LITTLE BIG MAN

[Barney Reinberg]

Sometimes you have to say “enough, I need a break”. I might not be there just yet, but I’m close when it comes to politics. It just gets to be the same thing over and over. Donald Trump’s legal issues occupy a major portion of the news. It’s Trump 24/7. Even the staunchest of Trump loyalist must think it’s getting to be too much. As for our current President Joe Biden, I do not know. Biden’s staff continue to think of new ways of hiding his physical and mental failings. The “less is more” is the newest strategy. No long speeches. Maybe a couple of talking points and it is off for a nap. Either more Trump or less Biden it is almost enough for me. So, I decided to take a ride in the “Way Back Time Machine” and look at a candidate that ran for president in 1992. Not Clinton or Bush. But H. Ross Perot. I can only remember a couple of things about Perot. One, he appeared small in stature. Two, he had a heavy Texarkana accent when talking. When he spoke, he often talked about the “giant sucking sound” of jobs leaving the United States in favor of Mexico due to the NAFTA Agreement. Finally, he talked about the “crazy aunt that lived in the basement”. Referring to the national debt. Something politicians knew was an issue but did not want to talk about. For those of you who do not know Perot’s business background here is a small introduction: Perot became a salesman for IBM after serving in the United States Navy. In 1962, he founded Electronic Data Systems, a data processing service company. In 1984, General Motors bought a controlling interest in the company for $2.4 billion ($6 billion in 2023). Perot established Perot Systems in 1988 and was an angel investor for NeXT, a computer company founded by Steve Jobs after he left Apple. (Wikipedia, Ross Perot) I spent a couple of dollars (I really mean a couple) and bought his book “UNITED WE STAND How We Can Take Back Our Country” and listed his “Check List for All Federal Candidates”. Just one point of reference before “the list”, the Federal debt at the time of printing was approximately four trillion dollars.

• Eliminate the deficit.

• Keep the budget balanced through binding legislation.

• Pay off the national debt.

• Rebuild the job base and put our people back to work.

• Develop an intelligent, supportive relationship between government and business.

• Develop strategic plans industry by industry to strengthen and rebuild our companies.

• Target the industries of the future and develop specific plans to be the world leader in those industries.

• Stimulate the growth of small businesses.

• Maintain and build our manufacturing base.

• Make “Made in the USA” the world’s standard of excellence.

• Rebuild our cities.

• Make our public schools the finest in the world.

• Get rid of illegal drugs.

• Dramatically reduce crime and violence throughout our country

• Provide affordable health care.

• Get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal government.

• Develop a new tax system that is fair, paperless for most Americans, and raises the money to pay our country’s bills.

• Get rid of foreign lobbyists and foreign political contributions.

• Develop fair free-trade agreement

• Pass laws prohibiting cashing in on prior government service.

• Develop an intelligent energy policy.

• Implement the line-item veto for the President.

• Pass laws to stop Congress from exempting itself from laws it imposes on the rest of the company. • Bring the congressional retirement plan in line with private sector plans.

• Pass laws requiring the return of all excess campaign to the US Treasury

• Pass laws to reduce the time for federal elections, reduce the cost of federal campaigns, and create equal opportunity for all new candidates by providing equal television time for all candidates.

• Replace the electoral college with the popular vote.

• Pass laws eliminating all possibilities for special interests to give large sums of money to candidates.

• Pass a law to hold elections on Saturday and Sunday, instead of Tuesday.

• Pass a law forbidding release of election information before the polls in Hawaii close.

• Slash staffs in the executive and legislative branches.

• Get rid of unnecessary perks throughout the federal government. (Perot pg. 117-18)

Maybe you got through this and just for a few moments, you forgot all about Donald Trump and Joe Biden. BR ________________________________________________________________________________

Perot, H. Ross (1992) United We Stand, how we can take back our country, Hyperion, New York, New York 10011.

Ross Perot - Wikipedia

[XLFD]

Presidential candidates I voted for in the 20th century:  Ronald Reagan (R) in 1984, Ron Paul (L) in 1988, Ross Perot (I) in 1992 and 1996, Patrick Buchanan (I) in 2000.  Only one of those would win, but looking back in 2024, I wouldn't have changed any of those votes; they were the better candidate, hands down.

[Willy]

Since Perot was an independent, both party's went after him. Even tho he was conservative, the Republicans gave him as much grief as the Democrats.

Back when SNL was funny.