Legislation

Y'know, if I were in a legislature, state or Federal, I would do everything I could to stop the practice of padding bills with irrelevant amendments. I understand that it might be part of the political give-and-take, but it just muddies the waters. Vote for one thing at a time.

Rethinking taxation

(The following is based on some comments that were published in the Wayne Independent a few weeks ago...)

During the 2004 campaign, I penned a bit of Seussian doggerel that included this verse:

The question should be, "Are our taxes assessed
In a way that is fair, and that spreads the load best?
So that no one is overly fiscally stressed
And no one rides high on the backs of the rest?”

The definition of “fair,” of course, depends on who’s being asked. Some rich folks, most notably Warren Buffett, support progressive taxation – making richer folks take on larger shares of the tax burden. “I see nothing wrong with those who have been blessed by this society giving a larger portion of their income back to the society than somebody that's working very hard to make ends meet,” Buffett has said. Other rich folks – well, you know.

Some folks (Mike Huckabee for example) push a simplified national sales tax – the so-called “Fair Tax” – to replace the national income tax. “Georgists” want to only tax land value. Some like taxation being targeted to shape social behavior (as in, for example, the so-called “sin taxes” or the hotly-debated “carbon tax”), while others find that reprehensible.

As opposed to the "fair taxers," who would put all their eggs into the VAT basket, I think it makes sense to have multiple revenue streams.

But let me also suggest a completely different way to think about the question. In keeping with Green principles of decentralization, community-based economics, and grassroots democracy, let’s have all taxes be local.

Let municipalities collect all taxes within their borders – and then let the municipalities pay counties, counties pay states, and states the Federal government, for services as respectively rendered. If a governmental entity at whatever level has needs that outstrip its resources, let them consult with their wealthier peers to arrange loans or grants as needed (rather than having such redistributions be the result of the unsavory "sausage-making" in the next higher level of legislation).

Then the answer to the question “What is the fairest way to tax?” becomes simple: whatever way the members of a given community democratically agree works best for them.

Makeup of the Supreme Court

Oh, and re the Supreme Court... I think the Court should have the following composition:

• 3 solid, experienced, nonpartisan and thoughtful centrists
• 2 generally conservative justices
• 2 generally liberal justices
• 1 hardcore right-wing maniac
• 1 hardcore left-wing maniac

Of course, we now have at least 3 hardcore right-wing maniacs, so it's going to take a while to get to that ideal state...

Re "No Child Left Behind"

It seems to me that there is a very easy way to obviate some of the problems with No Child Left Behind - which is to simply redefine the notion of "grade level" itself. Why shouldn't we determine "grade level" (which is an arbitrary and artificial construct anyway) not in terms of chronological age but in terms of a student's actual level of achievement?

Clearly a student could be at different "grade levels" from subject to subject - but if curricula were constructed in such a way that a student could move through them at relatively independent paces, achieving "certifications" as they master given bodies of knowledge, I don't see that as being a problem. It is exactly what we do within certain realms of the corporate world, such as IT or HR. We need to decouple the notion of academic progress from its present lockstep relationship to chronological age.

If we can do this, I believe we can strip the people who are presently trying to cripple public education by means of NCLB of their most potent tool, while still allowing educators to be evaluated in terms of effectiveness and establishing realistic standards for student progress.

Full statehood for the District of Columbia

I'm for it.

Death Penalty

I'm against it. Next?

Back to basics, government-wise: reorganize the Executive Branch according to Constitutional purposes

In the Preamble to the Constitution, the basic purposes of the United States of America are enumerated:

1. Form a more perfect Union
2. Establish Justice
3. Insure domestic Tranquility
4. Provide for the common defense
5. Promote the general Welfare
6. Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity

So if I were President, I'd reorganize the Executive Branch to fit. Six Departments, or Ministries, or whatever you want to call them, with the appropriate agencies and bureaus rearranged accordingly. Functions that couldn't fit within this scheme would be kicked back to the states, unless we decided by Constitutional amendment that we wanted to add other purposes.

Of course, there would be some very interesting conversations that would have to go into this redesign - what do we mean by things like "more perfect Union" or "domestic Tranquility" or "general Welfare," anyway? But once we were done, we would know that whatever the Federal government was doing was indeed something that it is intended to be doing.

¡SIESTAS! - More Naps, Less Stress

From whatever level of government I might find myself at, you can bet that I would work to encourage policies in support of - naptimes.

Studies have shown that the mid-afternoon nap boosts productivity, decreases stress, and generally increases well-being.

For example -- take a look at these, just three links out of many you get from searching on "nap benefits":

• http://drdeborahserani.blogspot.com/2006/06/benefits-of-power-napping.html
• http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleep-disorders/archives/insomnia_drjacobs_benefits_of_naps.htm
• http://www.metronaps.com/about/science_faq.php

That last link, of course, comes from a business that makes "nap pods" available in airports, shopping centers, and the like. Pretty cool.

Furthermore, an increase in naptime would contribute to the general Slowing of things - but that's for another post.

I say, "Chill, America - you deserve more rest!"

Welcome to "Mendler for... Whatever"

Hi! My name is Skip Mendler, and I am not - repeat, not - running for any political office.

I'm not even contemplating forming an exploratory committee.

However - should you find yourself in need of someone to vote for, I would be available to fill various offices for which I might be qualified, and I'm happy to offer myself as a write-in candidate for - well, whatever. (Hence the title of the blog.) I do have some opinions, and some of those would even qualify as political positions - and some of those are actual policy suggestions. I'd even be willing to serve if I happened to win an election... to something... somewhere... But, of course, I'm not running for anything in particular, did I mention that?

Different kinds of ideas are appropriate for different kinds of political offices, from the local to the global. So in this blog I will post position statements that would apply to campaigns for various offices - if I were to be running for anything, which as I said before I'm not.

Some of these positions will be weighty and serious, and some might appear, well, kinda frivolous at first glance. But eventually, I hope you'll see how they all hang together to form a coherent viewpoint.

State- and local-level positions are generally written with my particular neck of the woods in mind. (I live in northeastern Pennsylvania, in a small rural county just outside the "NY Metro" demographic area.) Nonetheless, you might find them applicable to your own area as well.

Feel free to respond to these ideas with platform planks of your own. Part of my purpose here is to get ideas out of my head and in front of your eyes so that they might engender ideas in your own head in turn. Enjoy!