Mike SCHMIER

REALITY CHECK # 1 - Put California's Financial House In Order.

1 - Implement a solid business plan for the State -- not just a "panic budget."
2 - Establish a 5-7 year reasonable system of fair income and property taxation.

REALITY CHECK #2 - Welcome Business Growth.

1 - Create new jobs by stimulating our business environment.
2 - Accelerate government decision-making and cut oppressive regulations where possible.
3 - Support the highest and wisest use of our land by working closely with developers, the construction industry, and environmentalists for managed growth.

REALITY CHECK #3 - Environmental Leadership.

1 - Encourage industries that create pollution management and environmental technologies that can be sold worldwide.
2 - Create strong incentives for alternative fuel and energy applications.
3 - Protect open spaces, water, ground, air, forests, oceans, coastlines, and deserts.

REALITY CHECK #4 - Education for All.

1 - Recognize education as the first line of defense for our Democracy.
2 - Establish a volunteer CALIFORNIA KNOWLEDGE BANK COMMISSION ("CKBC") charged with the responsibility of implementing a reinvented education system.

REALITY CHECK #5 - Healthcare for All.

1 - Promote wellness as a way of saving on healthcare costs.
2 - Reduce administrative costs from 30% to 5% to save billions of dollars.
3 - Create a Group Plan for those now not covered in which providers doing business in California are required to participate.
4 - Create a state agency which collects costs from employers and employees, negotiates with patient selected providers, including injured workers, and pays providers directly.
5 - Aggressively pursue insurance fraud to collect damages for the State.
6 - Demonstrate to business and industry that a healthy populace is financially superior to the present system.

REALITY CHECK #6 - Link Transportation and Environmental Issues.

1 - Establish "Free Rides to Work and Home Vouchers" for use during specific days/hours, issued through employers to encourage use of vastly improved mass transit and ride sharing.
2 - Establish high incentives for alternative fuel use vehicles by lowering license fees and sales taxes on those vehicles.
3 - Establish an annually collected flat fee of $500 on all non-business, heavy and overpowered cars and trucks.

REALITY CHECK #7 - Establish Alternative Sentencing and Incarceration.

1 - Reduce the high cost and unpredictability of our existing sentencing and incarceration systems.
2 - Ensure productive and instructive work from those in custody.
3 - Effective rehabilitation, education, job training and real assistance in integrating prisoners back into our society

REALITY CHECK #8 - Secure Federal Accountability for Cross-Border Issues.

1 - Cross-border issues are the responsibility of the Federal government and we must demand that the Social Security Administration create a special SSN-Plus system to account for our cross-border workers and families. This is the only way we can insure accountability for their presence in any state and the best way to secure taxation of their wages and to provide fair benefits as required by California law to all workers.
2 - Decriminalize working in California and other states for non- documented workers by developing a management system at the Federal level to ensure equal taxation and treatment of these contributors to our work force.
3- If the Federal government fails to do this, we must come up with a legal and fair Worker-Family Documentation Program (WFDP) of our own. If other states want to follow our model, we can provide paid consulting services to help them achieve their goals.

REALITY CHECK #9 – Review and Repair Our Political Structure.

1 - Loosen term limits so politicians do not “owe” big contributors and see no political gain in solving long term problems.
2 - Plug loopholes that encourage corrupt relationships where politicians shake down contributors and pay back with favors at public expense.
3 - Turn redistricting over to a Special Commission so politicians do not continue to gerrymander "safe districts" to maintain power they would otherwise lose.
4 - Amend California’s constitution to make it harder to place recall initiatives on the ballot so the process is not hijacked by special interests.

REALITY CHECK #10 – Fairly Amend Proposition 13.

1 - To not increase taxes, make it harder for corporations to escape re-assessment with 100 year leases that the homeowner cannot have. Homeowners should get equal treatment.
2 - Remove 2/3 vote provided in Proposition 13 initiative put into State Constitution for all budgetary matters--all but 3 states do it on a 50% majority. This hamstrings the legislature and we are all held hostage by any unreasonable minority. This flies in the face of Democracy.

REALITY CHECK #11 – Government Will Listen and Respond to the People.

1 – Good government requires listening to the people and paying real attention.
2 – Attend carefully to the needs of the citizens and not to special interests.
3 – Encourage participation by experts and promote volunteerism as great, untapped resources.

REALITY CHECK #12 - Recognize and Utilize the Full Power of California.

We must remember –

• California leads the country in productivity.
• We lead the country in innovation.
• We have more opportunity than any place on earth.
• California’s operating economy is the 5th in the world.
• We are the industrial, agricultural and technological development leader.
• We are the most diversified State and represent the New Culture of our increasingly global community.

It's time to remind ourselves of the power our State has and the contributions we make to the country and the world. It's time for a Reality Check on the responsibility this position of leadership demands on all Californians.

This is a Democracy, not a Celebritocracy. This isn’t a movie, this isn’t a television show, this isn’t an episode of “The West Wing”… This is the real thing and it is time for a Reality Check.

Let’s reclaim California for the future by electing

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