DRAFT - Cover Letter to @barackobama for the position of CIO, US Federal Government.
DRAFT - Proposal For a Microloan for Twisted Politix a 501 c3 (non-profit)
How will America transition to 2nd Place?
Are you familiar with the Veterans Emergency Housing Program from WW2 (1947)? It isnt on Wikipedia and should be. It gave discounts to soldiers to buy homes in the suburbs just outside the city after returning from war. It is essentially what started modern day suburbia and suburban sprawl, and the long commute, and highways, the cars, but I digress.
Now speed forward to 2012 (#VEHP2012). Couldn't the existing foreclosures all across the country be sold at a major discount to soldiers returning from posts overseas? Obviously the Administration would have to lean heavily on the banks to be so kind, but this is for the SOLDIERS! Who could refuse! (Imagine all the places we have bases or troops - Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Panama, Japan, Germany, Nigeria, etc. It would depend on where they are. Some may not want to come home. Would you want to leave Germany now? - When their economy is doing well and Octoberfest is coming and the girls, etc. But maybe Afghanistan isn't so fun now the Bin Laden is dead.) Of course to do this, you would have to close bases and that would be tough even with the deficit!
Wouldn't a program like that NOW help end the wars, secure the nation (tough guys in the house), reduce anti-American sentiment, and stimulate the economy? End the wars because with such a great $deal$, the soldiers would want to come home fast!
Or what if they were granted the permit to build homes as long as they were built to spec under the architectural guidance of Jacques Fresco, a futurist like DaVinco, using innovative and renewable materials that are 100% eco-friendly, such as hemp, grown right here in the USA. (You would have to legalize industrial, non-narcotic hemp which is ILLEGAL in the USA because of corporate lobbyists.)
And all food must be grown locally (within 50 miles), and all waste must be disposed of locally (within 50 miles),
All electrical power would have to be generated from solar or wind or other approved renewables, like biomass, and EVERY building would have to be self-sufficient and provide its own energy.
All the automobiles had to run on biofuels and were only for mass transport or public transit, which were all leased on a subscription based service like with Zipcars. But these would be taxed heavily and tricycles and bicycles would be donated by China.
Back to reality for a moment... If they havent lost their homes, then Good for them! Is it possible that these soldiers wont have jobs when they get home?
Maybe instead of them collecting unemployment, they could BUILD the new VEHP2012 themselves.
And maybe the Jonathan Rose Companies could run the projects. And these new homes and transition towns could be located along train lines or in the projected path for new high speed rail that has been proposed and paid for by the Federal government.
There are foreclosures deep in the heart of the cities, in the suburbs, and even on farms. It most certainly has happened.
If any Congressmen or Senators with sons in the military knew about this, they might write a bill and pass a law, and whalaaahhh! Economic improvement. A stimulus but for VETERANS! Man would this stir up a serious fight in our Congress. Only a Democrat would bring it up because its a stimulus when all the conversation is about deficits. Then the Republicans would have a hell of a time explaining why its no good. Meanwhile the soldiers find out and starting asking when they are going to come home. The generals and admirals start putting pressure on the GOP to give in so their boys can come home. - Oh but wait, we can't leave a war without WINNING first! So how do you define winning? Shit this is going to be a long one...
Oh but you can imagine the capitalists licking their chomps to get a hold of this contract or win some business from the Government! To sell any services or supplies to the returning soldiers. But what if in order to be a a vendor of the project, you had to be certified with a license that confirms that you are an US company, privately held (NOT publicly traded), whose employee base is at least 20% made up of people that are unemployed, and that at least 50% of the ownership was made up of employees, even part timers, etc.
This is a campaign slogan that WORKS! HEMP4VICTORY2012 Hoorah! Start GROWING!!!
Ok and now off the deepend...And what if they measured the cost of goods in calories required to produce it start to finish, and measured the cost of service by the customer ratings. And people who worked in these transition towns were paid incentives like how many positive tweets they got. No wait that sounds too funky. They were paid with hours of time from experts - with wisdom. And they were grateful they got all this so they gave back by teaching others something they have learned - whatever skill they have. But all employees were volunteers but owners in the companies or even in the village itself.
The end of World War II was the beginning of a new set of problems for Gallatin veterans. The vets were coming “home,” but there wasn’t any “home” for them to return to. A Gallatin survey revealed there were at least 25 new houses needed since there weren’t any vacant houses nor rooms to rent.
The Gallatin Rotary Club passed a resolution backing a building program for the purpose of alleviating the housing shortage and also to curb inflation of real estate values.
The problem came to light when a man went to buy a permit to build in the city. He found a building priority for a home was impossible to obtain unless the town in which he resided had a set building quota. Gallatin didn’t have any such quota.
Building quotas were based on each particular town and an investigation of Gallatin revealed several factors had to be resolved before a quota could be set. A few of these factors were:
1. There were eight or more families without places to live and several others were inadequately housed
2. Property values had inflated from 100% to 300%
3. Many retired farmers were moving to town
4. Several returning veterans had expressed wanting to live in Gallatin.
A proposal was set up by the FPHA (Federal Public Housing Authority) stating they’d furnish pre-fabricated houses of a war-housing type and ship the parts to Gallatin for assembly. The housing units would remain federally owned. They would be four, five, or six bedroom homes and modern in every way.
Only discharged veterans or families of servicemen were eligible to apply for the accommodations. Before applications could be made for the temporary housing, an estimate of community needs had to be made. All veterans and servicemen’s families who wanted the accommodations were urged to sign up for them. The number of houses to be asked for depended upon the number of people interested in securing this type of housing.
In January 1946, Gallatin made application for 15 temporary family units to be occupied by discharged veterans and the families of servicemen. Additional units were to be ordered if the houses were being utilized and proved to be satisfactory. The government would furnish pre-fabricated war-housing type dwellings delivered prepaid by the city. The cost of a site and connecting the utilities would be paid to the city. The rent, at a very nominal cost of $22 a month, was to be charged to the veterans and families.
The application was turned down because the quota for the houses had been exhausted. Both the project requested and the number size of the housing administration was too small. They’d substitute 10 trailers. In February, 1946, 10 family trailers were ordered and were to be of two sizes, 7' x 22' one bedroom units and three 22' x 22' bedroom units. Each trailer had their water and electricity. The trailers would be allotted to the applicants in the order the requests were received.
Dockery Park was chosen for the site because there’d be less work and expense. There’d be little grading and sodding to be done, sidewalks and gavel driveways were already built and present light and water facilities were nearby. Rent from the trailers would go to the FPHA after the expenses of maintenance were deducted. FPHA retained the title to the buildings. Families of servicemen and veterans were the only eligible tenants of the trailers. Also included were men seeking accommodation so they could bring their families stationed outside the locality.
Near the end of February, Gallatin was assured of its trailer colony housing project. The FPHA would provide the materials and the labor for the construction of two baths and laundry buildings at the trailer site. The building would be 29 ½' x 23' and would cost $8,300. The project had been turned down earlier by the city officials due to the scarcity of materials and labor.
In May 1946, the government agreed to relieve the city of any responsibility in building construction. The bath and laundry building was approved for the colony. Under the proposal the city would sign a contract with the housing authority to build the structure, with the government agency paying the bill. The city was to hire the labor, buy the material, and supervise the construction. The building was to be centrally located in the trailer colony.
Note: -- by Wilbur Bush
