The RussCo Idea Buffet

Post office box keys double as letter openers

The Idea:  Design post office box keys so that they can also be used as a letter opener as well. 

The Background:  When I moved back out to Colorado since I am in a ski town there is not any residential mail delivery therefore I had to get a post office box.  So when I go to the post office now I often want to open at least a few of the items I have received.  However opening a letter with a key does not work as well as one of those smooth letter openers.  So I would love to see a key designed with a normal key design on one edge and a letter opener design on the other edge. 

Refunds on campaign donations for politicians that commit crimes

The Idea:  Write into the laws regarding campaign finance that if a politician ever commits a crime that they have to payback every donor that contributed to their most recent campaign.  Realizing this could likely take years as they raise quite a bit of money, if they can't pay it all back at once their salaries should be garnished till they pay every one back. 

The Possibilities:  A few other rules that could serve as corollaries to the above are to pay every politician the average salary of the citizens of the area that they represent.  This would give them a big incentive to work hard to raise the standard of living.  Also in cities you could require the mayor live in the poorest or most violent neighborhood.  Again this would give them more incentive to address those problems head on. 

City Wide Scavenger Hunt through You Tube

The Idea:  Create a city wide scavenger hunt open to anyone.  Kick it off with a video from the final destination with the final prize.  The hunt could be organized so that it lasts a few weeks with a new video debuting every week to pace it out or once it is started it runs till someone gets the final prize.

The Possibilities:  Are literally endless.  You could make this a big marketing tool.  You could franchise it out city by city or even make it nation wide.  Everyone wants to be an Indiana Jones and go on a treasure hunt.

New political party not based on positions but approach

The Idea:  A political party that is not fixated on a set agenda, platform, or hard line stances.  Instead, the party would be based on approaches.  By approaches I mean how they approach the political process.  So instead of being pro this or anti that, they are pro discussion, on every issue.  Meaning that for every single issue that is brought before their legislative body they will grapple with one by one.  This would be different then their approach now that appears to be snap judgments grounded in their stances.

The Background:  I don't care if my representatives are pro-life or pro-choice.  What I want them to be is willing to sit down and actually debate the issues as opposed to handing them all over to their staffers that cover that portfolio of issues.  It appears to me that in Congress and many local legislative bodies that on each issue that comes to the floor, everyone's mind is already made up and the only reason people's positions change is a result of political moves made for future gain.   Whether it does or does not happen it never seems like legislative bodies ever really sit down and actually debate the issues.  Maybe I am old fashioned but I would like to see the Congress of today sitting in their respective chambers and debating the way I imagined our founding fathers did at the Constitutional Convention.

Focus on greek staffers to get the Collegiate Housing & Infrastructure Act passed

The Idea:  Instead of lobbying congressmen to pass the Collegiate Housing & Infrastructure act, we should instead focus on staff members that are greek alumni. 

The Background:  I would be willing to bet that well over 50% of the congressmen on Capitol Hill have staff members that are greek.  More importantly, from my experience in meeting with so many staff members for fund raising for Sigma Nu, I know that these staff members often are the ones that make the decisions for the Congressmen on how they will vote.  I bet if each of the NIC, NPC, & NPHC groups were to run their databases to see who they have listed on file that work on Capitol Hill it would be mind boggling.  Then just by a simple effort to contact each of these staffers and ask to speak with them instead of the Congressmen we could easily pick up dozens of sponsors and supporters for the bill.

The Possibility:  Once an effort is made to reach out to these greek staffers and get their Congressmen to sponsor the bill we could easily find someone to then introduce the bill into congress. 

Philanthropy & Community Service Mega Mall

The Idea:  Use the convenience that capitalism has taught us in going to shopping malls to knock out several needs at once and apply that to philanthropy and community service.  Create a facility much like a mall and stuff it with as many great organizations and needs you can imagine.  Have a huge drop off area for Goodwill, Salvation Army, Kidney Foundation, and any other charitable thrift stores.  Have bins all over the place to drop off your old cell phones to give to the Battered Women's Shelter, glasses to the Lion's Club, and car tires & batteries to be recycled.  As wall paper and displays through out the facility have head shots of all the children that have been abducted.  Have donation centers to donate blood, platelets, and bone marrow with reward cards sponsored by real stores for regular donors.  Have kiosks to finger print and make ID's for your children, learn safety tips and sign up for Amber alerts.  Have every coin operated toy, moving animal, and fountain you can imagine to make donations in.   Have information sessions for all the various  places to volunteer time in town.  Have a place to adopt pets.