Rather than explain political philosophy in the form of abstract, arbitrary terms with highly subjective interpretations, I am going to employ a more concrete approach: the time honored "If I were in charge" list. The advantage of expressing political views via unilateral decisions with unchecked authority is clarity. After all, I don't describe myself as "liberal" the same way Nancy Pelosi does(let alone how Europeans do).
- "Usury" must be added to the 6th grade English vocabulary list, and A Merchant of Venice will replace Romeo and Juliet as the required freshman English Shakespeare lesson.
- Finite Mathematics and financial formulas are to be added, or emphasized where they already exist, to junior high algebra courses. Rather than emphasizing the potential savings of compound interest bank accounts, emphasize the potential loss of compound interest amortizations.
- State governments can no longer recognize religious ceremonies for domestic civil partnerships. All permanent domestic unions must be registered with a state authority, and the state is not to use "marriage" to describe them in official documents. From the state and federal government's perspective, marriage is entirely a religious ceremony with no legal benefits or recognition. Any spousal arrangement, whether heterosexual or homosexual, are civil unions/domestic partnerships, and must extend the same rights to all couples in such arrangements without respect to gender.
- White-Collar crime and punishment will work on an opportunity cost system, where the fine and jail sentence is set by the harm done, and is multiplied by the inverse of the likelihood of getting caught. That is, it must be made into the less-acceptable alternative. Companies that can absorb the cost of fines as a business expense and remain profitable are not bound by the law. That has to change.
- The poverty line will be re-assessed, and no longer based only on an income index, but will be a range, and vary based on individual capability.
- Public schooling paid by property taxes goes into an operating fund for the entire state, and divided up evenly based on student numbers and facility need. Public schooling paid by income, sales, or other taxes are likewise to be divided similarly.
- School teachers and administrators should answer to elected state boards, not local boards. The perverse cycle of disincentives to hold students accountable for their performance by placing the job of the teacher or administrator in the hands of disgruntled parents results in students who are invincible until they graduate, and are thus unprepared for the world. 7a: Teachers know when their administrator is ineffective; more respect needs to be paid to their opinion of the effectiveness of their school's administration. 7b) an F is an F and does not become a C- "upon further review."
- The U.S. Military is not to be deployed overseas in excess of the Constitutionally allotted 90 days without an explicit declaration of war by Congress or a status of forces agreement approved by Congress, or Congress-approved treaty obligation.
- Education, Healthcare, and Travel become enumerated Constitutional rights. These provide the necessary base for personal achievement and fulfillment, and denial of any of them prevents a person from contributing as much as they could.
- States are allowed to provide for elections for any public office, but non-partisan offices are subject to the balanced perspective media model; any political party-affiliated individual or group advocating on their behalf must provide for the expression of an opposed viewpoint.
- Corporations that are publicly traded, following the retirement of the founder from the role of president, CEO, or board chairmen, must allow that seat to be voted upon on a "one shareholder, one vote" basis rather than voting by shares. Multiple alternative compensation packages for the senior management must be made available to shareholders to vote upon on a "one shareholder, one vote" basis.
- The Federal Reserve must submit to an annual audit; to protect the interests of banks who have lines of credit extended, the names of the recipient banks may, at the Senate Finance Committee's discretion, be redacted from the publicly available report, but the itemized list of disbursed funds must be reported in full.
- The Federal Reserve may not extend more credit than the Senate has approved by a vote of the full house.
- Any company, publicly traded or privately held, that accepts federal government funds for operational assistance must submit to a regular, publicly available audit until those funds are repaid.
- "Bank Holding Company" is no longer a permissible business model. Any firm whose practices involve banking, loans, or mortgages must restrict its practices to those fields, and may not own subsidiaries nor be owned by a parent company that engages in practices outside those fields.
- Any company that does business on American shores is subject to applicable taxes on income and sales within American borders; acquisition of assets or incurred losses from overseas partners, subsidiaries, or parents will not reduce the tax obligation for its American income.
- Legalize marijuana.
- Naturalized citizens are to be made eligible for the office of President of the United States, provided they meet the other Constitutional requirements.
- Single-payer health insurance would be implemented in full and paid for by a combination of income taxes, income taxes, and income taxes.
- No overseas trade negotiations will be free of tariffs or restrictions unless labor and wage laws are comparable to our own and are being meaningfully enforced.
- Corn subsidies will be limited to companies below a certain threshold of employees, and apply to any for-profit arrangement of parent and subsidiary farm holdings. Non-profit community co-ops are excluded.
- High-fructose corn syrup will be subject to FDA regulation as a harmful substance.
- Aspertame would be pulled off the market.
- The United States will derive 50% of its energy supply from renewable sources by the end of 2020, and be on track to reach 100% by 2050. (If you think it is impossible, look at Germany. The correct set of incentives and political will can get a lot done quickly)
- All bills sent to committee default a call for a floor vote within 60 days of referral unless expressly voted down by the committee. A bill will only die in committee if the committee members take an official stand against it.
- Public funding of elections and advocacy advertisements on federally regulated broadcast media. Any group may request the distribution of an advocacy advertisement, but they are only entitled to as much airtime/screentime as every other group filing similar applications.
- States are allotted a number of house seats, to be decided by state-wide runoff, rather than winner-take-all districts. In other words, each person votes for one representative, and the top vote recipients up to the state's allotment are thusly elected.
- Interest rates for loans, mortgages, credit cards, and any other debt obligation is capped at 10%.
- Student loans, and credit cards are not protected from being abrogated in bankruptcy.
- Student loans funded by federal or state governments must be serviced by said government. Private enterprises with no risk of loss should not be paid to service the loans for a profit.
- If an institution poses a systemic risk to the economy by its collapse, tough cookies, it collapses. Its board does not pass go, and does not collect $200 or any other bonus or severance packages. Until the system stabilizes, the federal government takes control of the management of its operations during any transfer of ownership or liquidation of assets (Similar to what the FDIC was supposed to have been doing all along, but not limited to banks).
- Bribery of elected officials carries a life sentence for both parties.