Public school is a wonderful thing. I've been to high school in one of the best school districts in Pennsylvania and I've been to high school in Florida. School should be a place where content matters, not test scores or percentiles. Students should be taught sex education, including safe sex with condoms; students should learn about credit cards, scams, economics, how to be successful, managing money, etc. along with our usual studies. History class should note that the founding fathers were not setting up a religious nation; most were Deists. (http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.htm... Belief in God as the Creator, and nothing more. Plenty were atheists and would scoff at the idea that they were setting up a "Christian nation" Religion in practice should be kept out of the classroom, however theology classes are more than welcome in school. I believe the government should most definitely participate in public schooling. Reformation of the education system is key to a new America. We are being outlearned by other countries at an alarming rate. ALL schools need reformation and new teachers that have been students fairly recently. The last thing education needs is being ruled by tenured seniority over innovative teaching.

Before anyone rips me apart for my views, in the end, this is the thing that I'm really passionate about: Greed. I am sick and tired of our culture circulating around the almighty Dollar. We can't even pay a teacher a decent sum but movie stars and professional athletes are making far too much money. This is something that I don't think is legal to regulate, but it feels like a moral issue. Isn't anyone else upset that Christian Bale can get paid huge sums of money to yell at the lighting guy, but two teachers (working full time over the summer) can barely make mortgage payments in Orange Park, FL? Corporate and political greed infuriates me as well. Bonuses being given with federal (i.e. taxpayer) bailout money, potential pharmaceuticals that will never see the light of day because politicians are in bed with Big Pharm who want to treat the symptoms, not the disease, et al. If I could make all of that go away; if we could all be civil, live decent lives, be smart and work for a living then I would do it. But it's not gonna take talking heads like Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reily, Keith Olbermann or some political rhetoric. It's going to have to be an overwhelming desire for real reform from all of the American people.

I think there are a lot of smart people in this 190 pages... somewhere. Too many are posting the same tired ideas. Think Skepticism! Think Free Thought! The most logical do not put their faith 100% into anything-- this means defending a position even when contrary evidence is presented. Right now, these are my positions and ideals. I think a majority of them are in line with everyone else's--less greed, less corruption, more responsibility and accountability. If I could have these four things from everyone in America, then we could finally get to work on reforming America.

I am a liberal american. I voted for Barack Obama in the past election, my first ever. I am 18 years old, and I haven't experienced the world for that long, especially compared to those who lived in as adults in the 20th century. That said, my ideals and wishes for the United States aren't unlike all of yours. I think term limits for every elected and selected official is a great idea, I do not support bloated, irrational Congressional voting (pork spending, inclusions of unrelated materials in a bill, intentionally unintelligible bills, etc.) and I definitely think congressional lobbying should be highly illegal. However, I do differ on some issues:

I do not support the flat tax. I believe that America can and should levy taxes on its citizens. These taxes should only be used to benefit our lives through improving cities, roads, schools, etc. Whenever they are not, we should demand new representatives. I believe paying a percentage based on your economic success is the most effective way to collect taxes.

I believe this is not a Christian nation. I believe this is not a religious nation. The nation cannot be intrinsically religious: this is a nation tolerant of every religion and the absence of religion. One population, no matter how small or large, should not be able to adhere THEIR principles and morals to the ENTIRE society. Separation of church and state needs to be upheld. I also feel that including God in the 9 Principles is wrong. I want the government to work for me, too! So now I have to start believing in an almighty Creator? No thanks, I'll exercise my First Amendment rights...

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper. Hemp has thousands of uses-- one of them includes smoking cannabis. At a minimum, hemp should be made legal again. At one point, our country created propaganda for farmers to start growing hemp! <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_For_Victory" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_For_Victory Hemp can create stronger rope, cheaper paper, more ethanol oil than corn per acre and cannabis can be smoked safely without being habit forming. I would love to see marijuana decriminalized, taxed, grown by American workers in America and sold to those over the age of 18. The government makes tobacco and alcohol legal so they can regulate it and keep profits out of the hands of gangs-- why not do the same with marijuana? Then we can fight a REAL War on Drugs--crack cocaine, heroine, opiates, methamphetamines, etc. Let's put violent/hard drug criminals in jail and let's get kids who smoked a joint in the park OUT of jail.

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