Just some Observations

I am always amazed when a politician talks about things that were in his/her past as if they were important.  Most of us have some skeletons in our closet that we would not want out on the stage but most don't advertise them. 

Were I running for office at any level, I would look for the top 10 things that are important at that level and what I would propose to do about them.  Remember that even if there are  ten things, some of them may be good and your proposal might be to do nothing. Where I in Ben Carson's shoes, here is my top ten.

I see no way that the congress can ever make this work if we can't get them to sit down and agree on what needs done.  I would hold a Congressional summit to show them how much they have in common or to expose just how far apart they are.  Their top 10 things are first to figure out what they can fund and to fund that.

I would sunset most federal laws at 10 years and you had better have a damn good reason for us to send any country another dollar.  

I hear a lot about taxes and how complicated they are.   Geez, it has to be pretty easy to set a flat rate and live with that.  Get rid of all the exemptions and just take an amount at the source.  I am sure that the extra day or 2 on the 15th of April would be a gift to the people.  For me, I would make it pretty darned simple and combine the flat income and Social Security taxes.  I am pretty sure that even f it were 20% right off the top it would be better than the way we are doing it now.   Businesses would pay whatever amount we set and that would be that.  Yep'er, I would combine their Soc Sec withholdings in whatever amount. 

I am a Law and Order kind of guy and I would sic the Military on the borders as a part of their duty.  Who better to chase down bad guys as they cross our borders than the same kind of guys/gals we use over sea's. 

I would take down the Federal Law on Marijuana and sell it for a profit.  Those poor guys in prison for selling it would be put on a list of people we need to hire to raise and sell the stuff.   Instead of paying 28,000 a year to incarcerate them, Pay it to them as salary and put the profits in the program in our tax coffers. 

One of the things I would do is to hold a summit on Health care.   For sure I would privatize it and figure out a way to have everyone quit lying and pay their fair share.  Do you know that the hospitals have several different amounts they charge depending on who you are and what insurance you have?  I have a great Doctor and great medical coverage and surely there is a way to make it all work.  That never would be a one size fits all solution. 

In my world, every High School student would have a class on finances.  One part of that would be the budget for their school.  You would be blown away how many people get it all wrong.  Let me start with a budget.  If the world was standing still and the enrollment didn't change, you could throw up a budget and write the checks at the first of the year.  Well, guess what, things do change and the budget is just a guide.  If you start with what you did last year and build up from there, you might get a lot closer to the truth.   Older teachers retire and new younger one's are cheaper.  Buildings should be a pretty fixed cost and utilities might vary +/- 5%.  Then I would start on personal finances for the kids. 

All of that would be a folly if we don't figure out a way to help our young men and women feel like they are a part of our system and they can make a difference.  That means they get a quality education and there is some hope for us to have jobs when they finish their education.  That includes jobs in all sectors.  I want our manufacturers to make things here in the USA that provides jobs to our people.  No matter how cheap they can make a towels in China, they have to haul the raw material there and the finished product here.  Must be a darn site cheaper to just make it here.  Or at least as good.

Service to our Government should pay well enough to attract the best but it should not be the way to put together a retirement above what the average citizen out there gets.  If Social Security and the Affordable Health Care act is good enough for us, it should be good enough for them. Congress would be subject to term limits like the presidency.  The only way you could stay more than two terms is if you are the Speaker od the Senate or the House of Representatives.

That is eight things and I am pretty sure you could all add one or two.  I am going to a Doctor's appointment now and want my blood pressure to be not too high.

MUD