BillboCare! A modern solution to the healthcare issue.

-- opus in progressu -- Once again I am not sure what many folks are thinking when it comes to what is commonly referred to as Obamacare, more specifically the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  I personally don't like the Obamacare label.  Legislation should be looked at on its own merits, not just on who champions it. Going forward I will refer to this legislation as ACA and although well intended, it is a terrible tax and not sustainable long term. Unfortunately, we have to abandon it and reboot our healthcare product and delivery system.  The only concept that will work long term is to let Americans decide for themselves what health care they purchase "in potentia emptor".  I might have a way to do that.  I am calling it BillboCare (every initiative needs a clever moniker or flag).

But first, as always, Dr. Bill thinks we need to step back and examine where we are, how we might have got here and where it is we want to go.  Without documenting the history of employer based healthcare post WWII, or what we now refer to as the "cafeteria plans/deductions allowed under IRS Section 125, our immediate concern is the increasing costs that Americans are paying for healthcare.

QUIZ QUESTION: Who thinks "healthcare is affordable"?  Anybody?  If you say it is, I have a followup question "when was the last time you or a family member were actually sick or needed healthcare?" Even folks who might be a bona fide beneficiary under the ACA will tell you there is nothing affordable about it, and the annual deductibles should you need healthcare are killing them. Dr. Gruber told us it was a tax and they were counting on the "stupidity of the American Voter" when they forced it upon us.  I hear stories of folks having to "wait till next year" to go see the doctor since they cannot afford the deductibles.

Unfortunately, ACA solved nothing at the expense of taxing a couple hundred million of us, raising the average cost of care, forcing many to lose their preferred physicians and putting an increased administrative burden on businesses and medical providers.  Luckily we passed it on Christmas eve, so we could read what was in it (it was voted on before it was published.. that in and of itself should be a crime.)  And even if the intent of the party line legislation (thanks Arlen Specter you traitor) was noble (and not just to benefit the insurance lobby who wrote it), its execution was definitely flawed on about every level.  If you take it's intended goal of insuring 49 million and grade that against the best numbers any reasonable person would conclude it is a giant failure.  The Obamacare Facts website says there are 17.6 million signed up which includes medicaid signups. The best math I can prove is that ACA might have caused 5 million in new sign ups (not displaced folks whose policies were cancelled or the medicaid folks).  5 million folks were assessed an IRS tax penalty (I wonder if that increases or decreases blood pressure. mmm even Dr. Bill can see that).

So what do we do now?  Republicans have never been too clever in these problem solving areas, their solution is usually to do nothing and ignore the real elephant in front of them (see what I did there?). Meanwhile, our Democratic friends think money is printed from thin air and it is their/our duty to feed, school, house and healthcare everyone, even asses who do not follow our laws (somebody got it?).  Since they are both, wrong let me propose a terribly wonderful more better solution.

• I propose that we allow Every American who wants/needs healthcare to obtain services at their local VA medical center and they can pay whatever they are able (everyone pays something).

That's right, government provided healthcare (notice I did not call it free, since nothing is free). Now, this new class of patients will sit behind the service personnel in terms of waits or preference but we can handle them all.  And I do not envision this "government provided healthcare to be "concierge level service" like you might find at Cedar Sinai or Johns Hopkins.  This is basic government supplied coverage and we will charge the folks as much as they can pay (5% likely).  I encourage all folks to participate in the more dynamic private healthcare system which is costing some folks around as much as 40% of their after-tax income.

Now based on a modest amount of research, it appears the VA system provided "healthcare" to 5.9 million customers in 2016 at a cost of $65 billion or roughly $10,972 per person.  While the entire VA budget is $182 billion, the VA system itself has many other missions in addition to healthcare including benefits ($110 billion), national cemetery maintenance, various research programs, loan and mortgage assistance and several other programs.  The VA balance sheet shows it has $6 billion in assets so it is very stable and can easily scale up to absorb twice the customers with twice the (or something less than twice) the absorbed cost.

Now many will deflect and talk about a few horror stories concerning VA service instead of giving this proposal serious thought.  But remember how many the VA has really served since 1930.  We need to provide a solution here rather than "kick the can" further down the road.  I am afraid the future is more about "snowflakes needing a safe space" than someone "tightening their belt and saying get out my way, I got this" while they climb the mountain or slay the dragon.  If we cannot go back, my solution works on many levels going forward.  It will be way less costly to manage this benefit this way than the current ACA.  More importantly, it allows those who can to provide and make choices for themselves.  There is no instance where consumer choice did not make products better and more affordable.  Sure the VA has problems as does every business especially those managed by the government (no offense government folks and honestly, we should be embarrassed that we have not fixed things at the VA.) My proposal assumes we fund this correctly and hire proper management.  And sure this is quasi-socialized medicine but maybe not quite as bad as forced-communist medicine.  In our modern progressive think-set it is assumed and perhaps necessary that we provide for the millennial snowflakes who were not taught to provide for themselves.

Let's be sure to consider the "cost of healthcare" for anyone who does not go to the VA which is most consumers at the margin.  By providing an alternative government service, the demand for similar private services will be decreased in a negative manner.  In theory, should millions of customer leave a market for something, absent some large immediate change in supply, the price of that something should go down as vendors compete for the consumers who are left.  That means the cost of healthcare in the private system should go down or at least not increase.

Let's be clear the real reason the cost of healthcare is twofold.  The first and foremost reason is most humans seem to take very poor care of themselves and enjoy many habits with negative health affects.  The second reason is that the "employer based insurance model" makes the consumer/employee ignorant to the true costs of the service.  Unfortunately most folks do not truly value the cost of surgery or a casket until they do.  By then, the price cannot be negotiated.  I am calling my plan BillboCare.  Please support it or come up with something better.

Sources: 2015 VA Financial Report, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Health Works Collective, Stanford Medicine, LA Times, Medicare Interactive, Kaiser Foundation, Financial Samuri

Legalize them All with a Penalty!

* YOU MAY BE READING THIS OUT OF ORDER*  - THIS IS A THREE PART SERIES AND THIS IS PART TWO - CLICK HERE TO READ PART ONE 

OK, previously we all agreed that there are millions of folks in American not subject to our immigration/legal system.  These "illegals" snuck into the country without permission or (more likely) they came in legally and have overstayed their welcome.  The majority are from Mexico, but there are also millions from Asia and almost none from Canada (proof a wall is not exactly the best solution here).  

While this number has remained relatively static during the last decade, it represents more than 10% of our workforce and 4-5% of our population and needs to be addressed.   While these individuals are likely all good people (this one infraction notwithstanding), the America societal structure and economic system is based on the Rule of Law and an orderly execution of the same.  We must get back to these beliefs and either amend our laws or adjudicate them.

The current president was elected on a promise of solving this illegal immigration problem.  No other nation in the world allows unfettered freedom to break their immigration laws like this.  Trump campaigned on a proposed solution to round all these folks up and send them back to where they came from.  While that is certainly one solution and the most true to the Rule of Law concept, I think perhaps we can accommodate the goals of the people while still solving the real source of the problem.

Accordingly, my proposed solution is that we immediately offer a nine month window of legalization to the (let's say) 14 million illegals currently in the USA.  That's right I said it, LEGALIZE THEM ALL.  But unlike the Reagan amnesty (which likely created this problem), I have a few additional rules to prevent it from ever happening again in the future.  There should always be a penalty if someone knowing commits a crime otherwise there is no disincentive and the crime will surely occur again.

For the next nine months, any illegal or undocumented alien who has been in the country over a year and really wants to be an American is welcome to go the nearest post office to file for special Citizenship and to be fingerprinted and provided a National ID (they can use this Passport to get state ID and other documentation). Certain felony criminals will not be allowed to participate in the program. There will be a $2,000 penalty for this documentation/amnesty but each individual registered under this program will be a full American subject to and entitled to social security, the draft, ACA and any other program America has to offer.  The only other penalty for this legalization is that this group of folks will never be able to vote in any election (Don't like this clause, please leave the country and come back legally.  Those here less than a year need to leave or register with a $5000 penalty).

After the nine month window, (THIS IS IMPORTANT) any undocumented person caught in America will be immediately placed in a detention facility subject to immediate deportation.  We will never again allow this problem to fester and grow to a level like this.  The $25 billion we make from the penalties should cover the cost of this administration (post office lost $9B last year).  

Look at that, with a couple of pen strokes I have solved a problem that appears to have alluded all our elected and appointed officials.  Now that this problem solved, we need to address their 30-40 million children who were born here (illegally) and who have birthright citizenship (coming soon).

IMMIGRATION SOLUTION 201 - Propose Solution that Addresses the Problem and the Need

I have an immigration solution that may be acceptable by all!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  While it appears that nobody read (or certainly followed) any of my previous advice, I shall nevertheless courageously forge on.  Citizen Bill is back.

I cannot watch another silly politician on TV explain to me the cruelty and brutality of actually trying to enforce our current immigration laws.  While immigration is at a 95 year high, one must not discuss the "illegals" in public.  How dare these rouge Police and ICE officials try to actually arrest, hold or deport these folks who's "only crime" is to have violated the promise they made to us when we let them in.  While Obama was certainly not shy at deporting folks, when Trump speaks out loud what a problem it continues to be, all of a sudden enforcement is a GOP or Trump act of inhumanity.  

We continue to see Governors, Mayors and even a few Police Chiefs openly declare that they will not do their sworn job and assist the Federal Government in doing their job in this immigration area (all while their entourage and voter support base cheer them on).  These sound bites and press conferences remind me of that scene where Queen Amidala comments so this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause.  Our tolerance of tolerance is preventing opportunity and promotion of the general welfare and in some instances creating a national security risk.  In addition to being generally unAmerican, our failure to follow our laws even with empathetic intent, will create a negative result long term as others use the same defense for their failure to follow the law (I stole to feed my baby or I raped her because of her outfit).  As I recall President Regan legalized 3 million of these folks once and now we have 12 million.  I guess that tact did not really solve the problem.  I am here to propose an actual solution.

And while we can argue all day on whether the current laws are fair and just (most immigration in 95 years), I would hope we would all agree that elected and appointed officials should follow the laws and regulations they were put in place and swore to follow.  Failure to do that and follow the Rule of Law makes us every bit as wrong as the dictators and communists we preach against daily.  Hypocrisy thy name is Immigration Tolerance.

But the first thing we always have to do in solving a problem is to clearly state the problem.  Here goes:

In America today there are 12-15 million people in our country who are not accounted for under the immigration laws of the USA (entry/exit status).  These are the folks that are referred to as the illegals or more politically correct as the undocumented.   These folks represent 13-14% of our entire population.

Before we can go any further we all have to agree on that statement above.  This is not a commentary on whether these are "family and friends" as the media allege or possibly "bad hombres" as our current POTUS warns.  This is just a summation of the facts we know from sources we hope to be reliable.  I believe this number to be accurate so we can now press forward to my solution.

Sources: Pew, National Review, USA Today, CIS Org

IMMIGRATION SOLUTION 101 - State the Problem and the Need for a Solution
IMMIGRATION SOLUTION 201 - Propose Solution that Addresses the Problem and the Need
IMMIGRATION SOLUTION 301 - Clarification of Birthright Citizenship

Simple campaign finance reform!

OK the point of this blog was to get ideas out there for discussion.  I was just discussing this with a friend and they suggested I get it published.  So here goes.

I have a fairly simple way to fix and reform what we refer to as issue related to "campaign finance".  I stole some of these from others but I am a facilitator here.  We all can agree that there is too much money in politics that could easily be used on better investments.  Here is my way to address it.  Rules are for fools I have said before but Congress folks appear to be fools so get over that.  Here goes:

Rule 1.  No corporations or PAC's.  Only individuals can give but they can give unlimited.
Rule 2.  No contributions are tax deductive for highest tax brackets.
Rule 3.  Individuals can only give to candidates on their ballot.
Rule 4.  All donations have to stop 14 days before the election.
Rule 5.  A list of donors is posted 13 days prior to the election.

I that that alone can fix most the anomalies of what we have morphed into.  I submit it for your review.

Who is a Natural Born Citizen? Me, You, Obama, Cruz? Perhaps we have never asked the Question!

OK, here we go again taking on a very large topic with just some good old common sense and easy to follow references.  One of the largest problems confronting us today is the "undocumented people and economy" which is created when participants are not in the system.  Most specifically I think of illegal immigrants and drug sales.  We will get to the drug sales in a future column but today we are focusing on what we now refer to as "Illegal Immigration" and "Birthright Citizenship". 

By some sources, there are 11,000,000 - 25,000,000 "illegal aliens", "undocumented immigrants", "criminals" whatever you want to call them here right now.  In addition, some 8% of the babies born in America right now are born to illegals.  The point of this discussion is not to illustrate all the negatives this creates in society (that has been done well by others and is pretty obvious in general), but to look at it more simply in terms of common sense and a general "why would we tolerate this" analysis.  The Founders likely did not contemplate that the government would abdicate its duty and allow a problem like this to develop into such  gigantic problem.   

Since everyone originally was an immigrant the Founders came up with language and a process to address citizenship.  As always I like to start with that pesky Constitution.  Let's have a look at it.  First we have to read the actual language as written in the Constitution Article 2 that relates to this "citizenship issue" and of course it does not directly relate to this illegal problem we are discussing.

The Constitution does not outright declare what an American Citizen is.  It does define who you need to be in terms of birthright to be President and it is from this clause that most discussions begin.  We are all in agreement that the Founders were adamant to prevent a British Citizen (themselves excluded perhaps) from ever being President.  So let's continue from there.

"No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

Whew.  That is quite a mouthful.  But these Founding Fathers were men of letters and wrote the rules very consciously and specifically (they were not just sneaky lawyers and lobbyists like we have today).  Sometimes it is tricky to figure out what they meant and in a couple instances we have had to fix things that were wrong or unclear.  In this instance, this terminology has not really been vetted by the highest courts.  Most Courts with the opportunity have chickened out including the Supremes.  But at CitizenBill.com we never chicken out.  Let's take this one on, seems kind of simple to me.

 

First we can strip that original phrase down to remove any language that could not apply to today or is not needed because we do not have any argument with.  Here is again:

"No person except a natural born Citizen shall be eligible to the Office of President ... and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

So there we have it, we have stripped down a harder to grasp clause into something very simple that we can further dissect into its final components.  Then we can apply that knowledge/conclusion to the argument at hand.  And seems to me we can get rid of the fourteen years as long as we adequately provide for it in our final argument.  Seems simple enough the founders did not want you to move away most of your life and come back to be President.  So lets let rid of that.  Now we are down to:

"No person except a natural born Citizen shall be eligible to the Office of President". 

Now all we have to do is define "natural born" and "Citizen" and we should have our answer.  Let's start with natural born.  I don't think the founders were actually contemplating "in vitro" or test tube babies so that cannot be what they meant.  In fact, in the First Naturalization Act of 1790 there was a "probationary period" where fellow citizens would determine if you have the correct character to be an American.  Later we codified it more with the 14th Amendment. 

The Fourteen Amendment defined Citizens.. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."  Let's look at that one again and emphasis one clause that seems missing from the present discussion.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Are "illegal aliens" (ok undocumented immigrants for the politically correct Obama crowd) "subject to our jurisdiction"?  I would make the argument that their very illegality makes them NOT subject to "our jurisdiction thereof".  And if the parents are not here legally and subject to our rules and jurisdiction, then so to their children would not be subject to it either.  Thus in this scenario which is playing out every day in America, in no way can they be conferred "Citizen" status solely by virtue of the physical location of their birth. 

 

Does it make sense that the Founders would allow for citizenship by parents who are acting illegally?  They mere fact that someone could sneak in illegally or swim a river does not mean they can "squat Americans" simply by sneaking in or getting to the other side or the river?  I do not believe that is what anyone past or present, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal ever intended.  And since these numbers represent a significant amount of our people (10% of the workforce in a land of 25% unemployment), I think it is time we had the honest discussion and clarified this language (for those taking advantage of it and honestly saying it was not clear).  Both Parties seem to be weak hoping for votes or in todays system no negative publicity ("do nothing" is a safe course of action for political types).

Until we fix this (which I think could be done easily with a stroke of the pen.. use one of those Executive Orders we seem to flop about daily) our borders are worthless and legal immigration a waste of time (god bless the good folks who when through the system the correct way).  We need to fix this ambiguity in the language and legalize the folks already here.  Anyone so legalized can never vote, and can participate in social security, medicare etc to the extent of their contribution just like Americans.  But I will flush this plan out elsewhere.  That is all the Labor for today! 

 

God Bless Citizen Bill, his Family and all his Friends.

Time to STOP the Gerrymandering!

Courtesy of publicmapping.org

OK another pet peeve I have right now is all the money and efforts going into what we commonly call "redistricting" or gerrymandering.

Whether it is your local school district, your state or federal representatives or even your City Council person, they are all involved in redistricting.  And none of them have the skill sets required to do this right.  And they are all conflicted.  And they waste valuable time and resources.  So let's fix it.

I hereby call upon all government or civic agencies with the need to "redistrict" to hire your local college or university "math program" to do the analysis for you.  Think of the beauty of this.

First we will be using math and Google Earth to do this not some pencils and guesstimates of who/what/where.

Second, half the college kids are not local so they are not predisposed to "carve up precincts" or manufacture "finger districts" like the sillies today always seem to do.

Third, with the proper formulation of the process, we can "redistrict" whenever we need to not because we "want to" (to protect someone or get rid of someone).

Fourth, think of the cost savings in terms of both expense savings and time. The current redistricting process is very laborious with many meeting and much expense. This is all saved with a better product.

Here are just a few of the recent districts we somehow agreed on.

OK so now what we need to do is create an academic program to do this. Should be some simple demographic analysis and some "grid management" and viola I would think we could create a better system than what we presently do and our elected sillies could move on to real business (like if you need an ID to vote).

Ten simple steps to fix the economy!

There are lots of folks are out there complaining about this or that with no real answers of vision worthy of sharing.  But hopefully I am more than that, a doer not just a talker a problem solver not a problem maker. 

Here are my 10 common sense ideas for addressing our current society problems which mostly are economic and political in nature (meaning man made). 

Don't shoot the messenger if you don't like the message.

1. All numbers must be fully shown with no "adjustments", revisions, abbreviations or summary allowed (millions, thousands, etc.).  Likewise all legislation has to be simplified and written for the average reader without a bunch of corrollarys or external references.  The truth cannot be adjusted, abbreviated or footnoted, nor should there be a pile of unrelated pork attached to hurricane relief legislation.
2. The government must "own the currency/bank" and the present Federal Reserve System must be changed.  The American taxpayer should not "borrow" to pay interest on its own money.  Annually, the deficit/surplus should be calculated and announced and the money supply adjusted accordingly.
3. Every American should contribute and pay some Federal Income Tax.  The calculation and process should be very simple (like no deductions or exemptions).  You could have 3 nominal rates 2%, 12% and 30%.
4. Long term investments and capital gains tax rates are capped at 25% for 10 years at a time and revisted every 5  (no threat of "politics" every four years which stifles investment and behavior). 
5. No "multi national" publically traded company can pay its CEO more than it pays in actual USA income taxes.
6. All "election" contributions are limited to "individuals" with a $50,000 individual max contribution and a clause that all contributions can only be made to folks that the individual can actually vote for.
7. Creation of E-Vote-Verification system to create absolute integrity and trust in the voting system.
8. Consume responsibly and locally from known vendors all things considered.  Pay a little more to your neighbor or friend.  A quality merchant is a rare thing and should be cherished.
9. Do not pay "unemployment" benefits for physically and mentally fit individuals.  This is the responsibility of the family or the church NOT the government.  There is employment for everyone although there is structural pain sometimes.
10. Do not have a "minimum wage" but do require all wages to be paid through the system (no under the table or unsubstantiated 1099 cash payments). 

Presidential Debates -- These were not!

Did any of you watch this year's Presidential Debates?  Pretty exciting huh? 

Honestly, I am not sure what kind of idiot you would have to be to NOT have made up your mind prior to this debate.  But nevertheless I think the debates could have merit and that we should continue this tradition but we have to fix the format.

 

As always, let's start the discussion with a little history lesson.  The first "televised" Presidental Debates occured in 1960 and were sponsored by the television networks themselves.  The 1960 Debate was between Richard Nixon and John Kenneday and was watched by 61% of the potential voters or 66.4 million viewers (the third debate in 2012 was watched by 24.6% of the potential voters or 59.2 million views .. but it was up against Monday Night Football Source, Source). 

 

In 1976, the Debate was sponsored by the independent League of Women Voters (Gerald Ford versus Jimmy Carter).  In 1980, we see the appearance of the first Independance particpant in the Debate, John Anderson a former congressman from Illinois.  It was their (LWV) practice to include ALL candidates who had the credentials to be on the ballot. 

 

However by 1988, politics had intervened and the independent and non-partisan League of Women Voters refused to bend to Democratic and Republican pressures to draw up a contract prior to the 1988 presidential debates.  The "Partys" wanted to limit particiaption to their candidates or someone who had equal stature (which meant nobody else since there was no such group).  When asked why they (LWV) withdrew from participation, their President Nancy Neuman said of the situation:

The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debate scheduled for mid-October because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. (Source)

Since 1988, the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonprofit corporation became responsible for the Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates.  (non-profit does not mean pure)  According to their new rules, all third-party candidates must have at least 15 percent support in at least five national polls to participate in the Debate.   While 15% does not sound like a lot at first, remember that the winner will likely have 55% of the vote POST debate and election.  It is almost impossible for a third party candidate to poll at 15% PRIOR to the Debate since most folks have not heard of them. 

In the 2008 election, 77 individuals filed "Presidential Exploratory Papers" and while the Commission allowed the voters to hear from Rudy Guliana and Fred Thompson (who did not have the required pole numbers) they were "out of chairs" for Dr. Ron Paul a 30 year representative from Texas who did pole at the required level.  Party Politics owns the debates.

We have to change ownership of the debates back to the independent League of Women Voters or some other similar independent organization.  We need to allow all real candidates to be heard and hopefully a real leader will emerge.

As a patriotic precaution, I am grooming my son Griffin to be this leader guy if someone else does not jump in there prior.  I do not want that responsibility for him since he is just a happy normal kid.  But without leaders, his future and his children's future will be in trouble too.  God bless the Schofields and America.

Announcing - Presidential Idol!

I have done it again.  I came up with this a while back and posted elsewhere but it continues to evolve like all good ideas should.  Wait till you think about and digest this one.  Too bad nobody really reads this stuff but I am solving big problems with a little blog.

In my estimation, our entire republic/democracy has been subverted by the “Party System”.  While ancient history is kind on the reasons for the formation of the Partys (winner writes history remember), it is History and we need to just observe the lessons of the present to see that times have changed.  Worse yet, as it evolved we lazily created just two choices in the “Party”.  We spend Bizzillions polarizing people into “one “Party” or another and we look funny at anyone who would belong to “Different Party”.  But no way is it that easy or simple to define or cajole human behavior.  

Is every Republican conservative and every Democrat liberal just by definition?  While we know the obviously right answer (of course not), we act very much to support the system.   In Texas, there is still a way to vote ALL Republican or ALL Democrat.  It is surprising how many “straight party ballots” are cast (could not find actual statistical reference to support this but I have read it before and will find it).   The heads of the Commissions on Presidential Debates are the Democratic and Republican “Party Leaders” who do not encourage or really allow anyone but candidates from these “accepted parties”.  The Green Party, the Libertarians, those terrorists the Tea Party (not) and many other “non mainstream parties” are marginalized and cut out.  Some of them have way good people with way good ideas and we should be talking about those, not insulting the witness.   But again, I digress..

Folks, I would like to propose we modify our presidential election practices to follow a Presidential Idol format (we can call it Presidential Pick in case Simon or the other Simon sues for copyright).  Now certainly CongressClowns are a bigger problem than the President, but we have to start somewhere.  So here is how it works.

Step 1.
Schedule a “Casting Call” in 50 major North American cities (maybe use the "capitals" where we have paid for government space).  Criteria for selection to next level will include US citizenship (we will verify), and academic questions on history, economic, politics, philosophy and current affairs.  All questions will be submitted by the audience NOT press or other handlers.  

The ideal candidate will be super smart, multi-lingual with a significant knowledge of all human history and politics, a known leader and motivator and a decent hard working American with no allegiance other than to the dream we were raised on.  The ideal candidate will be physically fit and have a significant understanding of the physical sciences and accounting systems.  Any candidate that can juggle or do magic on top of this likely has an advantage (Americans love Entertainers).  We will pick two candidates from each city but we will interview all candidates who apply.  It costs $10 to apply. (you will see the beauty of this later).  All of this is televised raw (no time or money to waste on fancy editing or post) and will be shown repeatedly on PBS and all others who want the feed.

Step 2.
Now we have 100 candidates.    We schedule 10 “pay per view” episodes where we whittle them down to the top 10 (cost to watch $0 but cost $1 per vote and you can vote up to 10 times per episode (we will cut a billing deal with phone/internet company to make this painless, totally secure by IP address).  100 million people voted for American Idol so I am expecting at least that many votes also.  I think most “Americans” will pay less than $100 to meet “and select” their next president (the current system costs us way more than that now with federal “contributions” to the presidential election system, we get to keep all that now).  This process will take one television season (as opposed to the months/ we have now).  There will be “hometown clips”, “interviews with current and ex spouses” as well as “feats of skill”.    Our “new” production company will contract this out through the present network/studio system or maybe contract it all through PBS/NPR and the Post Office.  Then we have final vote night with one “free (not pay per view)” vote per social security number allowed (we do this by telephone, internet or visit to Post Office. No need to inconvenience the viewer/voter with more silly inefficient systems.   Eventually we sell video of all the candidates that we put together.

Step 3.
Then, Congratulations Mr. President.  And so as to provide a “non disincentive” for your service, we have taken the average income reported by you for the last 3 years (remember we know all about you and we have your tax returns) and we will pay you this amount for the next 4 years (with a minimum of $400,000 a year as under the current system).  When your term is over, we will pay you this amount for 10 more years and then nothing further except security if needed.  This should “keep you whole” while you take the time required to serve as President.  Our present system “penalizes” the real entrepreneur or family man.

Step 4.
Lastly, we calculate the proceeds collected from pay per view, voting and broadcasting rights, pay my production fee and transfer the balance to the Treasury.  My election MAKES money and will produce as qualified a candidate as we have ever seen.  Hopefully, we don’t get that guy who “won Jeopardy”, he is kind of creepy.  But that is the risk.  The last two presidents have also “scared” me and 2012 is not going to be better so I am willing to take the chance.  

God bless Citizen Bill and his family and friends.

Grid Management - Time to fix "Redistricting"

Courtesy of publicmapping.org

OK another pet pieve I have right now is all the money and efforts going into what we commonly call "redistricting".

Whether it is your local school district, your state or federal representatives or even your City Council person, they are all involved in redistricting.

And none of them have the skill sets required to do this right.

And they are all conflicted.

And they waste valuable time and resources.  So let's fix it.

Courtesy of acapitolblog.com

I hereby call upon all government or civic agencies with the need to "redistrict" to hire your local college or university "math program" to do the analysis for you.  Think of the beauty of this.

First we will be using math and Google Earth to do this not some pencils and guesstimates of who/what/where.

Second, half the college kids are not local so they are not predisposed to "carve up precincts" or manufacture "finger districts" like the sillies today always seem to do.

Third, with the proper formulation of the process, we can "redistrict" whenever we need to not becuase we "want to" (to protect someone or get rid of someone).

Fourth, think of the cost savings in terms of both expense savings and time. The current redistricting process is very laborious with many meeting and much expense. This is all saved with a better product.

Here are just a few of the recent districts we somehow agreed on.

OK so now what we need to do is create an academic program to do this. Should be some simple demographic analysis and some "grid management" and viola I would think we could create a better system than what we presently do. ... More on that shortly.

You cannot tax us out of debt and back into prosperity!

I am very perplexed by the many daily arguments that we need to raise tax rates and that "millionaires need to pay their fair share".  

And recent comments by Buffet the Clown only further confuse the "less than millionaire" folks.  As anyone who has spent 20 minutes doing any research learns, the 267,000 millionaires in America already pay 90% of the taxes.

Now perhaps the real argument concerns "tax rates" not "amounts paid".  It would seem "unfair" that a millionaire would pay say 10% when a secretary might pay 18%.  But I am not sure that is a good analysis either.  

"Contribution" should always be in someway related to the tax on the activity (ie., golf fans pay for golf not all citizens).  Seems obvious to me that everyone would go nuts if Congress passed a law requiring us ALL to have "skydiver or needlepoint insurance".  Those folks who would never go skydiving or do needlepointing (probably the bulk of us) would be livid by this "forced socialism" and would likely revolt or hold "serious discussions" about this.  Why penalize everyone for the mistakes of a few? 

But just call it Federal Deposit Insurance, Social Security/Medicare, Uninsured Motorist Protection or Quantitative Easing (QE123) and somehow we forget all our free market American principals and philosophies.  Jefferson and Madison are rolling in their Patriotic graves as their published words of wisdom on how to avoid all this have been shelved ("too hard to read" one CongressClown said).

Now I don't know if some "rich folks are not paying their fair share", but what I do know (and know well) is that the Schofield Family (one man, his wife and their one child) contribute way more than their fair share.  

I work(ed) 60-80 hours a week since I was 16 to become successful.   Last year we paid 32% of "what our accountant says our income is" in just "federal income taxes" (and there are other taxes too numerous to recite here).  

Should I really be paying more?   Do you see any irony in the fact that if I worked less I would pay less?  Do you think the government is doing good stuff with this money?  What would I do with it if I got to keep it this significant amount of money?  Would I consume American products, save in bank or invest in my small businesses?  Seems like I am the real creator of jobs and any answer on what I would do with my own money is good for society?   It seems obvious that more "inefficient government redistribution" is not the answer and you can quickly see better answers in just these few questions.

And just because my S Corp income defines my taxes at such a rate I might be "a millionaire on paper", we too have trouble paying our bills and have to always manage our cash (and we live totally within our means).   These days I struggle to manage my funds as I care for my elderly mother in a nursing home.  But some think I should pay more. 

And I am a guarantor on all of our business debt while the economy is floundering (not worried really but the risk is always out there).  The argument to force the guy working the hardest with the most risk to pay some more is some progressive economics for sure.

We absolutely need a fair tax system but that would also be a tax that everyone pays.  The Alternative Minimum Tax was supposed to fix this but it did not.  Supposedly, 1,500 of these 267,000 millionaires paid at a lower rate than they possibly should (a statistical insignificance but makes for nice sound bite if you don't know the facts) and a few corporations seemingly paid little or nothing (those companies, like GE coincidentally have the most lobbyists and "political connections).

But 50% of the American taxpayers, the lowest income earners paid ZERO federal income taxes.  And they are very likely to be the ones that consume the bulk of these government services. And by "investing nothing" you can see they are not "vested" and quickly call for more taxes or subsidies.  And by investing nothing they are quick to buy from GE or China since this too does not hurt them.   This is an Economics Catch 22 wrapped up in class Albatross surrounded by a tax Enigma.

So let's stop this silly discussion about tax increases.  We need to raise tax rates right now just like we need new immigration laws.  NOT!  We just need to enforce the rules already in place and quit allowing loopholes and weakness to rule our behaviour.  

The Government cannot tax us back into prosperity or out of debt, that is simple truth and only through "responsible consumer behavior" can we fix his economy.  It would be irresponsible of Citizen Bill to continue to allow his government to misuse any more of his or his fellow citizens productivities without a little bit of a fight.  The battle rages.

God Bless Citizen Bill and his Family & Friends.


Here is a great graphic showing some of what we already owe.  Not you and me, we will be dead long before this is paid but you better have some grand kids cause they will be paying the interest on this (notice I did not saying paying off)..

Created by: MBA Online

National System on Interstate Waterways

Ok here is a crazy idea as I continue to sit here and read all the stories about recent fires and flooding and drought across America. 

Remember back during the late 1950‘s when we built the interstate highway system?  As a result of this initiative, there is roughly 50,000 miles of interstate highway in the continental United States.  

The system is named after it’s presidential champion Dwight D. Eisenhower. Now while I am not a huge fan of government largess, anyone paying attention lately knows this is our only "trick" to getting Americans employed.  The President just proposed sepnding another $450B on a "jobs plan". The last "jobs plan" created $1.6 million jobs at a cost of $200k each.  I have a better idea.

Suppose we built two 2 foot water lines right down the middle of the large interestate highways going east to west.  Or we could build in under it or over it as needed.

The Romans called it a “viaduct” (see example of modern viaduct bridge above) but this time we will not line it with lead. 

Then when we have flooding in Fargo, or Louisiana or wherever, we can just send that water to where it can do more good like West Texas or Bakersfield.  

This would be a large project but I think we could do the research fairly quickly and there should be few easement issues since the highways are already there.  If we do just the east-west routes over I-10, I-20 - I-50 etc. we could make a huge difference across the entire nation.  It would require all American construction (good jobs) and cost way less then bailing out a bank or insurance company.   Others have told me my plan makes too much sense.  There it is, comment away.

So says CitizenBill.

Originally posted March 9, 2009.

God Bless America

On this 10th anniversary of 9/11, all I can say right now is God Bless America.  

While many of my friends know that I have some lingering questions about this event, we all stand united as a free and democratic people and "terrorism" in any form cannot be tolerated by a civilized society.  Shame to anyone along the way that might have had an opportunity to shape the world differently and God Bless all Americans struggling through the changes.

And the results of the third count are?

Can you believe that in the 21st century, in the land of nano technology and space science, the atom and the quark, where we can whip a 75 pound chunk of stainless around the moons of Jupiter, we cannot seem to count election votes accurately every time all the time.  

Just look at your television news or your local paper and media during the most recent election (and we have another coming up).   Did you hear about any discussions or heated arguments about “challenges” or “recounts” or “verification of absentee ballots” or other similar discussions?  Of course you did.  This is not rocket science, this is simple math (how many for or against).  Presidential elections have “hung on the dangling chad” (double entendre intended).

In this recent election, when asked “electronic or paper” I replied “who makes the electronic machines”?  The election official looked at me quizzically and said “I don’t know”.  So I said paper.  But after carefully coloring in all the circles on my paper ballot what happens?  You then insert it into the electronic counter made by the same unknown manufacturer that will now determine our future. While the paper goes into the trash.   But, how do we know for sure the machine did what we asked it too.  Probably 50% of the folks never thought about it since their candidate won.  But if I was the Nefarious Bill instead of the Citizen Bill, I might reprogram all the voting machines or force you to use my software.  Seems to me that we can do better and provide more security for what is one of our most valued liberties and responsibilities.  The Vote.

Accordingly, as is the practice of CitizenBill, no complaints just solutions.   Let me present the concept of e-vote-verification.com. 

In my voting future, elections are done over the internet using your social security number as the reference.  There will still be limited voting at city hall like what we do now for those who chose it (but it will likely fade away quickly like phone booths).  Don't have a social security number?  Why not?  And really I don't care about anyone without one.  No SS number means no vote as you are likely not an American citizen.  I don't know one American citizen without a social security number or an ID (but that is a different subject).  If duplicate SS numbers are entered or you have a bogus number or are a felon, these votes will be dropped into a "suspense" area and not counted unless absolutely needed.  Simple math, no fraud, easy stuff.

So no matter what method you used to vote, electronically at the polling place, internet (of course it is secure who told you it wasn't?), telephone, paper ballot scanned, etc., at the end of voting you will be given a paper receipt with a “randomly generated number”.  

Immediately following all elections, the e-voteverification system will  send all results to the servers and the results will be tallied almost immediately.  This is simple math, addition, no complex formulas needed.  The system will be totally updated  (again almost immediately) and by entering in your unique “receipt number” on the website you will be able to see AND CONFIRM “your vote”.  This simple “check” will provide all the security vote “balance” we would ever need. 

And of course if this is not your vote, there will be a procedure to address that as well.  Simple plan for simple folks.  Do not even leave your home to vote. And in addition to the security and verification that this system provides, I would also bet it is way less expensive than the present system since we will not need to rent a bunch of polling places or hire judges or transport ballots.  Like using a word processor instead of a typwriter, this system will pay for itself in one election.  I will try to work on "candidate check" (like spell check) in the future, one thing at a time.


God bless Citizen Bill and his family and friends.

Who cares what oil costs, have you bought water?

On the news this weekend everyone seemed pretty upset that oil had gone over $100 per barrel.  Some of the Sunday morning pundits were saying oil could be $200 by summer and to prepare for $4/gal gas.  This significant price increase seems so ominous.  Add to that all the political uncertainties playing out across the Middle East right now and it makes for a seeming obvious consequence if oil is something you use.   Like me, and likely you. 

Now the price of oil/gas/energy is upsetting.. UNTIL you calculate what Americans are now willing to pay for water.  That’s right, gas is cheap when you buy water by the pint/liter at the same convenience store.  And  we live in a society on a planet that is 80% water.  When the cost of water is more than oil (or certainly when it is 5X) we need to solve the problem or at least be aware of why we cannot solve it.  My little goal is just to make folks aware of it.

At the local convenience store at the end of my street, water is sold in 1 pint containers (.5 of a liter).  According to my grade school math, there are 8 pints in a gallon.  Thus, if water is $1 a pint, it would cost $8 a gallon.  And if there are 55 gallons in a barrel, then a barrel of water costs almost 4 times as much as a barrel of oil.  What, 4 times?  That seems absurd when water comes out of the faucet for free (sort of, but paid for already for sure). 

We as a society need to make more much informed choices if we want to control our destiny.  Stop paying for plasticized water would be a good first step.

God bless us all and Citizen Bill and his family.

And check out the original digital art.