Reposted Blog Series Part 4: Big Solutions to Big Problems, (Written August 4, 2012)

[Doug here:  I'm proud that most of my posts age well, ie., stay relevant and mostly correct/true.  Here is a series of posts written in August 2012.  I thought that I'd repost them 10 years later to show that they remain at least interesting if not still relevant.]

This blog entry is a continuation of the 3rd Blog in this Series: "Blog Series #3: More Solutions to Big Problems"

Embrace Shale Energy, Reduce Oil Imports (radically improve trade balance and national security)

1. Convert cars, buses and trucks to CNG (compressed natural gas). 
2. Build CNG filling stations which is fairly easy to do. 
3. Promote Conversion kits that are available for cars now. 
4. Displace oil imports and improve our balance of trade and national security.
5. Try CNG mass transit (buses and mini-buses) in cities with minimal mass transit.  People will take a bus if it comes every 3 to 5 minutes.
6. The US needs to finally allow exploration of the most promising areas of Alaska including ANWR, and extend leasing in both US east and US west coasts.  Offshore California (in Federal waters) and ANWR/North Slope are each likely to similar to the North Sea in oil/gas.  The last fields developed offshore California were over 1 billion barrels of oil!   We can't allow an individual state to block access to the people's resources!  (Federal waters begin at 3 miles and extend to 200 miles offshore.)  Increased exploration means more jobs
7. Allow the Keystone pipeline construction to go ahead to create jobs and secure reliable energy from Canada.  Stop annoying our best friends! 

See my blog:  A Real Energy Plan For America

Reduce Medical Costs that threaten to overwhelm family budgets

Pass measures known to reduce medical costs:

1. Tort reform, 
2. Promote national (interstate) insurance competition, 
3. Encourage more supply of medical professionals, 
4. "Bust the trusts" of AMA and Big Pharma: outsource drug supply via worldwide bidding and graduate more doctors
5. Encourage more medical savings plans which allow for more high-deductible policies (people paying more of their bills; questioning pricing and demanding the lowest price, more "skin in the game"), 
6. If ObamaCare remains, allow high deductible policies to suffice for medical coverage (instead of imposing high cost policies)
7. Allow pharmacists to dispense most medicine without a doctor's prescription.  Pharmacists can handle most issues and they know when they don't know enough.

Also see Ideas to Reduce Medical Costs

Overcoming Demographic "Drag"and Excessive Housing Supply

1. Expand immigration from Developed areas of the world and less from 3rd World Nationalities.
2. Invite foreign graduate students, master's and doctoral candidates, to immigration interviews.
3. Target highly skilled immigrants using a point system like Canada.
4. Offer visas to foreigners who buy used homes in the US (to mop up oversupply).

Moral, Social and Educational Issues

1.   How about mandatory military service for young people in trouble?  

I'm welcome to ideas and comments on all of these categories...