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发帖数: 29846 | 1 The American public has questions. And unlike others running for president,
I have frank answers.
And with my answers to major questions presented below, I officially throw
my hat into the GOP presidential sweepstakes ring.
11 Questions US Public Wants to Ask Candidates
Gallup has an interesting article based on the premise If the American
People Were Running the GOP Debate what would they ask?
Gallup claims the questions are based on issues that people say are the most
important problems facing the country today.
Gallup says there are "No gotcha questions or efforts to stump the
candidates or push them off their talking points, just sincere questions
from the people to help them understand how these individuals who want to
take over as the people's chief executive would handle the issues the people
deem most important."
Gallup Questions, Mish Answers
Here are the questions, along with my answers. I believe I am the only
candidate willing to answer truthfully.
First question: How do you propose to fix the U.S. economy?
Mish answer: The economy is in a mess precisely because we have too many
government bureaucrats as well as the Fed attempting to fix it. We do not
have a failure to regulate, we have failure by regulation. Every affordable
housing program failed. Obamacare failed. The Fed and the government bailed
out the banks while taxpayers took the risk. The number one sponsor of
income inequality that Fed chair Janet Yellen rails against is the Fed
itself. The number two sponsor of income inequality is Congress. The Fed has
blown bubble after bubble for the primary benefit of the already wealthy.
And everywhere Congress has meddled has been a disaster. The primary
examples are health care, education, and housing. None of them are
affordable. We need a simpler tax code and more free market economics,
because every time the government steps in, government makes things worse.
And every time the Fed steps in, the Fed blows bubbles.
Second question: How do you propose to deal with the people's record-low
confidence in Congress and the elected representatives they send to
Washington?
Mish answer: The supreme court decision that corporations are people makes
no sense. We need another challenge. Campaign finance reform is certainly
needed. Gerrymandering by both political parties has to stop. That the vast
majority of Congress gets reelected every election even though Congressional
ratings are at record lows says volumes about how the system is rigged for
incumbents.
Third question: What do you propose to do about race relations in this
country?
Mish Answer: We need more prosecutors like Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph
Deters who brought murder and manslaughter charges against University of
Cincinnati police Officer Ray Tensing for the traffic stop shooting death of
motorist Samuel DuBose. Deters had the courage to stand up to the police
unions. In addition, Deters wants to decriminalize marijuana and so do I.
Most of those in prison for minor drug violations are black. When they get
out, they cannot get a job because of their prison record. The system of
hate and crime feeds on itself, for the benefit of prison unions, drug lords
, and those allegedly seeking to stop the spread of drugs.
Fourth question: What do you propose to do about immigration and individuals
living in this country illegally?
Mish answer: The first thing we need to do is close the door. The way to do
that is not build a wall on the border, but instead build an economic wall:
Be willing to decline free education, free medical care, and housing
assistance to those who are here illegally. Once we stop the flow, we can
then have an honest debate about long-time illegals. Positive factors for
amnesty include those who have a steady job, speak English, own property, or
have US citizen children. Negative factors include those with criminal
records. Joint discussions with Mexico on border controls and repatriation
issues would be wise.
Fifth question: What do you propose to do about jobs?
Mish answer: Set the corporate income tax rate to zero on income produced
and held in the US. Jobs would return. Instead, US corporations stockpile
money and jobs overseas in foreign tax havens. In addition, and as addressed
in question one, we need more free market reforms including the elimination
of the much beloved but very damaging minimum wage. The problem is not one
of wages, rather the problem is Fed and government policies are such that
wages people earn do not go far enough. It's important to understand the
real source of the income inequality problem rather than pile on
counterproductive regulations to "fix" it. In addition, we need national
right-to-work legislation, the end of collective bargaining of public unions
, and we need to scrap all prevailing wage laws. We also need to eliminate
all tariffs. The first country that truly embraces free trade, regardless of
what any other country does will be a huge winner. Jobs will flourish if
the US does what I suggest.
Sixth question: How do you propose to deal with declining moral, family and
ethical values in this country?
Mish answer: Get government out of the bedroom and get religion out of
government. It's none of my business, or anyone else's business whether
someone is gay or straight. In regards to ethics, it's a travesty of justice
that not a single high-profile executive of a major corporation had to pay
a dime for their role in the great financial crisis. More criminal
prosecution was warranted and would occur under my administration.
Seventh question: How do you propose to deal with the federal budget deficit?
Mish answer: Slash spending across the board. Both military and entitlement
spending have to share the pain. It's high time we, as a nation, have a
heart-to-heart talk about what we can afford and cannot. We clearly cannot
afford to be the world's policeman and at the same time keep other
entitlement promises we have made. Candidates unwilling to admit this
obvious fact are liars.
Eighth question: What do you propose to do about poverty?
Mish answer: My answers to the first and fifth questions explain essential
parts of my program. In addition, I would create a much-needed incentive for
people to get out of poverty. Right now, many would rather take free
benefits than seek a job. To those, I would limit what food stamps can buy.
I would add soap and detergent to the list of eligible items in order to
promote cleanliness, but I would take away snacks, pop, frozen pizza, etc.,
and other items. Food stamps should buy very basic items, and nothing more.
We need to make it uncomfortable to stay on welfare, while still providing
minimum nutritional needs. We also need a big investigation of medicare
fraud and disability fraud. Such proposals would be the true enactment of "
compassionate conservatism".
Ninth question: How do you propose to deal with crime and violence?
Mish answer: I partially addressed this question in number three. Drugs are
a key item. The primary beneficiary of drug laws is the drug lords.
Criminalization of drugs increases prices while creating a huge incentive
for pushers to get people hooked on drugs. Take away the profit and the
pushers go away. So does crime. And prisons won't overflow at enormous cost
to taxpayers.
Tenth question: How do you propose to improve the education our children
receive?
Mish answer: End collective bargaining of public unions. Put the kids first,
not the unions. Make it easier to dismiss poor teachers.
Eleventh question: How do you propose to make healthcare more accessible and
affordable?
Mish answer: Scrap Obamacare and start all over. In addition, I would scrap
all tariffs on prescription drugs coming into the country. While on the
subject of tariffs, I would scrap all tariffs period. Back to healthcare,
the US pays the highest costs in the world for legal drugs. We need more
free market capitalism and less regulation. Charging $100 per aspirin in
hospital stays to smooth out the costs is not an answer. Published rates for
services should be welcome. It costs $20,000 for heart operations in India
that cost as much as $250,000 in the US. I would like to see health care
plans that require people healthy enough to travel elsewhere for major
medical procedures. Anything that genuinely promotes competition is fair
game. Obamacare failed because it does nothing to reduce costs. When we
start over, the focus must be on competition, not free benefits. Floating
foreign hospitals on boats offshore? Why not? The more competition the
better. And finally, we need a serious heart-to-heart discussion on the "
right to die" instead of the existing "keep people alive at all costs"
mentality.
Mish for President
With that set of answers, I officially throw my hat into the ring.
Why not? Everyone else is running.
And the prospect of Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, etc.
running against Hillary Clinton is downright nauseating.
I did not give either Republicans or Democrats everything they want. In fact
, I proposed many things one side or the other would have huge problems with.
Yet, I did give the middle lots of things to think about.
I believe someone could get elected on my set of answers ... IF ... one
could survive the nomination process. Therein lay the problem.
One cannot be nominated by the GOP if they take on the industrial-
military complex.
One cannot be nominated by the Democrats by taking on public unions.
Therefore we stew with the worst of both worlds: warmongering coupled with
untenable benefit promises and slow stagnation until the next crisis. |
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