What I want in a president

So as politicians battle it out to be the nations next president, I began to think about what my ideal president would be and what all the current presidential hopefuls lack. I have decided to center my blog on what the politicians should be doing from my perspective. Feel free to disagree. That is the point of democracy, after all.

Today's blog will be about what they lack.

None of the current hopefuls have advanced any plan to help the nation's ailing economy. Let's face it, the US is in trouble. Our dollar is weak. We are in the midst of a mortgage crisis. We have a huge trade deficit with China. And the current motto is we are becoming a service industry country.

The dollar must be strengthened. I am not an economist or a financial advisor, but I do know the importance of a strong dollar in America. What do the politicians plan to do about it?

The mortgage crisis needs to never happen again. The mortgage industry needs to be more heavily regulated in many areas. Adjustable arm mortgages just need to go. There is no reason for their existence and they just taken advantage of the poor.

Trade deficit with China. Now I am of the belief that the huge trade deficit with China is one of the things that weakening our dollar. This is just a theory, I have done no mathematical calculations to prove it, but it makes sense. The Chinese dollar is artificially devalued. We have a huge trade deficit with China (hint, try to avoid stuff made in china -supply and demand does work. if we don't buy it, they'll eventually stop making it). This imbalance affects our dollar and I am of the belief that this relationship is helping to devalue our dollar.

Seriously, Mexico take up the model China used to get its manufacturing edge. Then you citizens woudl be employed and they can stop fleeing to the US. We don't want your poor and your criminals. Please keep them.

Realistically, shaping an economy around the service industry is just a bad idea. Such an economy is just too tied to the whims of the country and a failure is one sector affects all sectors drastically. There needs to exist a manufacturing sector, a sector that provides jobs to lower skilled workers and offers a home base for the manufacturing that may be necessary for military reason. Also, we need to something to export to offset our trade deficits. The US produces a better grade steel, but we are reducing our production because other coutries are producing a lower grade, but cheaper steel. Personally, however, I want the bridge I drive across to be made of higher grade steel, even if it costs a little more. This may be an area that a litte regulation could go a long way. Just saying.

We need to be encouraging in city schools to be teaching their students trades. These students are likely no going to college and we as a nation seem to have abandoned those children that are not going to college and that is just wrong (not to mention likely leads to a greater need for welfare and welfare related programs). We need to create workers that can do jobs better than the rest of the world to encourage the production of goods within our own nation. Now, I am in general against a universal healthcare system (I worked hard to get where I am so I don't have to wait a week to see a doctor - but that will be a blog for another day), but the government may want to consider offering baseline healthcare for workers of new manufacturing jobs on a temporary basis to take away some of the initial overhead costs of starting a company. Not permanent, mind you, but until the company gets off the ground and can afford the cost.

We, as citizens, need to reward those companies that produce goods in the US by buying their products. Again, good old supply and demand. To make this work, however, this requires government regulation. All goods (including food) need to be labeled according to where they were made and where their parts come from. I especially wish for this in food and it currently does not contain labeling as where it is made. Personally, I think where food is made is more important in terms of my health than were my shirt is made. Think all that killer pet food, the killer toothpaste, the killer cold medicine (all out of China by the way).

Well, that is my bit on the economy. I am sure there is a lot more that can be done. But how would I know, as the politicians seem to feel they should just ignore the issue?