-
Reduce Foreign Intervention. While
remaining the strongest country in the world militarily, the U.S. needs
to retract from its tremendous involvement and, in many cases, meddling,
in foreign affairs. History shows us that empires don’t last. The U.S.
is a quasi empire. We need to substantially reduce our number of foreign
military bases - we now have approximately 700 bases in more than 130 countries. Most of the
bases should be closed. The CIA
prisons and “Gitmo” must be eliminated. Habeas corpus must be restored.
The Patriot Act needs to be changed so that it applies only to persons
reasonably suspected of terrorism. Much of our current actions serve
certain private interests while causing expansion of terrorism and
creation of new enemies. On Iraq, let’s offer this alternative: We will
either help split Iraq into three (3) countries or we will leave.
National Security
Bigger Army? Pols march to wrong beat. Article by: Andrew J.
Bacevich
-
Solve the Current Illegal Immigration
Problem and Strictly Enforce a Reasonable Immigration Policy. A
reasonable immigration policy needs to be strictly enforced. Illegal
immigration needs to be stopped, and significantly penalizing employers
is the primary mechanism to do so.
A
reasonable immigration policy and a solution to the illegal immigration
problem
-
Solve the Financial Problems. As soon
as possible, the massive financial problems of the country need to be
solved on both a short-term and long-term basis. The annual deficits are
causing the apple to be eaten down to its core. Except for years when a
significant recession exists, under a greatly simplified individual
income tax system, a common tax rate should be tied to spending to
annually balance the budget. According to a 2007 report of the U.S.
Government Accountability Office, the debts and the present value of
unfunded commitments of the U.S., exclusive of military, Medicaid and
ordinary government services, total $50.5 Trillion, while the total net
worth of all U.S. households equals $53.3 Trillion.
Solutions
to Financial Problems
GAO 2008 Action is Needed to Avoid the Possibility of a Serious Economic
Disruption in the Future (PDF)
GAO Summary of fiscal problems
(PDF)
GAO Article - Fiscal Stewardship: A Critical Challenge Facing Our Nation
(PDF)
The Fair Tax
The Social Security Hypocrisy
Upcoming Generational Struggle article (PDF)
Roth 401(k) article (PDF)
How Deficits
Impact Individuals
Wainwright Economics article,
The Capitalist Perspective: The Threatening Mountain of Federal Debt (PDF)
GAO article on state and local problems (PDF)
-
Solve the Health Care Problems.
Currently, employers, employees and the government (i.e. everyone) pay
for substantially all health care services. The health care system needs
to be changed by promoting competition and incentive to control costs,
and requiring people who receive services to pay for the services
received. A single payer system (i.e. socialized medicine) is not the
answer.
Health care proposal
CBO letter - Peter_Orszag - Re: Health Care (PDF)
Donald J. Boudreaux article. The way to better, cheaper healthcare:
Don't make it a human right (PDF)
-
Protect the Environment. The
environment needs to be protected to preserve our country for future
generations, and a push for hydrogen fuel and other clean-burning
renewable fuels will solve many problems.
The
Environment and Energy
BWM working with NASA to run cars on hydrogen (Hydrogen
Article – Greenville News) (PDF)
Excerpt from Spring 2008 My Ford Magazine (PDF)
-
Drop Education Involvement. Other than
providing low interest rate loans for college, the Federal Government’s
involvement in education needs to cease.
Education
-
Protect Civil Liberties. Civil
liberties need to be protected, with curtailment only to the extent
necessary to protect citizens and lawful residents, property and the
environment. The war on drugs has not worked, so let’s consider other
options.
Drug Policy
-
Restore the Balance of Powers. The
traditional separation of powers needs to be restored, with significant
penalties for people responsible for enforcing the laws who fail to do
so for political reasons. Laws need to be enacted to prevent deceptions
and create honesty in government so as to prevent mistakes such as the
invasion of Iraq.
-
Shrink the Government. The Federal
Government needs to be downsized, and some departments need to be
eliminated. Government pay needs to be made competitive (i.e. some
government employees are overpaid given the security of their positions)
and government employee benefits need to be reduced to be more in line
with private sector benefits.
Downsizing
Government
-
Localize Local Problems. Local
problems that are reasonably foreseeable, such as a hurricane hitting
the Gulf Coast, and problems that are very likely to happen in time,
such as a major earthquake hitting San Francisco, need to be handled and
funded locally. The bridge to Nowhere should be funded by the people of Nowhere.
-
Simplify the Laws. At least for small
businesses, laws (especially tax laws) and regulations should be
simplified.
The Economy and Foreign Competition
