Me As The President - Not!

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck prompts - If you became president, what are the first five actions you would take? Go.

First of all, it doesn't say the president of what.

We can assume the United States but

I would never run for that

And I would probably not run for any

presidential position as there aren't many

that wouldn't involve ugly politics

and I worked in politics and ick

Now, some things I wouldn't mind seeing someone else do:

1) At age 55, work hours could be 32 per week rather than 40, and retirement could be at 60, with 62 being full retirement. People could still feel free to work part-time or full-time without penalty, and it wouldn't be mandatory to collect what they paid in.

2) No war = less taxes, more peace. Get the right people to negotiate for peace.

3) Get religion and old men in government out of the medical business. Have mandatory term limits. Shouldn't be in office in their 70s and 80s. Including the president and judges. Automatic out of office and a new election.

Maybe no running when they hit 70 before they would be out of office. Can't accept money or benefits from lobbyists for their support. Offer trainings to all new members on avoiding hussles. Consequences for taking bribes.

4) Educate our people. It is clear that too many people in this country are uneducated. They can only repeat what a con man says. It is clear that they are not doing their own research.

5) Mandatory 2-week vacation yearly. You can take more, but you must take at least one 2-week time off. Use of sick time for a mental health day once a month. When you have a number of sick days that you will lose if you don't use them, have the agency buy those hours and they can donate them to others who may need them.

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck prompts - You can make it ten if you want. They don't all need to be sober. Of course, if you do become president, please be intelligent, serious, and informed. But just in case you are not running for the highest office, include two zany or zigzag laws; for instance, "At noon each day an ice cream truck must ring on every fifth corner" or "If you are over sixty, a parrot must be on your shoulder." But seriously, what laws would you like to see in place?

For tribal politics: Break free from copying state and federal political ways. I saw the state workers laugh at the tribe when a new chairman was hired, and he let all of the top positions go.

Those state people were funny to me as that happens when a new governor comes into office. Top positions or governor appointees know little to nothing about the business they are in charge of. The work plan changes about every four or five years because of those appointees.

The sad thing is that it takes about 4 years to learn what you need to know about the area you are working in, and then it changes. I worked there for 12 years, and it was easy to see.

A co-worker who had worked there for a long time stopped training his superior after many years of doing just that. He decided it wasn't his job after he wasn't hired for that position when he applied as he didn't have enough education.

I can still say that the people I worked with were the most passionate, hard-working staff that I have ever worked with. And I worked in a lot of places in my life. Primarily non-profits and federal and tribal positions.

Others think of government workers as five people standing holding their shovels and not getting anything done. Not my experience. Government is too big they say - get rid of too much government.

Nationally, the person doing the cutting is making billions in government contracts and cutting poor, disabled, and POC services that amount to peanuts in comparison.

And I am 71, and don't think anyone in their 70+ age should be president. Knowing I could go on and on but won't is good. Politics is not good for me to be involved in or to talk about. Can you tell? So no, I will not be running for president of any government, business, or tribe.