If I was President of the U.S. (or dictator, I should say..LOL
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The first thing I would do once I was sworn into office is to announce to the nation that our way of life is totally unsustainable and in order to insure the future survival of the nation (and the world, for that matter), we will have to embark on a drastically different course than we have been on for the past few decades. I would pull a Ross Perot and do the chart presentation on TV so that even children can clearly understand what is coming, not so much in the way of P.O., but rather our unsustainable consumerist way of life.
On my second full day in office, I would undertake these actions:
End all overseas military conflict, effective immediately. Time to bring our sons and daughers home, ASAP.
Nationalize the nation's healthcare system, effective immediately. Apologies to shareholders of health insurance companies, as we will have a single-payer system on par with Canada and the Europe and therefore we won't need them anymore.
Nationalize the nation's oil companies, effective immediately. All profits from the sale and distribution of energy resources will now flow to the goverment, solely dedicated to developing a national alternative energy and transporation system. Again, apologies to the shareholders of these companies...
(remember, you're not supposed to take me too seriously here...)
On the third day of office, I would herefore announce a War on Debt. I would urge Congress to expediately pass laws strictly limiting the kinds and amount of debt available to Americans, such as ultra-low credit card limits (with payoff terms of one year or less), mandatory 20% down payment for all home loans, and no interest deductions for homes above a certain size (say 2000 square feet.) Car loans would be restricted to two years or less, and only for autos that get more than 40 mpg. I would also buy a billion dollars of TV and radio advertising every three months for the next two years to illustrate the futility of our current consumerist lifestyle and what we must do to create a sustainable way of living that will preserve the Earth for all future generations. Apologies to those unfortunates who have shares in Walmart and other "big box" retailers Looks like those guys aren't long for the world.
On the fourth day of office, I would call up all the leaders of nations that have ratified the Koyoto Protocol, not to tell them that we'd like to join in, but it's not nearly enough and we need to do much more...and China, yes that means you too. You want us to buy your products, you better play ball...
On the fifth day of office, I would announce our "Balanced Trade" policy. What this means is we will not import any more than we export, and import tariffs will hencefore be adjusted on a quarterly basics to reduce demand for all imported products (this includes oil as well) until such time balanced trade is achieved, preferably in a year or less, but perhaps a bit longer so we have time to restart all those closed factories to produce those things that we *really* need.
On the sixth day of office, I would announce a whole raft of initatives, such as Equal Education (no more substandard schools), Rail First, and Small Farmers First. Apologies to shareholders of ConAgra and Archer Daniels Midland. Looks like we won't need you anymore either.
7th day...time to take a break!
I'll open it up for the rest of ya...what would you do if you were U.S. President or leader of your respective nation?
B
