Platforms, Issues, and Policies
American elections commonly focus on candidates and their slogans on issues while failing to offer any policies or solutions. The choice becomes “whom to trust” rather than “what should be done”.
Definitions:
- Issues are problems to be fixed
- Policies are solutions for the issues
- A platform is a short list of policy goals (solutions) on important issues (problems)
The CULP Upper-Left (Whig) Platform:
The Platform should be no more than 10 planks (policy goals)
The list should be prioritized by polling voters or by National Conventions for that purpose. ALL of these platform planks BOTH shrink government and lower inequality following the CULP promise: “we shall never support policies that expand government or increase wealth inequality.”
- Cut taxes bottom-up; tax ONLY “the rich”; specifically, raise the standard exemption on federal income tax to $100K.
- FREEZE (Cap) total U.S. government spending until the budget is balanced; the resulting give-and-take budgeting should be means-tested: top-down cuts, bottom-up increases; the goal is a self-reliant middle-class that pays trifling taxes and receives piddly benefits.
- Audit the Federal Reserve. Require 100% transparency of all transactions (The Fed causes inflation almost entirely, and it causes greater inequality with its favors to a privileged few.)
- Replace all welfare programs with Negative Income Tax (NIT) + Leverage vouchers
- Fund government schools solely with means-tested vouchers
- Fund health care, food, and housing assistance with means-tested vouchers
- Leave NATO (End the empire, No more undeclared open-ended wars)
- Election and campaign reforms:
- Replace winner-take-all elections by district with other methods, such as: Ranked Choice Voting, Cumulative Voting, Sortition, Direct Proxy Representation
- Fill-in-the-Blank, Open (not secret) ballots (with routine auditing)
- Sweepstakes rules for campaign contributions
- Drug Legalization, no vaccine mandates for adults