Most of us are probably sick of putting “lose 10 pounds” at the top of the list, so instead, here are some resolutions to fix America, no matter how long it takes:
IN GENERAL:
Repeal anything the Republicans have repealed.
Unseat Republican officeholders and the IDC—take back Congress (one or both houses).
Dump Trump.
Specifically:
Revise election procedures:
- Get rid of the electoral college.
- Undo and prevent all gerrymandering.
- Institute voter protections, and extend voting hours (midnight to midnight?), locations, and ability to use absentee ballots (good for more senior votes and more college student votes). Make Election Day a national holiday.
- Require every candidate for public office to reveal tax returns, investments, businesses, and donor amounts, and sign an emoluments clause.
- In all elections, require paper ballots, machine-counted and hand-counted by poll workers from both parties.
- Overturn “Citizens United” decision
Change the law:
- Review the Constitution with a microscope and plug up all the little holes that the Republicans have weaseled through.
- Same with federal and state tax codes.
- Raise corporate taxes; but tax individuals on a sliding scale.
- Strictly separate church and state.
- Reform Congressional procedure:
- No bill can have unrelated pieces in it, e.g., a tax bill can’t include health care or a military budget.
- Any bill must be finalized and distributed to every single member of both houses a minimum of 2 working weeks in advance of a vote.
- Bills must be voted on during regular working hours, not at midnight or on a weekend when MoCs may be out of town.
- Bills/acts/laws/executive orders, etc. must be accurately named and not mislead the public. E.g., It’s not “Citizens United,” it’s “Corporations Can Buy Elections.”
- Any law enforcement official seen on video or witnessed using physical violence against an unarmed person, or committing murder, will automatically be fired and brought up on criminal charges. No “internal affairs” investigations.
- Prosecute sexual harassment and rape in the military according to criminal law, not through military investigations or tribunals.
Executive branch:
- Limit the number and type of Executive Orders. Maybe limit them to addressing noncompliance and safety issues?
- Prevent government officials from hiring relatives.
- Bar a sitting president or vice president from having an alternative residence.
- Prevent presidential pardons from being given to a president’s family or friends.
- Any Cabinet appointee must have specific, relevant qualifications for the job.
Military:
- Slash the military budget
- Give the savings to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and public schools.
Equal rights:
- Pass the Equal Rights Amendment—we need just two more states to ratify it!! Take your pick: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia.
- Prevent deportation of “Dreamers.”
Environment:
- The U.S. must rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.
- Ban use of public land for private purposes.
- Restore any EPA cuts or suppression of information
- Ban fracking
- Ban oil drilling in oceans, national parks, and fragile areas. If that throws people out of work, retrain them for other jobs.
Healthcare:
- Review the Affordable Care Act and mend any flaws.
- Reinstate CHIP.
- Take reproductive issues OFF the table; prevent the Federal government and any state from outlawing abortion.
- Require birth control to be part of any health insurance plan.
National security:
- Establish a fail-safe system so that a president does not have unilateral power to start a nuclear war.
- Prevent surveillance of citizens not suspected of terrorist or illegal activity.
Consumer protection:
- Reinstate net neutrality.
- Remove Ajit Pai as FCC head
- Regulate banks
- Regulate Wall Street
If something’s been inadvertently left off this list, add it.
And if you really want to, lose 10 pounds.