We need to be talking Health Care, Education and Judicial Systems

 There are certain functions of society that should not be privately owned and operated. They are too important to risk being driven by a profit motive or a political motive, over the public good. These functions of society are integral to the health and well being of the nation as a whole. These should be free of a profit incentive and political incentive while strictly operated by specific mission. There should be strong oversight to ensure that corruption and waste are minimized. There should also be open policies for the contributions of those within the function to create continued improvement in meeting the mission. Their budgets, policies, and practices should be transparent and open to public scrutiny. These functions should be governed and managed ONLY by elected officials with NO political appointee anywhere in the system. Governing boards should be 4 year appointments and the top governing official (elected) would serve for 10 years, reporting to the governing board.

1) Education - Pre-school through 4 year College. We need a public education program that provides the opportunity for all of our citizens to obtain a solid education that includes a 4 year degree. Private schools of any kind, should not receive tax dollars. All tax dollars, local, state and federal, should be dedicated to public education institutions only. There should be an elected local board of education for each school district. Then a state board of education. To be eligible to serve on the state board, you must have served on a local board. Then a national board requiring local or state board experience. The Secretary of Education is then ELECTED to a 10 year appointment and reports to the national board. 

Private schools are free to operate outside the governance of the local, state or national boards of education. They are privately funded and privately operated. Pure and simple.

2) Judicial System - Our judicial system needs a huge overhaul. There's a mix of how judges get on the bench. Some are elected. Some are appointed by Governors. Some are appointed by Congress. https://ballotpedia.org/State_judicial_elections,_2018 These positions of great power, clear up to the Supreme Court, have become highly politicized and very centrally controlled. The position of Attorney General, the heads of the CIA and FBI, are increasingly politicized and centrally controlled. If the Judicial Branch of government is intended to be a separate and equal balance of power, we have a problem. And it's trickling down. The policies, rulings, and practices enacted are creating greater mistrust and unrest. As one of the pillars of a strong democracy, the judicial system cannot be allowed to crumble or fold into one of the other two branches of government - Executive OR Congressional. 

Privatizing any part of the Judicial system is equally alarming. We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world including China and Russia! Something is wrong. It's certainly not all caused by privatizing prisons but profit incentive for imprisoning our citizens cannot be a good thing. 

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm

3) Health Care - We spend more per capita on healthcare than any developed nation. We spend a significantly greater percentage of our GDP on healthcare than any other developed nation AND most of them have a universal health care system. 

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/documents/___media_files_publications_fund_report_2016_jan_1857_mossialos_intl_profiles_2015_v7.pdf

There was great resistance to the Affordable Care Act provision that penalized those without health care. Many felt they still could not afford or that they didn't need or want health insurance. Reality is that whether it's an accident or a sudden unexpected illness, nearly everyone is going to need health care at some point in their life. When someone without health care lands in the hospital and cannot pay, it increases health care costs for everyone else and can leave them financially devastated. 

We need to quit talking about it and do it. Look at the other developed nations and adopt the best solution. Just do it. The idea that we can't is ridiculous. This really is a matter of life or death.

Those are the three things that I believe are the most important issues in this election. The health of our nation and the health of our democracy are at stake. We cannot have a strong economy or a more united nation until we address these three things. And they are just the place to start. We need to get involved and get educated on the issues we believe are most important. We need to talk about those issues and our ideas for solutions.