Ask Slashdot: What Planks Would You Want In a Platform of a Political Party?

An anonymous reader writes "I am the Technology Manager of the Justice Party (sorry, no relationship to the Avengers). We are currently working on our Platform (version 2.0) and I would be interested to know what people in the science and technology field would like to see in a platform of a political party. For example, we are considering planks that relate to Open Government (data) access, science and maths promotion, space industries, promotion of open source, dealing with SOPA/ CISPA laws, improvement in user privacy and much more. Give us your comments so we can help build a more tech-savvy America."

Comments

Secularism

[elloGov]

Separation of Church/Religion & State, be it whatever religion

Off the top of my head

[Anonymous Coward]

1) strict term limits for congress
2) corporate money is not free speech...no place for it in politics
3) Single payer health care
4) increased minimum wage that is subsequently tied to inflation
5) Large scale infrastructure projects...LARGE. High speed trains, universal fiber broadband
6) a commitment to overhaul the national power grid or begin the the process of implementing a decentralized solution to replacing the grid
7) outlaw lobbyists

Re:Off the top of my head

[dgatwood]

It's easy, and I've been saying it for almost a decade now: Outlaw Congress, or at least the physical manifestation of it. If you send all of the politicians home to their districts, the cost for a corporation to lobby goes up by at least a factor of hundreds because they have to send lobbyists all around the country, and the cost for an average citizen to lobby goes down by a factor of hundreds because they need only drive a few miles to talk to their elected representatives. The corporations cease to have an advantage over ordinary citizens at that point, and the question of making the act of lobbying itself illegal becomes moot.

Who are you?

[TaoPhoenix]

I know I am a little too far down, but here goes.

1. Identity Fail.
"An anonymous reader writes "I am the Technology Manager of the Justice Party..."
Really?! For me you sunk your chances right there. Politics is about promoting yourself and hoping no bad $hit from your past sticks too badly. (Because there IS some, it's only a question of relativity!)

So "Anonymous Reader", for a party I've never heard of? Nope. Go away. I won't even begin to (oh wait, I am) open the can of worms on authenticity security for ... wait for it ... the *Technology Manager*... of a party?! Sales guys, I get. Tech Manager? Oh dear gawd.

2. Too F#$%$% Sick of "Hidden One Way Flow" data-slurps in politics. You want all our notes, but you won't stand to even log a Slashdot Username to respond to replies? And this for a *political party*? Screw that. I'll dignify you by saying you're not a complete fabrication by site Mgt. Let's assume you are real. Why So Sneaky?

Bye Bye.

Re:Mandatory gun ownership

[CanHasDIY]

you're a worse freeloader than any smoker.

Smokers pay a higher premium, so calling us 'freeloaders' is complete bullshit.

On the contrary, fat motherfuckers are the largest (no pun intended, but noted and appreciated) burden on the healthcare system, and they are not required to pay a higher premium because they made the decision to be grotesquely obese slobs. You wanna talk freeloaders? Start with the worst offenders.

Huh?

[WillgasM]

Is this really how political parties get started? Shouldn't the platform come before the party? If you don't already know what needs to be done differently, then why are creating a new party? This makes it sound like you found a large, under-served demographic and decided to cash in on their passion. At best, this sounds really backwards; at worst, it sounds downright dubious. How about you tell us what your party stands for, and we'll tell you if we agree and where you could stand to change. At the very least, you should lurk more. I'm all for a viable third party, especially one that embraces the tech community, but surely you understand why this looks deceitful. It's like asking a girl in a chat room how old she is and she asks how old you want her to be.

Fiscal Policy

[gd2shoe]

Unfortunately, no political party position is complete without addressing money. You need to decide whether to tax your way out of this hole, or cut your way out. (or both, but aggressively, not half heartedly)

First plank? Cut the deficit all the way to negative. ASAP. That means now, not planning on it several decades out. Real reform hurts, but it will hurt more if we don't address the problem. Can you imagine the US declaring bankruptcy? That's where we're headed. (or the equvalent, anyway) And that's not just the federal government. Many of the states are insolvent right now too. Even some of the big ones (California).

Real deficit cuts are not decreasing the planned growth of deficits! Grab both the Rs and Ds and slap them with this during campaigning.

Second, start spending the money we've got wisely. We're like a leaky sieve. For instance, there's a constant drumbeat of "we've got to support the schools and teachers!" In reality? Almost all the money get's lost between tax payers and the classrooms. Setting more money aside for schools almost never results in increased learning. But cuts? Those go straight to the gullet.

Third, stop the hidden tax. Inflation. The FED and other financial entities have been focused on a constant, steady inflation to "protect" the economy from the boogeyman of deflationary-spirals. The reality is: deflation is a symptom of the spirals, but isn't the primary cause. Healthy economies absorb deflation nicely. The real reason for constant inflation is to cause the stock market to be the safest place for people to store their cash. It's a money grab for the rich, and a way for the Federal government to shrink the value of the national debt.