America sits at a crossroads.  The country, while not bankrupt, is reeling from the financial meltdown of 2008, the implosion of home equity, trillions in spending with nothing to show for it and a jobs picture which is bleak at best.  On top of that, we have been downgraded by S&P with Moody’s and Fitch evaluating the country’s debt further in context of their own ratings.  And finally, we see an administration which has divided the electorate, vilified businesses and business leaders all the while proposing the growth of new regulations and an ever expanding federal bureaucracy. 

As the president sought to calm the markets on Tuesday, we saw a steep sell off.  And in closing his speech, we heard that we need to extend unemployment benefits while also maintaining the withholding tax holiday on paychecks. 

Americans, for their part, believe that the rich should be taxed more, even while 51% of all Americans pay no income tax.  And somehow, they see the entitlement picture as being their right.  In the end, our problems are driven not only by the enormous budget deficits and debt but by the immorality of the generational theft that few Americans will admit.

So where are the bold ideas?  Where is the declaration that we will reach the moon within a decade?  Where are the leaders who would call for real change while addressing jobs, budgets and entitlements?  If you listen carefully, you will likely only hear the chirping of crickets. 

A new Rasmussen poll states that 17% say U.S. Government has consent of the governed.  Worse, Congress now holds a 10% approval rating.  In considering our tenuous economic and moral situation, what are we to do?  What could help move America out of this fiscal and social morass while creating the opportunity for America’s best days being ahead of us?  I have a few prescriptions for change.  They are bold, actionable, yet not without challenge.  Let’s see what “king for a day” would do to move us forward.

How can we create jobs? 

First, roll back regulations and restrictions on coal, oil and gas exploration and mining.  Fast track opening of tar sands, shale oil, gulf drilling, ANWAR and the artic.  The industry employs directly or indirectly over 10 million jobs.  Forget the nonsense about global warming.  We have over 14 million people unemployed.  The fast tracking of exploration and development of these resources not only creates high paying jobs and ancillary opportunities, but begins to really address our dependency on imported energy.  Source: Where Does Our Fuel Come From

Not only would the aforementioned initiative create one million jobs by industry analysts, but the Federal government would receive fees for leases, permitting and other related activities as well as new tax revenue.  Source: Oil & Gas Industry Creates Jobs

Second, fast track approval of refinery development and power generation, including coal, gas and oil, will create construction jobs, technical jobs and support hiring while also making sure the United States has sufficient energy for the 21^st century and beyond.  We must dispose of the notion that we need to worry about global warming now while our people suffer.  There is no excuse for allowing these restrictions to continue.  These jobs don’t move to India or China! Source: Coal Is No Longer On The Front Lines

Third, reverse Sarbanes Oxley (the last financial legislative act that was supposed to make sure a meltdown didn’t happen again), terminate Dodd-Frank and kill Obamacare, although with the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, we may just have to indicate DNR on the chart!  Also, reign in the EPA, OSHA and the NLRB which have become regulatory nightmares for any and all businesses in the US.  Why would you want to deal with these regulatory bodies when it’s much easier to go elsewhere with fewer restrictions, even in Communist China!  Source: Sarbanes-Oxley Failed

These actions could easily reduce the estimated $1.75 trillion in regulatory costs to the economy while making it easier to create new business, deploy that capital in productive investment and renew the United States’ position as a country in which it is easy to do business.  Again, this effort would actually save the government money by reducing the bureaucracy necessary to maintain the enforcement of this regulatory regime.  Source: Red Tape Rises Again

How do we address our deficit/debt?

First, require all non-military federal employees, including the legislative and executive branches, to pay at least fifty-percent of their health & welfare in matching contributions for those benefits.  Not only will this approach have a profound impact on costs to the federal government and therefore taxpayers, but it will deal with the impending shortfalls in funding these public sector plans in the future.

Second, move the country to the Fair Tax.  With nearly seventy legislators co-sponsoring this bill, we need to aggressively make the change to allow for a reasoned and reasonable approach to taxation.  Not only will this save billions in preparation and compliance, but it will deal with the operational needs of government, incent business behavior while also allowing people to control their taxes through their purchasing habits and big ticket buys.  Most of all, eliminating the complex tax system under which we now labor would also largely eliminate the extensive lobbying efforts to modify and obtain various benefits for businesses or other constituent organizations.  Source: Debating the Pros & Cons of the Fair Tax

Third, pass the Cut, Cap & Balance Act.  Reduce the size of government and move towards a cap on spending as a percent of GDP.  The Congress and the President of both parties simply won’t resist the desire to grow government while increasing their spending.  Source: Cut, Cap & Balance Act

Fourth, rationalize the Federal government.  The Department of Energy, Department of Education, Commerce Department, Health & Human Services, Agriculture Department along with the EPA, OSHA and the NLRB represent a 19^th century model, not a 21^st century administration. 

Why is it that these agencies and departments continue to grow?  Why do they have overlapping authorities and objectives as detailed in the government’s own budget summaries?  And how in a modern economy should they behave to reflect global competition and a global workplace?  Eliminating the Department of Education and pushing dollars back to the local school systems is perfectly logical.  The federalization of our educational system simply doesn’t add value. The federalization of our education system does not allow for innovation or adaptation to local demographics.  And as SAT scores continue to drop, what is the DOE doing?  Source: SAT Scores Continue to Fall

 This is only one example of many along these lines of reasoning that we should take in making the changes to the federal bureaucracy. 

What about Social Security & Medicare and the social welfare net for our neediest?

First, Chile provides a good example of moving social security to a private model.  We don’t eliminate those in the program but move to the private model over time.  The current approach is simply unsustainable in context of the baby boomers hitting retirement and the current IOU status of $2.5 trillion dollars in social security funding from the federal government.  Source: The Chilean Experience

Second, Paul Ryan has provided a good model for modifying Medicare.  Again, no one in the current system moves out of that system.  We really need to have a debate about a modified voucher system allowing for individuals to control their own purchase decisions based on their requirements.  The Ryan budget approach certainly provides food for thought.  We buy home, auto and life insurance.  Why would we be any less able to acquire the appropriate health insurance as we get older?  The argument is of course emotional, but if we cannot afford the projected costs of fifty percent of our federal budget for the current program, what’s the use?  We can choose to modify the program or be forced to modify the program by bankrupting it when failure is imminent.  Source: Top 10 Reasons to Support Ryan’s Medicare Plan

Third, use block grants to move Medicaid funds to the states.  Allow them to address their local needs within the context of their demographics and deal with the actual healthcare requirements of their poorest citizens.  This approach not only allows the states to innovate but to also address the problem with “one size fits all” that typifies federal programs.  Source: Medicaid Block Grants

And what about society generally?

Ok, now here comes the one bit of social policy I will prescribe.  No amount of money is going to correct for the amount of single parent families and the poverty and developmental problems this creates in educational outcome.  This does not mean that all single parent families are failures or that children from single family households can’t succeed.  It is simply a fact that the research finds that these households are at greatest risk in terms of poverty, lower educational success and delayed emotional development in general.  Source: Living Arrangements & Child Social Outcomes

While mixed families and transitional arrangements tend to see improved outcomes, the traditional mother and father working with their children has the greatest propensity for success.  The current report on births in the USA stated that 4.5 million children were born in the country last year.  Over 40% were to single mothers!  While some choose to have children and simply live together (think Hollywood), most are out of wedlock births.  Source: Four In Ten Born Out of Wedlock 

So with such staggering statistics evident in our society, what is my prescription?  Well, first, get the message out and share the statistics.  Second, continue to invest in outcome based education such as the “No Child Left Behind Act”, but do so through the local school board where approaches can be tailored to the student population.  Third, encourage marriage and the family – stop accepting the current behaviors and promote the traditional family as a source of benefit to children.  Divorce is too easy and men are too eager to ditch their responsibilities.  For until we unite financial, moral and spiritual elements of education and family development, these trends will result in further degradation to our children’s lives and their success – at school and in their adult life!

So there it is – my domestic agenda and my specific actions if I were king – I mean president.  It is an alternate vision to this country over the current track President Obama is taking us.  Each of these ideas can be personally felt, determined in the household and evaluated in context of your own life and outcomes.  There is little ambiguity here and it is a transparent approach to those things that have motivated the American dream for centuries – self-worth, self-action, collective creativity and a unified nation through its traditional family structure.  Would it work? Can’t tell you for we not even get to try.  But ask yourself this one question, if these recommendations took place immediately, would you do better financially, would job opportunities in energy, manufacturing, health care increase, would your family be better off financially, would you feel more secure about your future and would you appreciate the value placed on your family and its values?