Thursday, February 25, 2010

Freedom Policy Recommendations

Restore habeas corpus for those detained by the government and its subcontractors. Repeal the Military Commissions Act and 2006 Defense Authorization Act. Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security, devolving any beneficial functions to other entities.

Pass the Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act of 2007, Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007, Congressional Lawmaking Authority Protection Act of 2007, Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007, American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba Detention Center Closure Act of 2007, Military Commissions Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007, Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007, National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007, State Secrets Protection Act, National Security with Justice Act of 2007, Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007, Open Government Act of 2007, Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act (OPEN) Government Act of 2007, Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, Whistleblower Protection Bill, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Modernization Act of 2007, RESTORE Act of 2007 (Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed and Effective Act), Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009, OPEN FOIA Act of 2009, FISA Amendments Act of 2009, National Security Letters Reform ACT of 2009, State Secrets Protection Act, Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Protection Act of 2009, and NSA Oversight Act. 

Amend laws to eliminate contradictions in the directions of increased real beneficence and self-determination, not assertions of evidence-free rules and evidence-free beneficence.

Repeal the USA Patriot Act.

Repeal the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2011 and 2013.

Repeal the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012.

Permit property owners and renters to audio and video record without consent almost everywhere on their own and rented properties, except bathrooms, bedrooms, shower rooms, and changing rooms.

Allow private companies and individuals to deliver all forms of mail.

Require at least 20 percent of calories handed out by government funded food banks to be from legumes, not including sweet peas, green beans, and yellow split peas.

Prohibit sales, excise, and value-added taxes on condoms, diapers, pacifiers, toothbrushes, dental floss, hand grips, ankle weights, medical services, residential rents, exercise bands, hard orthotics, lead-free ammunition, prescription eyeglasses, prescription pharmaceuticals, non-motorized mowers, menstrual hygiene products, prescription medical devices, used goods sold by non-corporations, Herman Miller Aeron style or better chairs under $800, extra firm mattresses under $980, athletic shoes under $80, formerly prescription only pharmaceuticals now sold over the counter, commercial rents under $5,000 per month, greater than $10,000 industrial machinery, new tires when an identical number of old tires have been returned for proper disposal, unprepared foods containing fewer than 12 percent of their calories from meat or sugars, and prepared foods containing fewer than 12 percent of their calories from meat or sugars, along with cob, mudbrick, earthbag, earthship, straw bale, Earth block, rammed Earth, and fiberglass building materials.

Ban government entities from requiring funeral directors after deaths. Ban government entities from requiring cremations or burials of miscarriages and aborted fetuses. Ban government entities from requiring burial caskets. Ban government entities from requiring that ocean scattered cremated remains be scattered any specific distance from shore. Ban government entities from banning home property burials, provided next-of-kin sign legal statements agreeing that they have no legal rights to visit the burial sites should the property be obtained by entities not willing to grant access. Ban cemeteries from requiring customers to buy markers or headstones from only them.

Repeal the Passenger Vessels Services Act.

Ban government entities from purchasing advertising on media entities containing political content.

Prohibit child support requirements from non-biological and non-legally adopted alleged parents of children. Permit anyone accused of being the biological parent of a child to obtain DNA evidence proving parenthood or non-parenthood.

Require that at least 97 percent of state and federal goods purchases by price be at least 95 percent manufactured in the US, except during pandemic national emergencies or wars consuming at least 40 percent of GDP, beginning 44 months after passage of this law.

Ban chiropracty and acupuncture.

Ban phase I, II, and III trials from charging study participants.

Require Internet transactions to pay the same sales, excise, and value-added taxes as other transactions. Pass a net neutrality law.

Prevent operating system providers from restricting customer chosen use of non-malware third party applications.

Repeal Section 1021 and Section 1022 from the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.

Ban entities convicted of wage theft from government contracts.

Prohibit government entities from requiring running water in homes worth less than $80,000, provided such homes have rain barrels or tanks with combined storage greater than 200 gallons per person living in the households.

Require all law enforcement officials to take an annual oath stating it is not illegal to audio or video record the public behaviors of law enforcement officials and that they will not arrest or prosecute anyone for audio or video recording public activities, and that they will not confiscate those audio or video recordings. Withhold federal funds to any state or local government that concocts laws banning the recording of any public activities.

Do not enforce federal laws on the distribution and possession of laughing gas and alkyl nitrites in states that have decriminalized these substances.

Prohibit face and body exposing interviews for Federal government jobs, except in the Department of Defense and Department of Justice.

Prohibit laws restricting the use of cognitive testing by schools and employers.

Expand 18 USC 610 to include the coercion or commanding or intimidation of private sector, state government, and local government employees to have or not have specific political views, not including any claim to employment based on having political views differing from employers.

Grant any citizen significantly harmed by a monopoly or oligopoly the right the launch antitrust lawsuits.

Pass the Community Access Preservation Act of 2009 and The Local Community Radio Act. Ban media mergers and acquisitions involving media corporations having book values greater than $60 million. Prohibit all foreign entities from owning any US media entity that uses the US electromagnetic spectrum or has wires crossing US public lands.

Ban scroll increasing software updates without user opt-in.

Ban managers and employers from receiving any portion of tips given to other workers.

Require non-gated publicly owned parking lots and entities sending or receiving semi shipments to permit licensed semis and semi drivers to park and sleep overnight during non-working hours when available spaces exist, eliminating those entities' lawsuit liabilities for damages suffered by such drivers and semis. Create a $600 mandatory minimum littering fine at such locations.

Repeal all exemptions from libel and slander laws for all charities and corporations worth more than $24 million.

Randomly survey Lifeline phone participants. Prohibit companies having year-long user reported ratings below 2.8 on a zero to five scale from participating in the program.

Repeal the Hart–Cellar Act.

Pass the IG Independence and Empowerment Act.

Defund highway removal programs.

Strike investor state dispute settlements from trade agreements.

Prohibit purchasers of properties from being bound by restrictive covenants created by property sellers.

Prohibit states and local governments from regulating the amounts landlords charge for security deposits. Require new tenants to post photographic evidence of rental unit conditions to unalterable, date stamped internet sites.

Pass the Corporate Executive Accountability Act.

Require every publicly traded corporation to have at least one worker, elected by non-supervisory co-workers, on its board of directors.

Implement most of these reforms by Scott Amey, Sean Moulton, Geoff Wilson, Joanna Derman, and Joe Spielberger.

Ban US citizens and former citizens from donating to non-domestic politicians, political campaigns, and political NGOs.

Pass the Import Security and Fairness Act, closing the loophole permitting counterfeit imports and imports failing to pay fees, duties, and taxes.

Eliminate the so-called Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Use payment oversight reforms.

Ban current and former Federal elected officials and political appointees, along with their first degree relatives, including by marriage, from sitting on corporate and charitable boards.

Strengthen the Freedom of Information Act.

Pass the Freedom and Right to Emancipate from Exploitation Act, helping prevent advantage taking of adults having guardians.

Require providers of gift cards and less than $100 balance remaining prepaid debit cards to return remaining balances to card bearers in cash upon bearer request. Prohibit gift cards and prepaid debit cards from having expiration dates. Prohibit fees on gift cards and prepaid debit cards.

Prohibit property theft by squatting.

Prohibit foreign and or multinational entities from donating to entities operating in the United States, except for food, housing, and healthcare donated to individuals below the top 10 percent in wealth or incomes.

Prohibit state and local taxes on non-alcohol foods served for takeout or outdoor dining.

Ban law enforcement entities from supervising and or serving as coroners and or medical examiners.

Require employee classification for citizens working for the same entity at least 80 days per year and not having a business license while working for the entity.

Pass the 2022 CFO Vision Act and 2021 Administrative False Claims Act.

Ban anyone having a financial crime conviction, causing greater than $5,000 in harms, from political appointments and government elected positions. Ban CEOs, former CEOs, and corporate majority owners, who previously filed for personal or business bankruptcy, from political appointments and government elected positions. 

Prohibit foreign governments from suing US citizens having wealth less than 4.4 million dollars in US courts. Prohibit foreign governments from suing non- multinational US organizations having book values less than 9.1 million dollars in US courts.

Pass the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act. Permit airline pilots above 65 to continue piloting if they have overall health and cognitive functioning, including fluid reasoning, better than the median 60-year-old. Require such pilots to undergo annual tests for overall health and cognitive functioning.

Ban non-disclosure agreements involving government entities and government employees, except for sufficient physical safety and national security reasons.

Pass the Allied Partnership and Port Modernization Act and the Incentivizing Expansion of US ports Act.

Prohibit white collar criminals, who caused at least $200,000 in harms, from prison early release programs.

Pass the Competitive Dollar for Jobs and Prosperity Act. Suspend "tax waivers on foreign government holdings of US financial assets in the" United States... "offset purchases of the foreign assets those countries found to be engaging in currency manipulation purchases known as countervailing currency intervention." Pass the Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act.

Prohibit employers from requiring workers to kneel while working.

Prohibit business and foreign entity software from collecting and distributing users' geolocation data, except for 911 services and or when users click to opt in to only geolocation data specific questions.

Prohibit corporate user agreements from containing provisions violating state, local, and or federal laws.

Prohibit any entity from remotely turning on any US citizen electronic device without a court ordered warrant from a democratically elected US citizen judge.

Prohibit private employers from demanding access to electronic devices owned by employees and contractors.

Require drivers to be paid hourly wages, reserving per mile remuneration for work caused costs on drivers' own vehicles.

Eliminate federal and state term limits, except those related to retirement ages.

Ban Chinese, Russian, and OIC companies from being on US stock exchanges.

Require at least one "Pedestrians have the right of way everywhere in parking lots and on sidewalks," sign in all parking lots larger than 6,000 square feet.

Require book value greater than 3,010,000 times median annual household income businesses to break up, banning any entity from owning a plurality or more of more than one offshoot.

Ban for profit electronic device operating systems designers from including political propaganda in their operating systems.

Pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. Pass the Ending Platform Monopolies Act.

Ban any individual from simultaneously sitting on the board of more than one corporation or charity.

Pass the Delete Act regulating data brokers.

Matt Stoller: break up the FDA, "so that its drugs and food divisions are separate, and it needs to take its mandate seriously to make for a resilient supply chain."

Pass the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022.

Ban race, ethnicity, and religion norming government and corporate employee performance evaluations.

Ban government entity exemptions from sales, excise, and value added taxes.

Pass a federal law similar to the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act (PDF).

Require publicly traded corporations to change their charters when shareholders holding at least 55 percent of their stocks approve, provided the changes do not violate laws and legal contracts.

Require public publication of budget appropriation requests made by government entities, except Federal top secret requests.

Permit websites to put warnings about cookies in small fonts at the bottoms of pages rather than using pop-ups.

Ban government contracting with media companies having book values greater than 2.4 billion dollars. Ban government contracting with media companies having billionaires as largest shareholders.

Prohibit states and local governments from regulating embryo screening.

Pass the Preventing a Patronage System Act.

Ban the sale, purchase, and importation of guard dog, brachycephalic dog, and chronic pain prone dog breeds— including Rottweilers, pitbulls, and their mixes—except by military and law enforcement entities. Ban the sale, purchase, importation, and deliberate  breeding of dog breeds and mixed breeds causing more than ten human mauling deaths per decade, per 3.8 million breed population.

Ban the sale, purchase, and importation of dog breeds having mean adult weights greater than 60 pounds.

Ban the sale and purchase of the 14 dog breeds most likely to suffer heat stroke at counties and parishes having mean summer daytime highs greater than Milwaukee.

Ban for profit computer operating system corporations from selling software other than operating systems.

Require businesses to return positive balances to customers canceling services, regardless of scam language buried in user agreements.

Ban corporations from owning or leasing slaughterhouses; ban corporations from owning or leasing seafood or freshwater food processing facilities; require such ownership by sole proprietors or first degree relative partnerships, limiting owners to one such facility, banning subleasing.

Pass the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act.

Ban publicly funded faculty and administrators from accepting non-school remuneration for speeches.

Ban political appointees and elected officials from making purchases worth over $2,000 for less than 80 percent of market value.

Ban political appointees and elected officials from selling objects and services for more than 120 percent of market value.

Require the central bank to make all its loan information public.

Prohibit states and local governments from requiring GMO labeling on GMO foods.

Impeach every living ex-president. Revoke most presidential pardons given by them.

Restore legal duties and funding to the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration, along with Farmer Fair Practices Interim Final Rules. Repeal the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.

Prohibit worker, management, and contractor contracts restricting the use of ethically efficient automation.

Require entities hiring non-business license having repair, domestic, construction, and landscaping help to provide 1099s when their helpers' annual remuneration exceeds $500.

Require each subscription having business to have an unsubscribe link in at least 12 point font on its home page, taking subscribers to only one other page, where subscribers may unsubscribe while being asked no more than three questions.

Create a resolution, in the event of coercive take over of Taiwan by China, recognizing the Taiwanese government as the government of all China, except Tibet.

Require anonymous coroners or medical examiners in politically relevant cases, assigned by an inspector general.

Prohibit non-disclosure agreements between government entities and businesses, except for sufficient trade secret and national security reasons.

Require leasors to release housing leasees from leases upon written request of leasees or their legal representatives when leasees have been hospitalized for more than one week or are the victim of law enforcement documented stalking or acquire a new government determined disability.

Require open to the public government offices to start later and stay open until at least 6:00 p.m. at least one day per week.

Prohibit publicly funded Wi-Fi from blocking political websites.

Pass the Journalism Competition Preservation Act of 2021.

Prohibit rental application fees from exceeding 290 percent of the local minimum hourly wage.

At the start of each presidential term, randomly select congresspersons to appoint one person to the White House Office of Legal Counsel, until filling the entire OLC staff. Fire unselected staff from the previous administration. Prohibit executive branch members from firing OLC staff. Require at least 60 percent Congressional vote to fire OLC staff. Require public publication of all non-classified OLC opinions.

Prohibit states and local governments from restricting the sheathed carry of machetes and hunting knives for hunting, gathering, gardening, landscaping, and self-defense purposes on open to the public sidewalks, in lawfully possessed vehicles, on possessor owned properties, on possessor rented properties, and on non-restricted public lands by adults having neither felony nor violent misdemeanor convictions.

Require government investigators to recuse themselves when investigations should investigate first, second or third degree relatives of investigators. Or current or former lovers or classmates of investigators. Or their employers or employees.

Ban any entity being non-labor boycotted, threatened with a non-labor boycott or threatened by extortion related criminal activities, from giving money, goods, services or employment to the entities threatening them or to other entities allied with the threatening entities.

Prohibit current and former elected officials and political appointees from signing non-disclosure agreements with businesses, except for sufficient national security or intellectual property protection reasons.

Prohibit zoning ordinances, except those prohibiting highly probable, sufficiently harmful noise violations, street parking violations, safety violations, pollution violations or mood altering drug violations.

Require government permit issuing entities to reach permit decisions within 60 days for housing construction and 150 days for other activities, reducing relevant government employee salaries 0.1 percent for each day of delay past 150.

Repeal all or parts of Comstock laws, not involving child exploitation.

Prohibit lawsuits based on anti-meritarian disparate impact assertions.

Prohibit states and local governments from requiring safety inspections more than once every two years and emissions inspections more than once every four years of under 16-year-old gasoline powered motor vehicles.

Pass the Sensitive Technologies Supply Chain Risk Management Act of 2022.

Require losing lawsuit defendants to pay only their proportion of fault, not the proportion of dead, insolvent or otherwise unobtainable defendants.

Require all internet browsers to have easy-to-use, user controllable site blocking features.

Double the value added tax on new appliances and other household goods that connect to the internet.

Pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act.

Pass these air travel reforms.

Ban public-private partnerships using government funds, except with manufacturers having all their blue collar employees in the United States and paying all their employees at least $15 per hour.

Amend the National Labor Relations Act  to include the well-reasoned claims of domestic laborers, agricultural laborers, and independent contractors.

Repeal the misnamed Civil Rights Act of 1991.

In the event that reforms similar to this website are not enacted, peacefully divide the United States into thousands of smaller countries, including countries where ethical reasoning prevails, rather than selfish, wishful, repetitive, group-think, self-satisfied, confirmation biased litmus test demagoguery.

J.T. Fournier, last updated January 10, 2024

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