An initial draft of the "vision"

While my list of issues is a bit daunting, I thought I'd take a first crack at the vision piece.  Not sure how many of the issues it will encompass, but here's a first draft.  Again, feedback/comments are welcome.

A Vision for America's 21st Century


The first priority is making sure that we have a sustainable economic recovery that includes investments in our long-term prosperity and competitiveness.  If we don't do that, we won't be able to afford to address any of the other problems.  That means additional short-term borrowing (fortunately, at close to zero percent interest!) to provide more federal spending on infrastructure repair and upgrades (roads, bridges, electrical grid) and new technology (nationwide broadband/wifi), education, and new energy (expanding the investments in last year's stimulus package).

Even before the recovery is assured, we should commit to putting our fiscal house in order, so we don't bankrupt the country and have our kids paying half their income in taxes to pay the interest on our debt.  The actual steps in this direction might have to wait until the recovery is assured, but then it means a combination of reforming Social Security and Medicare so they are sustainable for the long-term, plus raising taxes some (eliminate Bush's tax cut on wealthy and add a value-added tax; this combo might allow us to eliminate or at least reduce income taxes on those making less than 10k/year).  And we need to reduce spending - phase out subsidies for corn (and reduce obesity as an added benefit) and oil companies, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reconfigure our military (beyond what Gates has proposed) so we can address the threats of the 21st century more cost effectively, etc.  This must include reduced dependence on military and intelligence contractors.  We can neither afford to pay a premium for those services, nor can we feel comfortable financing the creation of private armies and intelligence services.

Our long-term focus then turns to:

• Fixing education so it offers a real path out of poverty and encourages creativity and innovation, not rote memorization and regurgitation.
• Reforming campaign finance and the role of the government so the focus is on government protecting us (from unsafe water, chemicals in our consumer products, food, etc.), not protecting the companies and donors.
• Creation of new private sector jobs in new energy and other 21st century technologies.
• Preparation for the long-term effects of climate change that may no longer be reversible.
• Making America the true beacon of human rights, again, by making the fight against human trafficking and for empowerment of women a global priority.
• Reforming our military and intelligences services to focus on the specific threats to America's security (loose nukes, leaders and training centers for terrorists, etc.) and joining with our NATO allies to combat mass murder and genocide (Congo, Darfur, etc.).

Well, that's a first draft.  Comments/thoughts/suggestions?