What would you do if you were president?

United States
September 8, 2008 3:54pm CST
Let's forget party lines for a moment. Imagine that some magic wand got waved and you are the president of the United States - elected by a landslide with a clear mandate. That same magic wand has ensured that Congress will not veto anything that you sign into law, and will, in fact, pass anything that you propose. What would you do to improve the economy?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
8 Sep 08
Only what a president is suposed to do so I hope no one is looking for me to bailing them out of bad financial decisions. There really isn't much a president CAN do on his own, people atribute this position with absolute power and the reality is there isn't a lot of power with it. I would call for a re examination of the IRS and ask congress to put together a bill that would limit the power of the IRS to an accounting capacity only. I would push for the froming of a commitee to re examine our tax system and challenge them to come up with somehting far less complicated and subject to fraud and loopholes. I would veto any bill that came across my desk containing laws that were strictly state matters, and theres a LOT of them. I would appoint judges who went by strict interpretation of the constitution and didn't offer there own legislation in the form of rulings. I would push and advocate a 1 year moratorium on foriegn aid to many nations and while those aid packages were being re examined, the money would go to clear the deficite and the remainder would be returned to the american people.
1 person likes this
• United States
8 Sep 08
That's exactly why I added in the part about the magic wand over Congress, xf! I'm well aware of the limitations placed on the executive branch and the way that balance of power is supposed to work. Would you look for the elimination of federal income taxes entirely? Eliminating federal income taxes would reduce federal revenues, but it might put that money back into circulation to stimulate the economy, no? Disclaimer: I'm not an economist, just someone who reads things through very thoroughly. I'm curious to know what people think would make a difference in the present economy.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
8 Sep 08
I wouldn't want to eliminate it, just overhaul it and the collection method and get rig of the gestapo we call the IRS, at least in the form we know it. It would be nice if congress would pass anything I asked, but I would still ask very little. I would do everything in within my power to return the authority to where it belongs with most issues and laws, with the individual states, i guess that was the point behind my response.
@Wingedman (238)
• United States
10 Sep 08
Conduct a full audit of US government expenses and eliminate waste. Adjust Government employee health plan coverage to the median for the country. Adjust Congressional Salaries to the median of their home districts. Allow the line item veto. Pass tax cuts for all demographics. Or implement the Fair Tax (I need to review it more first) Allow exploration and development of all forms of energy. Require 40MPG for standard production vehicles and implement an additional tax for luxury vehicles that do not meet this standard. Trucks would be exempt since they are needed for work purposes. Pass legislation that requires all legislation at all levels that indicates rights conferred by Marriage be re-worded to confer such priveleges as a result of a "Civil Union". This way if a gay church wants to recognize their marriage it is the cherry on top, but has nothing to do with the legal rights. Institute term limits for US Congress and Senate to eliminate professional politics. Impose new legislation on unscrupulous associations while in publich office to help fight the influence of special interests. Give the US military a deadline to get the job done in Afghanistan and Iraq and let them do it. Not restrict their tactics or funding. The sooner the war is over the better. Not gooing at it full throttle is what has made it drag. That is about it. BTW: I am 35 years old so I could actually run if my wife wouldn't immediately divorce me if I tried.
• United States
12 Sep 08
That's quite a platform to run on. I'll bet if you did run, you'd pick up a lot of support with it, too. And I can't say that I'd blame your wife - my first husband had political ambitions and we used to talk a lot about the kind of scrutiny our whole family would be under if he ran for a local office, let alone a national one. We both agreed that I'd make a -very- poor political wife, especially back in the 1980s.