WHY DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT?

There are 31 states with Republican governors, and both the HOR, SENATE are under Republican control. There is a need for a Democratic president at the helm to hear the voices of the people, and preferably a woman president.

WHICH COMES FIRST?

First preference: Woman president preferably from the Democratic party, who will bring fresh air (not recirculate the same air) to leadership at the top with creativity and energy

Second preference: Woman president independent of the party (preferably, with proven track record, and respected by senior leaders in her area of expertise)

Third preference: Democratic president irrespective of gender

OTHER VARIABLES TO CONSIDER

Managing personal finances - 

Balancing the budget or reducing the debt load is going to be a crucial part of the administration during the next 5 years. For that reason, the next president should have pristine personal balance sheet setting an example for the citizens of the country, and giving confidence that (s)he can bring order to the ballooning national debt. It will be even better, if the individual has shown the ability to effectively manage an organization/state in a global/larger landscape over an extended period of time. Please note that country's debt is not the same as company's debt. If someone can't manage company's debt, how can that person manage country's debt. These were considerations that led me to suggest some of the above names.

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

One size cannot fit all. Yes, economy and policy can be influenced by policies from other countries of the world, but each country has an unique demographic, political, geographic, and cultural structure, and that should be part of policy making.

SUGGESTION

It is also time that US with 320 million people starts considering at least a three-party system.

DIGITAL DEMOCRACY

US, being a leader in many areas, should consider bringing in digital democracy where everyone can cast their votes directly to elect the president (it might be difficult, but not impossible to move towards digital democracy before the 2020 elections - it could be one of the 2020 visions for USA). If that were to happen, we can have multiple candidates not limited to two or three contesting for the role of the president.

TERM LIMITS FOR POLITICIANS

With more and more need for polymath (knowledge in various areas) leaders, it makes me wonder whether politicians need to have other primary professions besides being a politician in order to understand the voices of the people better. 

Let me give you an example - Sports is an essential part of economy, and only those in that arena with relevant experience can understand what the sports community would need to move forward. Hence, it is important to have someone representing this community starting from the local community level all the way to the national level to energize this community's role in the society. At the same time, in order to contribute to the fullest extent, the selected/elected representative should also understand how various other facets of the economy fits into the equation for the overall smooth running of the system.

Another example - Only a movie director understands the challenges involved in making a movie, and also help local community in the process. Therefore, a right representative from that community would be the best person to present that community's case in the house/senate. 

Thus, to bring diversity in professional experience to the congress, it might be worthwhile to consider term limits for politicians at various levels. 

Note: If "THE PRESIDENT" of the country usually leads for two terms (two terms only, if elected), time has come to consider term limits for other politicians too. May be, longer than two terms, but not more than 3 terms.

REQUEST TO THE MEDIA

Irrespective of your prior political affiliation, please put on your personal hat along with your media hat, and ask the question who will be best leader for the country on every front, and will improve the quality of life for the majority. Please take this suggestion into account while channeling media resources. Media need not unite on the choice of the leader, but should unite on the values that will take the country forward.

DIPLOMATIC ABILITY OF LEADERS

Leader at the highest level should be able to handle diplomatic relationship with care, but also with ease. Fortitude and presence of mind should come into play, and there are times when you can learn a lot from media savvy individuals. Also, reach out to those leaders who have gained experience over the years to handle such delicate situations. I am certain that there are great people out there to help you.

There are trustworthy leaders in the house, senate and in the business world, who have built connections with other great leaders around the globe, and these leaders can help in the fact checking process, when it comes to global business transactions/claims of presidential candidates.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I remember seeing a resume, which stated that this individual had brought in more than billion dollars in revenue to the company, but was accounting for how much the entire product made & not taking into account all the contributions that the team made. You have to be careful with such resumes.

Added on 8/13/2015

Question to the readers:/

Is it possible to have a re-run of 1796 US elections, when the President & VP elected were from two different parties?

(VP Joe Biden for the role of President along with a VP candidate from the Republican party or some other party)

(or) 

vice versa - Woman President with an experienced Vice President from the other party? 

I had suggested something similar to the Board of Directors prior to the gubernatorial election last year with the idea that such a move could potentially bring the two parties closer. On the other hand, such a move could reduce diversity in ideas and thoughts depending on the leadership ability of the leaders.

After writing this part, I came across some interesting references on this topic (References 2-4). Check it out.

Added on 8/14/2015

Time has come for the VP not to dilly dally any more either way. Taking the current environment (political, economic, psychological, social, experience, combined with current presidential candidate list) into account, electing VP Joe Biden could set a new path for the new decade in 2020 for the following reasons -

1. VP's prior years of experience along with 8 years of current experience as VP potentially could help in bringing continuity during the next four years, and also re-establishing trust between two parties

2. Irrespective of the views of the policies implemented over the last 6-7 years, it appears to be something that could take the country in the new direction, and should be given time while trying to figure out ways to completely revamp the system or to improve the current underpinnings laid down over the last 6 years

3. Mrs. Biden's educational background and professional experience in teaching along with a right VP candidate with energy, vision and technological background (to address the upcoming major issues such as, education, economy, social security, health care) will provide a 4-year time period to strengthen the country for 2020 and beyond

4. Most importantly, it is always good to under-promise and over-deliver, and if VP were to become the President, the expectations may not be much with lesser distractions on various fronts, which could potentially help in getting more things done

5. The reason for one term being age. The oldest US President ever was President Ronald Reagan, who was 77 in 1988, which will make VP, the second oldest, if he were to become the President. At the same time, his uncanny nature to address serious issues in lighter vein might also give stories for the media while getting more things done without impacting his health as much. Obviously, VP needs to be surrounded by a right team, that can help him in accomplishing the administration's goals.

How can VP strengthen his position of candidacy? 

Starting with, getting support from both the parties. 

Final Thought for this section

I would like to wrap up this thought by mentioning that fiscal discipline starting from individuals extending all the way to the country is becoming more and more essential, and we want a president who has set an example by not exploiting the system repeatedly for his own gains, and who can bring in that discipline to the country during the next four years. If that were to be accomplished during the next four years namely, giving confidence to the country that fiscal discipline is in order, and the quality of life will be improved for the majority, then that President has accomplished more in those four years compared to several other presidents of the recent past, irrespective of the number of terms. Such an accomplishment would also set a foundation, and a launching pad for the next crop of leaders to take over the mantle in 2020.

Note: 

This suggestion stems from the current conditions, and can change if the VP opts out of the race or if the senior leaders identify an alternative. With all the questions hovering around Ms. Clinton's candidacy, the main concern being that these questions would be a big distraction for a long time even if Ms. Clinton were to get elected, thus impacting the decision-making process during Ms. Clinton's term.

To reiterate my earlier point of digitizing elections, time has come to consider looking into electronic voting democracy in 2020, where individuals can directly cast their votes. Moving in this direction would save millions, if not billions of dollars in elections for all the stakeholders involved, including lobbyists.

References:

1. Term limits for President - http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/06/could-joe-biden-pick-barack-obama-as-his-running-mate-yes-but/

2. https://books.google.com/books?id=Eq39UQDzJIgC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=President+and+VP+from+two+different+political+parties&source=bl&ots=871_Xs1FMG&sig=Q8zjea4xdsiw5GvpUvLOuwtuLjI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFIQ6AEwCTgKahUKEwi5_ILDk6fHAhXKdD4KHYKeACg#v=onepage&q=President%20and%20VP%20from%20two%20different%20political%20parties&f=false

3. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/elections/elecprocess.html

4. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_Thomas_Jefferson.htm

5. http://www.britannica.com/topic/Twelfth-Amendment

Added on 8/21/15

I was going through this interesting article, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/21/the-potential-late-arriving-hillary-clinton-primary-challengers-ranked/?tid=pm_politics_pop_b, and would certainly like Ms. Warren being one of the presidential candidates. 

Concern: With late entry along with "big" money playing a huge role in the elections (which is why we need digital democracy), how would the electoral votes in key states turn out for Ms. Warren? 

When it comes to the 2nd option, Mr. Schultz would have a difficult time with both the electoral and popular votes especially, if he is going to jump in now.

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/11/elizabeth-warren-201111

Added on 8/27/15

6. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1262351

7. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/06/donald-trump-companies-bankruptcy-atlantic-city

8. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/what-trump-didnt-say-about-his-four-big-business-bankruptcies/2015/08/07/bc054e64-3d12-11e5-9c2d-ed991d848c48_story.html

9. https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-does-trump-repeatedly-file-for-bankruptcy-and-still-stay-on-top

10. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-trump-bankruptcy-20140909-story.html

11. http://www.wsj.com/articles/which-trump-tower-trumps-them-all-1440078840

"At the end of the day, Donald Trump will not only come out on top, he may well come out in the green."  This line was taken out of one of the above links. 

There is a saying, "fool me once shame on me fool me twice won't get fooled again" - In Mr. Trump's case, he has exploited the system four times, and still people don't understand how such bankruptcies take away taxpayers money (at least based on the poll numbers). People need to understand that Mr. Trump and his team comes out in the green, but not the taxpayers. If common people had been given the same kind of bankruptcy provision as some of these powerful businessmen get, quality of life and savings among American families would be one of the best in the world. At the same time, people also need to understand that increase in bankruptcies among its citizens will reduce trust in an country's economic system, and will impact the overall economy in the long run.

People also need to realize that unlike filing for chapter 11 while running several of his companies, Mr. Trump will not have the option to do the same with the government especially, when the global economy is worth $86 T, and there are other countries in the United Nations which will question such kind of action.

It is also interesting to see articles after articles in the media about Mr. Trump's claim on bringing jobs back to America from other parts of the world. Please check out these links -

12. http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/07/01/donald-trump-china-made-ties-sotu-intv.cnn (Must see)

13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ACCHxF4Afc (Must see)

TO PEOPLE OF AMERICA changed to PEOPLE OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Note: After reading this article, https://www.yahoo.com/travel/25-things-americans-do-that-are-rude-in-other-127520196432.html, I changed the title from "PEOPLE OF AMERICA" to "PEOPLE OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" as I did not want to offend people in South America)

Please ask the questions -

1. Who were making money out of excessive comparative advantage.?

2. Who are the individuals worth $10B or multi-million dollars (By the way, the actual number might be only $4B or even lesser, and if the property value drops all of a sudden, the value will come down sooner than later), and how these individuals made that money? - 

(There is nothing wrong in being socially responsible and accountable billionaires or millionaires as long as the wealth came from creating organizations and jobs, through innovations, hard work and perseverance, while improving lives of the people)

3. Who were buying those products?

4. Can something be done to the existing system in place to make it better for everyone?

If people can take the time to think, and figure out the answer for these questions, it will be a matter of time when people of United States of America will have a common purpose to find the best leader for the country.

Please unite (remember, it is United States of America), and don't allow unethical leaders who continue to use divide and conquer strategy to keep on building their wealth, while taking away the smiles of millions, to come to power. As I have been repeatedly stating, 2016 elections is going to be an important one for the country, and it is up to the people to decide the best path forward for the country by electing the right leader.

Added on 8/28/15

I came across this interesting article, http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/clinton-quietly-trying-to-discourage-biden-from-a-2016-bid/ar-BBmboAg, and it was surprising to see the headlines of this article considering the stature, and experience of Ms. Clinton. I don't think Ms. Clinton would discourage the VP, and instead would support his candidacy for the betterment of the party, and the country.

I would also like to add that though I am keen to have the first woman president as is the majority in the country, it is also important to have the first woman president at the right time, and this may not be the time at least based on the recent turn of events. Instead, even having a woman VP would be a great start, and sets the precedence for the next step. To support this suggestion, please see these articles/links shared below (though early polls may not be a good indicator of the eventual outcome, it is something worth observing), 

14. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/poll-biden-fares-better-than-clinton-against-gop/vi-BBm9hrb

15. http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-jeb-bush-poll-quinnipiac/

16. http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/08/27/biden-trump-poll/

17. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/poll-biden-fares-as-well-as-clinton-against-gop-in-swing-states/ar-BBlVeiZ

All these articles suggest that VP would be at a better position compared to Ms. Clinton against GOP in the upcoming election. Finally, it is up to the party to decide the best path forward.

Added on 9/8/15

Finally, it is up to the people of United States of America to decide on the best path forward, and I am confident that there will be an universal voice across the country to elect the right leader for the country.

Added on 9/24/15 (Also available in the "BLOG" format)

- Quiz: What was founding father George Washington's view on Religion in America? What did one of the presidential candidates say about religion in US?

- Recent Gallup poll (involving countries with a free press) suggested that 75% of the survey participants agree that corruption is widely spread throughout the government in US. This poll also captured several other countries where corruption is supposedly widespread. Some of the other countries which were placed higher than US being, Mauritius, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Lithuania to name a few. 

- Quiz: Is there a presidential candidate who is connected to more than one country in the above list of countries?

- Prof. Noam Chomsky's views on GOP (Interesting read)

- Brookings Article on Governance cited in the above article (Theme: "Common good" focus lacking)

- Psychologist's Open Letter to US Voters (Interesting sentence from this article: "Politicians are groomed by us—by our applause, by our polls, by our votes.")

Added on 9/24/15

- What people want? - Must read

- Electoral College History - Must read

How to combine these two to reflect changing times, and to increase accountability in the political system?

To connect with people's thoughts of limiting terms for politicians, as mentioned earlier, if the President of USA is limited with two terms, time has come to consider term limits for all the congress representatives, and at the state level as well. 

Even a state representative earns around 2.5-3 times the median household income, and if politicians were to even have three terms of office, their salary will be equivalent to 30+ years of cumulative income seen by families earning median household income. With so many political representatives being millionaires, it appears that there is a disconnect between the political world of elected leaders and the real world. Moreover, common families don't have the same kind of job stability unlike politicians. Further, time has come where individuals with proven track record in various fields become politicians so that income is not the primary reason for individuals to seek politics, and to bring in their experience in their area of expertise while putting forth recommendations for new policies and rule of law.

At the same time, going by the thoughts of the founding fathers, popularity need not align with great leadership, and need not reflect the common interest/good of the country. For that reason, implementing a political process where proven leaders in different fields with electoral experience in the political system (at least for four years) along with some level of global experience should become a mandatory requirement for the Presidential role.

Added on 10/30/15

- Unlike other close allies/neighbor, USA needs experience right now at least for the next 4-5 years as Politics and Political science is a beast of its own, and requires certain traits/characteristics to be successful at the top. As I said, irrespective of who comes to power, 2020 should mark a new chapter as this election most probably will not. The next 4-5 years gives time to address key issues of education, economy, quality of life to name a few. In the mean time, right leaders who has the potential to bridge the gap between generations should be identified for 2020. Along those lines, Republicans have taken the right step by electing Mr. Paul Ryan. Depending on his performance in the House, he would be one quality candidate for the 2020 Presidential elections. It is also important to have the right Vice Presidential polymath candidate for this election.

Taking the disparity in power in the House & Senate, it still appears prudent to elect a Democratic leader for the role of President. When it comes to the best leader, let the policies, ideas, and strategies define the leader. I have my own views, but it needs to come from the people. I will continue with this series whenever direction is needed. 

By the way, so far, my writings have favored the people, and I would also like to share my point on what leaders at the top could go through. Please understand when many families are juggling to manage family budget, think about the challenges of running a country. We all need to consider that point while pointing fingers at the leaders.

06/07/2016

US ECONOMY vs. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ECONOMY

Today is going to be potentially an important day in the history of California. California's democratic primary to determine the democratic nominee for the upcoming presidential elections is today, and though it might not completely tilt the balance on what super delegates think, Californians voice on the presidential nominee could greatly influence the future of that state, and the country. As mentioned earlier, the country may be ripe for a woman president, but we also need to make sure that the person elected is the right president for the country. To start with, I will share certain facts today revolving around net worth of democratic candidates, and compare it with the median salary of US residents, and will leave the decision first to the people of California, and then to the people of USA, and also the super-delegates on the path forward.

To start with, I will share the link to one of my earlier work presenting various trend charts pertaining to salary and other economic indicators for the people of USA: http://www.srikanthkidambi.com/home/research-overview/us-salary-chart-since-1967

If you were to look at all the charts in the above link, you would notice that the median income appears to not have changed much since 2001. Here is the same information presented in a table format.

Source: epi.org

We can also find that the net worth has also remained stagnant over the years from the below census.gov chart.

How does it stack up with the net worth of the presidential candidates, senators, and house of representatives?

Being the democratic primary today, let us start with the two democratic presidential candidates, and find out how their net worth stacks up to senators, and people of USA.

Data on Mr. Bernie Sanders' Net worth:

Here is the chart showing the average net worth of Mr. Bernie Sanders over the years, and also compares with rest of the senate. In this graph, the yellow line corresponds to the average net worth for the senate, and the vertical bars represent the net worth for Mr. Sanders over the years.

How does it stack up with Mrs. Hillary Clinton's net worth?

As you would see, Mrs. Clinton's net worth went all the way from being in the negative millions in 2001 to a net worth significantly higher than even the average net worth of the senate, which hovers around US $10-15 million (roughly 100 - 150 times more than common Joe/Jill).

If you were to compare these two charts, and ask the question, which candidate is more representative of the people of USA, and can understand the struggles faced by common people, the answer might become obvious. Finally, it is up to the people of USA to take the final decision.