What would you do, if you were the President of the United States and had a magic political wand to change things for the better? I definitely know what I would do.
Congress:
My first move would be to take all the cameras out of the capital building. No C-SPAN, no press conferences, no cameras or broadcast microphones in committee hearings. You say wait, what about the transparency and sunshine? I say that there is no transparency or sunshine, currently. Decisions are made behind closed doors. The cameras only serve to inhibit government. Our elected representatives spend countless hours in front of the C-SPAN cameras bloviating and posturing with no one in the chamber. In committee they make speeches or chide the witnesses without asking meaningful questions. They hold impromptu press conferences with a dozen Congress men and women or Senators huddled around one microphone to have their faces seen on television when an issue, a meeting, or the time of day is announced – they are running for office 24 / 7 and not representing us.
Constitutional Convention:
I would have the states institute a constitutional convention for the repeal of the 17th amendment. That amendment took away states’ rights and has allowed the federal government to explode in size. It took away the election of the Senators by the states’ legislatures and replaced it with the direct popular vote. The states including your state, no longer has the ability to steer our republic to its best interest.
Department of Education:
I would eliminate the Department of Education saving the taxpayers $60 Billion per year in discretionary spending annually. We simply do not need it. Are the PhD’s in the Education Department smarter than the PhD’s in the various state educations departments? Just take $60,000,000,000 less from the states each year. The following is an excerpt from the Department of Education’s web site with a key line underlined: “…That said, it is important to point out that education in America is primarily a State and local responsibility, and ED’s budget is only a small part of both total national education spending and the overall Federal budget, as we explain in a primer on the Federal role in education. In addition to this historical background, we try to demystify the Federal budget process and show how it is carried out in ED…”
Department of Energy:
I would eliminate the Department of Energy. Do you know that it has only been around for a little more than a quarter of a century? In the Carter administration (1977 – 1981) the Department of Energy was charged – wait for it, wait for it – with developing solar energy and replacing fossil fuels with solar and synthetic fuels – looks like money well spent – not! Its discretionary budget is $25,000,000,000, and you don’t want to know its non-discretionary budget. The Department did such a good job that we were paying over $4 per gallon for gas last year.
Now for the serious stuff:
Tarp and Mortgages:
I would not advance any more tarp money to financial institutions. I would recall the stimulus bill. Instead, I would use the funds to pay down every residential primary residence mortgage (a principal payment) to the servicer of the mortgage where the mortgage exceeded 95% or the value of the property, by use of an immediate tax credit as part of the 2008 filing. To apply for the tax credit the taxpayer, owner of the primary residence, would agree to a new tax basis for the home and there would be no exclusion up to $250,000, single or the married filing jointly $500,000 upon sale. The funds would go directly to the financial institution with a first lien on the property. I would tax the capital gain on these homes at 50% of the gain over the basis, collected at closing, when the house is sold. The principal payment would reduce the exposure of the banks to an amount equal to the property value and this would immediately, using mark to market, recapitalize the banks. I would then let those who can not refinance to a better rate and who cannot pay, be on their own for foreclosure.
I would let the banks that are not sufficiently capitalized after the mortgage pay down, go under – yes fold. We have sufficient banks in this country from the community banks to regional banks that can pick up the slack. All those laid off bankers would find work at the banks filling the void.
Banks:
I would issue a moratorium on income taxes for businesses – 0% tax rate in year one (most are going to show a loss with either carry over or carry back deductions anyway, 10% tax rate in year two, and finally 15% tax rate in year three and beyond. This would kick start this economy and not only save jobs, but grow good jobs over time.
Health Insurance:
I would tax all medical benefits from employers and provide a $7,000 tax credit per family for the purchase of health insurance, whether for the employee’s share of the health benefit or the purchase of non-employer provided health insurance. Employers could now get out of the medical insurance business and be on a par with businesses throughout the world. The tax reduction and the removal of the medical insurance burden would spur US produced trade and would immediately allow the re-propagation of our industrial production to the world again.
Now, I will rest. It was a busy first day.
