Musing on…If I Was In Charge Of the USA

Welcome to another exciting edition of "If I was in charge of," that fun and informative game where I think about things I’d change if I was the all-powerful ruler of a group, organization, nation, planet, or whatever (as they say: if you are going to have delusions, you might as well go for the truly satisfying ones). Because this edition is so broad, I’m limiting it to binding proclamations made over a short window of opportunity.

Welcome to another exciting edition of "If I was in charge of," that fun and informative game where I think about things I’d change if I was the all-powerful ruler of a group, organization, nation, planet, or whatever (as they say: if you are going to have delusions, you might as well go for the truly satisfying ones). Because this edition is so broad, I’m limiting it to binding proclamations made over a short window of opportunity.

If I was in charge of the USA, starting today, I would:

get us out of Iraq. A civil war is inevitable, and staying there only serves to postpone the internal conflict, waste resources, and kill non-natives.
divert some previously earmarked Iraq conflict funding to building up our own military for the very possible regional Middle East war that is to come. Also would remind military and intelligence planners that Iran is not an Arab country, but a Persian one. While there is religious overlap, the traditional culture is different.
dismantle the existing medical/insurance industry in favor of a single Department of Medicine which would provide care and research for every citizen and legal alien without charge.
force insurance industry reforms so that claims are clear, simple, and iron-clad. It is the insurance industry that is supposed to be assuming the risks, not the insured…it’s time everyone remembers that.
create a national lawyer pool. For non-trivial civil and criminal cases, lawyers for each party would be allocated via a lottery…rich and poor having equal odds of getting adequate representation.
mandate that all government-recognized unions be civil ones…separation of church and state, don’t you know. Religious unions can be segregated however religions are comfortable with (again, separation of church and state), but civil unions require only legal age (or court-approved consent) and a full understanding of what is contractually being entered into (which consequently makes the union more difficult to break). The advantage of civil unions is some increased value in some government transactions.
create a Supreme Court of Legislative Review to rule on newly signed laws to consider their constitutionality before wasting years and funds to have them go through the system.
have members of the House of Representatives be randomly chosen from a pool of all vote-eligible competent Americans 25-years old or older. Notification will give sufficient time for chosen Representatives to put affairs in order before their mandatory service. They and their families will be housed and boarded at any of a number of well-run middle-class-grade government facilities for their term.
forbid the President from deploying National Guard troops outside U.S. borders without the consent of the governor of the state where the troops are stationed. Also, allow governors (veto-able by the state’s U.S. Senators) to recall any deployed guardsmen in time of state emergency. (The National Guard is supposed to be the homeland army/militia, not an military minor league.)
accelerate the implementation of the death penalty for prisoners on death row for five or more years. Would also suggest the courts implement the death penalty in cases where the sentence would exceed the prisoner’s maximum expected natural life (currently 130 years).
require D.A.s, upon receipt of valid DNA or similar exonerating evidence, to release wrongly imprisoned persons with little delay.
require the government to apologize and compensate individuals wrongly imprisoned due to lack of effort of government groups given the accepted resources at the time of conviction.
encourage zero-population growth in the U.S.A. and globally. There are enough people.
stop growing corn for bio-fuel…it’s not helping the energy crunch but is definitely hurting food supply.
remove food production subsidies for 80% of farms and ranches…the remaining 20% would be nationalized for homeland security purposes, not for food production for the general populace. Farms would be limited in size to encourage the return of family farmers.
require the national minimum wage be tied to the national inflation rate…that way Congress never has to worry about voting on it again.
create a national viaduct and water processing system so that flood waters in one region of the country could be cleaned and transported to the drier areas of the country…solving two problems at once.
mandate the end to avoirdupois for everyday use within one year (i.e. complete the switchover to metric).
have a review of civil lawsuits before they are filed…warning filers if their suit could be construed as frivolous. Upon a losing verdict, if the judge or jury finds the lawsuit to be without merit and frivolous, the filer must pay triple attorneys fees for the defendant as well as triple court costs for wasting the court’s time.
allow jury members to ask questions during trials to find out things they want to know that hasn’t been offered by either lawyer during the testimony phase.
remove the airline hub system in favor of greater distribution of smaller airports as well as more practically-sized aircraft. This to possibly avoid re-regulating the airline industry as well as providing a possible boost to small-town America.
have DARPA design and implement a secure Internet-like high-speed network as well as a freely available, secure, small-footprint, constantly updated, modular OS kernel to be used as the core for commercial and freeware operating systems.
stop the war on drugs as it doesn’t and hasn’t worked. Stop mandatory sentences of drug USERS, but maintain them for traffickers. On my desk by 5:00pm, send useful suggestions to reduce drug use. With fewer mandatory drug use sentences, the prisons should be emptier soon, so we can be tougher on paroles.
create safe prison policies and practices so that guards and inmates are kept safe during their incarceration. No prisoner should ever have to fear brutality in any form while incarcerated…that is not part of the punishment.
not send a budget up to Congress. That’s not the President’s job, but Congress’s. I also would not personally give a State of the Union speech at the Capitol unless it was a immediate national importance…I’d just have one of my aides deliver a copy every now and then (which is all the Constitution requires). Also, I wouldn’t hand out copies of my speech before I give it. Let everyone be surprised at the same time…it’s more fun that way.
institute needs restrictions for larger vehicles (e.g. SUVs, vans, and trucks) with low mileage ratings.
mandate the thinning of forests so fires don’t easily become conflagrations
make long-term binding treaties with Canada for foodstuffs in preparation for when they become the breadbasket of the world.
recognize Cuba (Castro won…get over it)…a necessary first step to start building respect again in Latin America.
redirect foreign aid to Africa and Latin America before we lose them as potential allies to some other group.
propose the creation of a new United Nations with a new structure indicative of what we’ve learned and how the world has changed in fifty years.
revamp the education system so that progress is based on ability in various subjects, not by school year level or age. I would require basic education to be secular (no exclusions — we need a populace with baseline knowledge held to a high standard) with required coursework in comparative religious philosophy to round out the education; additional course work would also be allowed in a person’s own faith where applicable.
require physical education and arts be included in all primary and secondary school programs.