“Let [the Constitution] be taught in schools, seminaries and in colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation.” Abraham Lincoln
Tossing and turning, American voters are having nightmares about the 2008 election. Will it be stolen again as it was in 2000 and 2004? What will a President Obama do about the Global War on Terrorism and militarization? What will a President McCain do about the economy, jobs and health care? My God, will we end up with a President Biden or Palin, and what on Earth will he or she stumble into?
In spite of all their lofty promises, mealy-mouthed answers, and misleading advertisements, American voters still have no clue about what any of the candidates will really do if and when they get into office.
With $3 billion wasted on the Help America Vote Act and the unreliable electronic machines it has purchased, voters are losing sleep worrying about whether they will even be allowed to vote in November, much less if their votes will ever be accurately counted.
Wake up America! Your voting power under the current system has been reduced to electoral slavery, and you are seriously deluded if you think you have any real control over your government.
Can you even dream about a National Ballot that will establish your authority, one in which you, rather than politicians, create the policy guidelines for your government and you, rather than hacked computers, decide whom you want to implement your policy?
Imagine there is a two-day paid holiday set aside for the presidential election and that every citizen is encouraged to register and to reverently observe the most sacred sacrament of the nation’s political religion.
Think about walking into your neighborhood polling place and being handed a sheet of heavy paper with 12 policy questions for you to thoughtfully answer, yes or no, and a list of party candidates for you to consider before you carefully write in the name of your personal choice for president and vice president.
Sleep well with sweet anticipation during the week or two it will take to patiently hand count the millions of paper ballots before the clear voice of American voters is heard to echo around the world with the message that democracy is alive and well in the land of the free.
Experience the drama! Feel the power flowing into your hands and sense the clarity of your mind!
Close your eyes and picture the ballot you would like to see handed to every voter on November 4, 2008:
Policy Referendum Questions
1. Should the United States avoid war against the people of other nations by obtaining Congressional Arrest Warrants for personal service on foreign leaders who harm their own citizens and threaten ours? Yes □ No □
2. Should the United States withdraw all military personnel from Iraq as quickly as possible and avoid leaving behind any permanent military installations? Yes □ No □
3. Does the government of Iran pose a substantial risk of harm to the people of the United States? Yes □ No □
4. Should the United States invade Pakistan without the consent of its government to kill or capture Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders? Yes □ No □
5. Should the proposed Constitutional Amendment providing equal rights for women be resurrected, ratified and made effective through laws that protect reproductive rights? Yes □ No □
6. Should the United States establish a National Education Service to fund and extend free public education through two years of academic or vocational college training, provide four years of free college education to students who provide one year of valuable public service at age 18, and six years of free college education to those who volunteer for two years? Yes □ No □
7. Should the United States establish a National Health Service to provide universal health care for all of its citizens? Yes □ No □
8. Should the United States replace its income tax with a comprehensive toll tax on all financial transactions occurring within its economy? Yes □ No □
9. Should the United States ensure the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund by permanently establishing the annual cap on contributions at the salary paid to the president? Yes □ No □
10. Should the United States establish a supplemental personal retirement plan based on voluntary individual and employer contributions to a National Bond Fund for investment in the legal obligations of local and state governments? Yes □ No □
11. As a temporary stimulus to the economy, should the United States impose a one-year moratorium on the collection of Social Security and Medicare contributions from individuals receiving incomes of less than $50,000 per year? Yes □ No □
12. Should the United States nationalize the Federal Reserve System as a government-owned public banking utility to create credit and to lend money to individuals and businesses, with interest payments dedicated to the reduction of individual taxation? Yes □ No □
Party Nominations
Independent
President – Ralph Nader Yes □
Vice President – Matt Gonzalez Yes □
Libertarian Party
President – Bob Barr Yes □
Vice President – Wayne Root Yes □
Green Party
President – Cynthia McKinney Yes □
Vice President – Rosa Clemente Yes □
Democratic Party
President – Barack Obama Yes □
Vice President – Joe Biden Yes □
Republican Party
President – John McCain Yes □
Vice President – Sarah Palin Yes □
Fill in adjacent boxes above or
write in choices below:
President
__________________________________Yes □
(Please Print Name Carefully)
Vice President
__________________________________Yes □
(Please Print Name Carefully)
Given the chance, how would you vote?
What questions would you like to see on the ballot?
What are you waiting for? Voting is a both a right and a duty – use it or lose it!
William John Cox is a retired supervising prosecutor for the State Bar of California. As a police officer he wrote the Policy Manual of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Role of the Police in America for a national advisory commission. Acting as a public interest, pro bono lawyer, he filed a class action lawsuit in 1979 on behalf of every citizen of the United States petitioning the Supreme Court to order the other two branches of the federal government to conduct a National Policy Referendum; he investigated and successfully sued a group of radical right-wing organizations in 1981 that denied the Holocaust; and he arranged in 1991 for publication of the suppressed Dead Sea Scrolls. His 2004 book, You’re Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency is reviewed at http://www.yourenotstupid.com, and he is currently working on a fact-based fictional political philosophy. His writings are collected at http://www.thevoters.org, and he can be contacted at [email protected].
