Ask Lemmy
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Single p(l)ayer healthcare.
Pre-k childcare
Court room staffers
I generally recommend seeing a doctor (multiplayer) instead of single player. There are cases of doctors doing surgery on themselves, but it's as rare as it is dangerous.
We have single player at home already.
Thanks for the catch XD
I haven't seen much discussion about the third one, what would that be about?
One of the reasons billionaires can "clog up the system" is because Judges are actually really overworked.
In Trump's Florida case there were only 5 judges who could potentially handle the case, 2 of them were retired and temporarily filing in to keep the system moving, and 3 of them were already booked out for the rest of the year, Eileen Cannon was a 50-50 draw for Trump in that district.
Many cases plea out because it would take so long to go through the system, that between the waiting for the start of the trial and not getting time served it's less time to just take a plea.
Bi-partisan bill to change temp judges to full time judges heading to the house. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/senate-passed-bill-on-judgeships-aims-to-help-overworked-courts
More lawyers than judges has created a 2-tier justice system some world war 2. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/our-overloaded-judicial-system-what-cause-there-remedy
Pandemic broke the system that was hanging by a thread. https://stateline.org/2024/01/25/shortage-of-prosecutors-judges-leads-to-widespread-court-backlogs/
Jury duty stipends indexed to cost of living.
Today, in my county, you get $20 a day. That won't even cover parking near the courthouse.
Serving on a jury shouldn't prevent you from being able to make rent for the month.
I recently found out that if you're in casual work that is enough to be excused in Australia. It's not on the paperwork they send you so most people don't know.
Funding the IRS to go after rich tax cheats.
Public healthcare, public education, public internet
Let's do one that wouldn't end up saving the taxpayer in the long run.
Universal access to legal council.
Too many matters are not brought to the court which probably should be because of costs to the litigants, and far too many times are costs to the litigants used as a weapon to keep people from exercizing their rights under threat of getting buried.
It's the worst kept secret that whoever has more money is gonna win the case 9/10 times and making lawyers salaried public servants as opposed to hired mercenary litigants, and providing access to legal services and council for free at point of service, would go a long way towards balancing the litigious inequality that is often experienced in the US.
So yeah, I'd pay more in taxes for the little guy to have the deck not be so blatantly stacked against them in the judicial system.
Improved access to mental health treatment. We have free healthcare here, but the mental health side isn't great. This would also include support for those who are neurodivergant, suffering from trauma, experiencing gender dysphoria, etc..
Honestly, I think something that would be good as a policy is that at least once a year schoolchildren see a counsellor. Just to talk about anything that's bothering them, and give them help for things that are happening in their home life.
While I agree with this, I'm a bit hesitant of the implementation. I have received mental health (MH) care from the Veterans Affairs (VA) and private providers. Private providers are in another level of care to the point that I pay out of pocket rather than go to the VA where they basically treat me like a problem to their life, liar seeking disability and drugs, and child that needs babysitting. They can be some gaslighting jerks. If we get universal health care including mental health, I would hope that it would follow something like Medicare that pays for private providers of our choosing rather than setting up a government agency that provides it directly.
For example, I received VA MH care for about 7 years. They declined to give me an ADHD assessment when I told them I have considerable attention issues. The psychiatrist literally looked away from his computer, looked at me, and said, "I'm not going to give you stimulants." I was then diagnosed with bipolar 2 and placed on antipsychotics for 5 years until I insisted against medical advice to come off of them. I also sought care for traumatic events, which they told me weren't traumatic. A friend that is a psychologist then told me that I was autistic. I asked the VA for an autism assessment. The VA psychologist already agreed I was likely autistic, but told me that her supervisor declined to allow an autism assessment, "Since [I] was in the military, [I] can't be autistic." After telling friends this and listening to their advice, I sought private care. They assessed me thoroughly and diagnosed me with autism and ADHD. I was then referred to a psychiatrist and prescribed ADHD meds. My life hasn't been this put together ever. I honestly think VA MH made my life worse, resulted in poor relationships, hampered my career, and caused some deep trust issues.
That's a problem here as well. I'm hoping that if we invest more resources into it, they'll not feel that they have to withhold and prioritise treatment. Give them the resources to treat everyone, rather than the few who tick all the right boxes.
Although that's just wishful thinking on my part, most likely. And probably also requires social change as well as economic...
It's not so much about paying more, but rather directing where my taxes go. I already pay out the ass in taxes where I live, I'd just rather see my hard-earned income spent on public comprehensive healthcare... primary and undergrad education... automating as much production as possible... universal basic income.
Not blowing people up. Not digging for oil. Not bailing out corporations. And CERTAINLY not funding police with military surplus used to oppress and murder our very own citizens.
The people using my money for those purposes, and more, can go Fuck themselves to death. Preferably in the least enjoyable way possible.
Every social safety net we can get. I'm in the US with near zero safety nets.
job / income safety nets
universal health care
better public transpo and infra to support
public internet / utilities
housing
libraries
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Better public education
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Better public transit
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Fully funding the IRS to go after tax evaders
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Public healthcare
Funding for public defenders. They're chronicly overworked and understaffed.
Universal access to quality food and shelter.
An few orders of magnitude more IRS agents and people armed with pitchforks pointed at the oligarchy and corruption.
Anything that doesn't just funnel money back to millionaires. I've never understood people's aversion to tax, especially when they should be focusing on the rigged two party system that is at the core of the wastage.
If I have to choose one, universal basic income, it solves a lot of problems. It can help people in need, but if you want to be selfish about it, at least it lowers the odds that someone will rob your house.
As for people worried about making sure it goes to the right people, I would rather pay a few scammers than risk having someone in genuine need suffer
I would increase funding for parks. Trash cleanup and trimming plants is an easy way to make it look nice and employ people who need a part time job.
Greater tax enforcement and higher taxes on capital gains. Being a rentier or investor should not grant advtanfe over anyone who works for a living.
Auditing the government and its agencies
I still can't believe we can't get a completed audit of the DoD. Just a trillion dollar black hole.
What is the DoD? I assume something US-specific?
Department of Defense.
Public universities. Tuition expenses, salaries, and especially avoiding students from getting rejected.
Better and cheaper healthcare and education.
Support for male victims of family violence which currently has less funding in my country than pets do.
bike infrastructure.
Mental and dental
Healthcare.
I would like the ability to choose (within limits) where my taxes go.
Say 60% always goes to 'general' and then you get to send the rest to health, education, military etc. as you choose.
If they tied every expenditure to a tax that is directly related to the expenditure I'd like taxes. No more big pot of money. Military paid for by it's own tax from commerce that benefits from a military. Roads paid for by taxes on car sales or registration tax PR something, etc.
Increased support for Ukraine.
It's at the moment more important than solving any domestic issues.
(I most likely don't live in your country, only argue for your favored domestic issues if you really have nothing better to do).
Where I am, transit for damn sure. That is the one thing keeping us from being a great city