Concur. I often thet so busy playing "Globocop" that we really forget that we've no right to get the rest of the world on its feet until we can prove that we can do it at home...
Issues here I'd like to see fixed... (here in no particular order...)
Public Education (get the Federal government OUT of it - that's half the damn problem! Ever notice how all these Federal "initiatives" aren't working worth a damn? Start by disbanding the NEA - they're largely a political animal with little to no utility in education that I've seen. Teachers here? Prove me wrong...)
Poverty/Economy (Start with a tax holiday and lower the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage all the time helps no-one but the government - it increases the tax base. Lower the MW, lower the cost of production, things can become more affordable. While we're at it, dissolve the "Federal Reserve" and give economic "ship" back its former anchor of the Gold Standard. We've rampant inflation because there's really nothing to stop it.)
Poverty/Welfare (If we have to maintain some sort of welfare system, I propose the following. 1) If you are able-bodied and out of work, you put in some sort of "community service" like the old Works Progress programme in order to get your cheque. 2) If you are out of work due to education, your "public service" contribution may be minimised or eliminated, but then you MUST go to trade school or college. Also, in either case you get jobs training and placement assistance and have to be back to work within, say, two years unless your education will require more time for a legitimate reason (an apprenticeship, say - but that should be paid by the outfit you are working for at the time. I also say that Medicare and SS require drastic reform - they're just another form of welfare...)
Politics/Term Limits (People are getting FAR too comfortable in Washington, and living in that rarefied air causes trouble with the rest of the country. MAKE them get out and live & work for a while so they can stay in touch. Hell, since most of them are independently wealthy, why not suspend or cut off their pay entirely, and get rid of the legislator's pension programme.)
Economy/Social Security (Here's a touchy issue. The first problem with it is that it was never designed as a long-term programme - it is/was a Depression-era stopgap measure which was only supposed to run for five years and then terminate. Keeping it running this long has required an unending and ineffective series of patches, and has succeeded only in creating a system about to collapse under its own mass an inertia. It's out of money, it's falling apart, and it really is a drain on the working economy - especially with the "baby boomers" approaching SS collection age... I have very mixed feelings about SS...)
Law/Drugs (It's amazing just how much money local and state governments make in the "War on Drugs" - why do you think it's set up to be unwinnable? This is going to really start a flame war, but if we were serious we'd have decriminalised dope a long time ago (which would remove a good deal of the street crime and incidental death due to "bad cuts" and "surprised OD's") and that would have solved a good half of the problem right away. Government doesn't want to win the "War on Drugs" because they'll lose money on it.)
Poverty/Homelessness (More of the same - there's no money to be made in solving the Homeless issue, so it's not happening. Follow the money...)
Economy/Subsidies (Sorry, but this is something else that needs to go away. It is not the job of the Federal government - or any other level - to pay for part or all of someone's success. You pass or fail on your own.)
Economy/Taxation (It's not that I mind paying taxes. But, like anywhere else I spend money, I want to know what I'm getting in return. If the roads aren't getting fixed, children aren't learning anything, and the city is largely falling apart, I'm inclined to not pay taxes anymore, since there's no "Return on Investment" happening. I don't mind paying my share of public works projects, but supporting the people working in a bloated government, subsidizing daily life of a segment that isn't working and WON'T work, and paying fees that provide nothing but a sinecure for the incompetent is not something I - or anyone else - should be paying for. Nor do I want to pay for more useless laws to be passed, or for a legal system that is constantly growing and already in danger of collapse under its own weight. How much longer before "What is not permitted is forbidden?" We already can't keep up with the increase in the body of law, and there are laws passed well over a hundred years ago which are useless but still in effect (and you CAN be prosecuted for them!) Legal trivia - did you know that the first California "Three Strikes" case was Petty Theft with a Prior Offense? I don't remember the item stolen, but there's a man doing 25-to-Life for less than $100. Where's the danger we're being protected from? What's the point of that?)
I could go on, but I've hijacked enough of this and I'll shut up now. Sorry.
5-90