Cross posted on Daily Kos
If we survive the next two plus years, I’ve started to think about what I consider to be non-negotiable demands I will make of the next president.
Here are some things that I’ve come up with, what about you?
A clearly defined strategy for dealing with Iraq. This does not mean a bunch of double talk, triple speak and hemming and hawing. It means a precise description of what will happen, how it will happen, and when it will happen. This must be articulated in clear and crisp sentences which contain a beginning, a middle and an end.
Universal health care. Universal access to health care. Single payer health insurance. Not gimmicks. A program that will be understood by all Americans with low administrative costs and a program which will be affordable. Health insurance which can never, ever be taken away. In a word, health insurance, no better or worse than what our elected representatives give themselves.
A new Medicare prescription drug benefit. A program preferably run by Medicare which requires minimal paperwork. A benefit which will insure that no senior citizen in America will ever go without lifesaving medicine. A program that will be for the benefit of the people, not the insurance companies, the corrupt lobbyists and the pharmauceutical industry.
Strengthen Social Security so that it will be there for me and succeeding generations. Perhaps raise the cap on the the social security tax. Never, ever mention the word privatize.
Energy independence. Require the automobile industry to produce fuel efficient cars. Tax the gas guzzling monster SUVs. Jerome a Paris, help me out here.
Restore progressive taxation. Make the wealthy pay their fair share. And if we need to levy onerous taxes to repair the devastion of the Bu$h years, then hit the wealthy–those who have escaped sharing the burden since 2000.
Rebuild the Gulf Coast of the United States. Create good jobs with good wages while restoring a region and a city New Orleans, vital to the American economy and the American identity. Build a world class levee system which will withstand a cat 5 hurricane.
Pledge to hold monthly press conferences. When asked a question, look into the camera and tell the truth in clear and crisp language–not political speak. Do not evade, duck and insult the intelligence of the American people with garbled nonsense and non-answers.
Commit to placing professionals–the best and the brightest–in key government and cabinet positions. For example: a seasoned first responder at FEMA. An esteemed public health expert at HHS. Reject 100% placing political hacks in sensitve government positions.
In the first 100 days, travel to major world capitals and start to repair the damage inflicted by the reign of the worst president ever.
Pledge never to spy on the American people. Pledge to never violate the civil liberties of the American people.
Demand that our country have the best military in the world. Give our veterans the benefits they have earned and deserve. Never again send our soldiers to fight and die for a lie. And if you do have to send them to war, make sure we have the best equipped army in the world.
Pledge to take your oath of office seriously. When you place you hand on the Bible, make sure you mean what you say. Remember that to the Worst President Ever, the oath of office was meaningless verbiage.
If a candidate and a president can commit to this, I’ll feel we’ve made some progress.
Thanks for the thoughtful diary, eve – it’s sure to bring some great discussion. In reference to the following:
I’ve often wondered . . . how does a president effectively communicate the status and direction of a war without giving away the military strategy to the
“other side”?
More than just the empty nonsense like, “when the Iraqis stand up, we’ll stand down.”
An intelligent plan to untangle America from the disaster of Bush.
That s/he speak in complete sentences.
Seriously.
But about your list, I agree with it, especially the Medicare “drug benefit.”
(Beginning rant)
Could Congress have come up with anything more confusing??? I think there are about 53 people in the country who knows how it works, and the rest of us are ass out. My Mom was in an absolute panic for weeks (until we talked) because she had no idea how the program worked and Grandma (her Mom) takes about a zillion drugs a day.
Is it better than what she’s getting now? Do I have to tell the government that I DON’T want to enroll her?
Now, thank God, my Grandma doesn’t need to enroll–but what if she did? In fact, I told Mom that she should have received a letter saying that Grandma had “creditable coverage” (a benefit that is as good or better than what the Part D program offers)–but since we live several states away from Grandma and depend on relatives who are “sometimey” when sending her mail, I went straight to Grandma’s provider’s website to get the info I needed.
Easy, right?
WRONG!!! My Grandma is damned lucky, because if she had to do depend upon herself, she’d be up a creek. But she’s got my Mom, and she has me. I know how to cut thru a lot of BS to get what I need and can be a general bitch when I feel I’m getting the runaround. How many people can say the same? How many people have someone they can depend upon like that?
How many seniors own or have access to a computer? Can read what’s on the screen? Know how to find the info they need?
There are many, many seniors who cannot and do not.
Let me tell you, folks are confused and downright fearful of this thing and if they don’t have anyone to point them in the right direction to get them the info they need…I don’t even want to contemplate.
This administration and congressional ldshp are full of shit.
/rant.
Now, what was your question again? :<)
Very nicely done. I would also add restoring funding to the social programs that have been cut ( and especially student loans) and to once again make protection of the environment a priority. (Pombo can go to Hell!) Thanks!
boran, absolutely.
Also, I neglected judicial appointments–mainstream jurists who will respect civil rights, civil liberites and the right to privacy.
A candidate that has not been bought by major corporate special interest groups, ie:oil, pharmaceutical companies etc.
An old-fashioned idea:
Someone who will say that government is by and for people not corporations. That corporations do not have a higher standing than people.
And that all people deserve a living wage and healthcare. And that the graduated income tax should begin at a point above that basic living wage (calculated per-person).
And get us the fuck out of Iraq.
I know I’m dreaming, but it’s all I’ve got.
I want a president who represents and cares about all our citizens, not just the wealthy white ones.
I want them to know what it’s like to be tired at the end of a long day of work, and still have to go gracery shopping and make dinner and do homework with the kids, without live-in domestic help.
I want them to know how it feels to have your income shrinking as a result of bad government policies.
I think they should have to live and support a family for 6 months on the median income in this country…in an expensive city, and without dipping into their savings. I want them to have to buy health insurance on this limited income, and to send their children to those public schools.
And hopefully they would learn from this.
Exactly. Exactly this.
I could happily suppport a candidate who ran on the “I am not a millionaire” ticket. But I don’t think that will ever happen again.
CabinGirl, you said it much better than me.
You bet. Hang in there, help is on the horizon–God willing.
honor and integrity to the White House.
Been there, done that. 🙂
from the next President:
I want someone who will do what’s right, regardless of what it does to his/her re-election chances.
I want someone who understands the separation of church and state, and isn’t afraid to tell extremists on either side of the church aisle when necessary to shove it — someone who realizes that God isn’t a Democrat or a Republican.
I want someone who is open to listening to all points of view, not just those who agree with him/her or tells him/her what he/she wants to hear.
And I want someone who can stand up and say, “Yes, I made a mistake…now here’s how we’re going to fix it.”
I am not voting for another candidate who won’t fight for my equality, period, full stop. I’m done voting for people who tell me up front that they won’t fight for me. And I’m just about done wasting my time trying to justify that to other people who call themselves “liberals” while they demand that I vote for their candidate after their candidate has already made crystal clear that my rights are not important. If the Democratic candidate wants my vote in ’08, then s/he better have a plan for ensuring equality for queer people under the law.
I demand an accounting of all the money given away to Bushco cronies, and prosecution of the thieves.
I demand a real investigation into the lies and misrepresentation of intelligence that took us to war, and prosecution of war crimes that resulted.
I demand a real investigation into voting fraud; especially the paperless systems and enforcement of voting standards in every state.
I demand that Bush be arrested for breaking the law multiple times while in office.
I demand an investigation of taxpayer dollars given to media and bloggers to catapult the propaganda without proper disclaimers.
I demand Bush pay back every taxpayer cent he spent running around the country trying to sell his Social Security scam at events that I would have been disallowed from attending.
I have more, but you get the gist.
I want a President who doesn’t believe in photo-ops in church and when asked, says that “my faith is between me and my God.”
I want a President who believes that government can help solve problems and is not the root of all evil.
I want a President who actually believes the words
We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordains and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Well folks, from reading this, it looks like the next president is going to be a very busy person!
I want honesty and a pledge that the next president will wake up every day thinking about how s/he can make this country a more perfect union. A big part of that is repairing the damage of this administration — assuming that it can be repaired.
It also would be nice to have a president that has a grasp on the English language…lol!
If the next president makes it possible for every person in this country to easily and affordably see a doctor, get medication, go to the hospital, get treatment for a catastrophic illness, and receive long-term nursing care, I’ll be so amazed that I probably won’t bitch about anything else that does or doesn’t happen during that administration.
we need a president that chris matthews thinks would be a good guy to share a beer with.
Good list.