathered-in” and therefore they will have their full ten cumulative years of elected civil service available to them no matter how long they have actually served. Those who do not vote for it will not be “grandfathered-in”.
Restore the line-item veto back to the executive branch and create an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing its place in the executive branch for as long as the executive branch exists in this country. It should have never left the executive branch and it never should leave again. The line-item veto is the biggest, and one of the few, tools the executive branch has in its toolbox to keep the balance of power; the president uses it to keep Congress in check, which is what it was designed to do from the beginning. Without it, the ‘pork’ and ‘entitlements’ that get attached to bills are so numerous and frivolous that they make the news fairly often; and yet no one seems to mind. It begs the question of ‘why?’ The only reason the line-item veto was somehow taken away from the executive branch could only be to limit the powers of the president, thus tilting the balance of power back into Congress yet again; and yet no one seems to mind.
Repeal Minimum Sentencing
Minimum sentencing needs to be repealed which would free our judges to make their own decisions. One option is to change minimum sentencing to minimum guidelines for judges who are appointed to their positions and keep it as minimum sentencing for judges who are elected to their postions; eventually eliminating all elected judges in the country for appointed positions processed properly through proper committees in legislative and executive branches.
Additionally as a check, impeachment proceedings and removal of a judge from the bench needs to be made easier and simpler. Currently, to have a judge removed from a case, there is a head judge who makes that decision, thus self-administering themselves. This is wrong and needs to be eradicated. (See No Self Administration)
Administration of the administration should be done by branches that do not administer themselves.
For example, the legislative and executive branches could administer the judicial branch; the judicial and legislative branches could administer the executive branch and the executive and judicial branches could administer the legislative.
Thusly, if Congress wants a pay-raise, they have to get it approved by unanimous vote between committees in the executive branch and the judicial branch; perhaps the majority of the White House office and majority of the Supreme Court.
Accordingly on a local level, if a judge needs to be changed from one case to another, the complainant needs to have a signed document from the local executive committee and one from the local legislative committee to have the judge changed.
States Rights To Pass Federal Laws - The Vast Majority Rule
When this nation started, there were 13 states to make a Congress. Today, people wonder why Congress is so messed up and yet they seem to forget we now have 50 states for a system that was designed for 13. There have been many times in the history of this nation where Congress passed federal laws that were wrong. They have virtually no retribution.
The Constitution can be altered to include the ability for states’ congresses to pass federal legislation by vast majority; Congress retains simple majority. That is, it would take three-quarters (75%) of all the states’ congresses to create federal laws or over ride federal vetoes. Additionally, state-generated federal legislation has to have three-quarters of each state’s congress vote for it to pass the bill, along with three-quarters of all the states’ congresses, before it becomes law; this is called vast majority and is no easy task.
Federal legislation passed by the states’ congresses would have precedence over the President and Congress in Washington, D.C
The Proper Method To Regulate Marijuana
This method should be used for any substance that carries the same mystique that marijuana carries.The proper regulation of marijuana starts with the Importer/Wholesaler. The Importer/Wholesaler would be a licensed importer from international farmers and domestic farmers with absolutely no taxes, tariffs or any other charge on the farmer. This way the drug cartels are cut out of the picture financially and not legislatively; the legislation has never worked in the history of marijuana and continues to not only fail to this day but also financially fund the drug cartels as well. That won’t happen if the farmer has a legal way to sell his product at a proper price driven by market forces between the different licensed Importer/Wholesaler’s across the
The Retailer has to buy a license also, but the only real qualification is the storage place of the marijuana, including amount of area for amount of marijuana; the fees could be structured to reflect area of storage per year, or something along those lines. Other than that, there would be no other qualification for the retailer. Once the taxes of $50 per ounce is paid at the Importer/Wholesaler NPO, the retailer would be free to do whatever he wanted to do with it knowing that the storage facility has to be maintained.
The user, whether recreational or medicinal, has to purchase from a licensed retailer. It could be tightened to only licensed medicinal users, but it appears in the long run to be futile at best.
The end results include the drug cartels getting upset at first, but eventually running out of money. The people in the cartels slowly and insidiously over time walk away to do more profitable things, such as growing marijuana, selling marijuana, or processing some sort of product made form cannabis in general, whether that’s the female plant or the male; there should be a general resurgence over a relatively short period of time. Peace should return to our Mexican border eventually and our unemployment rate should begin to drop.
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Please send donations to:
JP Grund
c/o The American Change Party
PO Box 1099
Kihei, HI 96753
Interested? jpgrund@hawaii.rr.com