TEN BASIC PRINCIPLES Here are ten basic principles:   1. Stop dividing us.  No more cultural bigotry on the political left or right.  We’re a diverse nation, not only in terms of race and ethnicity, but also in terms of liberal and conservative lifestyles and worldviews.  Multi-racial, multi-ethnic communities of like minded individuals are not necessarily “diverse”. We don’t have to agree, but we must stop judging each other.  That said, “bipartisanship’ means more than achieving a consensus amongst Washington dealmakers and special interests.  It means uniting our nation around a new agenda consistent with our common interests and shared values, but respectful of our core differences.  In other words, “live and let live”.   2. Regulate commerce, not lifestyles. For too many years our government ignored its responsibility to regulate commerce in favor of advancing liberal or conservative social agendas. Let’s get the government out of our bedrooms and back into the business of protecting consumers and employees and setting responsible ground rules for sustainable economic growth.   3. Focus on the demand side. The best way to grow the economy is to put more money peoples’ pockets, through higher wage policies, lower personal income taxes, and regulations that reduce the cost of public utilities and basic services (telephone, cable, and electrical utilities; credit card and mortgage interest rates, bank fees, etc.) .    4. Stop distinguishing between the “neediest”. When it comes to health, education, and retirement security, all Americans deserve a break.  Congress should make such programs universal and available to all Americans rather than restricting eligibility to those the government defines as “neediest”. The time for incremental targeted programs has passed.   We need broad based programs that benefit all Americans.   5. Restore the social compact. Pension, health, education, and unemployment benefits should be universal and reflected in the price of goods and services. For too long our business community has blocked expanded public financing for such programs while dismantling or drastically cutting back on company “defined benefit” pension and health programs in favor of “defined contribution” programs (e.g., 401Ks and medical savings accounts) that pass most or all of the cost to employees.  The same companies profit handsomely in countries that implemented generous publicly-financed programs generations ago.   6. Wealth distribution matters. Consider this admittedly simplistic illustration.  You and I are in a “room”.  I have one million dollars.  You have ten thousand dollars.  The “national wealth” of our room is one million ten thousand dollars.  We move to another “room”.  Now I have five hundred thousand dollars, and you have two hundred fifty thousand dollars.  The “national wealth” of our new room is only seven hundred fifty thousand dollars instead of over one million dollars, but you now have two hundred fifty thousand dollars instead of ten thousand dollars.  Which “room” would you prefer?   In other words, policies that seek to maximize national wealth are not sufficient unless they maximize the individual wealth of a majority of our citizens. It’s about American jobs and American consumers, not just American profits.   7. Everyone contributes, everyone should benefit.  There was a time in this country (and not so long ago!)  when companies paid senior mangers no more than twenty  times the salary of their lowest paid employee.  For example, if the lowest paid employee made $20K, the CEO earned no more than $400K.  Today, it’s not uncommon for the same CEO to earn $40 million or more, while receiving generous pension and health benefits unavailable to rank and file employees.  There is no sound economic reason for this and it must stop.  CEO’s should be able to pay themselves whatever they want, as long as their salaries and benefits are directly tied (by law) to a formula that raises the salaries of everyone else in the enterprise in direct proportion to the CEO’s salary.  Let’s bring back the “twenty times rule”!        8. We work to live; we don’t live to work. Work is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Yet over the past few decades we’ve expanded the work week while weakening overtime and paid time-off rules.  Similarly, few employees in today’s economy remain with the same employer long enough to accumulate the extended annual leave employees used to expect after decades working for the same firm.  It’s time Americans were fully compensated for hours worked and guaranteed by law the vacation and paid time-off hours they deserve. Work rules must adapt to people, not vice versa.    9. Fair trade.  So called “free trade” agreements may initially lower prices and protect jobs in specific industries, but over time such agreements have contributed to large trade deficits and the replacement of high paid jobs with low paid jobs throughout our economy.  Such agreements often reflect the narrow interests of specific companies and industries and contribute to a global “race to the bottom” with respect to labor and environmental laws and national tax policies.  Future agreements must not focus on tariff reductions alone, but must be linked to enforceable regulations that harmonize labor, environmental, business tax policies of all trading partners in a manner designed to expand markets by “lifting all boats”.     10. Redefine the mission of our armed forces: For country, not empire.  President Washington warned against costly alliances that undermine our security and drain our treasury. We live between two great oceans in a peaceful hemisphere and yet our politicians’ have brought war to our shores by failing to agree on a national energy policy, embarking on misguided crusades, and entering into unnecessary alliances.  Let’s make energy independence our number one national security priority and stop subsidizing the defense of wealthy oil states and countries that can afford to defend themselves.  We will never get control of our military budget until we redefine the mission of our defense forces.  Defend America first.