You get 5 unilateral moves to reshape the United States...

justincredible Honorable Admin

37,969 posts 250 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 2:01 PM

Through some unexplainable event, you become "Dictator of America" and get 5 moves to reshape the country in your image. What are they? They can literally be anything. The Constitution does not matter in this thought experiment, though it does still exist and your steps can include modifications if that's the route you want to go.

Are you a benevolent dictator, or a petty tyrant?

Heretic Son of the Sun

20,517 posts 204 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 2:25 PM

I'm going to guess petty tyrant, since my title would be God-Emperor (for life) and one of my moves will be to bring back the Roman gladiator games (where the fodder for my gladiators are people stupid enough to say ANYTHING negative about my rule and another to be to make every city, town and village erect a statue in my honor as part of their fealty, so they can pray to it daily.

I'll have to think of the other three. One would probably be along of lines of phasing out that outdated and past-its-prime Christianity junk so I can be officially recognized as the new God.

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 98 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 2:34 PM

I only want one. Remove any and all religion from government. If religious beliefs dictate your policies, you're not allowed to participate.

Dr Winston O'Boogie Senior Member

3,345 posts 36 reps Joined Oct 2010

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 2:47 PM

Eliminate daylight savings time - stay with summer hours always
Trim MLB schedule to 140 games
Trim NBA season to 40 games
Return to four January 1 bowls and no other CFB post season. No playoff, no BCS, no other bowls.
Execute Barney the dinosaur and the Teletubbies via antiaircraft gun and broadcast it on PBS as a warning to others contemplating creating such programs.

gut Senior Member

18,369 posts 117 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 3:22 PM

1. Term limits for Congress - 12 years in the Senate, 8 years in the House....no more than 16 combined.

2. Eliminate the corporate tax, offset by eliminating capital gains tax - all just ordinary income.

3. Entitlement reform - fix SS and Medicare, reducing benefits and increasing contributions

4. Appoint a completely new SCOTUS of apolitical moderates who will uphold the Constitution and not legislate from the bench

5. Make a balanced budget the law of the land (within reason, over 5-yrs or something).

ptown_trojans_1 Moderator

8,788 posts 20 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 3:37 PM

I got 5 very specific ones:

1. A complete and total deconstruction and unbiased, analytical, review of the massive DOD budget. The budget will be free from all service chiefs, Congress members input, and will instead be reviewed by lower level officials and third party members to eliminate and reduce the budget as a whole. The budget will then be put before Congress with a simple yes or no on it.

2. A complete revamping of the classification system of the U.S. with a mass declassification of material that does not list exact names or sources and methods. We still have so many reports from the Cold War that are classified for no reason.

3. Eliminate all negative political ads. All ads must be directly from candidate and not from some shady as shit super PAC.

4. Actual entitlement and actual tax reform that increases SS age, reduces Medicare based on income, and actually simplifies the tax system.

5. Remove all politicians from drawing districts. Remove to a third party, computer to redraw districts free from any political influence. As such, redraw every single district in the country. If Ds and Rs incumbents lose seats, so be it.

queencitybuckeye Senior Member

8,068 posts 121 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 3:41 PM

1. Implement the Non-Aggression Principle - if an action doesn't infringe on another's person or property, it cannot be a crime (yes, all drugs are legal for adults).

2. Clarify the 2nd amendment. Get rid of the extraneous language about militias. Clearly state that the right to own firearms is individual and absolute for all adults except those convicted of violent crimes or judged mentally defective (sorry QO). Yes, I CAN own a machine gun or a fucking tank.

3. Congress will either declare war on the Afghanistans of the world or we will GTFO. Our military will become the defensive force it is intended to be, not the world's sheepdogs.

4. Recognizing the conflict with rule 1, false claims of being a Native-American or African-American will be capital crimes (sorry about your luck, Fauxcahontas and Talcum-X).

5. With narrow exceptions (health, being out of town, etc.), voting will be done at your assigned polling place on a day that will NOT become a holiday (the bone-idle can get off their asses or not bother, IDGAF).

ptown_trojans_1 Moderator

8,788 posts 20 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Jul 12, 2018 3:46 PM

posted by queencitybuckeye
1. Implement the Non-Aggression Principle - if an action doesn't infringe on another's person or property, it cannot be a crime (yes, all drugs are legal for adults).

2. Clarify the 2nd amendment. Get rid of the extraneous language about militias. Clearly state that the right to own firearms is individual and absolute for all adults except those convicted of violent crimes or judged mentally defective (sorry QO). Yes, I CAN own a machine gun or a fucking tank.

3. Congress will either declare war on the Afghanistans of the world or we will GTFO. Our military will become the defensive force it is intended to be, not the world's sheepdogs.

4-5. TBD

3. That's a good one. You can broaden it to say Congress should grow a spine and actually enforce the War Powers Act.

MontyBrunswick Senior Member

1,065 posts 17 reps Joined Mar 2015

Mon, Jul 16, 2018 12:28 PM

1. Throw away tax system and incorporate a flat tax based on the sale of goods and services. Religious institutions get treated like a business and lose their tax exempt status.

2. Get rid of the electoral college.

3. Government takeover of private health insurance and banking institutions, make them all non-profit enterprises.

4. Invest heavily in infrastructure, especially mass transit and high speed networks.

5. Immediate license suspension and hard labor sentence for anyone who uses a roundabout as a four-way stop or the left-lane to cruise the speed limit.

justincredible Honorable Admin

37,969 posts 250 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Jul 16, 2018 12:30 PM

posted by MontyBrunswick
1. Throw away tax system and incorporate a flat tax based on the sale of goods and services. Religious institutions lose their tax exempt status.

2. Get rid of the electoral college.

3. Government takeover of private health insurance and banking institutions, make them all non-profit enterprises.

4. Invest heavily in infrastructure, especially mass transit and high speed networks.

5. Immediate license suspension and hard labor sentence for anyone who uses a roundabout as a four-way stop or the left-lane to cruise the speed limit.

Lol'd at this.

justincredible Honorable Admin

37,969 posts 250 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Jul 16, 2018 12:34 PM

posted by queencitybuckeye
1. Implement the Non-Aggression Principle - if an action doesn't infringe on another's person or property, it cannot be a crime (yes, all drugs are legal for adults).

2. Clarify the 2nd amendment. Get rid of the extraneous language about militias. Clearly state that the right to own firearms is individual and absolute for all adults except those convicted of violent crimes or judged mentally defective (sorry QO). Yes, I CAN own a machine gun or a fucking tank.

3. Congress will either declare war on the Afghanistans of the world or we will GTFO. Our military will become the defensive force it is intended to be, not the world's sheepdogs.

I like your 1-3, with ptown's addendum to 3, so I will build off of those.

4. Repeal the 17th amendment. Senators will go back to being selected by state legislatures.

5. Repeal the 16th amendment. Giving the federal government direct access to my paycheck doesn't really give them much of an incentive to live within their means.

ernest_t_bass 12th Son of the Lama

26,698 posts 204 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Jul 16, 2018 8:13 PM

superman Senior Member

4,377 posts 71 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Jul 16, 2018 10:50 PM

1. Change the Supreme Court to 21 justices

2. Appoint 12 justices.

3. Amend Constitution so that all laws passed by Congress apply to Congressmen.

4. Replace income tax with a flat tax.

5. Balanced budget amendment.

Verbal Kint Senior Member

1,062 posts 16 reps Joined Jul 2017

Mon, Jul 23, 2018 9:45 PM

posted by MontyBrunswick

2. Get rid of the electoral college.

Curious, why?

Spock Senior Member

5,271 posts 9 reps Joined Jul 2013

Mon, Jul 23, 2018 9:54 PM

posted by Verbal Kint
Curious, why?

The founding fathers were genius. They knew that they didnt want pockets of society or populated areas that could be swayed by crookedness to control the country. The electoral college is what makes our country great

Verbal Kint Senior Member

1,062 posts 16 reps Joined Jul 2017

Mon, Jul 23, 2018 9:57 PM

posted by gut
1. Term limits for Congress - 12 years in the Senate, 8 years in the House....no more than 16 combined.

2. Eliminate the corporate tax, offset by eliminating capital gains tax - all just ordinary income.

5. Make a balanced budget the law of the land (within reason, over 5-yrs or something).

1) Term limits was my first thought, perhaps even shorter than you suggest, along with reducing their salary, expenses, no pension; make it truly public service and not a way to be a multimillionaire, they must live within the laws they pass

2) Eliminate the IRS, flat tax everything. Only fear would be development of a black market to avoid payment

3) Balanced budget

posted by ptown_trojans_1
5. Remove all politicians from drawing districts. Remove to a third party, computer to redraw districts free from any political influence. As such, redraw every single district in the country. If Ds and Rs incumbents lose seats, so be it.

4) This

5) Lobbying is illegal

Ironman92 Administrator

56,729 posts 168 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Jul 23, 2018 11:12 PM

Different levels of welfare....the longer you have worked, the greater level of welfare you receive...strict exceptions

Free Healthcare

50% of news per issue, telecast, interwebs be positive

Restaraunts must show a picture of their onion ring appetizer

When wannabe GM’s on sports chat sites are wrong and won’t admit it — death penalty

queencitybuckeye Senior Member

8,068 posts 121 reps Joined Nov 2009

Tue, Jul 24, 2018 11:48 AM

posted by queencitybuckeye
1. Implement the Non-Aggression Principle - if an action doesn't infringe on another's person or property, it cannot be a crime (yes, all drugs are legal for adults).

2. Clarify the 2nd amendment. Get rid of the extraneous language about militias. Clearly state that the right to own firearms is individual and absolute for all adults except those convicted of violent crimes or judged mentally defective (sorry QO). Yes, I CAN own a machine gun or a fucking tank.

3. Congress will either declare war on the Afghanistans of the world or we will GTFO. Our military will become the defensive force it is intended to be, not the world's sheepdogs.

4. Recognizing the conflict with rule 1, false claims of being a Native-American or African-American will be capital crimes (sorry about your luck, Fauxcahontas and Talcum-X).

5. With narrow exceptions (health, being out of town, etc.), voting will be done at your assigned polling place on a day that will NOT become a holiday (the bone-idle can get off their asses or not bother, IDGAF).

Accepting the public ridicule for quoting myself, I'm going to change #4 for something a little more important (although I'd still push the button on both Lieawatha and Albino Sharpton).

4. The legal concept of "standing" will be drastically narrowed. Some anti-religion organization based in a large city on one of the coasts will have no standing to sue over a prayer at a school event in some small flyover-country town. If someone in that village has an issue with it, sue away. New York city, stay the fuck out of it, it's none of your business.

O-Trap Chief Shenanigans Officer

18,909 posts 140 reps Joined Nov 2009

Fri, Aug 17, 2018 3:19 PM

Eliminate the IRS

Ban government-based permission requirements at every level (needing a "license" for anything, essentially)

Apply the NAP to any present or future law. If what you do doesn't directly affect anyone else, it isn't the business of anyone else. Smoke weed. Shoot black tar heroin. Touch peens in your bedroom ... or wherever you'd touch peens. Own a gun of your choice. Open a lemonade and cookie stand in your front yard.

Open the borders (see above).

Relegate the executive order exclusively to ordering the flag to half mast or the designation of national holidays. Nothing else.

You get 5 unilateral moves to reshape the United States...

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