If I Were President...

Everybody has an opinion about what should be job No. 1 for the next president. We asked citizens and celebrities across the country for their suggestions.

“I would tell people to be their own secret sauce. America is still the best place in the world to start with nothing and make something of yourself—but it is up to you.” —Dave Ramsey, author and radio talk show host "Take care of our military veterans and homeless people first. I would make sure that they had better and affordable health care and resources available to them in the form of medical, psychiatric care. housing, clothing, food, etc. I wouldn't even entertain the idea of letting immigrants in until we can take care of those who have served this country." —April Sunset, 37, retail worker, Missoula, Mont. “This is goofy, and this is just absolutely me. I would make a truly great state-of-the-art national rail service a huge priority because of the infrastructure it would provide. So let’s just make really good rail transportation all over our country, so we don’t have to go to O’Hare and be at the mercy of rainstorms and backed-up flights. Why can’t we take a good train from St. Louis to Denver? And have it really only take like eight hours. Have it like it is in Europe, where it’s cheap, efficient and fast. That’s what I’d do.” —Tom Hanks, actor, Sully “I’d have live comedy tours for the people to watch together. We don’t share enough laughter as a community—everybody’s streaming, watching things on their own, in their own world. I remember watching an episode of Martin and just hearing the laughter from one open window to the next. It was something we were all experiencing together, and we don’t have that now.” —Leslie Jones, actress and comedian, Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters

“I’d focus on being a leader, not a reactor. We have too many reactors in this world. You gotta be out front. You gotta take a few shots every once in a while.” —Mike Ditka, Hall of Fame NFL player, coach and TV analyst “If I were president, you’d all be in trouble. [Laughs] It’s the same as the position I’m in now: If I’m president, I’d do what my wife tells me to do.” —Denzel Washington, actor, The Magnificent Seven “I would become Undercover President, just like the show Undercover Boss . To obtain unbiased information I would call up randomly chosen people and discuss the issues and policies I was working on.” —Temple Grandin, scientist and autism activist “Push for term limits on all branches of government, push for more farmers and fewer corporations and change the curriculum and methods of modern school systems.” —Christy Adams, 30, stay-at-home mom and former factory worker, Iron City, Tenn. "If I were president, I would make Constitution Day (yes, there really is such a day, September 17) a nationally celebrated holiday with public readings from the Constitution, a Supreme Court versus Congress basketball game and other events that promoted learning about the greatest political document ever written. We need better public understanding of the document that is supposed to guide the moral and social choices of our government and our people." —Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA superstar and author, Writings on the Wall “I would launch a full-throated campaign to repeal Medicare’s so-called ‘catastrophic coverage’ drug policy, which is a catastrophe. It leaves hundreds of thousands of our oldest and sickest on the hook for 5 percent of their Part D drugs’ retail prices—after they’ve already spent $4,850 on their medicine during the year. And there are no dollar caps on that 5 percent. No annual cap. No lifetime cap. Not even a dollar cap if you take an $18,000-amonth retail cancer drug (as I do) to stay alive. Five percent of $18,000 runs to $900 a month, and nearly $11,000 a year. Catastrophic coverage is not only bad public policy, it’s cruel public policy that especially threatens half of all Medicare beneficiaries—26 million elderly people—who are getting by on less than $25,000 a year.” —Health Care Detective Frank Lalli, author of Your Best Health Care Now (Touchstone, Sept. 20) “I would improve the economy by cutting taxes and regulations which hurt jobs. I would reform the school system to encourage hard work, good manners, healthy lifestyles. Something akin to the Japanese method—all students help around the schools, with lunches, cleaning up. This would foster a knowledge and love for work instead of living off other people.” Miriam McGrath, 70, retired executive assistant, Cheboygan, Mich.