2012 Presidential Candidate Checklist

That's a good start. You could add eliminating the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy to the list.

Posted by altered states at March 29, 2011 8:11 PM

Drill in Utah.

One of the first acts of the regime - just after taxing tanning salons - was to halt by edict exploration and production of oil and gas exploration in the Uinta Basin on leases that had been approved by the Bush administration.

A coup. Not an administration.


Posted by TmjUtah at March 29, 2011 8:25 PM

I disagree on the Social Security thing. Eliminate Social Security AND Federal defined benefit plans. Only legal retirement plan for government employees is defined contribution plan. Must be invested in blind trusts invested in the stock market. The rest of us can do whatever we damned well please.

M

Posted by Mark Alger at March 29, 2011 8:28 PM

Oo! More! Sell ALL Federally-owned lands. Pass constitutional amendment forbidding the Federal Government from owning land outside of DC. Any NEEDS (e.g., military bases) are to be leased.

Eliminate Federal subsidies. Period. End of sentence. Pass constitutional amendment forbiddin the Federal government from competing with private commercial interests.

Eliminate corporate taxes. Pass constitutional amendment bitch-slapping any ignorant fool of a congresscritter who doesn't know or acknowledge that corporate taxes are paid by the corporations' customers and are just another way of soaking the populace at large.

In fact, limit the government's revenue to a single source. It must be obvious, public, and the payment as painful and as close to elections as possible.

But I should stop, or I'll start demanding things like the sponsors of legislation mandating taxes or payments by citizens post performance bonds in the event that the programs undertaken fail miserably and spectacularly after the idiots in question have left office to spend more time with their families.

M

Posted by Mark Alger at March 29, 2011 8:35 PM

Well, we can add to the list. Nobody said it was exhaustive.

Posted by vanderleun at March 29, 2011 9:07 PM

I don't agree to the term limits - it restricts the voters. I would eliminate federal pensions except for two groups - judiciary and military. Everyone else gets limited to 5 x 2 year contracts, 2 x 5 yr contracts, or one 10 year contract and then they can't work for the fed gov anymore.

Otherwise, I like the list.

Posted by Tracy Coyle at March 29, 2011 11:33 PM

Keep it simple. My slogan:

"Send the recession to Washington D.C."

Posted by Fat Man at March 30, 2011 3:53 AM

Eliminate the Patriot Act, the Fed, NAFTA, DEA, NEA, HUD, bATFe, get troops out of Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Japan, S. Korea...
(And the aforementioned Dept of Ag and DOE).

There's a start.

Posted by Cuspid at March 31, 2011 6:15 AM

I cannot believe that strict voter ID is not on this list.

unless we are being all principled today, and this is not, strictly, a matter under federal purview.

whatever.

great checklist, anyway, I'm going to print copies of it to use as campaign season heats up.

Posted by prochazka_the_insane at March 31, 2011 7:08 AM

Just a little warning. The federal debt can indeed be paid down or off by selling the federal land, and since there should be little federal land in any event this seems a good idea. But if we do not first take the federal monkey off our backs, we shall really only have paid to keep him on a while longer.

Posted by james wilson at March 31, 2011 9:47 AM