A PLAN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Can We Take Back Out Country?,
By Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: United We Stand: How We Can Take Back Our Country (Paperback)
United We Stand, by Ross Perot
This book is dedicated to the millions of volunteers who got the petitions signed to qualify a new national party. [Can this be done again?] The 'Acknowledgments' thank those who gave practical ideas on how to solve out country's problems. The 'Introduction' discusses sluggish economic growth, high unemployment, and inflation. [It does not connect this to Nixon's 1971 dollar devaluation, which allowed a Private Bank Cartel to control your wealth.] The "United We Stand" party did not set up a self-sustaining organization similar to either Twin Party; it can't exist on enthusiasm alone. But its success demonstrates that the majority of voters dislikes the current Twin-Party system; half the people don't even vote. Chapter One lists the economic problems: working longer hours and getting less [raise the Federal minimum wage to $8 an hour, equivalent to 1968], The Federal debt is a method that taxes the many to benefit the few rich [Andrew Jackson eliminated the national debt]. One solution is to raise the top income tax rate to 70%, and break up the big corporations so more better-paying jobs result [not even mentioned here]. Perot does not mention oppressive taxes, lowered union membership, and the elimination of owner-operated small businesses as a reason for declining economic growth. There is no mention of corporate advertising, media control, and polling to fool the people. Perot blames Reagan for starting the increase in deficit spending (p.11). But he doesn't blame Reagan for the greatest tax increase on wage-earners (to lower taxes on the rich). In Chapter Two Perot mentions the Savings & Loan crisis in 1984, and how it became a larger crisis. Perot does not tell how crooked politicians and their businessmen allies profited from looting these banks (p.22). Perot is wrong about abolishing the Electoral College, it is designed for our Federal system. Let a new Congress elect the President, as specified in the Constitution since 1789. Perot's banning of jobs by former Congressmen is class-biased law that only affects the middle-class, not the rich (p.26). [Wage-earners are effectively banned from political office for over 200 years.] Perot's advice to "reduce civil service restrictions" suggests he has learned nothing from history (pp.28-29). The example of the Agriculture Dept. implies their job is t eliminate family farms (p.29). Perot is wrong to suggest changing voting from the traditional Tuesday; giving each voter a $100 tax credit would do the trick. More people will vote when the elections aren't effectively fixed (p.32). Perot is wrong to imagine "the political elite" would want ordinary citizens to converse on politics (p.38); their current system fits their needs. Can anyone believe the fantasy of "trickle down" economics? Prosperity results when most people have money (Chapter 3). Perot mentions his experiences at GM and IBM (no comments on what went wrong - "unnecessary overhead"?). Perot is dead wrong on a "line item veto", unless he wants a Royalist ruler. The result from 43 governors shows more spending and taxing, not less (p.39), that is why he can't prove by example. Some of his examples are now obsolete (tax favors for alcohol-fuel). Perot is wrong is taxing Social Security benefits like private pension benefits (p.47). Working people paid for their Social Security benefits with taxed money, unlike private pension benefits. Perot is wrong about gasoline taxes, a regressive cost built into all goods sold. We need to reverse the policy of a spreading population designed to need cars by creating jobs and stores that are close to housing (p.49). For a simple and fair income tax system just raise the standard deduction to $65,000 (p.51). Most people's W-2s and 1099s are automatically reported, the IRS can figure it out. Perot is wrong, as long as America wants a presence in Europe and Asia it will need the hundreds of billions for a military budget (p.51). In summary, some of Perot's ideas are "close but no cigar". The vote for Perot helped to defeat George Bush Sr. and we got W. J. Clinton. I guess we were better that way?
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Looking Back Through Time.,
By
This review is from: United we stand : how we can take back our country
A lot has happened since 1992. Bill Clinton was elected President to two terms and became only the second President to ever be impeached. George W. Bush was elected to President despite "losing" the popular vote (other Presidents were elected in the same manner). Even though the 1980s have been labeled as the decade of greed, the 1990s were the true decade of greed as money seemed to flow like water until the stock market bubble burst in 2000. September 11th, 2001 happened and changed our nation and world in a moment. We were able to do what the Russians weren't and invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban. Later we invaded Iraq and captured Saddam Hussein. Back in 1992 it was a very different world.
1992 was also an election year and in this heated election of 2004, I thought it would be interesting and read the book that eventually ended up causing George Bush (41) to loose the 1992 Presidential election. Bush (41) had a huge lead over the relative unknown Democratic governor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton, whose administration had been filled with scandals of every variety. In fact, at one point, most everyone agreed that Bush (41) was a shoo-in. Then Ross Perot and UNITED WE STAND arrived on the scene and everything changed in a moment. Unlike Ralph Nader in 2000 who never was a real threat to either Al Gore or George W. Bush, Perot really did cause Bush (41) to loose the 1992 election (Perot captured almost 19% of all votes cast). UNITED WE STAND is the book that ended up forming the foundation for Perot's campaign and also for the now defunct United We Stand Party. Even though over a decade has past since the book was published and 1992 is ancient history in the political world, UNITED WE STAND proves to be an interesting read. The book is basically a split between political philosophy and self-help inspiration. Much of the book is filled with encouraging statements: "Only the people can remake our country."; "We cannot expect our political leaders to lead where the people will not follow." ; "We must repair the political system." The rest of the book contains many different ideas of how to improve things in the United States. Some of the ideas are things I agree with, for instance making it a criminal offense for any foreign entity to attempt to influence American laws or policies by means of direct or indirect campaign contributions and eliminating the unnecessary perks that our federally elected officials receive. Other ideas I am totally against, such as the recommendation to eliminate the Electoral College (if you understand why the Founding Fathers implemented the Electoral College, you will know why it cannot be eliminated) or his suggestion to implement a new ten cent gasoline tax. However, the most interesting things to read about are the things that have actually become realities. For instance, many lifetime politicians were kicked out of office when the people voted new legislators into office during the "Republican Revolution" in 1994; until September 11th, 2001 the federal budget deficit was eliminated; troops are being recalled from Europe back to the United States; national standardized testing has been implemented and No Child Left Behind is the only thing many people in education ever care to discuss in detail. These are all things that Perot proposed in UNITED WE STAND which have now become political realities. I enjoyed reading UNITED WE STAND. It found some of Perot's ideas to be intriguing and it was nice to finally see for myself what the hubbub in 1992 surrounding Perot was really about. History can be so interesting.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Putting your money where it counts,
By
This review is from: United We Stand: How We Can Take Back Our Country (Paperback)
This short publication by Ross Perot was released in 1992 as part of his bid for the US presidency that year. In this book, he explains what he views are ills plaguing America, and puts forth ideas he thinks should be implemented to solve them. This is quite rare, most presidential candidates in recent memory authored books only after reaching and leaving elected office. These include Bill Clinton's autobiography, G. Bush's writings, Harry Truman's memoirs and so. Perot on the other hand, laid out his ideas and opinions while running for political office. Many of the ideas outlined in this book are quite concrete; tax X by amount Y, ban action Z, repeal laws G, H, and I, etc... This is quite impressive, a campaigning politician taking firm stands on specific issues.
A lot of this book is written in the form of self-help inspirational text to get citizens involved in civic affairs. The effects of this book are mixed. Many of the ideas espoused in this book have become part of the political mainstream; balanced budget amendment, fixing Social Security, campaign finance reform, etc... But judging by voter participation, all the encouragements the book makes to get people more civic-minded have utterly failed. All in all an OK book. It is worth the read though, the text is easy enough to understand and short enough to digest in one day.
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