US Public Policy Leaderboard #37 2023

Public policy solutions can now be ranked. This week, going big on small nuclear reactors comes in at #3 with an 82% super nonpartisan score with a majority of all 8 Information Walls.

Welcome to Us People Sunday when we update the US Public Policy Leaderboard (US-PPL) so we can see what’s really going on instead of having political parrots trying to divert our attention.

Why Care?

Each political parrot takes their turn, forcing their will on the other half of society.

Congress’s approval rating is 21%, the Supreme Court’s is 40%, and the media’s is 27%.

The average score of the policies on the PolicyKeys™ National Idea Leaderboard is 73%, with many above 80%—Politics 4.0 is already 2x to 3x better model of US political sentiment and direction than Politics (as usual) 3.0.

Maybe we should ask our politicians if they support our whole country or just their donors and their party.

This Week’s
Political Flap Solution

Our scoring says the U.S. should support the deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as a revolutionary leap in clean energy. SMRs offer a reliable, scalable, and inherently safer alternative to traditional nuclear plants and fossil fuels.

They can be mass-produced, reducing costs and accelerating deployment, which is crucial for meeting urgent climate goals. By investing in this cutting-edge technology, the U.S. can reclaim global leadership in energy innovation, create high-quality jobs, and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.

One of the key concepts behind PolicyKeys is that if a vast super-majority of Americans can agree on something with majority support from each of the four sides of the political table, then that’s probably what a democratic republic should do.

The Silent Supermajority

This follows the concept of the Pareto Principle, the 80% – 20% rule. For us here at PolicyKeys, it’s kind of like a Parrot-otopia, parrots in paradise, except here the citizens in a society are not dominated by the tyrannies of the many or the few.

The leaderboard-worthy ideas have majority support from each of the four sides of the political table: Abundance Governance (AG), Abundance Commerce (AC), Thift Government (TG), and Thrift Commerce (TC). We share our Political DNA, ACGT. After all, we’re one body, one nation, with liberty and justice for all.

Cue the Patriotic Music

Imagine an America not paralyzed by partisan squawking. A Parrot-otopia oasis in a desert of division. Where the sounds of the silent super-majority drown out the droning of the hyper-partisan parrots.

We’ll be freed from the cages of entrenched ideology to fly higher in the big sky of American beliefs, attitudes, values, and ethics. To boldly go where no political parrot has gone before—rating solutions with a nonpartisan score. Wanna listen to our anthem?

Public Policy Anthem

Where Can We Agree? (Why Don’t You Want To Know?)

You can play this week’s puzzle at PolicyKeys.com.

This Week’s
US Public Policy
Leaderboard Update

Here are four leading solutions on our
US Public Policy Leaderboard (US-PPL)
from each sharp corner of the political table.

The Sweet Sixteen

Strong Status Quo Bias
(Free Market & States’ Rights)

#3 SMR Nuclear Reactors
(82% Super Nonpartisan Score)

We need to scale new, smaller, safer SMR nuclear power for energy independence, not depend exclusively on any one energy source, protect commerce from the devastating effects of severe weather, and bring affordable, abundant energy to underserved markets.

While there is great potential for fusion, astro-electricity, battery technology, and solar panels on every sunny roof—it will take decades or even a century, and SMR nuclear can be that bridge energy.

#11 The WELCOME Living Wage Employer Tax Credit
(78% Super Nonpartisan Score)

The Willing Employer Living Compensation Exemption essentially eliminates the corporate tax for all but the largest, most profitable companies. It would surge demand for middle-class goods and services and significantly reduce unnecessary public assistance projects, thereby lowering taxes. America is exceptional enough to build enough capacity to keep inflation in check in the long run.

Full-timers must meet a living wage before corporate tax needs to be paid. Some corporate taxes are double taxation, as dividends are also taxable.

#16 End Sugar Subsidies
(76% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Subsidies distort free markets, cost billions, increase health problems, and ill health saps productivity from the workplace—that’s not what our tax dollars should be used on.

#20 Let the States Control Their Own Immigration (75% Super Nonpartisan Score)

One size doesn’t fit all for Immigration; some States need to Terminate immigration, some States need to Accelerate immigration, and other States need to Pause immigration. Local TAP Legal Immigration solves most of the immigration problem. Immigration is probably the best way to lower inflation while keeping the economy moving.

Center Right Status Quo Bias
(Private/Public Partnerships)

#1 The Great Penny Meltdown
(86% Super Nonpartisan Score)

It is time to stop wasting useful metals on useless coins; there is little to no reason to dig up zinc, spend two cents to make a penny, and then bury them in penny jars to gather dust. This is the same as paying people to dig holes and fill them back in. It’s sapping the country’s productivity and resources. Update: Breakthroughs in zinc battery technology make this even more urgent.

#7 Social Security Force
(80% Super Nonpartisan Score)

The Social Security Fund should invest 25% of its reserves into US index fund stocks. Stocks historically outperform bonds by 2x, and instead of every market recession or depression making the top decile richer, the SS Fund can buy on dips and assure a solid retirement for our hard-working citizens.

#21 Pathway to Residency
(75% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Americans don’t want to do the 10 million open jobs because the work is tedious, low pay, dangerous, and sweaty. Immigrants are willing to do those jobs as a foothold on a better life for themselves and their descendants. We already have 11 million illegal immigrants or undocumented workers in the country. It’s a waste of human capital and a competitive disadvantage not to put them to work with a pathway to citizenship. Many are being paid under the table and are not paying their fair share of taxes. Commerce has a labor shortage crisis due to low birth rates. The solution is literally a pen swipe away.

#31 Quick Set Transitional Housing
(70% Super Nonpartisan Score)

There are two kinds of homelessness: those who can’t or won’t work full-time and those who can and want to work full-time but the jobs aren’t accessible for some reason, like proximity, skills, shelter, or support services. Changing zoning laws to allow housing in, next to, or near industrial parks solves the problem almost immediately.

Center Left Change Bias
(Public/Private Partnerships)

#10 The Abortion SCALE Act
(78% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Now that OTC Birth Control has been approved by the FDA (We Won!), the Abortion SCALE Act takes its place here on the recap of the US Public Policy Leaderboard. The Abortion SCALE Act allows for a woman to choose until the 16th week, from the 17th to 23rd-week abortion is semi-legal with enhanced informed consent and a 72-hour hold, and illegal after week 24 when a fetus would be viable outside the womb (an unborn child) with the only exceptions being to save the mother’s life, a fetus becomes non-viable, or in the cases of rape or incest.

#29 A Grand Supreme Court
(71% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Having lifetime appointed justices when the average lifespan was 35 years is quite different with the advent of 100+ year lifespans just around the corner due to new life extension technologies. A court is supposed to be impartial, not partisan football. A much more judicious solution is eighteen-year term limits with staggered starts every two years in nonelection years, 18 to 23 total Justices, a pre-vetted pool by a super nonpartisan commission, and a lottery if Congress and the President won’t do their jobs. There are supposed to be three branches of government, not two parrots stacking the legal deck.

#33 Truly OPEN Primaries
(69% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that there’s two-party rule. There are more Independents than Democrats or Republicans. There should be one primary election for all candidates running for office, and all citizens can cast their ballots for the top four or five candidates regardless of party affiliation that they approve of to go onto the general election. That way, the winner will be the candidate the most people approve of instead of the candidate we all hate the least.

#40 Permanent Standard Time
(66% Super Nonpartisan Score)

We did puzzles on both Permanent Daylight Savings Time and Ending Daylight Saving Time, and the latter was a clear winner. Permanent Standard Time will increase sleep and productivity, decrease health costs, and stop jet-lagging the country twice a year.

Strong Change Bias
(Pro-Active National Government)

#4 Voting on Veteran’s Day
(82% Super Nonpartisan Score)

What better way to honor our Veterans than to thank them with our civic duty to vote? Establishing another holiday would harm productivity, so moving Veteran’s Day to the second Tuesday in November is a win-win for democracy and productivity.

#5 A Fraud-Free Counted Vote
(82% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Frictionless IDs, guaranteed access to mail-in ballots, and all votes counted—let’s end the debate over voter fraud vs. voting access once and for all.

#17 Increase the EITC to P50L
(75% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Many industries don’t have the margin to pay a living wage, so increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for full-time workers to halfway (50%) between the Poverty line (P) and the Living Wage (L) would solve the problem for the working poor. America’s shrinking middle class is a national embarrassment for both political parties.

They blame each other, but let’s face it: both parties have had total control of the House, Senate, and White House over the decades, so both are to blame. A full-time working couple should crest a living wage, with no marriage penalty, while a single person could work a few hours of overtime each week to achieve a living wage.

#23 HOPE Drug Harm Reduction
(74% Super Nonpartisan Score)

Illegal drug use is way more a health issue than a criminal one. Treating drug users like criminals is cruel unless they commit crimes unrelated to trafficking or other felonies. It is also less expensive to send a drug abuser to rehab than jail.

Public Policy Conclusion

Interestingly, The WELCOME Employer Tax Credit to pay a living wage in the first place and the P50L EITC to boost the working poor closer to a living wage, at the end of the day, have almost the same effect on raising the middle class and the deficit/surplus, but here’s the weird thing—partisans on both sides of the aisle may vehemently oppose the “other” solution. Psst, they are both leaderboard-worthy solutions. The parrots are just fighting and can’t stop.

Shockingly, on the left, either WELCOME or the P50L would essentially end wage discrimination for full-time working people up to the median income level—almost instantaneously. But the left will complain that WELCOME makes people have to work full-time, and corporations must pay their taxes.

Shockingly, on the right, either WELCOME or the P50L would make commerce boom, as there is no better way to get an economy humming than a vibrant middle class. But the right will complain that the P50L has some people’s spending subsidized by the government and that’s not fair.

Shockingly, the US crime cost is between $680B and $3.41T yearly, probably 2x – 10x more expensive than WELCOME or the P50L. People making a living wage aren’t knocking off liquor stores or gas stations. Additionally, child poverty alone costs America over $1T annually, and most domestic violence is about money. One thing’s for sure: a coin flip on these two solutions would be better than political parrots squawking about high crime and a shrinking middle class for another few decades.

Public Policy Methodology

We conduct an in-depth analysis of each puzzle, considering over 4,000 variables and 16 million combinations. First, with the assistance of POLI the AI, we examined sixteen primary YES reasons and sixteen primary NO reasons against the proposal. No cherry-picking.

Then, AI evaluation considers each societal role’s loose ties to beliefs, attitudes, values, and ethics. Finally, the AI looks at close ties to other roles as an internal reliability filter, which gives an error margin noted on the POL-ICYMI Answer Key.

After determining all 128 roles’ general bias toward change or maintaining the status quo, our editorial team reviews and, if necessary, adjust the forecasts for specific reasons. This rigorous process aims to produce a credible, non-partisan assessment. Our goal? To genuinely capture America’s consensus.

You can read more about PolicyKeys™ in the upcoming book, Politics 4.0: How Gamification, AI, and National Idea Leaderboards Can Help You Depolarize America. The Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recognized PolicyKeys™ for its innovative consensus-building approach.

The Weekly Public Policy Puzzle

A new PolicyKeys™ Where Can We Agree?^® Puzzle drops every Monday at 7 a.m. Eastern at PolicyKeys.com.

PolicyKeys™ Where Can We Agree? is a real-life role-playing game. Each week, there are sixteen sets of eight ‘rival’ roles. Sit awhile in each of their eight chairs and predict whether a majority of people in those roles would say Yes or No to the week’s question.

POLI* The AI and our Editors parse through over 4000 variables—so you don’t have to. The best ideas land on the US Public Policy Leaderboard (US-PPL) if a majority of each of the four sides of the political table agree. *Political Omnibus Leadership Initiative

You can play this week’s puzzle at PolicyKeys.com.

This Week’s Key Political Flap

Should the US support a new Nuclear Generation?

If you’d prefer to role-play this week’s puzzle before seeing the scores, swoop on over to PolicyKeys.com. This week’s political flap takes off with the Monday Puzzle Drop introduction. Here’s the BOX SCORE from Tuesday. You’ll be scandalized by the politically strange bedfellows from Wednesday. This Thursday, the editors broke the ties and called some fowls on POLI THE AI’s plays. Friday your Political Digital Twin’s got your back. Saturday’s Keynote wraps up this week’s reporting on this solution.