HOW TO VOTE

For the New America

Jim Cunningham

August 2015

In a democracy, we the voters could, theoretically at least,

transform our country simply by voting. Not by forming a
larger government but by demanding a far wiser one, we could

balance the federal budget, create full employment, reduce

income inequality, eliminate our wars, provide healthcare for
all citizens, easily control immigration, return the election
process to the people, reduce poverty, greatly reduce
production of CO2, ease the cost of college, cut in half the
number of those incarcerated, eliminate water shortages in the
West and elsewhere, improve public education, make Social
Security forever solvent, eliminate mass gun-homicides, and
become energy independent.

How to vote
In general, candidates for political office must be well educated with a basic
understanding of government, law, science, and world geography and
cultures.
Choose candidates who, unless we were directly attacked, would not start a
new war. This should be the number one selection criterion for the next
President.
Candidates must be honest, ethical and tolerant.
Vote for persons less guided by religion and superstition and are strongly
pro-business.
Vote for those who will not tolerate corruption in government.

Vote for candidates who respect women and would not make abortion illegal
nor difficult and would not shut down the existing clinics.
Vote for politicians who will raise taxes for the wealthy.
Vote for candidates who will not open up the old growth forests for logging.
Vote for candidates who will not cut medical research funding.
Vote for candidates who will fight for campaign finance reform.
Vote for persons who will allow campaign donations of a maximum amount
from individuals only, and who will outlaw Super Pacs. Vote for a candidate
who would thus return the election process back to the people.
Vote for persons who would outlaw gerrymandering.
Vote for persons who supports a minimum wage of $15 per hour.
Vote against anyone who would make it more difficult to vote.
Vote for candidate who recognizes the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics
and recommends federal funding for attacking the problem.
Vote for no one who supports deportation of undocumented aliens with
American born children.
Support no candidate who wants to increase the number of persons
incarcerated.

Jobs
The US economy has a serious jobs problems.
Remarkably, the federal government has no job
growth programs.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the
following for June 2015.
Unemployed

8.3 million

Part time workers

6.5 million

Stopped looking

1.9 million

Total needing full time work. 16.7 million

The problem of unemployment is more serious in

many of our large cities. For example
unemployment in Detroit is 12.9%. Newark 9.6%
and Cleveland 7.1%. For blacks in Philadelphia
unemployment is 19%, in Chicago its 25%.

Among several causative factors for this loss

of employment, the major driving force is US
corporations off-shoring high labor-contentassembly functions and to a less extent
competing-product imports from China and other
lower cost of labor venues. The number of jobs
lost to Chana is straightforward to calculate.
Their high tech labor-productivity rate was
$15,600 per person in 2013, and the trade
deficit was $343 billion in 2014. This is thus
22 million jobs in China mainly dedicated to
assembly of US company products such as
electronic devices. Prior to 1980, labor
intensive manufacturing and assembly was done
here in our domestic factories.

A reasonable goal for our government would be

to rebuild a number factories in various high
unemployment US cites and bring back home, say
one-half of these lost jobs. Thus create 11million new jobs. This would add roughly $25

billion in new tax revenues and greatly reduce

unemployment compensation and welfare costs

This could be achieved using various tax

incentives such as:

Vote for the politician who has a real jobs program, such as support of
domestic manufacturing using tax incentives, such as strong incentives for
building factories and infrastructure in the cities. For example, allow the tax
free return of all US company foreign profits (now $2.1 trillion) if invested
in US factories and associated domestic labor.
Find candidates who propose that multinational corporations now offshoring assembly operations would have their US tax rates reduced from
todays maximum of 35% to zero for all products competing globally and
using 80% or greater domestic assembly, testing and final shipping
operations.
Vote for persons who are against any private business paying for its
employees health care.
Vote for candidates who support a national single-payer healthcare system.
In general, this would be an expansion of the current Medicare system, the
program funded by individual tax revenues.
Support no politicians who oppose an increase in government infrastructure
programs.
Vote for persons who favors open-shop rules in all states and makes public
unions illegal.
Give no support to any candidate who favors a law allowing the open
carrying of a gun anywhere by private citizens.

Solve the undocumented alien problem with use of a National Identity Card
carried by all US citizens age 18 or above. This ID is required for
employment, driving an auto, and airport security. Some immigrants may be
granted temporary cards. Visitors are exempt for a period with a Passport.
The card is made impossible to counterfeit.
Vote for persons who would eliminate incarceration for use of or selling of
various illegal drugs and chemical substances. Law enforcement here would
be by fines or recovery programs.
Vote for someone who seeks US energy independence and therefore ceases
all petroleum imports and military activities from the Middle East. No more
blood for oil. This region is unstable, dangerous, chaotic and irrational.
There, the religious intensity is so deep and intolerant, and the ethnic
divisions so ingrained and polarized that the region could be in conflict for
another 100-years. US military intervention cannot solve such a problem.
Vote for someone who does not support the present unconstitutional killing
by the use of drones.
Vote for candidates who favor government loan support for college
educations. Interest rates on the loans would fall in proportion to the
percentage of online courses, eventually reaching negative values. This
would move the colleges towards greater efficiency.
Vote for politicians who pledge a balanced federal budget achieved mainly
by cuts in defense and war, tax increases on wealthier individuals, and an
increases in employment via infrastructure programs, some high-laborcontent manufacturing and other means. The present federal 2015 budget
would be in balance, for example, by cutting $200 billion from Defense,
Military and Homeland spending and raising tax revenues by 10%.
A federal tax per gallon of gasoline is gradually imposed reaching one dollar
ten years. The funds are applied to mass transit.
Eliminate mass shootings. Vote for very strong gun control. Vote for gun
laws where gun ownership is heavily regulated by law. Generally, private
citizens would not be allowed to possess guns and penalties for arms
trafficking would be severe. Guns would be used by law enforcement, the

military and paramilitary, and security personnel protecting property of state

importance. Civilian ownership of guns would largely be restricted to
authorized, non-individual entities, including sporting organizations,
authorized hunting reserves and wildlife protection, management and
research organizations. Illegal possession or sale of firearms would result in
heavy fines. Essentially, disarm the people.
Vote for candidates who realizes water shortages or droughts are readily
alleviated by pumping water through pipes or via aqua ducts from locations
where there is too much water to regions where there is not enough. In
general, this means transporting water from the North or East to the West
and South
Vote for people who realizes that France has proved that nuclear power is a
non-polluting and highly efficient energy production process, and favors
building many more nuclear-power plants in the US. And favors the
elimination of coal for producing electric power.
Vote for persons who will raise the age of Social Security participation, with
some health-problem exceptions, to age 70.
Vote for politicians who realize the value of wide-spread interstate
electrified-mass-transit towards the goal of energy independence.

Politicians who would qualify

It is not difficult to make list of politicians who would not qualify under the
terms of this essay. Below is list.
Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey
Graham. Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand
Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump
Scott Walker, Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, Bernie
Sanders, Jim Webb.
And all members todays House and Senate.

But in Americas past we can name several who would have qualified, back
in their time:
Perhaps Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and
Robert Kennedy if they were living today

Bottom Line: The origin of most problems in the US and in the

world are political not technical.

END