What would you do if you were elected President? What would your first
acts be? 

22 responses total.

  Find the people who did the Grey Report (the list of 2500 things
wrong with the Federal government) and ask them to prioritize their
list for the 90's, and then start implementing them!

Um, I think you mean the Grace report.

Are we assuming that political reality goes away?  If not, I think
Clinton is pretty close to what I'd do here and now.  (I might put
jobs creation in a little ahead of health-care ... or I might not)

If so ... well, steve's idea seems good.

That's why I'll never be President.  I'm not an original thinker.
;)

Actually, original thinkers have a hard time being President.  Coming up
with new ideas is not what the job is about.

In fact, the presidents with the greatest intellects (Carter, Hoover,
Wilson) have not been notable for their success.  Of course, the dumbest
ones (Harding comes immediately to mind) have not done so well either.

re #2:  He was probably confused by the thick layer of dust that has
        accumulated on it.

   Quite right.  There is a Grey report, but thats something else.

If I were president, I would NOT emphasize NAFTA above all
my other programs no matter how much money Eastman Kodak gave
me.
or my campaign.

  Since I am the one who entered this item, I think that it might be a good
idea if I deposited my 2 cents worth.

 1. I would outlaw poverty and starvation by criminalizing the wasting of food

    We burn crops and toss away perfectly good food that could feed the poor
and homeless. I would encourage farmers and food producers to produce all that
they could so that no person in this country would know hunger.

2. Establish a National Health Care program.

   I'll make it simple. If you breathe, you're covered.

3. Restructure the Penal system.

   Lifers who have "nothing to lose" would indeed lose if they were convicted
of murder while in jail. Things like televisions, radios and other so called
creature comforts would be withdrawn so that rehabilitation could begin. All
prisoners would be required to complete high school. Prison would be a vile
p 
place, as something to be avoided.

4. The Education system would recieve full funding.

   I would establish a tax on alincome above 1 million dolls, so that
sports would finance the education system. Teachers, would recieve a flat
salary of 100,000 dollars. I would nationalize the sports franchises, so
that the governmentcontrols players saleries. Athletes would recieve $100
per hour for playing thier partuicular sport, and would be encouraged to
find real jobs.


   I know that some of these solutions are not feasable, but they are what 
I feel could be done to make a better world for the children of tommorow.
The reason why teachers would be the highest paid, is because that is
the most important thing in the world. If teachers were paid better, maybe
they would take better care of the kids.

Why on earth would your "nationalize" sports franchises?  Athletes who
make lots of money pay lots of taxes, you know...

  Obscene saleries benifit no one, and I feel that the money that is generated
by sports can be funneled into education where it can do some good.
Tell me, can Michael Jordan actually spend his millions? I don't think he has
the time. What good comes from having 1 billion or more in a back account?
Then ask, what good could be done if that 1 billion was applied to education?

 There would be less illiteracy.
 The violence problem woulprobably go away, but I cannot be sure of that.
But it is logical to assume that with more education, comes less need to
be violent. 
 The drug problem would probably be reduced, although there is nothing to
suggest that using drugs is tied to education, but again, if more people
were encouraged to enhance thier educations,there would be less need for
drug use.

 I would also see to it, that everyone who desires a college degree would
be able to persue one, regardless of ablitly to pay.

 We have the means at hand to solve our problems. The only thing that is
holding us back is those who keep telling us that it is the survival of
the fittest that will survive.

Attempting to legislate things like sports salaries is folly.  People
will find other ways to squander their money. 

Your intention to improve education is a good one, but how do you intend
to pay $100,000 to each teacher?  Are you going to pay that much to the
bad ones as well?  

So if someone holds their breath, they lose health coverage? :-)

Prisons are already vile places, creature comforts or no.  And a large
percentage of prison inmates don't have the intellectual capacity to
"complete high school" unless it were made so easy as to be meaningless.

 
 To answer dan: Hopefully by encouraging teachers to become better, by paying
them a decent wage, that problem should take care of itself. It should be 
a fairly simple process to weed out the bad from the good.

  I know that legislation of sports saleries would never fly, as there is
too much opposition to do anything about obscene salaries. Right now, we
as a society place too much emphasis on sports and not enough on education.
Almost any teenager can recite on demand, Michael Jordan's stats, but can
not tell you the name of the men who designed and built the Brooklyn Bridge.
There is something wrong here. And I am not advocating that knowing who
designed the Brooklyn Bridge is a sign of intelligence, I am simp stating
  this society has to refocus educational goals.

  100K may be pie in the sky, but a raise is in order. 

 Larry:
       The "complete high school" I would aim a the juvinile offender who
somehow slipped throucracks. I want to make an impression on him or
her that system has not failed them, and that by applying oneself, he
or she would havthe chance to rebuild his or her life.

       In the early 70s I saw a program called "scared straight" where
teenagers who were first time offenders, went into Rahway State Prison for
a day and actualltalked with lifers, who "had nothing to lose." Some
of those lifers had committed murder while in prison, and saw things as
"the state cannot take anymore away". Under my plan, there would be one
more thing, which is the guilty parties life. A mandatory death sentence 
 would be invoked on any prisoner so convicted of murder while still
incarcerated.

      Another thing that I would try to invoke is a special court of appeals
so that capital criminals who do face the death penalty would get the 
normal amount of appeals, but somehow streamlined so that the time between
crime and execution is reduced to no more than 3 yrs from crime to execution.
I would also televise executions *ORthat first time offenders,
as part othier rehabilitation would witness at least one execution.
This I believe would have the best deterrant effect. The only reason why
the death penalty is not a deterrant is that it i put on page 38 or
way back by the shipping news, where it is not read. Putting it in someones
face will impact upon that person.

 It is INSANE to think that teachers deserve $100,000 for what comes out to 
about 200 days work.

        If you really want to improve things, get rid of tenure & unions, 
give teachers about 25 - 40% of that $100,000, depending on merit &
qualifications, & split the rest between the schools (better resources) &
parents (to try to improve the home life) of the 'students,' providing the
students show up, & the parents make an effort to care about what is going on.

        Then, after 2nd grade, impose mandatory, end of school-year tests,
uniform throughout the state, before a student is allowed to pass into the 
next grade level.  Theses tests should be administered by impartial parties
from a national commission.

        We'll probably have a lot of 14-year olds still in 4th grade, but...

  Oh yeah, the school year would be lengthened to 11 months. 

  I was bothered by the fact that I left out where the funding would come
from. I see two money pits. Nasa and DOD. Both are way out of control,
and need to be curbed. I think a few dollars from each would pay for the
plan nicely. 

  I like the idea of the independant tests. If  radio can do it, so can
schools. Maybe some of the hams that are already examiners could be utilized
to this function.

 Jim, you are truly amazing!

  Everyonw has an opinion. I was inspired by Edward Asner (the actor) after
I read what he would do if he were president. We can be the best nation
 on the planet, but only if we work at it.

re #12:  Been to a high school lately?  :*

re #16:  Isn't he, though....  And to think in another item he was worried
         about people being willing to give away their constitutional rights...

Edward Asner?  Why not Charleton Heston?  Or Fred Grandy?

 Asner is a liberal.  Heston is a conservative. and I am not sure about
Grandy.

  If you read The Book of Lists III then you would know why I said what
I did. I was quite impressed than an actor like Asner (who at the time he
wrote that was President of the Screen Actors Guild) would make a statement
such as he did for the book of lists.

Why not?  What has Asner done significantly with his acting "career" lately?
I'm sure lots of people who are fading from the public eye would *love* to
put something in print to make people think they are Still Important (tm).

(too true, too true.)

(I'd begin by appointing staff to help, but that's really just me.)

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