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Friday, March 15, 2024

71 Items on America's To-Do List

Back in 2014, I posted an article called 56 Items on America’s To-Do List.  I’m noticing a lot of clicks on that post recently. However, when I look it over, I’d like to modify and improve it. So, here’s a quick edit.

For Starters:

  1. Disband the North Atlantic Terrorist Organization.  

  2. We need to defund UN, WHO and all the NGOs that are facilitating illegal alien invasions of EU, US and Canada

  3. End the war on Americans, particularly the war on white persons and Conservatives

  4. End and abandon our wars against Syria, Iran, China and Russia.  End all wars and MUCH MORE below

  5. Eliminate any and all discrimination of against the (still) majority white population.

  6. Eliminate any “affirmative action” hiring starting at the White House. All hiring and admissions in the nation  MUST be based on merit. There can’t be racial preferences anywhere in American life–just qualifications. Eliminate ANY discrimination including reverse discrimination.

  7. Reduce troop levels around the world. Downsize all branches of the US military.

  8. Cut 50% of the Fed bureaucracy. See below

  9. Get money out of politics.  Go with all Federal money for national campaigns--no private contributions should be permitted. Ban lobbyist money too. Ban SuperPacs.  Just say no.  Make all contributions to national politicians illegal but budget funds at the national level for political campaigns.

  10. Term limits for all members of Congress

Reform or End the Federal Reserve

  1. End the dual mandate and reform the Federal Reserve now -- before the next crisis. Alternatively eliminate the Federal Reserve. If retained, their sole function should be to maintain zero inflation and be a lender of last resort only and then at penalty interest rates. There should be No additional mandate to maintain “growth.”  See Booms and Busts Due to the Federal Reserve.  Our current rules mean that general price levels NEVER fall; ONLY rise.  

  2. Forbid never-ending money printing program at the Federal Reserve putting Trillions of dollars in the hands of the top 0.1% and 0.01%.  Ending the Federal Reserve would do this.

  3. Outlaw ZIRP policy now (Zero interest rate policy): The shortest term interest rate must be maintained at the prevailing inflation rate with a minimum of 1% and no lower.

Energy Reforms

  1. Eliminate the stupid and phony ruling that Carbon Dioxide is "harmful or a threat to human health" since it's actually required for human and plant life and not harmful like sulfur dioxide or nitrous oxides. Global warming is real but not a crisis. The EPA is out of control.  The clean air act is being highly misused.  

  2. End all government programs and/or direct or tax subsidies for so-called “Green Energy.” Government must not financially support any project that is based on reducing carbon emissions. Government policy to reduce CO2 must be made illegal.  This will end the Green New Scam.

  3. Begin a national campaign to encourage and further adopt Small Modular, Thorium or Latest Generation Nuclear reactors for our long-term, zero carbon energy supplies.  Affordable fossil fuels will not last forever. 

  4. Eliminate Ethanol subsidies. These subsidies exist because ethanol is not cost-effective (why else would it need subsidies?)   Ethanol doesn't make economic sense compared to petroleum distillates. Stop consuming up to 40% of the corn crop for fuels! Stop the madness! 

Bank Regulation

  1. Re-regulate banks and revert to a super-Glass Steagall act that separates investment banking (high risk) from traditional banking activities. Do this before the next crisis requires more bank bailouts.  Set maximum leverage for both entities at conservative levels. No off-balance sheet items. Bring back "mark to market" accounting. Put most derivatives on exchanges.

  2. Make bankers responsible for any and all bank failures. Pass laws against "financial malfeasance" where, if convicted, banker and entire executive suites would be liable for jail time and salary claw-backs for serious "financial malfeasance."  If a bank requires government assistance, then the entire executive suite and board should be tried in court for financial malfeasance and face possible jail time.  That will do wonders!  You don't need Dodd Frank if you're willing to jail bad bankers.

Tax Reform Ideas

  1. Lower the corporate tax to something like 10 to 15% but make it a flat tax; everyone pays 10% or something like that.  

  2. Maybe all taxpayers should pay 5 or 10% minimum flat tax; both rich and poor and no exceptions.  

  3. Admit that wealthy americans will have to contribute to Medicare at higher thresholds

Social Engineering

  1. Eliminate Federal laws against marijuana possession.  See my blog: It's Time to Legalize Marijuana.  Legalize and tax marijuana. Take power away from Mexican cartels, Empty prisons by releasing those with simple marijuana possession charges. 

  2. Create an alternate path for students who are unable to do well in ‘academic’ high school. About half of minority  students don't have the intellectual capability to graduate our current "academic" high schools----so let's create a "vocational high school" path for young people who can not graduate an "academic" high school.  It should all be voluntary. The vocational option might appeal to even more young people who are doing fine in our high schools, as currently defined. Think “shop class” on steroids. The vocational option might appeal to even more young people who are doing fine in our high schools, as currently defined.

Downsize Federal Government and Reduce Govt Spending

  1. Downsize or basically eliminate the NSA.  Eliminate Homeland security. Repeal the Patriot Act.  Our government can't be trusted to prevent malfeasance, mission creep and "security" agencies running roughshod over our constitutional rights.  

  2. Reform Social Security in light of Demographic shift and longer life expectancy.  In the 1930s, there were some 40 workers per S.S. beneficiary, now it's 3 workers to each beneficiary -- heading to 2 to 1.   Right now, there's nothing but red ink as far as the eye can see -- totally unsustainable.

  3. Change the focus of the NSA to the monitoring of all the financial transactions, emails, and phone calls of our national politicians and bureaucrats to enforce the ban on contributions to national politicians

  4. Downsize the EPA once the Green New Deal scam is gone.

  5. Cut much of the Agriculture DeptEliminate most of the current programs per Cato Institute suggestions,  Subsidies to corporate farmers has never made sense.  Devolve the food stamp and food subsidies to the States. 

  6. End Electric car subsidies to wealthy people who buy $100,000 electric cars (Tesla and Fisker cars cost $100k),

  7. Cut Agricultural sudsidies to corporate farms.   Stop corporate welfare!  

  8. Better yet, kill the Department of Agriculture!  It really should be called the Department of Food Stamps.  Devolve food stamp money to the States.

  9. Cut Defense Department spending per Cato Institute suggestions. We don't need troops in 170 countries. Military procurement has been a boondoogle for decades.  Veterans retirement benefits are very generous and expensive.

  10. Downsize Commerce Department per Cato Institute suggestions

  11. Eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development per Cato Institute Suggestions.

  12. Cut Mortgage subsidies (tax credits) for mostly wealthy or well-off people to finance their homes and even multi-million dollar McMansions,  These tax subsidies should be limited!  

  13. End the Education department.  Sending money to Washington DC for them to re-allocate it doesn't make sense.   End the entire department and dismantle all of it's programs! Cost savings: $106 billion each year.

  14. Kill the Energy Department who brought you Solyndra and countless other wasteful boondoggles. End it per Cato Institute suggestions! Private enterprise is entirely capable of providing funding for energy research. Privatize the Strategic Petroleum storage program. Put defense related expenditures in the Defense budget.  Cost savings: $38 billion per year.

  15. Downsize the Health and Human Services Dept. . HHS spending is over 1/4 of the total federal spending or $900 Billion per year.  It's Cut many of the programs that the Cato Institute recommends.

  16. Reduce Medicare and Medicaid fraud  Fraud costs an estimated at up to 10 to 20% or up to $150 billion in fraud.  Go to the block grant to the states per the Paul Ryan budget.  There is some chance that States might root out that fraud which is exactly why no one wants to do this!

  17. Repeal 1931 Bacon Davis Act and 1935 National Labor Relations Act. The extra cost of union requirements in Federal projects is huge.  Stop it!  Pass a National Right-to-Work act.  See the Cato Inst write-up on reforming Labor Markets

  18. Substantially Dismantle the Department of Labor.  Devolve the $131 Billion Unemployment Insurance program to the states.  Eliminate job training programs, job corps, trade adjustment services per Cato Institute suggestions

  19. Stop the rapid rise in SS Disability payments and beneficiaries:  Disability program enrollments soared after easing of rules allowing claims of "mental distress" or "mood disorders."  Tighten standards back to where they were before Obama was elected.  

  20. Stop Sugar industry price support.  They are a complicated combination of import restrictions, production quotas and a kind of guaranteed prices.   The US government makes sugar prices higher than world prices and drives candy-making businesses to Canada and Mexico taking factory jobs with it! , Stop it!

  21. Sell the FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. Let banks make home loans like they used to do. Get the government out of the mortgage business. Government has "taken control" of nearly the entire mortgage market, leaving banks taking "hedge fund" risks for profitability.

  22. End Federal guarantees for student loans and end Sallie Mae.  Let local and regional banks make such loans at an interest rate that reflects reality and each individual situation. Get the government out of the student loan 'business'.

  23. End public unions at Federal and State levels. Even FDR agreed that unions didn't belong in Government.  Pass nationwide 'right to work' law.  Scrap Bacon-Davis Act.  Total compensation for Federal workers is now some 40% higher than the private sector. End that.

  24. Cut public employee costs; kill defined benefit plans for public workers and scrap Davis-Bacon and all prevailing wage laws for public workers.  (hat tip to Mike Shedlock at  Global Economic Analysis Blogsite)

  25. Pass national "right to work" laws to allow individuals true freedom to join or not join unions.

  26. Freeze Federal employees salaries and reduce benefits which have ballooned 45% higher than similar jobs in the private sector. Do this across the board.

  27. Eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for mortgages for well-off taxpayers (at least) and eliminate the preferred capital gains treatment for house sales.

Entitlement Reform

  1. Consider replacing the Medicaid system with substantial "premium support" and outright vouchers so that people shop for their own policies.  Government expenditure increases should be fixed or limited rather than open-ended.   

  2. Reform Social Security in light of Demographic shift and longer life expectancy.  In the 1930s, there were some 40 workers per S.S. beneficiary, now it's 3 workers to each beneficiary -- heading to 2 to 1.   Right now, there's nothing but red ink as far as the eye can see -- totally unsustainable.

Reform Medical (or Sick-) Care in the Country

  1. REALLY reform our country's health insurance marketplace to end the current cost spiral and our path to hell and improve portability.  With ObamaCare, we've doubled-down on a broken system.  Also see here on why States and Federal government spending are driving up health care costs.  

  2. Reform the entitlements of Medicaid and Medicare in light of the demographic shift taking place. Now there are only 3 persons working to support 1 beneficiary--headed to 2 to 1.  It used to be 5 workers per beneficiary in the 1960s (16 to 1 at inception).  Right now, there's nothing but red ink for all entitlements as far as the eye can see -- totally unsustainable. Social Security and Medicare now show $25 Trillion and $28 Trillion of future deficits (unfunded liabilities).

  3. Give the States "block grants" of money to spending on Medicaid and Medicare.  Cap the growth of these Federal entitlements to 2% or less.  Let the States spend the money and take steps to better take care of their citizens.  State money would be added onto Federal money as is seen fit by each State.  Devolve power back to the States where it belongs.    Limiting government expenditures would truly slow medical cost inflation.  Pass Tort reform in the States to reduce medical costs.

  4. Encourage more supply of medical professionals including physicians assistants and internet doctors.

  5. "Bust the trusts" of AMA and Big Pharma: outsource drug supply via worldwide bidding and graduate more doctors.

  6. Allow pharmacists to dispense most medicine without a doctor's prescription.  Pharmacists can handle most issues and they know when they don't know enough.

  7. Shift individuals to their own medical policies and away from employer coverage (making them portable) by giving them the expense deductibility rather than corporations.  

  8.  Further encourage/expand medical savings plans which allow for more high-deductible policies (people paying more of their bills; questioning pricing and demanding the lowest price, more "skin in the game"),

  9. Transition sick people without coverage and having pre-existing conditions to high risk pools with state and federal government support.

Corporate and Banking Reform

  1. We need the "fresh air" of shareholder democracy at our corporations.  Pass rules that shareholders must approve executive pay packages including stock options, etc. Complete disclosure of pay packages must be made for shareholder vote.  Pass laws that major investors like public pension funds must be on the Boards of Directors (by law).

  2. Bring back the Glass-Steagall (or similar) and repeal Dodd-Frank (it's already 5200 pages and not finished nor completely implemented) and  separation of regular banking from investment banking.  Limit leverage in both "regular" banks and "investment" banks to 12 to 14 times capital (ie.,conservative).

  3. No off-balance sheet items on any earnings report from corporations (and banks)---make everything clearly stated on the balance sheet and shareholder reports (and filings with the government regulators). 

  4. Put all derivatives on exchanges and have banks/investment houses mark-to-market all hedging positions at the end of each day.

A Rational Immigration Reforms for Our Country

  1. Reform our immigration system by Instituting a point-based immigration system similar to Canada's immigration system.  ALL applicants could apply to various categories of immigration and be admitted through quotas and ranked objectively by a point system.  Illegal and undocumented Latinos already in the US should be required to register and should be given a one year visa (with permission to work) then given consideration only through the point-ranking system. Speaking English, education and skills should be significant sources of "points" for most categories other than "agricultural worker" or "unskilled laborer." See Bring On an Immigration Point System and Canadian Immigration System is Far Superior to the US.

  2. Expand immigration from Developed areas of the world and less from 3rd World Nationalities.

  3. Invite foreign graduate students, master's and doctoral candidates, to immigration interviews.

  4. Expand immigration under the Point System for those proficient in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

  5. Allow local law enforcement in the States to check immigration documentation during routine law enforcement. This will appropriately send a message that we are tough on illegal immigration.

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