The Big Ideas Project

Give the unemployed and under employed a job, not a hand out. Government should invest in creating and funding small businesses that do this. When enough of them are created and staffed, we will have a demand for labor, not a supply. Demand will raise wages. Our living standards will rise. The gap will close.

Submitted by the answertothegap in Society & Community Dec. 29, 2014, 12:28 p.m.

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#1385

98 votes

Formulate a community board of overseers to monitor police behavior within their communities. These boards should consist of residents from the communities that are being policed. And, prosecution for acts of human violations should be more severe for those hired to uphold the laws; if found guilty. Police should not be policing themselves.

Submitted by American Citizen in Society & Community Dec. 11, 2014, 5:33 p.m.

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#1390

97 votes

GI Bill for mothers. Women who have children need stable homes. This bill would create the structure for enabling mothers to provide stability and receive acknowledgement for their 'service' to their country.

Submitted by Linda Schreiber in Society & Community Nov. 17, 2014, 1:50 p.m.

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#1390

97 votes

Police should have part of their duties involve helping the community so that they see the good side of the community, develop relationships and learn valuable leads on crimes. This would humanize the community for the officers, who I believe are psychologically impacted by being exposed to the darker side of life in doing their jobs.

Submitted by civicusa in Society & Community Dec. 18, 2014, 7:50 p.m.

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#1396

96 votes

Flip abandoned homes in cities and provide free to low-cost homes for the homeless community. This program should be offered in coordination with case management services providing employment assistance, financial literacy classes, and access to educational and developmental opportunities. Just like everyone else in this country, the homeless should have the ability to live productive and fulfilling lives. A home and a strong foundation is the first step in reaching that goal.

Submitted by Jeremy Armiger in Society & Community Dec. 10, 2014, 11:31 p.m.

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#1396

96 votes

All corporate charters in the United States, or for companies doing business in the United states, should be deemed to specify that corporate obligation is to the public, it's customers, its employees and its stockholders, IN THAT ORDER.

Submitted by Michael J. from OR in Society & Community Dec. 10, 2014, 8:21 p.m.

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#1412

94 votes

Prepare massively for 2020; our next census and redistricting year to ensure the long-term viability of our democracy by: Winning Statehouses in Purple and Even Red States;Preparing State Constitutional Amendment to create non-partisan, rational congressional districts in every state where Democrats control; Creating State Voting Holidays; Making Voting Easier and More Prevalent in Every State using States with highest Turnouts as models.

Submitted by NMoser in Society & Community Dec. 10, 2014, 1:23 p.m.

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#1426

93 votes

Create a retiree bank where experienced people who want to can work part time using the skills they already have to help. For example- the VA could hire retired substance abuse counselor part time to provide groups, evaluations and one on one support for the returning vets. They would be happy for the work and won't need the extra pension or health benefits. This is true of many different careers, especially where there's problems not being addressed and these workers already have training.

Submitted by Mollyb in Society & Community Dec. 10, 2014, 4:44 p.m.

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#1426

93 votes

English should be our 1st language and our 2nd language. The cohesion of America in the past came from all of the immigrants scrambling to be "American". Italy, Russia, and all the others remained in their heritage and their homes, but they wanted to be part of the United States badly enough to learn the language and with that they learned our values. The idea is not anti anyone, but rather pro. Their native land will always be a part of them.

Submitted by Jack Siler in Society & Community Jan. 4, 2015, 6:03 p.m.

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#1438

92 votes

Initiate two years of mandatory universal public service (with the option to serve in the military, in schools, in medical facilities, in infrastructure construction or maintenance, etc.) for all mentally and physically capable persons between the ages of 18 and 23 (with a limited deferral--a postponement, not an exemption--for those enrolled in an accredited school).

Submitted by Floyd H. from GA in Society & Community Dec. 10, 2014, 4:21 p.m.

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#1463

89 votes

Federal Inmate Amnesty Program: Congress should pass a bill, and the President sign into law, which grants immediate release from imprisonment if the inmate meets validation requirements: inmate has served a minimum of two-thirds of all current/consecutive sentences, no history of crimes of violence, crimes against children, ongoing behavior of a predatory nature, no detainers to another sentence.

Submitted by TimbreTim in Society & Community Dec. 30, 2014, 5:24 a.m.

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#1463

89 votes

all new construction of multiple-unit residential buildings shall include at least one low income unit, to be offered to qualified applicants.

Submitted by lexout in Society & Community Dec. 10, 2014, 2:50 p.m.

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#1476

87 votes

Implement a National Opinion Collection System. This system captures the voice of every citizen about important national priorities without any bias. The system then organizes the answers and publishes the results for anyone to see. Since it is a comprehensive collection, and not a poll, legislators can be held responsible for voting the will of the people. It also allows citizens to report how well the government is implementing the law.

Submitted by Bruce Nappi in Society & Community Dec. 17, 2014, 6:04 p.m.

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#1486

86 votes

Fairness in fines. At present the fines for illegal acts are set as specific dollar amounts, so a fine which is appropriate for a 'typical' person can cripple a poor person's finances or be paid from petty cash by a big company. Change all present and future fines to instead be defined as a fraction of gross annual income, so that their impact will be similar no matter who has to pay them. (Net income would be a better basis, except that it is subject to far too many accounting tricks.)

Submitted by Dave Anderson in Society & Community Dec. 19, 2014, 2:04 p.m.

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#1504

83 votes

I would like to see a change in the food stamp program where the recipients are given an amount and if they buy fresh produce with it, they get twice as much. if they receive 100$ a month in food stamp assistance and they buy 60$ worth of fresh produce, the store would get the full amount they are charging, but it would show up on the card as 30$.

Submitted by Oaken in Society & Community Dec. 11, 2014, 10:17 p.m.

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#1516

82 votes

Take the bullets away from police and have them use tranquilizer darts. They can be used to bring down elephants! And they don't kill.

Submitted by no in Society & Community Dec. 11, 2014, 1:45 p.m.

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#1528

80 votes

Expand 401ks to include all workers, including minors and part time workers. Make Elected Officials pay for their benefits. Allow courts to take away Govt. pensions from those convicted of crimes or major violations.

Submitted by Moderate in Society & Community Dec. 18, 2014, 8:25 p.m.

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#1528

80 votes

stop sail boats or other luxury craft from opening urban bridges from opening so emergency services and citizens can get there jobs done without waiting for the rich to get done playing around

Submitted by daniel kachiros in Society & Community Dec. 9, 2014, 7:54 p.m.

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#1537

79 votes

Eliminate "time-change" in the US so that all states are permanently on "daylight savings time" in every time zone.

Submitted by Meryle in Society & Community Dec. 19, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

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#1537

79 votes

$5.00 a day daycare for all dual income families making less than $100,000 per year.

Submitted by Nina H. from VT in Society & Community Nov. 21, 2014, 6:25 p.m.

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#1574

75 votes

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