The most important and relevant issue, but one unlikely to be addressed in the upcoming elections is a reform of our political system. The United States is an idea based on the notion of “for the people by the people.” Money and lobbyists have changed the meaning to “for the rich and powerful by the rich and powerful.” The last decade has seen millions of jobs move overseas, enriching corporations. Taxpayers have had to foot the bill for fraudulent investments while those responsible have not had to suffer any repercussions. People are losing their jobs and their homes. Families are being squeezed. The US Government has started wars based on false pretenses, spending hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives but most people have no idea why we are doing this. We make weapons that we have no enemy to use against. What use is an F-22 fighter plane against terrorists? We build weapons for a Cold War that ended two decades ago. There are over 900 US military bases around the world. Why do we have bases in Europe and Japan? These are wealthy countries that can take care of themselves. The answer is lobbyists for the weapon manufacturers. It is not based on need but on patronage.
The following political changes are needed; an overhaul of the electoral system excluding any monetary donations. In lieu of that candidates should be given free television time or dedicated television and online video channels devoted to electoral campaigning. This will allow candidates to reach the electorate. There should be a stipend paid out of taxpayer funds for candidates who reach a certain level of popular acceptability. Whoever is elected needs to have the Supreme Court revisit its decision in Citizens United versus FEC. Corporations are not people, as Justice Stevens argued in his dissent; “the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government since the founding”
We need to reduce certain government regulations that stifle growth, while at the same time enforcing SEC regulation and strengthening them. Above all the US needs to reduce its Defense budget. That money should be invested in new businesses. Every year billions of dollars of taxpayer money is invested in research, yet only a tiny portion 3-4% is commercialized. The main reason for this low figure is a lack of early stage investment. Large corporations should be encouraged to let their upper middle management run start up companies. This not only benefits their employees, but addresses the issue of forty and fifty year old workers, with a lot of experience finding themselves out of a job and being too overqualified to find another. Other funds should be spent retraining and reeducating workers for the twenty-first century economy.
The United States strength and stability has been based on a vibrant middle class. Currently, the US is 49th in the world in income equality, just above Mexico. Our students are 29th among industrialized nations in the PISA International Student Tests for Science and Math, there are 50 million people out of a population of 300 million living under the poverty line. This has to change, or else America the land of opportunity, the last best hope for mankind will begin a long and painful decent into irrelevance.
