The problem is the solutions to our problems won't be anything people will support because it will be hard. First and foremost, the federal government needs to be reduced significantly. Let me give you one example - the Department of Education. The U.S. spends more per capita than any other country on education, but perform worse that most of the industrialized world in math and science competence, from kindergarten through the 12th grade. So clearly our problem isn't that we don't spend enough. Moreover, where is education funding collected? as part of your locally collected property taxes, correct? Perhaps we would be better served if that money never leaves the state and each state manages their own education system without Federal bureaucracy - which is also funded by your education dollars. We can cut education taxes by 20% and get better results simply by cutting out the federal government.'
I can tell you that my litmus test would be constitutional authority for a government agency. Department of Defense, retained. Department of Agriculture, dissolved. Department of Justice, retained. etc. There are some important functions with the Dept of Agriculture that we would need to keep such as food safety, but those could be performed by the Dept of Commerce which would be retained also. The goal would be to cut the federal government by more than 50%. Eliminate unconstitutional and extra-constitutional agencies, reduce redundancies, reduce regulations, and restore traditional states rights.
On the military side of things, its time to reassess our overseas commitments. We have troops stations based on WWII commitments and Cold War threats. Time to let our allies shoulder the burden for their own security. We don't need bases in Western Europe anymore. Time to close them all, bring our troops home and realign active duty troop levels.
While we're at it, dissolve NATO. It has never lived up to its ideals and there are NATO members that have never fulfilled their obligations. Another international organization that has never quite lived up to its vision is the UN. I would invite the UN to relocate to Brussels and greatly curtail financial support for that international debating society.
Military adventurism needs to end. Repeal the War Powers Act. The US only puts troops in harm's way with a declaration of war.
Economically, we are held hostage by OPEC. Time to end that. We open up ANWAR and the coasts to oil drilling - to US companies. Not BP, Brazil or China, but US oil producers. We also have to embrace nuclear power. Frace is an excellent example of how it can be done safely.
Which brings us to taxes. Two flat taxes - a national sales tax and a flat income tax. Everyone pays from the bottom to the top at the same percentage. No loopholes, and nothing more than the standard deduction permitted.
More tough love?
Welfare is ended. No able bodied American should collect a check from Uncle Sam without working for it. Workfare will replace welfare. Instead of welfare sucking off the GDP of the US, Workfare will increase the GDP.
The minimum wage will be lowered. Like it or not, we're competing in a global economy and the cost of unskilled labor in the US is too high. $7.25/hr for flipping burgers is ridiculous. Time to be more realistic. We can't keep reassign the minimum wage and complain about companies moving overseas. Do we not realize we're causing this?
Social Security - time for the elderly to realize a harsh truth - you allowed your saving to be spent by your government. Its not there. And you can't expect the next generation to pay for your mistake by working until they're 70 so you can retire at 65. Its morally wrong. To do so will create a cycle where the next germination is a wage slave to the previous. I'm sorry, but your benefits are going to have to be cut. The government cannot be your primary means of support. That duty now falls to your family where, frankly, it should always have been.
This is what we need to restore our financial health. Do you really see the US with the stomach for this? Do you think Americans are ready to care for their elderly parents instead of the government? My grandparents' generation could have done it. As the children of WWI and the adults of The Great Depression and WWII, they understood common sacrifice.
We don't possess a 1/10th of their greatness. We will not accept reality. We will not accept the sacrifices that are required to solve our problems. We've lied to ourselves about our greatness to the point where we believe it. We think we're a nation of destiny, the shining light of freedom when the reality is we're slaves to our debt, selling our nation piecemeal to our greatest threat - China.
The Egyptian empire fell. Greece gave way to history. Roman fell into a decline of its own making. Britannia allowed the sun to set on it. America will soon reach its zenith, if it hasn't already.
