I saw something similar to this a few years back but I'd like to get some Big Ideas that we as a community would like to see in the SOTU. It's not as if Republicans will act on any of President Obama's agenda anyway, so why not propose truly Game Changing Ideas? If you were delivering the speech and this would be your legacy, what would YOU want to propose?
I'm going to collect ideas all day today and post the most popular ones from whatever responses I receive as my Official Response to the SOTU (Hey, everybody's doing it...) tomorrow with a poll.
Here are the rules:
1. Propose up to 5 big ideas that would really change our country and provide either your key reasoning or a link for more information.
2. Provide the category for your proposal (Opportunity, Economy, Defense, Breaking Gridlock, Immigration, etc) so I can group them.
3. Recommend the proposals that you like in the comments. You can provide feedback on proposals that you think are misguided but please, no trolling.
4. Be Serious! While I'm sure "Stage a murder-suicide for Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia" would be the top vote getter (and a game changer), it's not a realistic suggestion.
5. Think Big and Have Fun!
OK, to start things off, I've listed my proposals after the croissant:
1. Free Public College Education for All (Opportunity): We spend more money each year subsidizing private lenders to provide student loans than we would to pay for tuition for everyone. Link
2. Financial Transactions Tax for Middle Class Debt Relief (Economy): Banks and investment firms gained from the stock market crash, they can pay to reduce the debts that Americans have incurred as a result. Link
3. End Corporate Welfare and Wasteful Privatization Act (Economy): Establish a commission of Academic, Business, and government economists (each party picks an equal number of representatives) to identify a package of subsidies to be eliminated in a fast-tracked vote, to establish a fund for state and local governments to buy-out corporate outsourcing/services contracts that do nothing more than enrich private companies at the public's expense.
4. Internet Equality and Patent and Copyright Reform Act (Economy): Establishes ISPs as common carriers, the minimum standards for net neutrality and enforcement mechanisms for internet providers, repeals the DMCA, establishes clear rights for fair use, ownership and resale of purchased software and media, and provides for privacy safeguards including personal liability for corporate leaders who violate privacy or abuse copyright takedown notices.
5. Debates for Guaranteed Votes (Breaking Gridlock): "Finally, my fellow Americans, I end with this challenge. Too many policies have been tied up as a direct result of Republican refusal to even allow votes on my initiatives. I will offer to hold live, nationally televised debates against any Republican member of the House or Senate that the Republicans propose, for three Bills of my choice and three Bills of Republican Leadership's choice, in exchange for those bills being put to a straight Up or Down vote as written in both chambers of congress. No more games, you want a battle of ideas? Any time, any place."
OK everyone, the floor is yours.