Thursday, March 31, 2005

The New Bill of Rights

To Whom It May Concern:

I started off writing a script. In the script, the main character was going to run for president. He was going to be this sort naive doofus who going to try and get a jump on the 2012 elections by starting his campaign now. So, I started thinking, "What would I do if I was running for president?" I came up with "The New Bill of Rights." So, this book has 10 new amendments. I sort of stole this idea from James Madison.

I became eligible to vote in 1988. I saw back then, while I was still in high school that politicians were kind of phony. Since then, I have pretty much been able to say with a great deal of certainty that every presidential candidate has been full of it. I say they are full of it because the changes they push for are Band-Aids when there needs to be tourniquets.

Here is a summary of the amendments. Let me know what you think. I hope you think these ideas are creative and meaningful.

1. The Drug Amendment: It takes away prison sentences for drug abusers. It also puts a hefty sales tax on drugs to be used for rehab centers. Why: Drug laws are basically tools for racists to throw minorities in jail. The demographics of the prison populations statistics don't lie.

2. The Anti-Obsolete Amendment: It makes manufacturers accountable for the products they sell despite the naivity of the American consumer. Why: Instead of asking the question, "Do I look cool in this car?" Americans should be asking, "Will this car last for 30 years? Or can this car be repaired easily?" (I'm extremely practical.)

3. The Profit Sharing Amendment: It makes it illegal for great disparities in wages to exist in corporations. It limits the disparity to a factor of 20(including stock options, salaries, and perks) Why: The CEO of MBNA [credit cards] has an annually salary of $25 million. He makes 1000 times more [a factor of 1000] than the lowest paid employee. This Amendment would actually expand on the 14th Amendment, which was the abolition of slavery.

4. The New States Amendment: It gives Congress the added responsibility of adding new states. Why: a recent survey suggested 40% of Mexicans living in Mexico would migrate to the United States today if they could--Why should they have to migrate??

5. The Campaign Contribution Limitation Amendment: It takes away the ability of corporations to contribute to political parties. It limits contributions to individuals in the amount of $100. Why: The coal industry has given $750 million dollars over the last 5 years to the Republican party, uncoincidentally, every lake in America has toxic levels of Mercury and will continue to for decades--Mercury is one of the byproducts of emitted from smoke stacks.

6. The Sales Tax Amendment: It repeals the 16th Amendment. Instead of having a progressive income tax there could be a progressive sales tax. It would work like this: The more you spend the more you pay. The more expensive the thing you buy is, the more you pay Why: People are greedy. The 16th Amendment (income tax) is open ended; meaning there is no limit to what they could take or will take.(Google the 16th Amendment, read it, you'll see what I'm talking about)

7. The End of a Limitation of 2 terms: It repeals the 22nd Amendment. Presidents should be allowed to hold an office for as many times he/she can get elected. Why: Think about it for a second; would you fire an employee from your company who was doing good job after 8 years? You'd be an idiot to do so. (I'm having second thoughts about this one because of George Bush.)

8. The Balanced Budget Amendment: It makes it mandatory for the president and congress to balance the budget each year. Why: Every American currently owes about $25K including the little babies.

9. The Education Amendment: It focuses the education system on literacy or understanding, instead of passing tests. Why: At least 60% of all high schoolers are functionally illiterate. (I'm rewritting this one.)

10. The Golden Rule Amendment: It gives government the purpose of ensuring that it treats people the way they want to be treated and vice versa. It's a law to ensure people are treating each other the way they want to be treated. Why: "Liberty and Justice for All" is a pretty vague, it leaves too much room for people to exploit one another.

All these amendments were intended to go together.

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