As this president continually implodes and our liberties shrink and shrink and shrink along with the economy in favor of the state’s increasing size, the next president whoever is it (preferably Rand Paul) has a lot on the plate in terms of reigning in govt spending, growth, taxes, civil liberties violations, overseas interventions etc. Here’s my top ten goals for what the president must do.
1. Repeal Obamacare and revitalize free market healthcare
Wherever socialized medicine has been tried whether it’s the UK or Canada, it has been disaster and Obamacare is turning out that way. It must be repealed and make way for genuine healthcare reforms such as insurance across state lines, tort reform etc in order for the free market to be viable in the healthcare sector again which really hasn’t been for at least 5 decades. A real free market in healthcare (for as much as the left will pout otherwise) will push costs down and quality of care will go up. Places such as the Surgery Center in my own Oklahoma are thriving outside the govt monopolized healthcare system.
2. Repeal Dodd-Frank
The love child of former Sen. Chris Dodd of CT and former Rep. Barney Frank of MA, while it makes sense on the surface, once you dig in it’s total blabber. It intends to stop the kind of risky behavior that the govt has been threatening banks and loaners to do for the past decade thanks to Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. Must be repealed and then govt must completely withdraw from the financial sector.
3. Eliminate the Federal Reserve
As a starting point, Sen. Rand Paul has been pushing to audit it though any bill of such has been blocked by Dipshit Harry when he was in charge (despite that every bill passing the House did so with broad support from both parties; then this). Though now that the GOP has control it seems more than likely to pass the Senate chamber at last and there’s similar legislation in the House introduced by Thomas Massie of KY. But ultimately the goal should be eliminating the Fed outright. Since its inception, it’s been nothing but disaster after disaster. Let there be a competition of currencies as there once was.
4. A Seriously Reformed Foreign Policy Direction
The past two presidents have been intervening in one foreign conflict after another. From the Iraq War, to the Libyan war (without congressional approval and made Benghazi possible), to (almost) going into Syria without congressional approval. The Iraq War made the rise of barbaric ISIS possible which admittedly I’m unenthusiastically in favor of bombing the hell out of them while letting the Iraqi and Kurdish forces take care of them on the ground. One of the things I’m most disgusted by this president is his snubbing of the only true ally in the Middle East Israel. Admittedly this is a subject that’s of hot debate in libertarian circles so I’ll write a whole column on that another time. Another matter is Cuba where I’m split on Obama’s ending of the embargo. I am fully in favor of lifting it, though the way Obama is going about it without any serious demands for reform has me with distaste. Next president’s job is to go for a true reform route with Cuba.
5. Eliminate the FAILED Drug War
The ideal outcome of the drug war was that drug use would go down. But the complete opposite happened as always does when you ban something. Drug use and drug trafficking has gone up. In states like CO which have legalized recreational marijuana, crime has since gone down along with drug use. Though the DEA is interested still interested intervening with states that want to allow medical marijuana and more so under this administration than the last despite Obama’s promise deescalate the drug war. Thankfully the House last year passed a bill for the first time that would prohibit the Justice Department and the DEA from interfering with states wanting allow medical or recreational marijuana with 49 Republicans voting with a vast majority of Democrats. Rand Paul too has been spouting that dialogue in the Senate and along with Cory Booker has introduced legislation that would dramatically reform mandatory minimums which is an essential element to the drug war. The next president should take the opportunity to eliminate the drug war outright and the DEA.
6. Eliminate the Department of Education
Seriously, why do we have a federal education department? What good has it done? All it’s done is shit. Since its inception in the late 70s, scores among students nationwide have remained flat despite more and more spending. And then was NCLB and Common Core which have convoluted matters further. Eliminate any federal law having to do with education. Leave it to the states!
7. Eliminate the EPA
Unlike other useless departments, the EPA did come into existence for a legitimate reason. When it did, pollution was horrible. Rivers constantly caught on fire and sewage wasn’t properly handled. Though since everything has improved. No major river has caught fire for over 45 years now and the water from your faucet drinkable in most parts of the country. In a sane world, EPA would’ve stuck a fork in it and declared its job done. But bureaucracies once they come into existence never go away or stop what they’re doing. And like almost everything in this administration it’s only gotten worse. EPA has actually tried to force families off their properties because they have what looks like a wetland. Your job has been way past done. Time for you to go.
8. Eliminate the NSA (or at least the spy data collecting program)
The intelligence community has actually admitted that they don’t need data collection to prevent terrorist attacks. So why’s there need of it? Govt bureaucrats gotta have something to do I guess. Why not spy on hundreds of millions of people? One of the big promises of ’07-08 Obama was to reign in the NSA’s spying program and was quite prolific in his criticisms of George W. Bush. But to the contrary it’s gotten WORSE. The spy program is on steroids compared to the Bush years. And we only know now thanks to Edward Snowden. Time to eliminate the whole NSA department (or at least the spy program).
9. Repeal the Patriot Act
Like the NSA, it’s only a mass violation of our 4th amendment protections. Recently it was renewed, though there was a (failed) proposal to reign in the spying program introduced by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Pat Leahy (D-VT). The most vocal opponents of it were Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul though for starkly different reasons. Rubio said it would “jeopardize” our national security while Paul said it didn’t go far enough wanted the whole act repealed. Next time it comes up for approval, the liberty movement needs to make a serious effort for its permanent end which will probably be under a new president.
10. Eliminate the IRS (along with that repeal of the 16th)
The more scandals coming out of the IRS, the more reason to eliminate this corrupt agency. Admittedly the hardest of the ten goals listed, but it’s too important to pass over. The income tax is essentially legal theft. A way for the govt to use your money for nefarious purposes it desires. The best way to go about this is through constitutional convention. And with that the 17th amendment too (direct election of Senators). If both were repealed then the federal govt would almost overnight go back within the confines of the constitution.
It’s essential that we tackle these challenges to advance liberty and the constitution once again. Electing a president who champions liberty would be a huge start.
What did you think? Is there anything to improve upon? Let me know in the comments below. Have a great day and God bless!
Crosspost from Liberty.me.
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