Let's start an Honesty in Policy Making Caucus!

[kennetha]

My new standard for presidential candidates... complete honesty in policy proposals.

In particular, I will only give money to or vote for candidates who are willing and eager to honestly and forthrightly discuss the trade offs that would be required to make their policies reality.

For example, any candidate proposing anything close to European levels of social spending who refuses to admit up front that you cannot have European levels of spending without European levels of taxation will not get my vote or my money.

The candidate has to be willing to say that if that level of social spending means introducing the sort of broad based taxation schemes, including things like value added taxes, that Europeans deploy, fine let’s do it! Otherwise said candidate won’t get a cent or a vote from me, however much I agree with them otherwise!

Similarly, any candidate who is for single payer Medicare-for-All and for eliminating private insurance almost entirely, but refuses to honestly discuss the transition costs, won’t get a single cent or vote from me, at least not in the primaries.

If that candidate is the last candidate standing after the primaries and I have a choice between that candidate and Trump, well that’s a different calculus, obviously.

Not that my money or vote will make a huge difference. I have only one vote in one primary and even less money! But perhaps others will join in. Maybe could start a grass roots movement for policy honesty in politics!

[lark]

1. I like that and have always looked for that policy honesty.

It's really not that hard, don't pay billions for presidential golf games anymore, don't have president personally profit from renting gold carts and rooms to Secret Service, don't have billions of military dollars lying around to use as a slush fund for illegally jailing asylum seekers and for presidents cabinet members to make billions off of torturing, stealing, drugging and killing brown children, stop paying for secret service protection for adult family members of thief of office, end the corruption and save tens of billions of dollars which could be used to benefit working class Americans. Yes, the rich and corporations will have to pay a lot more and get a lot less freebies, but the country's economy and well being would explode. I know my husband and I would have no problem paying more taxes for Medicare for All and think most would agree.