EconomyFROM THE PEOPLE THAT GAVE YOU THE WEEKEND!
 I do not at all support bailouts for big business! I feel that if we want to use capitalism as a form of economy, we must let businesses that don't succeed fail. I keep asking myself, how come we did not care about deficit spending when we were writing checks to FAILED businesses, but when it comes to helping the people that fit the bill (The U.S. tax payers) that is called deficit spending.
I believe that helping regular people, and small businesses grow is the way to national growth. With lower health care burdens on workers and small business, this will allow small businesses and its employees to keep money in their local community. Also by helping raise the standard of living of regular working people, and cutting off a large portion of unneeded expenses on things such as health care insurance (with a marketing, advertising, and business bureaucracy totalling $400 Billion a Year spent by Big Insurance Companies, $400 Billion that is not used on treatment), this will allow more money to stay in our communities helping other new small businesses grow. I have seen this happen by working in a small business, that the loss of income of working people has greatly impacted the amount of sales our company does. If everyone has more discretionary income all small businesses will benefit in MORE SALES! And since most people in the U.S. work for a small business I support any all efforts to alleviate the burden they and their workers face!
I believe in STRONG regulation on any business that can completely destroy this country economically. I also believe in the repeal of the 1999 Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act that helped banks merge with Insurance companies, and securities companies. NEVER AGAIN should the U.S. have a proverbial gun pointed to its head and demanded to pay, or die (economically), by Big Business. NEVER AGAIN, should we shell out another dollar to a business that does not know how to hold onto their own dollars!
Furthermore, I believe in the nationalization of businesses that can threaten our national security. Namely, the oil companies. One of the most scarce resources we have is water, which is mainly controlled by local government; yet it is one of the cheapest utilities. Why, since it is so much more scarce than oil? It is because government seeks to sell its utilities for little or no profit. Imagine if your city ran your local gas station, gas would be several quarters a gallon. Now imagine if Exxon-Mobil ran your water!!! How many hundreds of dollars would a gallon of water cost?
Below is information on the Credit and Debit Cards problems and the deregulation that has created such a consumer gouging problem that regular Americans pay for everyday. While interest rates on items like T-Bills are very low, most credit cards interest rates are extremely high up to 29.99%! I did not want to ignore this subject since it is an issue that needs to be fully regulated to protect consumers from predatory lenders.
FRONTLINE EPISODE "The Card Game" = This episode shows the influence of lobbyist to allow Credit Cards and Debit Cards cost Americans Billions in hidden fees and high retro-active interest rates up to 29.99%, and the rush to change rates prior to Credit Card Legislation; click here to watch the full episode from PBS.
Here is an article on a credit card with a 79.9% APR! Click here to view the article about this card issued by Premier Bankcard "Issuer of the 79.9% interest rate credit card defends its product" by Connie Prater.
Also included here is an article from the New York Times by Jennifer Saranow Schultz about "The Least-Trusted Banks in America" and you guessed the largest banks are the least trusted. The best are Credit Unions, Smaller Banks, and USAA (a bank that works closely with U.S. sevice members). Health Care & MedicareI am opposed to the Senate Health Care Reform bill. I am somewhat in support of the one created in the House.
I, like 57% of Americans, wanted a strong Public Option. I would love the day after tomorrow when I get sick of my company's Private Insurance Plan, I could have the ability to sign up for the Public Option instead. Unfortunately not even the House bill included that ability.
My form of Health Care Reform is to increase funding to Medicare and expand it to cover every Man, Woman, and Child that pays into taxes. And if other's want to buy private health care they will be free to do so. However, I also believe that there should be no deductibles; since our deductible is currently taken out every April 15.
Or we could just make everyone pay into Big Insurance Companies like the parents of 5 year-old, Kyler VanNocker whose's insurance company's "death panel" has ordered him to die. 5 year-old Kyler was sentenced to death at the end of last year by his Health Insurance Company.Visit my release on young Kyler VanNocker who is awaiting a fate that many insured individuals face everyday, or soon will.
Prescriptions should be sold at a flat-rate not to exceed $10, and any that do should have a copy generic drug that sells for $10. I am 100% against Bayh-Dole, since it allows the government to fund research for creating new drugs and then let our intellectual-property be sold back to us at a profit to big pharmaceutical businesses. Also I support Drug Reimportation to help get lower the cost of drugs to our people. Here is an article on the 100% to 2,000% rise in drug prices that the Government Accountability Office found from 2000 - 2008. Understand, I am not asking to increase taxes on working people and families, I am asking Washington to stop spending money on Big Business, and wars that help Exxon-Mobil denationalize other countries oil production. We currently spend about $110 Billion - $140 Billion on Iraq each Month. Yet we could not give the Taxpayers $80 billion a month for their own health care, since that would be deficit spending. Not to mention the soon to come $80 Billion dollars a month we will be spending on Afghanistan.
Understand, even if you never liked the Public Option; how can anyone support the idea that 57% of people were in favor of something, but it was ended by 6 lobbyist per Congressman, and over One Billion Dollars spent by the Insurance Companies to kill it. So by understanding that logic, the U.S. is ran by money and not by the people.
As for Medicare... if you are against the Public Option since you think it is a Socialist Program; you should also be against Medicare, as well as the Veterans Administration. Since Medicare and the Veterans Administration are two of the few real federal social programs. However we have many local examples, like the Fire & Police Departments, Libraries, Public Schools, all of these rely on the community to pay in to a pool that benefits all the people (they are all forms of socialism). Under my plan medicare would be protected and become a basic human right of all citizens. However, if some people opt out of my expansion of medicare, they can always return to the Private Health Insurance Plans, their company would have no say on their choice of private or public plans.
Below is information on other Countries National Health Care Plans from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Republic of China (Taiwan), and Japan, in comparison to the United States.
FRONTLINE EPISODE "Sick Around the World" = This episode shows five democracies and compares their health care systems to the United States; click here to watch the full episode from PBS. Common SenseI don't use Political Spin, and I always talk to voters like adults. I am not trying to "dumb-down" my rhetoric, however I do try to explain myself in plain logic that everyone with common sense should understand (maybe not agree with me, but at least understand). I am not here to lie to you about the way the world is, or the way our government and economy works. If anything you have received a graduate course in those topics these last couple of years during this "great recession". You know that this government does not work, and voting for either Democrats or Republicans won't help a damn thing! You may think voting Independent is a wasted vote, but how much has your votes on Republicans and Democrats paid off... If anything, I say those are wasted votes!
Finally, if you loved the way Bush and the Republicans ran things (giving billions away to big business) vote for the Republican, and if you like the way the Democrats have ran things (giving billions away to big business) vote for the Democrat. I am not here to stop you, but instead encourage you to support your believes!
But if you are like me, and you are as MAD AS HELL, and you aren't going to take it anymore!
Then vote for Nicholas Nix, "The Common Man for Congress!"
Immigration, Wars, Nation Building...Most people concern themselves with the Mexican Border and I have yet to see a single terrorist come across the it, so I have no reason to intervene there at all. Look we can't shut ourselves off from the rest of the world, and become prisoners in our own country; remember what Benjamin Franklin said "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." We need to remain a great open society, with great open borders, we can't sacrifice our Liberty, to terrorist!
I do believe in offering Driver's licences to anyone that wishes to buy car insurance. I am sick of paying non-insured motorist insurance (every six months), just because a few people think that by not giving an undocumented immigrant a license that this actually deters immigration. This is the most ridiculous proposal I have yet to hear. I have not ever seen anyone enter the U.S. illegally and turn around and go home the moment they found out they could not get a Driver's License.
I am however concerned about the underground economy by leaving so many people in the shadows of society. This makes decent undocumented immigrants have to participate in a criminal activity just to stay here. We need to allow undocumented people to process themselves and either get a 'Resident Alien' card, or Citizenship; just like my relatives did when they came here through Ellis Island. However, we should not remand them to their countries of origin but instead allow them to apply here, and stay here throughout the duration.
My experience with undocumented workers is like yours they are are all around us and they work with us and for us everyday. Even my wife was an undocumented worker, and both me and her were in the 2006 Mega-March in Dallas with 300,000 other mostly resident-alien and citizens protesting the "wag-the-dog" policies of Congress to ignore the failures in Iraq in 2005.
I also feel once we bring these people out of the dark we can help them to organize and get them to fight for competitive wages just like the rest of America, through organized labor. As a person who is married to a former undocumented immigrant; I say that this is not an attempt to cut to the front of the line, but instead it is a way to help us in the long run through more money paid into our tax base, Social Security, and Medicare. These people are a needed and valuable assets to our society that while many times they go unrecognized, they have helped create and build this country.
As for Iraq, let Exxon-Mobil take care of it if they want the oil money so bad. As for us we need to leave as fast as possible. No American should ever have to suffer a moment for the ill-gotten gains of Big Oil. Let them hire a mercenary force to go denationalize another countries petroleum, but no one in the U.S. Armed Forces should help.
As for Afghanistan, while the cause is much more noble in its intent, unfortunately it appears on its way to becoming a quagmire. It should have been resolved years ago, and would of if their was not that excursion to go after Iraq's oil. We should work with the Arab League, the Turkmen, the Uzbeks, the Tajiks, the Chinese, and especially the Pakistanis to control the affairs in their backyard, this is their region and they need to resolve their problems. The U.S. should not be bothered by terrorist hiding in regions that our allies refuse to control, yet we continue to send those same allies billions of dollars for little results.
As for working on nation building in Iraq & Afghanistan. Let's nation build the U.S. before we go out and help others.
Civil Rights and Civil LibertiesI believe that all people are given the gift of only one life and we should be able to have as much freedom and liberty in that one life as possible.
I am completely in favor of equal treatment for individuals that are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. I am in favor of Gay Marriage on a secular State basis, I do not wish to force any religious institution to accept this, since it falls out of the realm of church and state (just as I don't want religion forcing its will on government). I am in favor of LGBT adoption rights, and LGBT service in the Armed Forces, and the ending of "Don't ask, Don't Tell. Basically said, I believe in the full an equal treatment of the LGBT community in this the centuries great civil rights struggle.
I believe in sensible firearm laws. I myself have a Texas Concealed Handgun License, and I do not wish to do anything to infringe the current laws against handguns or other firearms. I believe no one should be punished for the actions of others, in regard to civil liberties.
I believe in a woman's right to choose. However, I do not support a woman waiting to the last minute to choose, unless she is near death. I do support the current federal guidelines concerning abortion; excluding the Hyde Amendment which should be repealed. I know that without legal abortion, we would only go the days of back-lot abortions. I however do not choose this option for my family, but I will not deny the rights of others in this matter since they know what is best for their family. I am, of course, completely in favor of the use of birth-control and 'plan b' emergency contraception.
I am completely in favor of the rights of religious institutions to function without the interference of government intervention. Just as I am in favor of the reverse. Even though I am an atheist that believes in existentialism (thus an atheistic existentialist), I also believe in the complete protection of religious freedom from government intervention. Marijuana, Prostitution, and GamblingI am completely for the legalization of Marijuana. As a child, from 11-18 y.o., I was always exposed to marijuana. Since it was illegal it was easy to get as a child! During those years the only thing hard to get was alcohol and tobacco, because no one would sell them to you. The only way you could get alcohol or tobacco as a kid, was to steal it from your parents. As a child I smoked marijuana as many times as I could (like most children during that age), and now I hope to see in my life the legalization of marijuana in the United States. The day that we make marijuana legal, I will light up some Happy Herbs, right at 4:20, but until then I just have my childhood memories. And if you really want to know, of course I inhaled, what is the point of smoking weed if you don't breath it in... Also the sale of marijuana will raise tax revenues and at the same time help to end the use of harmful tobacco with a safer substitute. Along with the benefits to individuals that are suffering from various diseases (North Texas medical marijuana story from KXAS-TV and the group discussed in the article Texas Coalition for Compassionate Care), it will also help bring this product out of the shadows and make it no longer available to children.
I am completely in favor of legalized Prostitution, since this would bring this industry out of the shadows and STOP THE EXPLOITATION OF UNDERAGE CHILDREN!!! If we conducted our prostitution like Spain, every two weeks prostitutes would be tested, and EVERY PROSTITUTE would be licensed. Also every municipality should have the right to zone for prostitution. Currently we have a major problem with illegal prostitution. Unfortunately right now, any residence in ALL of District 4, can have a prostitute in their home within the hour, even your neighbor's house could be a house of prostitution. After all, if you already are breaking prostitution laws why do you care about zoning laws. However, I am sick about children being used in the illegal hidden dens of prostitution. If every prostitute is licensed and tested we will dramatically reduce underage prostitutes, and gain from the taxes and licensing fees off the businesses. We need to take this out of the shadows and bring it in to the light!
I am completely in favor of legalized gambling. I believe that each county should have the right to determine if gambling will benefit their local economy. Currently many counties have an arm tied behind their back, trying to find ways to improve their local economy. Why is this the state's option? Let it be at the county level and let the locals of that county decide, and help counties untie that arm behind their back!
All of these measures will help to greatly lower the number of individuals incarcerated, saving billions in tax dollars, and also making people that are now considered criminals, to become valuable members of our society.
Democracy in the Work Place, and in the EconomyIn this country we have a capitalist economy that has no room for democracy in it. Some people may think this is fine, and believe that big businesses should be allowed to run the economy through the current system of little to no regulation. This would be fine, if they were the only ones apart of the economy. Unfortunately we are all apart of this economy.However, the regular people that work hard everyday have no say in this economy, we just witness the effects of what happens when the big businesses screw it up. Our economy is basically a totalitarian system, in that Big Business does what they want and does not consult us (the millions of people that have to live with their failures) at all. We need strong regulation on businesses that threaten our country by reckless economic practices that benefit the greed of a few and result in the suffering of millions of people. I have no better example of these 'Reckless Economic Practices' then what has occurred during this our "Great Recession". Since we lack strong regulations on Big Business we have nearly the same income inequality as that of Mexico! Meaning that the gap between our regular people's income and that of the extremely wealthy in the U.S., is the same as that of the regular people of Mexico in comparison to their rich (Click here to review list of countries and economic equality also click here to view a larger map on that same page that uses the GINI Coefficient)! We also need to offer Full Employment. Under our current system of welfare capitalism, a large mass of people are kept unskilled, and uneducated to exert pressure on those who are employed and organized labor. By keeping individuals on welfare programs, the taxed employed citizens hold resentment to those that are receiving this welfare. We need to strive for full-employment so that we will not have generation after generation of individuals left behind without the knowledge or ability to succeed. Furthermore, we need to eliminate all subsidies and tax breaks that benefit corporations and all other forms of corporate welfare. I am also always shocked how people in the United States when given the choice, most of the time will choose capitalism over democracy. Examples are plenty from the Supreme Court in decisions like Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) that allowed for local government to declare emminent domain on personal property, for Big Business, or Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. ___ (2010), which gave Big Busineses the rights that regular citizens have in their ability to spend money in support or opposition to a candidate in a broadcast; since "money" is considered "free speech" and a "corporation" is considered a "citizen." But even regular citizens feel that capitalism should be unregulated and unfettered. As if capitalism was what gives us personal freedoms, and democracy is somehow left behind. Understand if only capitalism was to fall we would still have democracy. I really think if I was to tell someone that a piece of legislation was going to give up a small part of their own rights most people would not react as stunned, as if I were to tell them that a piece of legislation was being proposed to regulate a small part of capitalism. We have got to understand that America is a country that is a Democracy that happens to have a Capitalist Economic System, and it is NOT a Capitalism with a Democracy. America would be NO LESS FREE a Country if it was to drop Capitalism, but it would be a LESS FREE Country if it was to drop Democracy.
Another place we do not have democracy is the work place. Everyone of us has to work, but what "voice" do we have in our own company. If the company does not involve us in their business practices, then the company can do everything in back-rooms. So one day you think your are working for a growing company that is telling you to buy more company stock to add to your 401K, the next day your company, ENRON, shuts down and you have now lost your entire retirement. Think of it what are some of the best paying and secure jobs out in this economy? I would say Police Officers, Firefighters, and Teachers. They all have great benefits and job security, with great pay (in most places around district 4, these jobs start around $40,000 plus a year). Why these jobs, what makes them special? It is because they all have democracy in the work place through strong unions. Another example of how not having democracy in the workplace has hurt workers is the increased inflation through the cost of products / energy, while wages have decreased; as reported in this article from the Associated Press (click here to read this article). As weekly wages have decreased 1.6%, energy cost alone have increased by 18.2% in 2009 as reported in an article by Martin Crutsinger. We need to allow any number of interested workers in a workplace to form a union with no limits on the subjects upon which employees and unions may bargain with employers. We also need to be able to elect our immediate supervisors, to give us a better voice with management. We need to extend full-time benefits to part-time employees so that employers do not use part-time workers merely to avoid offering benefits. We also need to repeal the Hatch Act and the Taft-Hartley Act, the "hot cargo" provision of the Landrum-Griffin Act, and all so-called "right-to-work" laws. These laws are designed to deny democracy in the work place.
Finally, I am tired of seeing individuals get rich of the ill-gotten gains by stealing from their employees.
I am horrified to see the ever increasing and countless individuals that grow old and have no retirement, and they have to work at a much lower paying job until they die.
Worse yet, there are those that just can't take it anymore and commit suicide because their dreams of retirement have died, and now they must die with them. I had a neighbor that I knew for almost 20 years do this, he was forced into early retirement and had to get a job at Home Depot, just to pay the bills. One day he came home, wrote checks for all his bills and carefully placed them in their envelopes; then he went into the hallway and put a shotgun to his head.
THIS SHOULD NOT BE ACCEPTABLE CORPORATE BEHAVIOR!!!
Understand with democracy in the workplace and the economy, there will still be rich individuals who earned their money, but they will not become rich through making their employees poor!
Taxes & ServicesMy INCOME TAX Proposal
'Services go to the Workers and NOT to the Shirkers."
PEOPLE WHO MAKE BELOW $100K A YEAR (INDIVIDUAL)
Below we see that a 10% tax rate does not start until an individual is paid over $75K a year, prior to that Income Taxes are not charged (this follows the model set by the original progressive federal income tax of 1913).
It also shows that services provided by the government (Tax Discussion Above = Services Discussion Below), the more you actually work the more you earn in services, but eventually benefits start to go down with high income levels. This helps raise the quality of life Americans that are trying to work hard to make something for their family, while not penalizing them for their low-income.
Also this is based on Full-Employement Standards, and not the welfare-capitalism state (see my issues page) we currently live in.
This creates a system where the 'Services go to the Workers and NOT to the Shirkers."  PEOPLE WHO MAKE ABOVE $100K A YEAR (INDIVIDUAL)
Above $100K individuals we see a tax rate of 10% at $100K, at $175K Services (15% of all services offered) meet the Taxation rate (15% taxation on ALL income).
 PERCENTAGES OF TAXES VS. PERCENTAGES OF SERVICES FOR ALL INCOME LEVELS (INDIVIDUAL)
This is a list of Services and Taxes based on Income Levels to help raise the Standard of Living and Quality of Life for all Americans. This is based on Full-Employment, the end of Nation-Building in Iraq & Afghanistan and a 50% reduction in Military spending (supported by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)).
PLAN ON TAXATION IN RELATION TO SERVICES (VIDEO)
TYPES OF SERVICES THAT COULD BE APPLIED TO ALL CITIZENS
Below is my video on what types of services (of course not all possible services are discussed) could be offered to
'HELP NATION BUILD AMERICA'.
We need to leave behind Welfare-Capitalism and offer Full-Employment (see my issues page), then we can encourage people to work and get more services, instead of telling people the LESS you WORK the MORE SERVICES you get!
Let's End LESS WORK = MORE SERVICES & make MORE WORK = MORE SERVICE, by rewarding the workers, and at the same time raising people's quality of life to give them extra income that will give them more time with their children.
When parents have more time with their children, their children are more likely to do better in school, get ahead in life, and avoid criminal activity; this helps all of not just as Society, but as a Nation!
The "Late Night" final video of this was done after a full day of work and about 20 takes (including the tax video), so be kind I am working hard for all of you even if I am half-asleep! FINALLY...
It discuss Abolishing Medicare by 2019,
And Gambling Social Security funds in the Stock Market,
After all, no one has ever lost money in the Stock Market...
I am not joking read this for yourself!  |
Your Support Helps!
 |
Issues |
