Two things happened to me this week which prompted me to write this diary. The first was when I received an email from MoveOn.org inviting me to run for office, any office, because as you know, all politics is local. Getting people involved is how the Tea Party sent so many people to Washington in 2010, and MoveOn paired me with the New Organizing Institute who is empowering people like me with the tools we need to actually take this first step.
The second thing that happened was that a FaceBook friend said he was looking for a write in candidate for the ballot, a challenge which Mike Bailey took him up on. But Mike did him one better, he wrote down a short campaign platform.
Together, these events got me thinking.
If I were running for office, what would be my platform?
Details after the orange croissant.
My highest priorities are creating jobs and strengthening the American economy. Making the economy stronger means ceasing that which makes it weaker, and the #1 thing that makes our economy weak is the foreign trade deficit. In 2010, we imported roughly $500 Billion more than we exported.
A funny thing about that trade deficit - with crude oil hovering around $100 per barrel, and our annual oil imports at 4.3 Billion barrels - our oil imports account for about 90% of the foreign trade deficit. It is therefore paramount that we reduce our oil consumption in order to eradicate the foreign trade deficit. Some would say the answer is to increase our domestic oil production but we'll never produce that much oil, at least not until after we've decreased our overall demand. The logical conclusion here is that the ongoing future economic stability of the U.S. depends upon switching our energy reliance toward renewable sources. It will not be a matter of IF we eventually convert to renewable electric based transportation system, but a matter of WHEN we finally do it.
Perhaps the most important step toward shifting our energy demands is the creation of high speed rail in the U.S. For a country which used to be on the cutting edge of technology it's an embarrassment to see us lag behind nearly every other industrialized nation in the adoption of high speed rail. HSR would actually save time on many trips by bringing the traveler straight to a city center without the need for travel to and from the airport, not to mention the arduous waiting at airport security. It's more comfortable, cheaper, offers more amenities while in transit, and doesn't rely on petroleum based fuel.
Great strides have been made in solar technology during the past 5 years. Photovoltaic panels have become more efficient, silicon has become cheaper, and almost every month comes news of improvements in battery design and longevity. Not only do these strides increase the viability of photovoltaic energy in general, but they invalidate all of the old arguments against the electric car.
Solyndra's critics won't let us soon forget its failures, but we must keep in mind that Solyndra made a bet against using silicon, during a time when the price of silicon plummeted. We were right to support innovators like Solyndra, and I would place that bet again. Because we can not afford to lose the solar race. If we fall behind countries like China, who might eventually produce better solar panels at cheaper prices, we risk losing all of our domestic PV infrastructure production, much like we almost lost all of our domestic auto makers just a few years ago. If we let other countries develop a monopoly on PV equipment we will the be at their mercy when they do what all monopolies do, that is, jack up the prices. We should look at this as a matter of national security.
Large scale Photovoltaic and wind farms are of little use without an efficient power grid to carry that energy the long distances to metropolitan centers. A HVDC grid would be a major investment that I would support.
Next, is we have to do something about the stratification of wealth and education in the country. The key ingredient to a thriving economy is a middle class who has spending power. Right now our middle class is saddled with debt and usurious interest rates on those loans. Pell grants are disappearing, while the price of a college education is rising faster than ever before.
But nowadays you're lucky if you get into college because that probably means you graduated from a high school that was safe, had heat, where the windows weren't boarded up and the roofs didn't leak whenever it rained. Bush's NCLB weakened the school system and in many ways it seems designed to create a vicious downward spiral. Flushing our public education system down the proverbial toilet deprived a generation of two elements to a good education which are the hardest to teach: Creativity and Critical Thinking. Inventors and innovators know these skills are at the core of real world problem solving.
Part of economic fairness is to make sure those who make the most are paying their fair share. There's a term called "Lemon Socialism" which happens when we collectively subsidize the nonviable, nonprofitable companies. But here in America, we do it one better. We subsidize the viable, profitable companies. Take the subsidies given to oil companies. The argument goes that if we didn't give them a subsidy, they'd just pass that cost along to the consumer. Well, I say it's time to call their bluff. I think the oil companies charge as much as the consumer is able to pay; any more than that and the consumers will change their spending habits, they spend less on other items, the economy sags and there is less overall demand for gas. And just supposing for a second that it's true, if every penny that we give to the oil companies is a penny that they're willing to forego in revenues... that just means we're all helping to reduce the fuel costs of the biggest gas consumers, and 9 times out of 10 those are commercial vehicles. Chalk it up to one more way that the average person helps to defray the cost of doing business.
Part II of economic fairness is to take away the banks' license to steal. I'm not talking about hidden fees and CEO pay: If that's the way they want to run their business, so be it. But any institution that is FDIC insured can't be gambling with derivatives and expecting the government to bail them out when things go sour. There's a saying, Socialize the costs, Privatize the profits and I'm sick and tired of watching the banks gamble while foregoing any of the consequences. Banks should be in the business of loaning money, that is, making loans which the banks believe will remain solvent. Instead we've seen a multi-trillion dollar industry arise through the creation of risky loans repackaging and bets against those same loans.
Finally, it's time to stop the asinine war on marijuana a.k.a. Cannabis. Anyone who wants it can get it, and keeping it illegal only makes that money go underground, literally under the border to Mexico. Drug cartels smuggle meth, heroin, and cocaine but they make their bread and butter off of marijuana. If you want to "starve the beast" then make marijuana legal in the U.S. It's been estimated that $46 Billion per year would be generated and / or saved by doing this. Think about the list of expenses that the failed drug war creates: Cash smuggled out of the country, taxes not collected, costs to law enforcement, costs of lawyers, costs of incarceration, lost productivity, and on and on. And there's also the unethical conflict of interest when judges get kickbacks for sending offenders to private prisons. The drug war has bred a massive amount of corruption. I'd even like to look into the activities of police departments whose pension funds are heavily invested in private prisons.
Now, I can hear the concerned citizenry crying 'but what about the children?' Indeed, what about the children... When we tell kids that 'all drugs are bad,' it teaches them that the dangers of marijuana are equal to heroin or crystal meth. But then they hear about idols like Miley Cyrus, Michael Phelps, Fred Davis and Trent Williams who smoke it, or notable people like Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, and Sir Richard Branson, not to mention the last three Presidents of the United States who've tried it, then they figure it's o.k. to try crack and meth. Every week there are references to marijuana use on TV: In years past that reference was always a nod to the 60's, that someone had "experimented with it back in college." More recently the gag humor doesn't reach back 50 years to provide an excuse, the set up involves people who are currently active marijuana smokers. Right or wrong, marijuana is an ingrained part of the American culture, and keeping it illegal sends a confusing message that condones the use of more dangerous drugs.
If you think the general war on marijuana is hypocritical, it pales in comparison to the war on medical marijuana. Our government has concluded that marijuana has "no currently accepted medical use." Why does this take the award for hypocrisy? Because U.S. Patent # 6630507, for the use of cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants, was awarded to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Our government simultaneously claims that cannabinoids have no medical value, and yet they hold a patent describing the medical value of cannabinoids!
An interesting thing happened in Denver during 2009-2010. After U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced he would not prosecute Medical Marijuana providers who are in compliance with their states' laws, about 1,000 dispensaries opened up shops. What makes it interesting is that practically overnight, Denver became perhaps the only city in America with zero available retail space. Not only that, but Denver became one of the few places where retail rents were increasing due to that demand. If Denver becomes the epicenter of an economic recovery I've got a good idea where to place the credit for it.
Also related to marijuana by proxy is the illegality of growing hemp. For those of you who are not familiar with hemp, it is a non-psychoactive cousin to the cannabis plant. It has more than 100 uses, in fact it's biggest danger is that it's too useful, and can be used to replace cotton, nylon, flour, diesel and paper, just to name a few. It is one of the highest yielding crops. At a time when our nation's farmers are struggling harder than ever, this crop would be a panacea. And the only reason why it's illegal is because it merely resembles a different plant which is prohibited. There is absolutely no reason why hemp farming should be illegal. Is it really that hard for law enforcement to tell the difference between hemp and cannabis, or are there ulterior motives behind preventing farmers from growing hemp?
These are not the only problems which face America today but in my mind they represent the things which are the most wrong, the things which contribute the most to economic strife. You also may notice that each one of these problems, when viewed through the lens of corporate fascism, is actually a feature to some. As the electronic music composer and deejay Moby once wrote, Everything Is Wrong. We have allowed our country to become overrun by special interests. No one (well, almost no one) lobbies for the public good. What we need are values driven progressives who won't cave to the pressures of reelection once they're in office. Because doing the right thing for the people means doing things that are going to piss off "the wrong people." I wouldn't vow to be a one-term incumbent, but I would run on the idea that it would be the most likely outcome.
I'd like to invite the rest of you to draft your own diary outlining what your campaign platform would be.