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Daniel Petry: 45 Steps to a Better America
This country is at the type of fork in the road that will determine whether our republic survives. Or whether we become a jumble of balkanized states.
We are in trouble. The federal government as well as a number of state and local entities are dangerously close to going bankrupt. There is no money. Foreign buyers of our T-bills, the only financial tool we can use to support our profligate ways, are running for the hills — and even threatening to call the notes due.
Now, we can continue to enact piecemeal legislation that does nothing other than aggravate the situation, or we can step up and attack this head-on with the passage of laws and requirements that will positively impact the future of our children.
So let’s look at some common-sense — and painful — approaches to getting our country back on track. Back to the basics. There are simple solutions that, if taken in totality, will go a long way to solving this ongoing political and economic malaise. There is still time. We just need leadership, vision and the willingness to make unpopular and painful decisions.
Below I have listed a series of laws and proposals that will drive us away from the precipice of disaster we are facing as a result of more than 100 years of progressive policies.
I have tried to approach every situation, from crime and entitlements to illegal immigration. I’m sure you’ll find some degree of agreement with a few, if not all. So let me begin.
» A law that limits any member of the House of Representatives to only three terms and any senator to only two terms. Congress was never meant to be a permanent job, but a service to this country. Having a political class has done more harm to this nation than almost anything else.
» Repeal the 17th Amendment and return the Senate to the states, as per the original intent of the founders. Click here for a more in-depth look at this topic.
» A law that gives the president a line-item veto.
» Congressional pay would be set at three times the median income, indexing the salary and replacing the congressional pension with a standard 401(k) retirement plan. And if they force national health care down our throats, they will have to exist under that law as well as any law they pass.
» A law that states that a plaintiff’s lawyer will not receive any portion of a punitive award; the award would go only to the plaintiff. This law would limit the fees a plaintiff’s lawyer can receive to 30 times the amount the plaintiff receives. For example, if a plaintiff receives $10,000, the combined legal fees could not exceed $300,000.
» A law that states that if a plaintiff loses a case, both the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s attorney are required to equally split the legal expenses of the defendant and pay those expenses.
» A law that denies government funding to the American Civil Liberties Union.
» A law that allows religious activities on local, state and federal property (such as schools, libraries and municipal buildings).
» A law that states that as long as the federal government remains involved in the education system, the teaching of religion will be an elective in public schools.
» A law that the federal Department of Education will be eliminated and all educational authority will be returned to the states. It also would state that as long as the federal government remains involved in the education system, the bottom 3 percent of teachers in each school district will be removed each year. A graduated pay scale would be in place that pays the top 25 percent of teachers double what the bottom 25 percent earn. And students would receive vouchers to attend the school of their choice.
» A law that as long as the federal government is involved with state education systems, it’s mandatory that all elected officials send their children to the public school in the district in which they live.
» A law that as long as the federal government remains involved in the education system, all students must demonstrate mastery of the English language, at their grade level, before being allowed to enter the next grade in the public school system, and that those who can’t be required to complete an English immersion class.
» A law that states that those convicted of possessing drugs and are not willing to provide information that leads to the arrests of their suppliers will have their sentence increased by a factor of 10.
» A law that if you are a drug dealer and you sell to minors, your minimum sentence — with no option for parole — would be 20 years.
» A law that the president of the United States will be elected by popular vote, replacing the Electoral College.
» A law that government program budgets will be reduced 5 percent per year until it is 50 percent of what it is today. There will also be a hiring and pay freeze. There is no reason for federal employees to make an average of $70,000 while those who pay their salaries average only $46,000. Plus, the number of federal employees will be reduced 5 percent per year until that employment level is at 50 percent of today’s level.
» A strict sunshine law for all government programs. They must have a clearly established objective and an end date of no more than 10 years from the date of creation.
» A requirement that the national parks, highways, mail and licensing of the airwaves be privatized.
» A requirement that foreign aid to any nation, in any year, will be limited to a maximum of 10,000 times the median income ($460 million), and that will allow a country to receive funds for a maximum of two years in any five-year period, except those nations in a declared war with a foreign enemy or a genocidal situation. And no more than 10 countries will be allowed to receive foreign aid in any given year.
» A law that all government price and production controls will be eliminated, including the minimum wage. The minimum wage has done more damage to employment than it has to improve it.
» A balanced budget amendment, with exceptions only for periods of declared war, a declining annual GDP or in the event of a major natural disaster. And the banning of all earmarks from any legislation. It also would state that the federal budget will not have any item whose benefit is primarily for a single state (e.g., a bridge in Alaska or a levee in Louisiana).
» Dissolution of the Internal Revenue Service and replacement of the more than 70,000 pages of the current tax code with the FairTax as proposed by Rep. John Linder and Neal Boortz. The administrative staff of the IRS would be brought down, over five years, to 10 percent of what it is today.
» A requirement that if Congress doesn’t change to a consumption tax, an indexed Corporate Minimum Tax (CMT) of at least 15 percent, similar to the personal Alternative Minimum Tax — requiring profitable corporations to pay at least that amount (as a percent of revenue), independent of expenses, deductions and overseas activities — should be in place.
» A law that all government-supported medical expenses should be capped, except for military personnel, in any five-year period for any one person, to 25 times the median income (about $1 million).
» A law that if you are convicted as a rapist or child molester, you will either be sentenced to life in prison or receive the death penalty.
» A requirement that the worst 3 percent of judges are removed each year, determined by the number of decisions overturned by a higher court. This will protect this nation against those judges who are actively legislating from the bench, and those who show a consistent tendency to rule based on political or personal preference rather than written law.
» The Constitution and the laws of the United States are the sole guidelines in writing decisions. Applying the standards of international behavior are banned.
» A further requirement in existing laws that there will be a maximum time line for all criminal cases, ensuring that court proceedings begin within three months, end within one year, that appeals extend no more than two years through the highest court possible, and that both the defense and prosecution adhere to the time line with penalty of contempt of court charges and license revocation if they do not. This includes death penalty cases.
» A requirement that all types of welfare payments, excluding Social Security and Medicare, need to be capped to less than 3 percent of federal tax receipts each year. And that a person or family can receive welfare for a maximum of 24 months or less in any five-year period.
» A law that states that a prisoner who is serving either a life sentence or is on death row should receive only limited medical care, that provides comforting medication and basic repair (e.g. broken bones).
» The unfunded Social Security mandates are going to be a huge contributing factor in the destruction of this nation’s finances. The retirement age needs to be changed to 70 immediately, and index the eligibility age for those younger than 50 to life expectancy minus five years. Retirement payments to the wealthy, or those whose children are wealthy, should be reduced by at least 50 percent. Wealthy is defined as $5 million in assets.
» Individuals younger than age 40 should be allowed to invest a percentage of their Social Security retirement benefits in an option of their choice, including mutual funds, bond funds and index funds.
» A law that people who have entered this country illegally will never receive Social Security or other government benefits. This law also establishes English as the national language, and requires its exclusive use in all public institutions and on all public material. Multilingual government documents are banned.
» A law that establishes a Guest Worker Program that allows noncitizens to work in the United States. If you are an illegal and you are caught, you would be immediately deported.
» A law that limits the number of immigrants who can become citizens in any single year to 1 percent or less of the population (that would be about 3 million immigrants this year). Anchor babies are no longer allowed to automatically establish a family’s citizenship.
» A law that declares that an illegal does not have any of the rights granted to citizens of our country, other than the right to humane treatment. Employers who are found to be employing illegals, not including guest workers, would be fined 3 percent or more of their gross income.
» If you want a fast track to citizenship, an immigrant would be granted citizenship if they serve in the military for six years, but the number of immigrants using this route would be restricted to no more than 10 percent of military personnel.
» A law that says the preservation of human life and personal property shall take precedence over the welfare of any plant or animal regardless of its status as protected or endangered.
» A law that all citizens have the right to bear arms, and no locality can restrict that right. Every citizen would be allowed to carry a concealed weapon, assuming they can demonstrate basic firearm competence, but excluding those who have been convicted of a felony or deemed to be mentally incompetent. On the other hand, any person committing a felonious act, while possessing a weapon, would receive a lifetime prison term.
» A law that allows the U.S. military to control our borders and prevent illegal immigration. Foreign deployment, other than for a war, would be limited to one division, for a maximum of three years, in any country with which we are not at war.
» A law that removes all federal restrictions on drilling for oil in every state as well as along the U.S. coastline. As well as the funding of a massive initiative to fund nuclear power plants development with expedited Environmental Protection Agency authorizations taking no more than 12 months.
» The elimination of the EPA over a period of 5 years with assets and control going back to the individual states.
» A law that requires that foreign aid contributions be limited to match the average contributions of the leading countries in the world in absolute dollars: Britain ($4.9 billion), Germany ($5.3 billion), France ($5.5 billion), China ($0), Russia ($0), Australia ($1 billion), Canada ($1 billion) and Japan ($9.9 billion), or take the average of the above, which would be about $3.5 billion per year.
» A law that requires any final legislation be available for public review at least seven days before the vote.
» A law that requires elected officials to certify, under penalty of perjury, that they have personally read the final version of a bill — in its entirety — before being allowed to vote for the bill. All legislation should be limited to one subject.
— Santa Barbara resident Daniel Petry is the CEO and founding partner of Petry Direct Inc., a 20-year-old management firm that specializes in content production and marketing management. He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, class of 1976, and received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado.
Comments
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» on 03.03.10 @ 10:14 PM
Wow! Wouldn’t this be great. I can hear the SEIU folks and the entitlement queens screaming even up here on the Mesa.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 04:17 AM
A very revealing omission is the lack of a 46th step to directly address the single largest waste of taxpayer dollars - wasteful military D.O.D. spending . Why is the sacred cow always the runaway & secret Pentagon black budget ? Cut minimum wage and slice Social Security which are all dollars that go right back into the economy as subistance spending , yet let war profiteering continue unaddressed ? I say its back to the drawing board for Mr. Petry .
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» on 03.04.10 @ 05:48 AM
A lot of good stuff there.
Puzzled why the rampant waste, fraud, and treason in the military and military contracting is utterly omitted. How about a total ban on Blackwater-type contracting? How about a total ban on stacking prisoners naked in dog collars, or on attachment of electric shocks to prisoner’s genitals?
How about limiting the military budget to $2 trillion/year as of Jan. 1, 2011, and then only allow increases due to inflation and population growth?
How about making any sales or gifts of taxpayer-funded military weapons to anyone anywhere illegal? We pay for it, we own it, pure and simple. American weapons are only for use by americans, period. No sale of weapons to Iran, like Reagan approved and implemented.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 06:11 AM
Step 47 - CLOSE CORPORATE TAX DODGING LOOPHOLES . Bermuda is a nice place for a vacation but unethical corporate offshoring cheats us of billions yearly . Probabaly just a little oversight not to be included in this comprehensive plan .
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» on 03.04.10 @ 06:30 AM
Wow!! I would never want to live in Daniel Petry’s world. What a disaster. The only thing I give him credit for is letting everyone know where he stands. Sadly, no mention of one of a solution our biggest problems which is how a candidate is elected and the money involved. My favorite was elimination of the Electoral College because that would have made Gore our President instead of W and the world would have been much better off today. No EPA, privatization of Parks and oil drilling everywhere, sounds like Saudia Arabia.
I am glad the we will never institute many of his ideas. Now I know never to vote for him if he decided to run for public office.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 07:38 AM
Wally, why do you never read? Petry covers this by saying, “A law that government program budgets will be reduced 5 percent per year until it is 50 percent of what it is today. There will also be a hiring and pay freeze. There is no reason for federal employees to make an average of $70,000 while those who pay their salaries average only $46,000. Plus, the number of federal employees will be reduced 5 percent per year until that employment level is at 50 percent of today’s level.” Nuf Said.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 07:41 AM
Publius….p, oh so boring. Guys you have to read his materila without your, “I absolutely hate the US military to such a degree that if it is not specifically mentioned it is not there” binders. He says that. “A law that government program budgets will be reduced 5 percent per year until it is 50 percent of what it is today. There will also be a hiring and pay freeze. Plus, the number of federal employees will be reduced 5 percent per year until that employment level is at 50 percent of today’s level.” Now contrary to what you think the military are actually federal employees. Duh.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 07:50 AM
local, publius with a avery small (p), Baghdad Bob, you guys are too predictable. No suggestions just attack. Here’s my suggestion. Everything north of the OC secedes from the US. Then you guys can have your very own little country. Call it Californicate. You will be able to do anything you want, tax yourselves to death, become the true nanny state you all so grave, even shut off all the power sources. One problem though you will not be able to suck money from the rest of us. What am I saying that’s a great idea.
I loved his idea on the illegals. But now we could send them all to Californicate. But then the illegals would discover who the real racists are in this nation - you.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 07:53 AM
That’s because you would actually have to work. Now you just go to your morning job, stop and get your starbucks, read your manifestos, and then plod on down to your hourly job just counting the days until you can live off the public dole. You idiot don’t you realize there is no money! Christ what nimrods you guys are.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 08:21 AM
Great article Dan. Another homerun. Especially when I see the gang of six yelling at you with their keyboards. They are sad little men that never have a solution just bitch. But you are right on with the fact that major changes will be going on regardless what these guys say. But you can bet they will be the first ones with their hands out. Hell they already are.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 08:35 AM
Randy Thurston, you need to read the comments. They all had suggestions including mine to deal with the money in the election process. Also, you have no idea what any of us do for a living so do not assume. I love the way you attack and use childish language like Californicate. Time to grow up and stop going down the attack dog path that you probably view on Fox News. Petry had some good suggestions. We all said that. Why when folks disagree with people like you do you immediately move to this immature behavior.
Personally, I work very hard and pay lots of taxes. I have many progressive friends that make lots of money, work hard and own very successful business. You seem to think that everything is black and white and that all liberals and progressives are communists and want to give away the country. Sometimes when people are very successful they rise above the greed and try to do the right thing for others that are less fortunate. That is called compassion.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 09:02 AM
Goof Grief! Oop! I mean Good Grief! (Must be a Freudian slip.)
From the article title I thought there would be practical, well thought out ideas. But what I found was a right-wing extremist wish list.
I’m sorry, I only got through less than half before I stopped reading in disgust.
My comments would fill as much space as the article, so let me limit myself to one item; one that is sure to be controversial.
My mother was all for term limits. After about 30 years, I can say, I am not. I think the party out of power favors term limits. I think, though, that we have seen the full extent of term limits in California and that they are not good. It leads to inexperience in government. Legislative members are not there long enough to form friendships either, so there seems to be little civility, as well.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 09:21 AM
That’s a lot to go over Dan. This will take some time. First glance is good though, lots of red meat for us conservatives. Little iffy on the drug stuff. Rather see victimless crime laws eliminated. Also, one thing missing in your reduction laws is a law to reduce laws. It would be nice to see total legislation reduced by 50% as well. We are a nation of laws, which means that we can be a nation of the abstract, confused overly complicated and overly defined or we can be a nation of clean, crisp and clear simple rules where the majority of decision making is left to the individual along with the responsibility. Anyway good stuff here Danno.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 12:52 PM
Yup, let’s also limit the total compensation of all military officers to 3X the median US salary too… 401(k) for all military officers too, end military pensions. Hey Dan, do you have a military pension?
And make it a condition for accepting a federal contract or federal loan guarantees or bailout money that total compensation for each and every employee be limited to 3X the median US salary.
Want to get rich? Don’t get rich off the government. With luck any financial institution that does any business at all with the Federal Reserve would be subjected to the salary cap.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 01:59 PM
A sentimental cavalcade of neo-Con Republican thinking from Ed Meese in the ‘80s to Gingrich’s Contract on America in the ‘90s.
A compilation of the wit, wisdom, malarky of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney in the last decade, and Paul Ryan now.
It’s ambitious and courageous for Mr. Petry to recompile every failed Republican
intellectual initiative of the last two generations, and refloat it as a single read.
Sort of what Roger Penrose attempted a couple years ago for his Grand Theory
of all Physical Sciences.
If Petry had raised these 45 issues and ideas during GW Bush’s vacation heavy first eight months of his first (pre-9/11) term, perhaps the nation, the economy, Congress, would be in a lot better shape than they were in when the last administration left office.
But, when Rove’s raiders ran rough-shod over economic, regulatory, foreign,
military policy, and most of the 20th Century’s “social safety net”, Mr. Petry was, mostly, silent.
When Republican congressional majorities pushed through tax cuts for the
rich, and tax subsidies for big corporations (both by “reconciliation”), while they concurrently expanded spending and earmarks, and funded 2 wars, off-budget, Petry was also, mostly silent.
Now that the ship of state has almost run aground on the rocks of profound
federal mismanagement at the hands of Petry’s political heroes, Petry decides
it’s time to re-prescribe the failed nostrums that got us into this sorry state in
the first place.
Weird? Or rose-colored glasses, forget-the-past idealistic? Who knows?
Ironically, in life, as opposed to conservative myth and legend, the real Reagan, Milton Friedman, Gingrich, Bush, did NOT hew to the “principles” Petry seems to support. Nor did Petry’s faction in Congress push them to.
Why is that?
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» on 03.04.10 @ 04:04 PM
Publius, they did not for the same reason your messiah can’t pass his enormously reckless socialist plans, they all have to answer to the other guys. But really what are you and your liberal progressive friends arguing against? Which of these 45 items is bad and why? I have read you guys for a couple of years now moaning over how there is no civil conversation here or that some of us are name calling meanies. Ok, so where is the civil discussion boys? Dan made it so easy for you to argue civilly each of his points and show how you would do it and why your way is better. But I don’t see that here, just whiny, crybaby stuff again and heaps of blame Bush, like that hasn’t been thought of before, a million times over the last 8 years. Come on guys! You tout your progressive ideology as the best and the most enlightened. Ok, then show us how your way works and how its better. Dan put his ideology on the line for you to look at, critique and argue over and this is the best the progressive community can do? I am very disappointed. I know Dan put a lot out here but it ain’t goin anywhere so debate it, one item at a time if you must but do it. It’s your chance to champion your ideology having the other side expose themselves as Dan has done. We on the conservative side have nothing to do but agree with most of what Dan has written. So we wait for you guys to counter with an intelligent and cogent argument. Then we can respond in kind. But if all your going to do is bring up freaking Bush AGAIN, or use the biggest currency criminal on the planet George Soros as an example of progressive compassion then I don’t have any response but to call you a bunch of very derogatory names. So what about it? Local, Willie, small P, Publius and all you other Santa Barbara progressives, care to put your ideology on the line, item by item for all to see and critique? No? Then just critique Danny’s ideology line by line using your ideology as the premise for your arguments.
Dan, thank you for being the brave one here. Putting your thoughts and ideology out for display shows true character. You may get beat up, negated, argued with or agreed with. But telling people how you think things should be done in this venue is a whole lot braver than the rest of us just chiming in with an occasional rant or two. My hats off to you.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 05:01 PM
Dan, I notice that none of these yahoos that are yelling at you have any sensible comments. Typical. Now there is one despicable person that I woulld ask you to not respond to and that would be - publius with a small p. Let me respond for you. Small p, you have definitely never ever served this nation. If you had you would know that there is a huge difference between any old government union puke and a soldier who commits their lives to defending what you piss on everyday. What I find sad is that incredibly amazing men and women have actually died for scum like you. God your type makes me sick. Closet cowards that would pee in their pants when it comes time to stand up for something. You disgust me. As most of you keyboard cowards are you will try to come back with some pithy smarmy comment. No problem, we know what you are.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 05:47 PM
Small p, I also find your comments about the military disgusting. You can’t hold a candle to them, a lot like that guy that now sits in the oval office. Heck that loser doesn’t even know how to observe the national anthem. Over a thirty year period a senior officer moves their family up to 20 times. Usually into some rat infested hell hole of housing that was built 70 plus years ago. Then they are separated from their families for months and months. They end up risking their lives because the politicians you suck up to can’t solve problems. Their medical is usually sub-standard at best and then they retire. And pieces of excrement like you want to cut them short? I usually read these comments and think that the back and forth is just opposing positions flaming at each other. You on the other hand need to be hunted.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 05:56 PM
Why thanks for the complements, Charlene. No doubt you get big money from the US military too, and would hate to lose it from honest spending oversight there. I’ll let Dick Cheney, Mr. Draft Dodger himself, know how you feel about people who haven’t been in the military. The attitude in the military that the only true service to the US is military is disgusting, frankly.
I’ll remember your attitude that all the guys who built the atomic bomb were just government pukes, and that the 100,000 US military lives they saved from making a Japan invasion unnecessary were worthless.
How stacking prisoners naked in dog collars, and how allowing Blackwater to commit mass murder in Baghdad serves protection of freedom is a mystery I’ll never unravel.
Ditto for Ronald Reagan selling advance weaponry to Iran. Now I do respect Bud MacFarlane. But Ollie North belongs in jail.
Any cost savings Dan Petry suggests for non-military portions of the federal government must be applied equally well to the military portions. The military is dreadfully inefficient and ripped off blind by contractors. Anyone who defends the bloated military waste in the US needs their head examined. Same goes for military pensions, which are a money pit as bad as any public employee pension situation.
And if Petry is getting a military pension, he is a major hypocrite. It would not surprise me at all to hear he gets no military pension… if he is eligible I bet he turns it down because of his anti-pension philosophy.
OK, I’ll take on term limits. Our constitution doesn’t contain term limits. Actually, if people want to keep voting the same person in again and again, I’d call that democracy. Why should big government *stop* the people from electing who they want? But the real problem is bad districting, resulting in safe districts. A better solution is to carefully district so every election is a tossup.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 08:25 PM
To Charlene Davis, rather than call names of publis with a small p please point out where any of his statement are wrong. He makes lots of statements as to what happened under the Bush Administration. Is he wrong and where? Please dispute his argue but not attack his character.
It is true that many of Petry’s ideas are neo-con and some are not. Some I agree with and other large ones are missing such as any revision to our election process or regulation of the greedy wall street companies that got us in this mess or fining employers for hiring illegals. I think there is a point to trying to contain military spending to something reasonable. We spend more than the next 20 nations combined and it now represents 50% of all our discretionary spending, a recor high. Your true colors and igorance come out with your juvenile statements. I can not believe your last comments got through the Noozhawk edits. I thought the new rules were supposed to be adhered to.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 09:27 PM
Most of Mr. Petry’s suggested “laws” would require Constitutional Amendments. He clearly does not like our legal system of government.
Me, I don’t much like The Land of Petry that he envisions.
Who is this guy, anyway? And why does his tagline always say that he “attended” the USMA rather than “graduated” with the class of 1976?
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» on 03.04.10 @ 09:49 PM
Actually Dan I like a number of your suggestions here. The slow disolution of a number of government departments is perfect. Both the EPA and the Dept. of Ed, need to be returned to the States. And bringing the IRS down to about 10% of its cvurrent staffing would be beautiful. Love the FairTax. But it will be a fight. Totalitarians would fight tooth and nail. Remember you have all those $75k hard worked and oh so stressed government workers that need those jobs. I loved it when Reagan refused to negotiate with the ATC union and fired the whole lot of them. The same can be done to the likes of the SEIU thugs, the postal union, and the other federal employee unions.
Or the better idea might be to just let the whole thing collapse and let them fend for themselves. I know my family has been buying hard commodities now for over 3 years. We can’t sustain this BS.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 09:57 PM
local,“rather than call names of publis with a small p please point out where any of his statement are wrong. He makes lots of statements as to what happened under the Bush Administration. Is he wrong and where? Please dispute his argue but not attack his character.” Have your boy [small p] write an article about that and we’ll comment on it. Right we are talking about the points Petry raised.
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» on 03.04.10 @ 10:10 PM
I would gladly live in Petry’s world. There are a number of things I like but I really like, “...the worst 3 percent of judges are removed each year, determined by the number of decisions overturned by a higher court. And that the laws of the United States are the sole guidelines in writing decisions. Applying the standards of international behavior are banned.”
A number of the 9th District Court judges would diappear overnight. Ye ha.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 06:10 AM
Thanks for opining that I need to be hunted, Randy Thurston. Just goes to show how many US military supporters want to hunt down US citizens and do what Military Vet Timothy McVeigh did… blow up hundreds of the `government pukes’ in Oklahoma City, including their 3-year-old kids in childcare. Or put them in Abu Gharib or Guantanamo and waterboard them, stack them naked with dog collars, and shock their genitals.
The rat-infested holes are there not because of me, but because the top brass in the military takes the money and spends it on their golf courses and officers clubs, and pisses away billions on useless weapons systems, Blackwater contracts, and Halliburton.
The military is 20% or so of the US budget, and dwarfs much of the spending Petry complains about. We’ve got to get control of US military spending. The war in Iraq was utterly stupid… Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 and there were no weapons of mass destruction. There are many tyrants in the world and we can’t afford to start $10 trillion wars on any of them when our economy is such a shambles. It is absolutely unforgivable that a single US military life has been lost in Iraq.
Keep the US military on US soil… to the devil with the rest of the world, it is a waste to fight there. Why were we still supporting bases in Germany and Japan when the real threat was and remains terrorists blowing up US citizens on US soil?
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» on 03.05.10 @ 07:41 AM
David, the “law” to replace the “worst” 3% of judges (I assume this applies to federal judges since the column is about how to improve America, although Petry is not that specific) would violate the Constitution of the United States.
The judicial proposal is only one of at least a dozen of Petry’s ideas that flaunt the Constitution. Yet one of his other items requires judges to consider ONLY the Constitution. And all these suggestion come from the same Mr. Petry who recently bemoaned that President Obama is attacking the Constitution.
Does Petry really believe in the Constitution or does he want wholesale changes? How can the guy believe the basic law of the land is wrong on so many accounts and yet present himself as a super patriot who loves America?
And I’d still like to know if he graduated from West Point and if he actually served in the active duty military.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 08:10 AM
Why is wanting to make laws and maybe having to change the Constitution, for some of them, a bad thing. You make it sound that since Petry wants to make significant changes, he is against the Constitution, and is being hypocritical. He is not, in fact the articles I have read from him fly in the face of your obvious dislike for the man. All he is saying is that to make this country get back on track these are his suggestions. But I think this goes deeper with you. Doesn’t it?
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» on 03.05.10 @ 09:14 AM
passing by, is that passing by Santa Barabra, passing by reality, or are you just a drive by shooter? Did Petry take one of your toys when you were younger? Regardless, you should not add in ad hominem arguments and jsut stick to the points you raised about the specific article. Those are valid and thoughtful. Petry is trying to make suggestions. I’m curious. Do you have any ideas on how we can improve the country? Or are you fixated?
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» on 03.05.10 @ 10:51 AM
As for repealing the 17th Amendment, Dan makes no attempt whatsoever to discuss why election by State Legislatures is superior to direct election.
Is he really saying he trusts California’s legislature more than its people? Huh?
Seems to me money corrodes *both* methods of senatorial appointment, and the only difference is that the cost is lower to buy off the legislatures. So I think repealing the 17th amendment is hot money just looking for a better deal.
As for States rights, Dan, are you saying you’d like each state to decide whether or not to ban guns? Or to set up election donation restrictions? Where do you want the line between federal power and state power? Seems to me everybody wants some things decided locally and other things to be US-wide, but we just can’t agree on that those things are.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 11:35 AM
No, Cindy, Big Bad Dan didn’t take my toys as a kid… but thanks for being concerned!
Petry rankles me because he seems shallow. In this column does not think through the effects of the changes he advocates. It has already been pointed out that returning election of senators to the state legislature would put decision making into the hands of a group in California that almost no one trusts. That is what Petry wants? Or does he want to also mandate to the states how to re-district after the current census and which legislators we should elect then? Aside from being un-Constitutional, most of his suggestions set off a series of events that he fails to mention.
In the case firing the “worst” 3% of judges each year that means that the sitting President (Obama) in this case would name a minimum of 12% of all federal judges (not even counting the ones who die or resign) so that after a two-term presidency each POTUS would have selected 1 out of 4 members of the entire judicial system. Would that also apply to the Supreme Court so that the justice who found himself with the most dissenting opinions would be dismissed as well? Does that mean that the President could replace four of the nine each term and eight of the nine in two terms? I dunno, and if Petry does he isn’t saying. In any case I think it is bad policy and I KNOW it is not what the founding fathers who wrote the Constitution had in mind.
And does dissent = worst? Suppose one of Mr. Petry’s ideas became law—one of the clearly unconstitutional ones—and some judge validated it in a decision. And then Mr. Petry’s idea was overturned by a higher court. That makes the judge a bad one, and if he consistently sided with Petry’s more radical notions then he’d end of in the worst 3% and be fired. (Unconstitutionally!)
I’m not averse to amending the Constitution is a thoughtful, constructive manner but I don’t think that is what Mr. Petry is suggesting.
As for Mr. Petry himself, I don’t respect him because in my view he misrepresents himself. When convenient he wraps himself in the flag as a West Point guy sworn to defend the Constitution and then turns around the next week and suggests all sorts of laws that fly in the face of the same document.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 12:06 PM
passing by I’m sure he will not lose sleep because you don’t respect him. It is obvious that he is a patriot and does believe in this country. Its just that he does not believe as you do. I have read your comments and he is doing exactly what he wants you to do. Think. At least he steps up and puts proposals on the table. Still waiting for you to come up with your own suggestions.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 12:17 PM
For “p”. “As for repealing the 17th Amendment, Dan makes no attempt whatsoever to discuss why election by State Legislatures is superior to direct election.”
Actually he states quite clearly that the Founders designed the system that way so that the States as well as the people would be represented. You can see how responsive Senators are now to the State legislatures since the States no longer have the power that was designed for them in the Constitution. Progressives crave control more than anything else including freedom for citizens.
“Is he really saying he trusts California’s legislature more than its people? Huh?”
Yes he is. It is not what is happening today but the foundation that the Founders wanted to protect.
“Seems to me money corrodes *both* methods of senatorial appointment, and the only difference is that the cost is lower to buy off the legislatures. So I think repealing the 17th amendment is hot money just looking for a better deal.”
Of course it does and always will. So you want centralized one stop shopping rather than having them have to deal with 50 individual states? Sounds like you are for all the lobbyists co-located in DC. Eh?
“As for States rights, Dan, are you saying you’d like each state to decide whether or not to ban guns?”
You’re kidding right? Good grief “p” the Second Amendment is not the Tenth Amendment. And the Supremes are going to put another nail in the Brady Bunch coffin in the next month or so. Thank god.
“Or to set up election donation restrictions?”
Hey if you are going to restrict corporate entities from donating then you need to restrict unions from the same. The First Amendment is not multiple choice.
“Where do you want the line between federal power and state power?”
Wow, I fear that your education has been drastically shortchanged. Read the Constitution on this one. Whew.
“Seems to me everybody wants some things decided locally and other things to be US-wide, but we just can’t agree on that those things are.”
That’s why we have elections and the Constitution.
As Benjamin Franklin said when asked, “What have you given us, Dr. Franklin?” “A republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.” Can you keep it “p” or are you going to give away our freedom to some massive abortion of a government?
OK done with my break. back to work.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 05:42 PM
Ok, the Founders wanted State Legislatures to have more control. The Founders also made slavery legal, which, by the way, made slave owners able to systematically rape their female slaves. My point: just because the Founders wanted it, doesn’t mean it is superior.
Why would legislative control of Senatorial appointments be superior? Neither Petry nor Charlene make a serious case, which would include an analysis why things were better <1913.
Senators will still sit in the District whichever way they are elected. They don’t phone into the Legislature before each decision. So the lobbyists will still be located in the District. No worry’s… still a whole lot of lobbyists in Sacto.
But I sure don’t trust the California Legislature any better than the voters of the State of California. That’s my point… there is no superiority to repealing the 17th Amendment.
The usual point of States Rights advocates is they don’t want States to comply with portions of the Consitution/Bill of Rights they disagree with, but do want compliance with the portions they like. Most States Rights advocates are conservative and hate gun control, so they want the Fed Guv to uniformly stop particular States from banning machine guns, bazookas, home nuclear warheads, etc. But they want the Fed Guv never to intervene to stop a state from spending $15,000 per student on white students and only $1,000 per student on black students, in segregated schools.
So the real point is: States Rights advocates really don’t want states to have rights, they just want the states to be able to do the things the advocates support. States Rights advocates want Federal intervention on things they support, like, say, electing George Bush in Florida in 2000.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 09:23 PM
LoL. You want big brother, we don’t. I guess this gets settled in the good old way. See ya there Small p.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 09:24 PM
Yep. Beyond talk now. See you in the streets publius.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 09:31 PM
I’m beginning to think that the last time we were this divided was right before the Civil War. Sad we are there again. Oh well 230 years is not a bad run. I have to agree with Randy, publius. If I have to chose between family, friends and you I’ll violate one of the ten commandments to protect them from those who believe like you.
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» on 03.05.10 @ 11:37 PM
I’m fine with Petry’s third point, a line item veto.
Fourth point… fine too, I’d just expand it to all Government salaries, pensions, and healthcare.
Fifth point & Sixth points… not sure how this would impact all the malfeasance by big corporation lawyers, for example, the Detroit auto companies who screwed the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper. A medical malpractice cap of $250,000 has been in place in California since 1975. Hasn’t lowered California medical care costs at all.
Banning funding to the ACLU is absurd. Civil Liberties are worthy of protection.
I don’t want religious activity on government property or in public schools. I’m with the original pilgrims who liked Leiden because the Dutch gave them more religious freedom than the English, for example, the pilgrims all utilized Civil Marriage ceremonies in Leiden. Keep religion on the ample (and tax exempt) institutions dedicated to religion. If you let one religion on government property you have to let in all of them, from Hindus to Islam to Voodoo. Just keep them all off equally, much easier. I’d eliminate all religious holidays too… the pilgrims worked on Xmas and Sunday.
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» on 03.06.10 @ 10:01 AM
Bear with me since I had some extra time on my hands today.
Good job “p”. We are making progress. I’m glad you agree that California schools should always ban 15-minute prayer break in the classroom each afternoon to accommodate Muslim students who wish to pray, [San Diego School District].
It’s not the ACLU’s job to protect my rights. Especially since their underlying foundation is socialist. The ACLU was founded by Roger Baldwin, an agnostic and socialist. Two of Baldwin’s closest friends were Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood and a firm believer in selective breeding (one of the greatest African American genocides in American history) and Emma ‘Red’ Goldman.
In his thirtieth anniversary Harvard University class book, Baldwin wrote - I am for Socialism, disarmament, and ultimately the abolishing of the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion…Communism is the goal.
It doesn’t get more blatant than that. Baldwin also dismissed the bloody Soviet regime during a visit there as “weapons of struggle in a transition period to socialism.” Kind of scary when overlaid with what your god obama has said, yes?
The problem with you and your entourage, publius, is that you have an extremely narrow, and selective, visions of history.
And your comments about the Pilgrims are amazing. Do you know what happened to the first Pilgrims? Let me give you a little history lesson.
In his ‘History of Plymouth Plantation,’ the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years, because they refused to work in the fields. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with “corruption,” and with “confusion and discontent.” The crops were small because “much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable.”
In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, “all had their hungry bellies filled,” but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first “Thanksgiving” was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men.
But in subsequent years something changes. The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, “instead of famine now God gave them plenty,” Bradford wrote, “and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God.” Thereafter, he wrote, “any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day.” In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn.
What happened?
After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, “they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop.” They began to question their form of economic organization - socialism.
This had required that “all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means” were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, “all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock.” A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed.
This “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that “young men that are most able and fit for labor and service” complained about being forced to “spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children.” Also, “the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak.” So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate.
To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism. He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit. In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of famines.
Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results. At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called “The Starving Time,” the population fell from five-hundred to sixty.
Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth. In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch there was “plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure.” He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, “we reaped not so much corn from the labors of thirty men as three men have done for themselves now.”
Before these free markets were established, the colonists had nothing for which to be thankful. They were in the same situation as Ethiopians are today, and for the same reasons. But after free markets were established, the resulting abundance was so dramatic that the annual Thanksgiving celebrations became common throughout the colonies, and in 1863, Thanksgiving became a national holiday.
Thus the real reason for Thanksgiving, deleted from the official story, is:
Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them.
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» on 03.06.10 @ 03:03 PM
I know quite well the story of Plymouth Plantation, and I’m no socialist.
It is absurd to ignore every idea that comes out of socialists, or communists, or capitalists, or whatever, just because of the beliefs of the person who originated the idea.
Sakharov, a communist, figured out the key points of a deliverable hydrogen bomb. The US rapidly adapted his ideas in the 1950’s. No-one said, `OOH, we can’t use those ideas because they originated form a communist’.
Ignoring good ideas because of some flaw in the originator is true narrowness, whoever does it.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written first by Francis Bellamy, a socialist.
The ACLU does some good stuff, and some bad stuff, just like the NRA. I wouldn’t ban either from receiving some government funding under the right situation.
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» on 03.06.10 @ 07:28 PM
“I know quite well the story of Plymouth Plantation, and I’m no socialist.”
Don’t worry ‘p’ being a socialist is not all bad you are represented by one in the White House right now.
It is absurd to ignore every idea that comes out of socialists, or communists, or capitalists, or whatever, just because of the beliefs of the person who originated the idea.”“
I can’t think of an idea that has come out of a socialist or communist that had any validity. And if you are talking to a ‘capitalist’ who accepts government welfare then their ideas are usually crap too. Free market capitalists drive the economy, and they do make mistakes. But they pay for them and do not get bailed out.
“Sakharov, a communist, figured out the key points of a deliverable hydrogen bomb. The US rapidly adapted his ideas in the 1950’s. No-one said, `OOH, we can’t use those ideas because they originated form a communist’.”
Actually, ‘p’, he was born into a Soviet elite family. There was no choice. In fact in the fifties he was strident against Soviet socialism. Unlike B.O.’s financier Soros, a Hungarian Jew, who admitted to collaborating with the Nazi’s as a teenager and stated: “...I had no sense of guilt.”
“Ignoring good ideas because of some flaw in the originator is true narrowness, whoever does it.”
Not if the idea is a proven piece of crap.
“The Pledge of Allegiance was written first by Francis Bellamy, a socialist.”
True. But the Pledge was significantly changed from his rendition. In 1924 the National Flag Conference Pledge’s words, ‘my Flag,’ to ‘the Flag of the United States of America.’ Bellamy disliked this change, but his protest was ignored. Then in 1954, Congress added the words, ‘under God,’ to the Pledge. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer. No longer socialist.
“The ACLU does some good stuff, and some bad stuff, just like the NRA. I wouldn’t ban either from receiving some government funding under the right situation.”
Actually the NRA has not done anything ‘bad’ other than protect our 2nd Amendment rights. The ACLU gets government welfare, the NRA does not. I’ll hang with the NRA. But then my husband open carries so I like what they are doing. Go Supremes!!
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» on 03.07.10 @ 04:50 AM
Charlene , thanks so much for the comprehensive history of the transformative effects of colonial free market economics .
” After freemarkets were established the resulting abundance was so dramatic…”
And here I thought that the rise of productivity in early early American farming and manufacturing was accomplished on the backs of African slaves , and Euro dregs in bondage to pay for their passage , controlled by a minority of landed gentry .
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» on 03.07.10 @ 09:37 AM
Lithium deuteride is an idea that came out of the the communist Soviet Union, and is the key to deliverable hydrogen bomb. The US only learned about lithium deuteride by overflights of the Soviet Union which sampled fallout from Soviet tests.
Sakharov, an atheist, contributed greatly to the Soviet weapons program, and 3 times won the Hero of Socialist Labor prize, and won both the Lenin and Stalin prizes.
Nice to see Sakharov, who later became a touchy-feely peacenik, has become a hero to the US rightwing. Maybe Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov will be next.
22 of the 31 words of the current Pledge of Allegiance were written by a socialist.
Wall street `capitalists’ got $23.7 trillion in bailouts (odd how rarely the rightwing quotes that number) initiated by Henry Paulson (George W. Bush’s Treasury secretary) and fully approved by George W Bush. Now there are some socialists for you.
Personally, I liked GW Bush’s devotion to bicycles. Good ideas come from anywhere.
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» on 03.07.10 @ 03:34 PM
Actually I prefered an AK-74 over the M-4 I was issued.
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» on 03.07.10 @ 03:51 PM
“Lithium deuteride is an idea that came out of the the communist Soviet Union, and is the key to deliverable hydrogen bomb. The US only learned about lithium deuteride by overflights of the Soviet Union which sampled fallout from Soviet tests.”
Cool…American technology succeeds again. You have to love those over flights.
“Sakharov, an atheist, contributed greatly to the Soviet weapons program, and 3 times won the Hero of Socialist Labor prize, and won both the Lenin and Stalin prizes.”
Ah, spoken like a true Leninist.
“Nice to see Sakharov, who later became a touchy-feely peacenik, has become a hero to the US rightwing. Maybe Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov will be next.”
You have obviously never served your country. Our boys love the AK, so does my husband. He especially liked how you can dissect a human body with it from 400 yards saving the rag’s head for last.
“22 of the 31 words of the current Pledge of Allegiance were written by a socialist.”
So that makes you a 21/31 th socialist ‘p’? Hey, did you know that the Anthem was written using a British drinking song as the format?
“Wall street `capitalists’ got $23.7 trillion in bailouts (odd how rarely the rightwing quotes that number) initiated by Henry Paulson (George W. Bush’s Treasury secretary) and fully approved by George W Bush. Now there are some socialists for you.”
You mean the same Wall Street Welfare Capitalists that B.O. voted for and then got millions from for his campaign? Those guys? (On a personal note, I think the Banks, the automobile manufacturers, the auto unions, the Wall Street firms, and AIG should have been left to fend for themselves. Especially the unfunded union pension that the unions got re-funded from the bailouts. Bad business, bad decision and Bush, B.O. and anyone who voted for it needs to suffer. So I totally agree with you here ‘p’.)
“Personally, I liked GW Bush’s devotion to bicycles. Good ideas come from anywhere.”
And I like Clinton’s fixation with oral sex in the Oval Office. Good ideas come from anywhere.
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» on 03.08.10 @ 06:41 AM
That’s really great, guys, you love Soviets who design weapons to kill Americans.
So there it is… treason is the way of the rightwing in America.
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» on 03.08.10 @ 12:21 PM
publius with a small p - You brought up your admiraion to all things Soviet. After talking to an army friend of mine who had been to Iraq he agreed that the AK is a fine weapon and they prefered it over their gun.
Speaking of guns. A number of my friends totally agree with Petry on personal guns and illegals. As I have said before another fine job by Petry.
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» on 03.08.10 @ 01:04 PM
``Charlene Davis on 03.06.10 @ 07:28 PM
I can’t think of an idea that has come out of a socialist or communist that had any validity.’‘
Well, we’ve found 2 so far: Sakharov’s Lithium Deuteride and the Kalashnikov rifle.
It is your admiration for Soviets Sakharov and Kalashnikov we are discussing, Charlene. I think they were and are enemies; your husband loves Kalashnikov. Let him move to Russia and make friends with the guy.
I don’t think Bill Clinton invented oral sex, although the right wing in the US may heard about first from the Special Prosecutor who went after him.
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