Joe's first fire side talk

Hi Joe

The FireSideTalk is a great American tradition, started by FDR.  It is the way the president can get the American People working with him to pass legislation, especially if another branch of the government is obstructing what is needed to be done.  So here is a suggestion for your first FireSideTalk.

Good Evening my fellow Americans

I will be doing Fire Side Talks each Friday and they will be aired on youtube.  They will deal, primarily with Bills I send to the Congress.  These bills will be simple, easily understood and dealing with one subject at a time.  Great complex, long bills are often hard to understand.  In Fact they are often purposefully made difficult to understand to obscure their hidden agendas and this is simply not democratic.  In future Fire Side Talks, I will tell you who has opposed these bills and what their arguments are.  So here goes.  Here is the first bill I will send to the Senate and the House of Representatives; The Congress of the United States.

Our election system is highly corrupt at a basic level and many many reforms are needed.  The primary reform; the one that is most anti-democratic is the delegate system.  It was originally put in place to ensure that rich land owners, mostly rich white men at the time, could control the election of the president if the popular vote went against who they wanted for president.  This has to stop.

My first bill to the Congress will propose that the president of the United States will henceforth be elected by the popular vote of the People of the United States.

Can you imagine how many vested interests will oppose this proposition.  Here is where you come in.  In future Fire Side Talks, I will tell you who is against this bill in the House of Representatives and in the Senate and you must help me get through to these people.

Many more reforms will be necessary.  For instance, we need far more polling stations.  It is a scandal that you have to travel great distances to find a polling station and then wait for hours to vote.  Gerrymandering is a stain on our democracy.  Denial of registration is a scam.  But these, and other blots on the operation of our democracy will be the subject of a future bill.  One thing at a time.  I'm Asking you, the America People to help me.  I can't do it alone.  Good by until next Friday.

Innovation

This blog was triggered by an article in New Scientist, 7, November, 2020 p16 Titled Innovation.  It was all about bringing the UK back into the lead in the world in Advanced Research Projects.

 

Not all innovation has to be research based, ground breaking and expensive.  There are many simple, well known measures that would make a huge difference.

 

*Introduce beavers into the headwaters of every catchment and you mitigate floods, increase low water flows, clean the water, increase biodiversity recharge ground water, trap the nutrients coming upstream with salmon migrations into the surrounding ecosystem and create a great tourist attraction.

*Finance election campaigns from the exchequer instead of from vested interest contributions and you eliminate a large block of political corruption.  This is the prime reason that politician do the bidding of vested interests instead of the bidding of the people who elected them.  Solve this one and we would stop having to push the brown stuff uphill with a spoon. Do this and most of the rest will be simplicity itself to achieve.

*Remove all subsidies on fossil fuel and a big chunk of climate change mitigation will occur automatically. Renewable energy can stand on it's own feet economically, especially since the advent of mega batteries.  Do you realize that the 100mWh battery at Hornsdale in Southern Australia is on track to earn the total $66m Aus that it cost, within three years.  They have added another 50kWh of storage and I bet they add more.

*Eliminate Cap and Trade and legislate Tax and Dividend and money will be put into the hands of the poorest instead of the richest, stimulating the economy.  The rich simply squirrel it away and it doesn't power the economy.

*Outlaw foreign fishing boats in your EEZ and set large areas aside as no fishing areas and your catches in the fishing-permitted areas will return to what they were two centuries ago.

 

*Compensate victims of floods from the land or from the sea, generously - once - and that is it.  If they insist on remaining in the flood prone area, they will never be compensated again. Hire a small group of insurance experts to hold the feet of the insurance companies to the fire and make sure they compensate the clients fully for what they deserve according to their policy.

There are plenty more but you get the idea.  The function of government is to set the playing field so that things happen automatically.  They are supposed to take the wider view and enable actions that will benefit her constituents far into the future. 

Letter to Joe

 Hi Joe

You are in a battle but you can win it.  Despite being on the wrong side of almost every vote for virtually all of your political career, you have shown your human side on a number of occasions.  I have the feeling (and the hope) that this human side is not just a coat you put on when convenient but is actually part of your character.

 

You have shown how you can work with Republicans - by voting with them as if you were a Republican yourself.

 

Your battle is with the Senate and specifically with Mitch.  He is anti-democratic, anti-constitution, a hypocrite (just look at the appointment of the most recent member of the supreme court) and could care less about the American people.  You can outsmart him.

 

Your main ally is the American people and they will rally to your support if you show them that you have their backs.  Your legacy could outshine virtually all other presidents and be right up there with FDR. Obama could be left eating your dust.  So what is the strategy here. 

 

Firstly you must have fire side chats.  Don't do them via any news media but post them on Youtube.  You don't want them edited by your corrupt media.  Post them at the same time each week.  In your fire side talks you tell the people what bills you are going to send, or have sent to the other branches of the government and explain why you are doing it.  As time goes on, you explain where these bills got stopped by the house of representatives or Senate and who, specifically, opposed them.  Keep your bills simple.  No complex bills.  Let's take an example.

 

Your presidential election system and in fact your total election system is a joke in the eyes of the world.  We find it hard to believe that a country that blathers on about their great democracy and how they spread democracy around the world* (Yeah Right!!!) has such a system.  So here is your first bill.

* Read Classified Woman by Edmons, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by Perkins, The Untold History of the United States by Stone and so forth. 

 

Propose that the president will be chosen by popular vote.  Whoever gets the most votes by the people wins.  Scrap the present system completely.  Don't include any other reforms in this bill and don't accept any compromises.  Keep each bill really really simple.  You are dealing with a population, 40% of which believe that the world was created some 6000 years ago.  If they send the bill back to you in a modified form veto it and send it back as originally proposed.  Do one easily understood step at a time.  You can tell the people in your fire side talk that following the passing of this bill, you will send other reforms to the House and Senate but one step at a time.  And no pork fat allowed.

Of course Mitch will scream bloody blue murder as will a whole bunch of other vested interests.  The people will love it and they will come out in droves to support you.  You can include clips of Mitch opposing the bill in the Senate in your fire side talks.  Keep hammering on at Mitch.  Continue in this style, step by inevitable step.  When Mitch opposes the bill, and you have explained to the people what is happening, send it to congress again.  Mitch will feel like he has walked into a buzz saw. Go get'im.  You can do it.

So, You Want My Vote

 You want my vote.  Well here is what you have to do.  In fact, if you  promised any one of the following I would probably vote for you.  Promise two or more and I am yours for ever (if you followed through).  I realize that if you are in a coalition all you can do is submit the bill for passing but even that would be enough to keep me voting for you. You have shown "good faith"  If you have an absolute majority, thought, you must submit it and pass it.

 

Campaign Contributions  

Outlaw them.  

They are the core problem of all 'western' democracies and campaign contributions are why they aren't (democracies).  Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune.  Why are you surprised that politicians do the bidding of vested interests. It is the only way they can be assured of enough money to run their next election campaign. You know,,,, If you only passed this item, all the following items would fall into place almost automatically.

Encourage the Uptake of Electric Vehicles

Simply remove all taxes associated with the purchase and running of an electric vehicle.  This includes any and all stamp taxes, import taxes, purchase taxes Fringe Benefit Taxes and so forth.......  and all road taxes associated with the running of an electric car.  If you can't bear to not make some government revenue from the electric fleet then wave all road taxes for the first 20 years of the operation of the car. 

 

Remove all subsidies on fossil fuel

I mean everything right down to amortization.  Let the fossil fuel Industries stand on their own economic merits.  And note that renewable energy doesn't need any government subsidies.  It can stand on its own, economically, thank you very much. Leave the exchequer alone.

Institute Tax and Dividend

Put a very small tax on fossil fuel when it comes out of the ground in your country or across your boarder from some other country.  Every cent of the money collected is sent, at virtually zero cost, by electronic transfer in equal portion to every registered tax payer. (no sending cheques.  No one uses them now and they cost money to make, to send and to process).  This is the system called Tax and Dividend and was proposed by Jim Hansen.  For once put money into the hands of the people instead of into the hands of the rich. 

People low on the economic scale will use every cent just to feed their family, people in the middle will save up to put solar panels on the roof, people high on the hog will have a meal at an expensive restaurant.  Win win win all around.  

Oh! and by the by, the small tax rate on fossil fuel increases by a legislated amount each year.  Any idea what investors in fossil fuel are going to do.  

Cap and trade is a scam designed to make the rich even richer. Economies are not powered by making the rich, richer.  They are powered by putting money into the hands of people that will use the money to buy goods and services.

Bottled water

To stop bottling our water and selling it overseas is just plain crazy.  Water bottling is a license to print money and is three orders of magnitude more profitable per quantity of water than other uses.  For instance it takes less than 1.5l of water to produce a liter of bottled water.  It takes over 1000l of water to produce a liter of milk.   Other agricultural products are in the same ball park; some using less water, most using more. 

It is equally crazy to put this lucrative business into the hands of Coca Cola, Cloud water or any other outside concern.  The reason we do this, probably has something to do with our much vaunted trade agreements with other countries.  This would be a good test case to examine and find out why our trade agreements are shafting us.

Trade agreements might actually fall into the same category as agricultural subsidies (which New Zealand canceled some decades ago).  We might  find that we would actually be better off without them.  We produce great products.  If you want to buy them and we can agree on a price,, great.  If not the rest of the world will come knocking at our door.  Read chapter 2 of Naomi Klein's book, This Changes Everything.  She describes how trade agreements get in the way, would you believe, of solving Climate Change.

 

Fisheries

Outlaw fishing in our EEZ (Economic Exclusion Zone) by foreign fishing boats and make sure that the local fishing companies are not rorting the system. 

People working on the fishing boats must be permanent residents or citizens of our country.  

Then make at least a third of our EEZ a no fishing zone.  

Outlaw drift nets, bottom trawls and insist that the  long line methods that are used are designed to protect our birds.  The methods have already been developed.

Ensure that all fish are landed  and processed in our country.  Sell value added products overseas, not raw whole fish.

Make sure that every part of the fish is used.  After filleting, for instance, the remaining flesh can be centrifuged off the carcasses, mixed with soya to make fish balls and marketed with a package of powdered sauce ingredients.  making a really nutritious, inexpensive, tasty food.  

The remaining part of the carcasses can be dried and ground to make a great fertilizer.  

Lastly, give permits to fishing boats for a given tonnage of fish.  Ensure that no fish are thrown back into the sea. 

 

Flood policy 

Put in place a rational flood policy.   Floods come from the land and from the sea.

Here is a suggestion.

*Recognize that if an area is flooded, nature is telling you something in the clearest terms.  Namely, that if this area has been flooded once, it will be flooded again.  Unless you have some bomb proof system of stopping future floods, then heed the message.  And contain your hubris.  Do a little research to see if the solution you have in mind has worked elsewhere.

* Have  a small cadre of  government employees that are insurance experts and who's job is to hold the feet of the insurance companies to the fire and ensure that they give the effected people the full benefit of their policies.

 

*Add government compensation as necessary and make it generous.  ONCE.

*The owners of the property are welcome to stay there if they want but they have received all the compensation that they will ever get.  On the LIM, mark the property as uninsurable.  With the money they have received, the owners can move to higher ground or can stay.  The decision is theirs.  But when the next flood comes, they are on their own.   

 

*Demolish any houses that have been abandoned and turn the area into a park or wilderness area.  Anything except property with flood prone assets on it. 

Banking

Start to shift government business to Kiwi banks.  Allowing Ausi banks to take approximately a billion dollars out of our economy every 6 months is simple stupid.  Let me tell you a little apocryphal story.

Twin brothers marry twin girls.  One of the girls is a little princess.  She wants everything and she wants it now so her husband buys their kitchen equipment, furniture and every convenience.....on time.

The other girl says to her husband, no, we will sit on apple boxes and eat off our knees until we have money to buy our first big ticket item and we will continue this way, month by month, only buying what we have money for.

Now flash forward 5 years.  The little princess and her husband have everything in the house they need but are paying off a big part of their salary in interest.

The other couple have just as much, and it is a little newer than the other couple but the main point is that they own it all.  From then on all their money is theirs to do with what they want.  Best of all they are not vulnerable to a down turn in the economy or some other disaster.  Which couple do we want New Zealand to emulate. Unfortunately we have already behaved like little princesses.