Some Actual Good Ideas from the 2016 Election

Granted, most of the things which have been said this election cycle aren't worth anyone's time.  However, believe it or not, a few interesting and sensible ideas have seeped through.

1. In a CNN town hall, Marco Rubio proposed a four-pronged plan to RETHINK HIGHER EDUCATION AND STUDENT LOAN DEBT.  Would this work?  I don't know.  But what we have now doesn't work, and it's nice to hear a fresh take on it.

Today there are only six accrediting boards in the country [...] It's basically a monopoly because today in the 21st century we have the ability to learn multiple ways. You don't just have to sit in a classroom. There are so many different ways now to acquire information. And, so what I've pushed for is an alternative accrediting model that allows there to be an accredited learning outside of the traditional school setting. 

The second [idea] is an alternative to student loans called the student investment plan. And, this would allow you to go to a private investment group who would invest in you the way an investment group invests in a start-up business. In essence, they would believe in you so much, and in your success, that they would pay for your college. If you become financially successful, they're going to make their investment back with a profit. If you do not, they're going to lose their money and made a bad investment. But, all the risk is on them.  

The third is to make income based repayment the automatic method of repaying a loan. [Why] that is important is because I would rather collect $20 dollars a month from a student than nothing. Because if you're collecting $20 dollars, at least you're collecting $20 dollars a month and they're not defaulting on the debt, because if you default it ruins your credit, and no you can't buy a house [...] It really hurts you. 

And, the fourth is called right to know before you go [...] It's going to allow you to look at two different schools, and -- say I want to major in history. A history major from this school makes $50 grand a year, and it only costs $20,000 dollars. A history major from this school makes $50,000 dollars a year, but it costs $100,000 dollars.

2. Former Democratic Primary candidate Martin O'Malley would like to END COLD WAR STYLE FOREIGN POLICY.  Do we have to continue longstanding rivalries for posterity?  I don't think so.  Maybe it would be nice to pull back the hand that we're always trying to use to guide smaller nations and put it back on the steering wheel.  

O’Malley said that “Cold War-era thinking” has led the U.S. government to a place where “(we think) we’re somehow doing the cause of democracy in the world a favor by toppling a regime.”

3. America feels so burdened by foreign crises.  If intervention is needed, maybe we can LET SOMEONE ELSE DO IT as Donald Trump has indicated.  Do we really have a stake in everything?

Let Russia bash ISIS; let Germany defend Ukraine. (Nov 2015)

4. Speaking of old rivalries - we're starting to patch things up with Cuba.  Could we NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH IRAN as Bernie Sanders has suggested?  This is a decades old feud started by an ill-advised American attempt at regime change.  The Iranians are a natural ally in the conflict against ISIS.  Could we at least stop being openly hostile toward them?  We deal civilly with plenty of other countries equally guilty of the things for which we criticize Iran.

“I think what we have got to do is move as aggressively as we can to normalize relations with Iran, understanding that Iran’s behavior in so many ways is something that we disagree with," Sanders said [...] But, Sanders said, the fact that the U.S. and Iran reached the nuclear agreement without going to war represents a "positive step."
"Can I tell you do I think we should reopen an embassy in Tehran tomorrow? No, I don't think we should," Sanders said. "But I think the goal has got to be, as we have done with Cuba, to move in warm relations with a very powerful and important country in this world."

5. We've heard one side.  We've heard the other.  We don't like either.  Now what?  Maybe we can SPLIT UP THE DUOPOLY as Libertarian candidate John McAfee suggests.

The Democrats and the Republicans have failed us.  It’s time to #UninstallTheSystem …the two-party system.

Possible independent candidate Jesse Ventura enjoys seeing them off their game.

“See, I’m an independent and I despise the two parties,” Ventura, who speaks as if he is prepared to tackle you, continued. “I love what Trump’s doing to the Republicans. He’s got them in complete disarray. In fact, it looks like the WWE when you watch their debates.”

6. In some ways those parties are indistinguishable.  One example of which is the deeply entrenched unflinching support of Israel.  But would it make a difference if we were to RETHINK THE ISRAEL/PALESTINE CONFLICT?  Has our one-sidedness brought us one step closer to resolving anything, or are we creating global conflicts out of regional ones by taking sides?  The best response on this one surprisingly comes from the bombastic Donald Trump. 

“Let me be sort of a neutral guy,” Trump told the “Morning Joe” host. In most international conflicts, such a statement would be laudable if unsurprising, hardly worth a comment. But in the alternative reality that is our reality, such statements do not go unchallenged [...]

7. Finally, though he's changed his tune, it is worth reading Jeb!'s remarks about RETHINKING THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM.  We have a problem, but we are also dealing with human beings who ought to be treated with respect and dignity.  

Last year, he famously said that immigrants cross the border without papers as an “act of love“: “Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s kind of — it’s a, it’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family.”

Like some of these ideas and wondering who to vote for?  Go fish.

AWM

Sources:
1. http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2016/02/17/rush-transcript-senator-marco-rubiocnn-republican-presidential-town-hall-greenville-sc/
2. http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20151229/NEWS/151229258
3. http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm
4. http://www.politico.com/blogs/live-from-charleston-sc/2016/01/2016-presidential-debates-iran-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-217924
5. https://mcafee2016.com/issues/; http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/29/jesse-ventura-i-ll-run-for-president-if-bernie-loses.html
6. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/anti-muslim_trump_is_progressive_on_israel_palestine_conflict_20160304
7. http://americasvoice.org/research/meet-2016-gop-candidates-president-positions-immigration/