If you where president

[Calibur]

Well all know the two candidate running for President of The United States of America.
-Jhon Kerry(Can't make up his mind)
-George Bush(I always wanted Gore to win, and now I just wished he wouldve won even more.

Well anyway if you got the chance to be president what would be your political policy and plan.

[Vhaeraun]

My political plan would be to blow up Iraq and begin worshipping Giant Space Hamsters

My policy...Who the **** needs a policy?

[JenJen]

well first of all i'd never be president because men can't get off their high horse and admit that a woman would be better at the job. I don't really have strong views on what a president should do though. I dislike war and basically everything that bush is doing right now so if i were president i wouldn't be like him. Meh i'd have more fun decorating the white house than dealing with political issues ;).

[Sheep_Have_Wool]

admit that a woman would be better at the job.Meh i'd have more fun decorating the white house than dealing with political issues
:rolleyes: (I don't really think anything else needs to be said here)

As for me being president, if elected, my goal would be to make other countries think, "Shit, he's just crazy enough to do it." Think Reagan and the Iranians. (For those politcally challenged, Reagan threatened to attack Iran if the hostages currently held were not released - they were, the day he was inaugrated.) For example, a press release:

"When I am inaugrated, I will order our military to invade [insert your country's name here]'s soverign airspace and bomb the crap out of any known terrorist camps there. If this idea doesn't appeal to you, save us the time and do it yourself. That is all."

Sure, it's simplistic, but I think it's worth a shot.

[Scipio7777777]

Lower taxes (flat Tax), less social prorgams (welfare etc...), down size OCEA, tort reform, upsize military funding, get read of air force and make it part of army except for teh big bombers etc........

[Scauthra]

I wouldint BE president because noone would vote for me. I would really screw up and be impeached within the day.

Anyways

Legalize most drugs.
Legalize prostitution.
Legalize gay marriage in all states, not one or two.
Acturally place order on seperation between church and state.
Make sure abortion stays legalized.
Lower taxes if it's reasonable and doesint hurt the country at the time.
Go on some sort of push to demote the distaste for the 7 deadly words.
Decrease the migration rate into the country by around 5-10%.
And most certainly!
Support medical science advancments (which means screw you ALF and such),
Go to the countires that accturally need our genically produce food and speak to thier leaders. Explain that it is not poisoned and that it will help.
Lower, or make export of cash to some countries null, keep a better focus on where the money goes.
Lastly,
Work on a way to just really Screw up caught rapiest, murderes and hate oriented crimes.

You're in my country? Screw you, you will not get 10 years for raping a girl, or in cases, a boy, again! And if you are a priest, you wont be looked kindly upon by me. You get equal treatment as a fuckass who does the same crime as you.

That goes for movie stars and enertainment people. I don't care how much money you have, if you are accused, and found guilty of a crime. You get no special treatment, you serve the same sentence. End of story.

Cheese. ^_^

[singo]

me?

okaaaaaaaaay this is gonna be fun


death penalty for all crimes more serious than burglary (except manslaughter, everyone makes mistakes)

rebuild iraq then get out and leave it to the "oh so smart and competent UN" (sorry, couldnt resist :P)

ditto afghanistan (after burning all the opium fields)

death penalty for drugs traffiking

erm, taxes stay the same (you yanks dont realise how lucky you are taxwise :P)

fund scientific research into fusion power, stem cell stuff and molecular synthesis


but id probably get drunk off my ass and thrown out on day one.

not that it matters, i despise democracy anyways, better to wait for it to fall down and rebuild the whole damn thing from scratch. (i really am a bastard arn't i?)

[hammocksleeper]

well first of all i'd never be president because men can't get off their high horse and admit that a woman would be better at the job.
Uhh...if Bush wins this election then Hilary is running for prez in '08. If Kerry wins, she's running for prez in '12.

[JenJen]

^^^so? doesnt mean i'd ever be president and doesnt mean men have accepted the fact that women are better than them.

[hammocksleeper]

Were I president, I would repeal the income tax.
Legalize and deregulate all drugs.
To penalize criminals, charge more fines and less prison time.
Privatize education.
Eliminate welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
Eliminate social security.
Reduce overall taxes.
Reduce overall government spending.
Make service in the armed forces completely voluntary
Reaffirm the right to bear arms.
Remove all restrictions on immigration.
Create a truly free market, one without government interference
Eliminate federal subsidies.
Allow anyone to explore space.
Allow abortion.
Allow states to have a greater say in what the federal government does



Of course you must remember that the president really can't do all of this stuff on his own. ;)

[Demosthene5]

doesnt mean men have accepted the fact that women are better than them. maybe youll get the response you really want if you mention this two more times. Youre not poking the bear hard enough.

Id imagine that there would be a significant progressive movement if I were in the white house. Except for crime. Death penalty for anything beyond a misdimeanor. No strikes, no jails, no second chances, just plain old death. All the money saved from not babysitting and keeping prisoners alive would go straight to education and research. The government spends about 27 thousand dollars on a single prisoner a year, while spending about 4 thousand on a single student per year. I say kill the criminals, and fund the people who can make a better future.

[JenJen]

maybe youll get the response you really want if you mention this two more times. Youre not poking the bear hard enough.
har har that suppose to be funny? i was only saying something back to hammock in case you know you _overlooked_ the ^^^

[Calibur]

Look everone is equal no mattar who you are. Male, Female, Black, White, Hispanic, Chinese, European, fat, thin, small, tall, disabled, anabled, it dont matter were all human and we are all equal. But that is not the point of this thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Calibur takes Ak out and guns down everyone equally
STAY ON TOPIC

[Demosthene5]

well first of all i'd never be president because men can't get off their high horse and admit that a woman would be better at the job.
doesnt mean men have accepted the fact that women are better than them. Yes i was trying to be funny, but im not very good at it, it just seems like youre trying to upset someone by making sexist remarks. :\ It seemed strange is all, and i tried to make a joke. sorry to bother.

[JenJen]

oh lol didn't mean to be harsh on yeh. building up women when i'm a girl in a room full of guys i dont think is really sexist unless people wanna take it that way but if they do well they shouldnt. It's obvious i'd say women are better.

[Sheep_Have_Wool]

It's obvious i'd say women are betterMaybe you should go burn a bra.

[LordAhriman]

well first of all i'd never be president because men can't get off their high horse and admit that a woman would be better at the job.
lol reverse sexism makes u enlightened lol

[EdvardMunch]

I would...

- Make psychology, philosophy and ethics classes required learning in school (not too many classes would be required, but the average person would get enough learning so they A: Didn't make ridiculous assumptions about how the human mind works B: Actually had critical thinking skills C: Knew the difference between right and wrong)
- Not allow you to vote until you at least had a high school education. Registering to vote would be required before you could graduate.
- Disolve the ineffective DARE and replace it with the proven effective Life Skills Training Program (the LSTP is just a better program for preventing drug use. As opposed to DARE, it is actually proven to get results)
- Implement the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which is the best known program to prevent bullying in school. Hell, I'd invent primary and secondary prevention programs (using existing models that have shown considerable results) to prevent every societal problem I can.
- Ripoff Australia and make voting mandatory
- Legalize gay marriage
- Destroy the IRS and implement a national sales tax (do any economists here have a ballpark figure of what the national sales tax would have to be? Just curious)
- Create voluntary school programs which would teach infants new languages while they were young enough to easily learn them. The programs would be free or they'd have a small fee
- Make parenting classes be required before you have kids
- Research how other countries spend their money on students and how they teach students and replicate the most successful ones (success being defined as which students learn the most and are happiest). The USA spends more money on students in all levels of education than any other country in the world, so clearly we're teaching them wrong. Source. (http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/09/16/sprj.sch.education.compared.ap/) I'd probably try to find a way to squeeze the Democratic School model somewhere into the new education system.
- Abolish hunting for sport
- Impose more strict standards on farms, slaughterhouses, kennels and wherever else animals are kept, and force them to be more humane to animals
- Legalize doctor assisted suicide and pardon Dr. Kevorkian
- Propose a bill to bring in siestas
- Get rid of daylight savings time

Where would I get the money for half of this? I dunno, dissolve the military and ask our neighbors up north to protect us? You'd do that, wouldn't you Canada? I promise to teach Americans who the PM of Canada is!

Cool, I have a totalitarian style about me. I know what my motto would be: "Do it and don't ask why. Research shows it's for your own good!"

[GrassDragon]

Were I president, I would repeal the income tax.
Legalize and deregulate all drugs.
To penalize criminals, charge more fines and less prison time.
Privatize education.
Eliminate welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
Eliminate social security.
Reduce overall taxes.
Reduce overall government spending.
Make service in the armed forces completely voluntary
Reaffirm the right to bear arms.
Remove all restrictions on immigration.
Create a truly free market, one without government interference
Eliminate federal subsidies.
Allow anyone to explore space.
Allow abortion.
Allow states to have a greater say in what the federal government does
I would agree with all of these changes. Pull back the government and make the people take care of themselves; a conservative take on things, no? :P

EdvardMunch has some good ideas too:
- Not allow you to vote until you at least had a high school education. Registering to vote would be required before you could graduate.
I like this one :)

- Abolish hunting for sport
- Impose more strict standards on farms, slaughterhouses, kennels and wherever else animals are kept, and force them to be more humane to animals.
Don't want to start an arguement here, but why? Why should we treate animals more humanely when they are just that, animals?

[hammocksleeper]

- Destroy the IRS and implement a national sales tax (do any economists here have a ballpark figure of what the national sales tax would have to be? Just curious)Well, income tax collections in 2003 totaled about $1.18 trillion. (www.irs.gov (http://www.irs.gov/)) GDP in 2003 was $10.88 trillion. (www.worldbank.org (http://www.worldbank.org/)) There are a lot of other adjustments that would have to happen, and a lot of restructuring, but basically the rate that you are looking at for a flat sales tax to replace the federal income tax would be around 10-13%.

To put this in perspective, the average individual income tax rate in 2000 was 16.1%. (www.irs.gov (http://www.irs.gov/))

It's a lot more complicated than I'm making it sound, though. ;)

[JenJen]

Maybe you should go burn a bra.
i'm not a feminist. in fact i hate people like that. Sometimes it's good to stick up for your gender though.

[Demosthene5]

Sometimes it's good to stick up for your gender though. how and why?

[JenJen]

idk i cant really explain... when you're a minority in anything it's fun to stick up for yourself and be different ::shrug::

[EdvardMunch]

Interesting stuff, thanks hammock.

Don't want to start an argument here, but why? Why should we treate animals more humanely when they are just that, animals?
Animals are living creatures that are capable of feeling pain and, (as research conducted by "they" shows) are smarter than humans take them for. I believe that animals have a concept of suffering and do suffer in inhumane conditions. As for hunting for sport: keeping in mind that I think animals are living creatures and not organic robots, I figure that if it's wrong to kill people, then it's also wrong to kill animals.

To give you an idea of the extent of how much I have been brainwashed, I'm a vegetarian. If I could get away with it, I'd completely strike meat from every menu in America and force the nation to go vegetarian as well, but as the thread title says, the question is "if you were president" not "if you were God".

Now, I don't believe it's always wrong to eat animals. If I had to choose between killing my own meal or starving to death, I'd go hunting, it's only natural. My objection to killing animals in this day and age is that we live in a society where it is extremely easy to eat a healthy, well-balanced meal with all of the vitamins needed (even protein. Protein is in everything!) and not have to kill an animal in the process.

[LordAhriman]

I like the taste of meat; no cow is going to invent a cure for cancer anytime soon; let's be carnivores!

[hammocksleeper]

Animals are living creatures that are capable of feeling pain and are smarter than humans take them for...keeping in mind that I think animals are living creatures and not organic robots, I figure that if it's wrong to kill people, then it's also wrong to kill animals.
Plants are "living creatures" as well, why should we be able to kill them?

And let me also make the argument that plants can feel pain just as well as animals. A tree knows when its life in in danger, if branches are being ripped off by some little kid, if it's being clear-cut. What is pain? It's a notice to our central governing systems that we are in trouble, or are about to be in it. Plants have all kinds of mechanisms for detecting their surroundings and I do believe that they can feel pain.

[Calibur]

How the Hell did this go from What your plans would be if you where president to cruelty aginast animals..........
Oh well

[EdvardMunch]

Do you have any sources discussing that plants can feel pain? I can't find any... (that seem credible)

I don't think plants can feel pain. I wish I could find an article saying one way or the other, but I mostly find forum postings, blogs or satirical articles. Even Ebsco has failed me :( I'll have to speculate.

I think a brain is necessary to feel pain (if someone who is paralyzed cannot feel anything, it goes to reason that they cannot feel pain either), and since plants do not have a brain or central nervous system, they cannot feel pain.

True, plants release a number of chemicals in response to attack and touch, but that isn't the negative sensation of pain.

However, let's say for the sake of argument that plants can feel pain. In this case, you cannot avoid doing harm (unless you stick with picking ripened food off of plants, like apples and berries) so you must minimize it. Being a vegetarian is still the best option (well, technically a vegan) because animals consume a massive amount of plant food before they are slaughtered, (they consume more plant food on a farm than out in the wild, since on a farm they are fattened up pretty well). Thus, we can either choose to kill lots and lots of plants to feed and eventually slaughter a cow, or we can just eat the plants which, over the long run, will result in fewer plants being eaten.

EDIT: How the Hell did this go from What your plans would be if you where president to cruelty aginast animals..........
Oh well
I was wondering that too. Eh, someone challenged me and I'm defending myself. Don't look at me! I didn't threadjack! :rolleyes:

This is a pretty diverse thread. We've had a little bit of feminist discussion, a little bit of animal cruelty/vegetarian discussion, what's next? The environment sounds likely.

[Vhaeraun]

How the Hell did this go from What your plans would be if you where president to cruelty aginast animals..........
Oh well
This is Warboards. This kind of stuff happens all the time

[GrassDragon]

I can't really reply to you, EdvardMunch, because we see things differently on this topic. You believe pain to animals should be minimized, and I think it doesn't matter because animals are meant to be eaten. We can argue back and forth but neither of us will change each others minds, so why bother arguing at all :P

EDIT:
I was wondering that too. Eh, someone challenged me and I'm defending myself. Don't look at me! I didn't threadjack! :rolleyes:

This is a pretty diverse thread. We've had a little bit of feminist discussion, a little bit of animal cruelty/vegetarian discussion, what's next? The environment sounds likely.

Will respond to this though. I threadjacked (I guess) but we didn't get offtopic for very long, and I think we'll be back after this post. And when everyone posts what they would do if they had control over a nation, there will be someone who questions why a person would do what; not bad, it just happens.

By the way, I don't care much about the environment, I'm only gonna be here another 70-80 years at most anyways, how screwed up can it get in that time?

Jeez, I go off topic again >.< nobody respond to what I just said (ha, like that's gonna happen ;))

[Scipio7777777]

i like animals they taste good

[Garrec]

Animals are living creatures that are capable of feeling pain and, (as research conducted by "they" shows) are smarter than humans take them for. I believe that animals have a concept of suffering and do suffer in inhumane conditions. As for hunting for sport: keeping in mind that I think animals are living creatures and not organic robots, I figure that if it's wrong to kill people, then it's also wrong to kill animals.
Not all animals are raised in inhumane conditions, and not all livestock raised for food are killed inhumanely either. Not all livestock are raised for feeding the general public. Trust me on this one.

One of the accepted ideas in humanity is that we can reason. For example, we can choose our thoughts and actions. Is it wrong for animals to kill each other? The cat kills the mouse. Do we frown upon this behavior? No. Why? Because it's an instinct of the cat, it's instinct to survive, to prey on "lesser animals" for food. Yes, humans kill people. They don't do it for the need to survive though, they do it because they have some other intention to do so, like revenge or hate. That is the difference between animals and humans. That is why it's wrong for humans to kill people.

What about other foods? Do you eat fish, poultry, eggs, or drink milk? Is that inhumane as well? I get the feeling that you're not one of these extremists, so I would assume not.

As for being president, I think I would improve the schooling system. From an example of myself, the only thing that was useful for subjects in my school years before high school was math and english. I don't remember a damn thing about history in middle school. The most I remember was from science, because it was my favorite subject. It wasn't until high school that history really began to make some sense to me, and since I graduated, I can't remember all of the little details in history, I can't remember much of the stuff I was taught in science classes, and I don't remember half of the complex math I studied.

The point I'm trying to make, is that who remembers all the stuff they're taught in middle school? Important things like math and language I can understand, but I think there needs to be more mandatory classes. For example, classes that teach you skills that are useful in society, and teaching stuff that's actually useful in the world (like social skills). What's the point of memorizing all the parts of a cell or leaning how to balance chemical equations? What's the point of finding out where the graph of a polynomial expression crosses the x-axis? Especially if you have absolutely no chance of even picking a job that uses those bits of information.

Another thing I would change as president are the penalties for defending yourself in your own home. I've heard of stories where a robber forced his way into a home, and was shot or otherwise injured in the self defense of a panicking resident. But is the robber tried for robbery? No. The home-owner is sued for medical expenses and is put on trial because he shot the robber, even though he was clearly defending himself.

This is just not right in today's law system.

[EdvardMunch]

Not all animals are raised in inhumane conditions, and not all livestock raised for food are killed inhumanely either. Not all livestock are raised for feeding the general public. Trust me on this one.
True, not all animals are raised in inhumane conditions, and so my complaints don't extend to them. However, how humanely animals are killed does not matter to me, because I disagree with them being killed in the first place.

One of the accepted ideas in humanity is that we can reason. For example, we can choose our thoughts and actions. Is it wrong for animals to kill each other? The cat kills the mouse. Do we frown upon this behavior? No. Why? Because it's an instinct of the cat, it's instinct to survive, to prey on "lesser animals" for food. Yes, humans kill people. They don't do it for the need to survive though, they do it because they have some other intention to do so, like revenge or hate. That is the difference between animals and humans. That is why it's wrong for humans to kill people.
I'm not sure if I grasp the point. Does the argument go that it is only natural for humans to eat animals? I understand that it is, but I feel that if we can easily survive without meat then we should stop killing animals and just go without meat. I feel it is morally better to not murder animals (unless necessary) than to murder them.

What about other foods? Do you eat fish, poultry, eggs, or drink milk? Is that inhumane as well? I get the feeling that you're not one of these extremists, so I would assume not.
I'm merely a vegetarian (one of those varieties that doesn't eat fish or chicken either. I don't wanna eat it if it died, especially fish. Damn, to get a hook in your guts and then suffocate to death?) though if I had enough access to a vegan diet I would go on one, because I mostly agree with vegans, although I'd still eat eggs. I see no reason why not, they're not fertilized eggs. Nothing is being killed in the process.

Another thing I would change as president are the penalties for defending yourself in your own home. I've heard of stories where a robber forced his way into a home, and was shot or otherwise injured in the self defense of a panicking resident. But is the robber tried for robbery? No. The home-owner is sued for medical expenses and is put on trial because he shot the robber, even though he was clearly defending himself.

This is just not right in today's law system.
Hear hear!

[hammocksleeper]

I don't wanna eat it if it died, especially fish. Damn, to get a hook in your guts and then suffocate to death?) Fish don't suffocate to death to my knowledge. The large fishing companies remove their heads, killing them instantly and painlessly before being put on ice. If you are fishing on your own, with hooks as you say, you normally keep the fish alive, in water, as long as possible so it stays fresh. When you have to take it out, most people will knock it out with a wooden hammer or something so it doesn't flop around (and consequently doesn't feel anything). This is my experience.

Edvard, you have said that you disagree with the killing of any animal. What about overpopulated species? These animals are a threat to our way of life, and very often are ruining the ecosystem they live in, causing harmful effects not only for humans but for other animals and plants as well.

[EdvardMunch]

Fish don't suffocate to death to my knowledge. The large fishing companies remove their heads, killing them instantly and painlessly before being put on ice. If you are fishing on your own, with hooks as you say, you normally keep the fish alive, in water, as long as possible so it stays fresh. When you have to take it out, most people will knock it out with a wooden hammer or something so it doesn't flop around (and consequently doesn't feel anything). This is my experience.
Oh. Well that's what I get. Still sucks to get a hook in your guts.

Edvard, you have said that you disagree with the killing of any animal. What about overpopulated species? These animals are a threat to our way of life, and very often are ruining the ecosystem they live in, causing harmful effects not only for humans but for other animals and plants as well.
If we can kill the animals and establish balance without mucking things up, then it sounds like a good idea, unless there's a nicer alternative. I'm not against killing animals period, I'm against killing animals when there are other alternatives.

Although, us humans do need to keep in mind how much of an impact we can have on the environment, and how we can cause an imbalance in animal population (like by hunting animals/insects that are predators of other animals/insects). I think how much of the planet we cover should be limited. I wish I could go into specifics, but I don't know any. This is what I get for not paying attention in Environmental Sociology. Somehow I got an A in that class too.

[Garrec]

I'm not sure if I grasp the point. Does the argument go that it is only natural for humans to eat animals? I understand that it is, but I feel that if we can easily survive without meat then we should stop killing animals and just go without meat. I feel it is morally better to not murder animals (unless necessary) than to murder them.
What I'm trying to say is that humans can choose their actions freely. We don't think twice about animals that kill each other, because we know they are acting out of instinct. To exaggerate, you don't see bears or something just walking carefully up behind them and mauling someone to death just for the fun of it. They attack because their instincts tell them too, like hunger, feeling threatened, or protecting their children. Humans, on the other hand kill for reasons they fully understand, but aren't really instincts. In modern society, most people don't have to hunt for food, they can just go to a local store and buy their food. A human might kill another human because of complete rage. We don't kill animals for the same reason. I know that animals are killed for food, but it's just the lifestyle of humans. In the past, animals have been killed to keep humans alive. Society has just "evolved" and though our society functions a bit differently now than it did decades (even centuries ago), eating meat has gone with it. I like meat myself, I don't usually think about the animals it came from. There's lots of meat I don't like eating, and some meat doesn't taste good. It's just a matter of personal preference, I guess.

Well, I think I'm rambling on the subject. This is a lot harder to explain than I thought. Sorry if I can't answer your question.

I don't really have anything against vegetarians. My neighbor was vegetarian (for religious aspects, I think) and I didn't have a problem with that. One of my friends in high school almost never ate meat. I picked on him a lot because he ate tofu with everything, (I know it sounds bad) but it was all in good fun. He wasn't a true vegetarian, and he wasn't offended. I really didn't have a problem with it.

I'm not against killing animals period, I'm against killing animals when there are other alternatives.

Although, us humans do need to keep in mind how much of an impact we can have on the environment, and how we can cause an imbalance in animal population (like by hunting animals/insects that are predators of other animals/insects).
I can respect that. And I agree with you. Where I live, hunting of deer is regulated to keep the population within acceptable ranges. My dad likes hunting, but I hate it. It's a waste of time, not very pleasant to see dead animals, and we can just buy our food anyway.