how about a neo-populist party?

Question

one that believes that the effects, changes in the govt. have on people, are what matters not the intent or the strict adherence to ideal.
one that limits the accumulation of wealth.
one that puts improving the nation ahead of world domination.
what would you want out of a political party like that? What are your ideas?

here are some ideas I have, but please note that this is just an Idea I have been playing around with in my head and am looking for some input. Your ideas for policy.

How about a Tax on assets retained above a certain amount, to prevent the accumulation of wealth by the few.

Money accumulated will be poured back into community improvement and national programs

National healthcare

Mandatory 2 year service to the country (not just military)

And a revision on Foreign policy to limit control and improve growth.

Answer 1

Sounds like a good start, I guess. Trouble is, you are going to have to get more specific than that on some issues right off, and when you do that...people will attack. Especially the rich guys, who own the Media, and who no doubt *pay* political trolls and hacks on the Internet--here on Yahoo and elsewhere--to shout down anyone who dares suggest that their precious cronyist agenda is wrong.

Think I'm wrong? Ok then....

List a specific policy this "party" would advocate, one for each of the "One that...." statements you have above. You can do this by using the Add Details option.

I know how I'd do it, but I want to see how you do it. What's your take, more specifically, on this "neo-populism" thing?

Details please....and if the attack hounds haven't ripped the carcass of this Question totally apart, I'll update in response. :)

Edit: Thanks for the specifics....I am still pondering them and what I'd do differently...

Ok, back. :) I like your ideas, even if the focus is a bit narrow and a bit close to what would pass for labor/socialist politics in other nations.

--Personally, I wouldn't *mind* a Salary Cap or a Liquid Asset (cashable) Cap being in place, but....you do realize that the CEOs and small businesses alike would have *kittens* over this one, partly because they are brainwashed into thinking this would amount to a Communist barring of private property...

And partly because *some of them*, at the top of the CEO ladder, are the ones *doing* said brainwashing. Really, Big Business has been harping on this one since World War II, and its 90% tax rates on the Companies, ended....

So my take on it is....we need to stick to what is possible, meaning to policy that does NOT lead to a Corporate Coup'd'etat in the name of Almighty Profit. o_O

--What I would suggest is....chip away at the problem slowly. This didn't happen overnight and won't change for the better overnight either. Start at the State Legislatures.....a super-majority of them *can* backdoor amendments into the Constitution (we are talking 75% plus, but it can happen).

So what do you do? Work on Amending the Constitution in that manner...push for Amendments that *reverse* the Legal Personhood Doctrine that keeps the Law from truly punishing Corporations (by undoing their charters--the Corporate equivalent of the Death Penalty). Pass Amendments forcing Congress to tie *their own* pay raises to raising the Minimum Wage. Pass amendments forcing the House of Representatives to submit no budget that *does not* Equalize Government Handouts, Investments, and Tax Breaks to both *Citizens* and *Companies* (meaning, if you have Corporate Welfare, the spending on private citizens has to be *identical* down to the last cent, and if you have Welfare for citizens, the spending on companies has to be identical as well....No more cutting money for poor families and children and pumping it to the Suits).

--Slowly undo the "supply side economics" and "free trade" provisions that have hamstrung progress for ordinary citizens for the past 26 years and counting. Reform and rationalize the tarriff system so that it at once cuts out unfair and arbitrary trade restrictions (like on sugar, and steel, for instance) and re-imposes ones on things we need (like, oh, *foreign Petroleum*). Do much the same with income taxes, reform, simplify, but *also* make damn sure that the Corporations Pay the Price. No more tax-sheltering offshore on the Virgin Islands or in the Bahamas....

The idea is to slowly re-impose a Keynesian economics in the guise of giving the Corporatist Right "what they want". :) Simplify and reform, but also make sure that the CEO Class no longer gets the *free ride* it was once used to in terms of taxes.

--Use the reformed tax structure to *force* needed changes. Use the newly taxed Petroleum, for example, to pay off the Deficit and to cover National Security costs. Will these measures force the price of gasoline at the pump up by 60-80%? Possibly. But if you tell people in advance what exactly the money is *earmarked* for and keep your word on it, the pain will be easier to take, especially on that National Security issue if things are funded fully and handled correctly and competently.

And you don't just sell the idea once....you sell it early and often, and make the system as open and visible and *freely monitored and reviewed* as possible so that people KNOW they are doing the right thing.

--And then, once you get the government's deficit in order and make sure that the Companies no longer have free reign to stab the rest of us in the back....then you focus on the issues of the day, like Universal Health Care, stabilizing Social Security for new generations, rebuilding Public Schools, protecting and healing our environment....

But that is the kicker. To do anything you have to at once *make* our national government solvent and responsible again, *and also* slowly but surely put our Backstabbing, Free Traitor Companies *back in their place* as a part of society, *and NOT Apart From It.*

I hope this made some sense.....I do think we are on the same page, but....we really need to both Reform our Government and also Restrain the Out of Control CEOs at once. If we change only one, the other will ruin things, because they are both intertwined.

Thanks for your time! Good luck to you.