One suggestion is to merge the House of Representatives and the Senate into one smaller legislative body "to streamline government, make it smaller and more efficient and a heck of a lot less expensive than it is today." Terms of office would be 5 years instead of 6 and to insure change and fresh ideas, senators would be limited to serving 2 terms. He follows this radical suggestion with point by point eligibility requirements; candidates for this new branch of government must be at least fifty years old and not past 65. Senators would be on their state's payroll; candidates would be permitted to receive campaign contributions of no more than $5,000 from each source and only from US citizens. And to avoid legislative gridlock, this new Senate could pass any bill with a simple majority "and the filibuster nonsense would be rendered illegal."
The book goes on to detail reform of the presidential primaries, the general election and the Supreme Court. The America of My Dreams calls for specific changes in the Social Security system, the tax code, the handling of illegal immigration, and social issues such as health care, the war against drugs and the drinking age. He blames the tanking economy on "corrupt politicians, inept managers and a lack of laws that severely punish those who caused the mess." A first step, Dom believes, would be to regulate the airlines, energy companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, credit card companies and banks.
Born in Calabria, Dom's family emigrated to the United States and settled in Jersey City in 1963. He received his BS degree from St. Peter's College in Jersey City and an MBA from Seton Hall. He worked for a jewelry company in New York City that had a manufacturing branch in Rhode Island at a time when jewelry was still a viable industry in the state. During his career Dominic worked as a financial officer for several other companies. He is currently the CFO of a utility contractor in Massachusetts. His disgust with a malfunctioning government has been growing for the last 25 years. The Bush-Gore election fiasco, politicians who act on behalf of special interests, CEOs who enrich themselves at the expense of the general public are a few of the outrages that fueled his determination to show how we can create a better society.
He says he has watched America slide downhill from a time forty years ago when jobs were plentiful, most people took pride in their country and trusted government to do the right thing. Now, according to recent polls, only a quarter of Americans have that kind of trust."I want to show that we're not helpless. We are a strong country, why do we put up with this system?" Despite a busy personal life (he and his wife Alba have three adult children and one grandchild) he began writing The America of My Dreams during the meanspirited 2008 election campaign. To prepare for this spare time project he studied the constitution, which he believes has been abused by people with a special axe to grind, and points to the First Amendment guaranteeing free speech as an example. "I don't see anything there that gives the right to burn the flag or show disrespect to the president. There is a polite way to voice dissension." Dom readily admits that with all its faults our political system is a lot better than the Italian parliamentary system with its many political parties."What happens there is a joke. There's been turmoil for the last fifty years. With 18 to 20 political parties there is always horse trading."
But his focus is on his adopted country. During an interview on the Buddy Cianci Show last month the former mayor remarked, "there are a lot of ideas here. I don't know if they'll fly, but this is the way change starts." Despite his belief that our society needs fixing, Dom has no plans to run for
office. "That's not my intent," he says. "I don't want to preach. If you have better ideas, let's talk about them. This country needs more serious discussion of its problems."
Dom recently spoke with Steve Jorgensen from iUniverse Radio regarding his new book, "The America of my Dreams". The discussion covers topics such as why he wrote the book, his felligns on current political parties, his efforts to create The American People's Party, and more. The interview can be heard here.
