If we all used less …
we’ve have more to go around.
Government Ideas
Sales Tax on Lobbying Expenditures
Not that this would ever happen. But one way to reduce undue influence on politicians while raising some revenues is to collect sales tax on money spent by lobbyists. An extra added tax above and beyond whatever point-of-purchase sales tax is levied by a state or local government. Want to buy a congressman or congresswoman? Read More …
Cops & Firemen On Ice
Nah, just kidding about the ice. But I could arenas shows packin’ ’em in, with police and fire re-enactments and other stunts. Hose fights! Cops & robbers re-enactments. Gun-safety tips. Good behavior messages. Then lots of life-saving, heart-pounding mayhem. Real fires? Real rescues? Famous arrests. Most Wanted rundown. Where do I get tickets?! If not real active cops and firemen, then Read More …
No Child Left Behind: Phys Ed Edition
Given the childhood obesity problem, perhaps schools should also have a social mandate to promote activity and healthful eating, and schools with lousy food and no phys ed would lose federal aid. Let every child stand in class, if they like, I say! Burn more calories that way. And it’s probably better for posture, and Read More …
Moral / Parental / Governmental Spam
I think this will happen: Some group, worried about the corrupted morals of our youth (and adults) will begin sending spam, nagging us to mind our nasty habits, get a job!, avoid drugs!, keep your privates private, etc., etc. Or, perhaps we’ll get health-oriented reminders, motivated by insurers and others who’d like to cut how much the inattentive Read More …
Making Every Lesson Count
School’s a waste of time, many students think. Yeah, teachers can drum their sales pitches into thick skulls, but how can that succeed when so much teaching seems unessential to their lives — now or in the future. So why not do the grand experiment and find out, once and for all, how long does anybody really Read More …
Flexible Spending Account for Taxes
It’s ridiculous how many hidden taxes we pay. Phone taxes, gas taxes, hotel and airplane surcharges, parking meters, bridge and turnpike tolls, car registration and driver’s license fees, unemployment and Medicare deductions, even taxi taxes. Want to really spark a tax rebellion? Create a kind of spending-tracker credit card that totals all our taxes. Better Read More …
How to make the dollar coin catch on
Visited the U.S. Mint the other day to see how the presidential dollar coins are being made. Collectors seem to be excited about new features, like four new presidential portraits a year, and writing around the rim. But will the coins wind up in cash drawers and pockets? Skeptics say there’s only one way: No more dollar Read More …
Get-Over-That-Grudge Matches: Boxing for Peace
Two sides have long histories of hatred? Let the aggressions out in some kind of sporting event. Slug it out in a boxing match. Play rough-and-tumble rugby. Fencing. Wrestling. Paintball. Prime minister vs. prime minister in a fierce game of foosball. Not saying this is a cure for war, but it could defuse some of the unreasonable Read More …
Microwave Trucks / Microwaveable Roads
Microwaves heat things, right? So what if you could melt snow and ice with a Microwaving Truck? Maybe add something to the roads, like capsules or metal particles, to make the microwaves more effective. Suppose, in snow country, all vehicles had them. Then, after melting their own driveways, all the cars would help with the melting. Adding particles to Read More …
Don’t-Block-the-Box Traffic Lights
Rush-hour gridlock is as much fun as doing taxes. Especially peeving are those drivers who slide into the intersection before there’s room on the other side. “Don’t block the box,” say signs. But drivers do it anyway. Then the cars don’t move because of block-boxers at the next intersection, so everybody’s jammed. Here’s my solution: Sensors Read More …
Pimp the State of the Union
Seriously, why should a big-time TV event like this fail to generate any revenue for anybody? The networks run no ads, the government gets no rights fees, and a handful of major networks alienate chunks of their TV-addicated audience. So revamp the speech to have commercial breaks, and sell the exclusive rights to one network, or one broadcast and Read More …
Presidential Primaries Should Have Secondaries
The horrible flaw in presidential primaries is this: In a six-person field, one person with a fifth of the vote can look like a winner … and yet not even be among the majority’s Top 2 choices. Besides, what do such “victories” prove in small states? As a result, a marginally popular candidate can ride a wave of media hype to a Read More …
New Amendment: Lie Detectors for Politicians
Let it be resolved: If anyone develops a sure-fire lie detector, whether an externally attached device, a drug, a form of hypnosis, a remote mind-reading scan, or a brain implant, no politician may vote to authorize its use on American citizens without first having submitted to such a lie detector and spilled every ounce of truth out of Read More …
Death Sentence Island
Instead of executing killers, you send them to a remote island with no guards and no provisions. Good luck living off the land. Not exactly humane, but cheap. If they whack each other, well, that was meant to be their fate. If they don’t, maybe they learned something and deserve to live. Cruel and unusual punishment? No Read More …