Solving the Problems
I intend to outline here some potential solutions. I do not, however, claim that these are precisely the means for resolution nor that they can be done in exactly this order or by these methods. They are potential solutions and serve as ideas which counter the notion that no solutions are possible. Perhaps they will stimulate some thinking outside the box. I refuse to accept that no solution exists for ANY problem.
All my life I have found that you will eventually be forced to do what works...if you persevere long enough. I believe the founders looked at all the failures of past governments and figured out what would work. Their plan worked fabulously for a hundred years and then we decided to re-invent the wheel. We abandoned what worked. We are floundering because of it. What should be done is no mystery. We have the plan and the knowledge. We simply must return to what was intended and restore property rights which will return liberty and save the nation.
First, let us look at our energy use and our oil importing. To begin with you must realize that we have all the oil and natural gas in our country that we could ever use. We simply are not drilling or producing it. Next, you need to realize the effect of importing the oil we use. And lastly you should realize the truth about why this unacceptable situation exists when it makes absolutely no sense.
We have oil along all of our coastlines....gulf coast, east coast..and west coast. We have the technology to drill and produce it, but we don't drill it. We have billions of barrels of oil in Alaska, but we do not drill it. The reason we don't is because of a handful of leftist radicals who have taken over the environmental movement and we let this loud mouthed minority shut us down and control our actions.
When we stop drilling in this country and force the nation to import the oil we need we also force American oil companies to drill overseas. In many instances their work, investment, and technology is then nationalized and lost to some third world dictator. The money we spend for the imported oil is used to buy our industries and our infrastructure here at home. They take our money and use it to buy our assets right out from under us. Our wealth is transferred from us to them. We consume and transfer our wealth in a snowballing effect and it undermines the independence of our nation as well as our security.
In a time of national crisis, emergency, or war....we will be at the mercy of those dictators when we cannot supply our own needs. We have been set up to fail. The answer to reducing imports is not to tax the hell out of the American people to discourage using energy. That merely provides more money, taken from Americans, for transfer to third world dictators. The answer to ending our dependence on oil imports is to drill the damned oil at home and quit letting a few loud mouthed leftist radicals determine the destiny of our nation and leave the hard earned money of working Americans in their pockets.
All the public clamor by these radicals that allowing the drilling just helps the oil companies is just so much bullshit. The oil companies just go drill somewhere else. Demanding that we drill HERE has nothing to do with promoting oil companies, but it has everything to do with what is good for Americans and for our nation.
If cleaner air is a concern then build nuclear power plants. We have not built one in over twenty years. Coal fired power plants have become much cleaner, but if that is not enough then build the nuclear plants. Our leaders in their infinite wisdom recommend it and even help other countries do so, but we don't do it here...excuse me? It's okay for them, but not for us? Why do you suppose that is ?
The infastructure for solar and wind powered energy does not exist, the grid is not set up for it, it is expensive to create, and if created, will STILL require back up by power plants. The sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. If the technology is there in the future and a gradual transition can be made then fine...but we are not there yet and we have no money to build it right now. It is technologically and financially unfeasible at this time.
You cannot force a nation to use what does not exist. Shut the radicals up, build the nuclear power plants, and drill the oil.
We haven't built any oil refineries in decades. We have lost some in fact. Get the government off their backs. Cut the restrictive intervention and regulation and build. Build refineries....build nuclear power plants....drill the oil... build the pipelines...CREATE THE JOBS and the INDEPENDENCE we need.... STOP transferring our wealth to our enemies, stop letting the leftist minority determine our future, and stop jeopardizing our national security.
We must withdraw from all the international trade agreements, withdraw from the UN and stop funding these radical dictators who hate us at a cost of over 500 million dollars a year. We must stop the funding of the world bank and the IMF and withdraw from them. All they intend is our destruction and the transfer of our wealth to third world countries. WE ARE FUNDING OUR OWN DESTRUCTION! Your money and mine.
I used to support killing the income tax and ending the IRS. But that is no longer sufficient. The government has found so many ways to tax everything that they think they have discovered gold in the Klondike and the gold rush is on. They are taxing everything in site with no limits to their greed. No...stopping the income tax would only mean higher taxes on everything else. The power to tax has become a power to abuse, rob, steal, and squander or give away our work and our wealth. They use our earnings to promote their agenda even if that agenda is our demise. Our money and our labor are the weapons of our own destruction. This is ludicrous! We can no longer tolerate this.
If the government feels it has a program which merits funding then let them advertise it and solicit contributions. Those who agree and are concerned can contribute by donation. Those who do not agree do not contribute. You vote on the worthiness of the program with your dollars...your earnings. What they raise in contributions will be the measure of the support for their idea. Stop the indiscriminate use of your money for programs you do NOT support or agree with. Do you REALLY believe that they know better how to spend your money than you do? How much of your earnings was given to Quadafi or to Hamas in Gaza, or to Brazil for their oil drilling? Would you have volunteered your earnings for it?
The time has come to remove ALL their powers to tax. Taxing was never necessary and it still isn't. If you buy into the idea that your earnings should be taken from you at the point of a gun then you do not understand freedom or the rights of man. If you are willing to accept it, then you do not deserve to be free. You have accepted bondage. They own you and there is no limit to what they will demand of you....up to and including your life. They will not decrease their demands...they will only increase them. When do you say enough? They will not listen to you nor represent you, because you work for them. If you want them to work for you, then YOU MUST CONTROL THE MONEY and they must come begging to you for it.
The taxes are not their only source of revenue. Quit with the idea that we are their only means of revenue....we are not! We are but the easiest mark...the sucker and the step child they treat with disdain.The size of government will have to be reduced to cut all the taxes, but so what? It needs to be reduced in size. Set term limits on congress...and not three or four terms...TWO. Amend the constitution and remove all rights for the government to tax either individuals or business....and then watch this country grow again!
I do not have access to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) so I have no figures to work with, but I will outline a proposal...a rough idea.. to fix social security and medicare and the taxes in one proposal. With the help of the CBO these figures could be arrived at. Maybe...or maybe I give THEM too much credit.
First, in this writers opinion, the government made a promise to those who have retired. They taxed them for a promised retirement and future medical care and the government spent their money. Those folks retired and expected the promises to be kept. I believe your word is your bond. I believe the government promised it and must keep the promise...for those who are on it and dependent upon it. They must be paid! Some draw it and do not need it and could volunteer to forego it an effort to save the country. NO MORE withholdings for it...and no new persons allowed to draw it.
Those who are on it need to be paid...both social security and medicare. How to do so and at the same time stop the current withholdings that pay it? By approving a small flat tax of say 4% on consumption. This to be a sales tax on purchases but not to apply to food, clothing, or energy. Those items are needed by the masses to merely live and should not be taxed. The tax should be phased out gradually and written to run for say eight years at which time it would drop to 2%, as the elderly pass away and the expenses begin to drop. The 2 % rate to run an additional eight years and then the tax expires and no tax can be implemented without being approved by a public referendum of 3/4 of the population. NOT BY THE GOVERNMENT! Those taxes collected should be put into an account earmarked for the payment of these promises and for that use only.
If there is excess tax revenue it can be used to repay those who have paid in but will not be getting it. Oldest first. As the older are paid off the younger can be repaid and this based strictly on what was paid in. A refund. If there is a shortage in revenue the congress can audit and show how much and why. The tax rate could be adjusted but would require the support of the public in a referendum; or the government could set up a trust and allow concerned citizens to donate and supplement the fund for the elderly.
A lot can be done in this country with donations instead of theft. I have heard people claim that the public will not contribute. To that I have asked...well, if your friend or your neighbor was going hungry or was hurting ..would you not help him? I am told in answer...well, of course....every time. Americans were never selfish and uncaring. We have proven throughout history to have been the most generous nation on earth. If there is a need we fill it. If half your money was not taken in taxes you could and would help a lot more where you see need. Our history of giving backs that up.
There is not and never has a been a worthwhile cause that the American people would not support voluntarily. If they do not is because it is not seen as worthwhile. But their money should be theirs to spend and allocate as they see fit. It is not justifiable to steal it from those who have earned it and send it to third world nations overseas when we have people here at home who need help. Stop the theft of your earnings and those of business and watch how rapidly people in this country benefit.
You know I have heard far too many complaints about profits a business makes. Let me tell you something. The best company in the world to work for is a successful and profitable company. There is expansion, growth, and opportunity to advance. The absolute worst company to work for is one not making profits. There is no future with that company, horrid working conditions, and bad moral. I would ten times rather work for a booming and profitable business because the atmosphere is upbeat, positive, and enthusiastic. ENOUGH with the complaints about business profits. If they don't have them you stifle growth and punish your future! Profitable business is your friend and benefactor...not your adversary.
Reductions in the size of the government need to be made. Expenses and waste must be cut. Departments must be eliminated. To begin with cut the expense of maintaining bases and troops in 130 countries around the world. Start bringing them home and closing those bases unless those countries wish to pay for and support our presence. We have been subsidizing the security of the world and it is not our responsibility.
The IRS can be reduced considerably with the flat tax and eventually eliminated altogether as the flat tax is phased out.
The social security division can be reduced as well as medicare staffing as the withholdings are stopped and the number of recipients is capped. They can be phased out along with the IRS as the taxes themselves are phased out.
The departments to be closed and the priorities of closure should be analyzed as to cost and efficiency. The private sector will be growing and jobs will be created as government regulations and intrusions are removed. Removing taxes will fund growth and consumption and as jobs are created the federal departments can be eliminated and those federal employees absorbed back into the private sector.
The government needs to raise money to repay those who have paid into social security and medicare. People not on either program need the wages that were withheld for social security and medicare repaid. They were victims of a ponzi scheme and are entitled to their money in reparations. Set up a national lottery and use the proceeds to begin repayment.
The ideas to raise money could be many. For one the federal government can sell federal lands to the private sector. They hold 1000's of acres of land to which they have no need nor justification. Why in the world does the federal government need to own lands in the states? If parks are to be maintained let the states buy them and let them be owned by the states and the people in those states. If the people in those states do not wish to keep them as parks let them be divided up and sold.
A great deal of savings will have been realized by the defunding of the UN, the IMF, World Bank, cutting staffing at IRS, social security office, and medicare office, as well as bringing home troops. Money will be made from the leases to oil companies for off shore drilling rights. Closing departments such as the department of education and stopping grants such as those to the endowment for the arts, among others. LOTS of spending can be stopped to repay these debts.
There is no end to what they could do in place of stealing from the people. We have been a land of innovation and creative thinkers for centuries. Let us elect people who can apply some creative thought and quit using the easy way out of merely printing money or stealing it from the earnings of the working man.
If you are to go begging to them and lick their boots, you are NOT FREE. Jefferson said "the democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who do not." The "taking" was theft and should never have been started. The social security and medicare programs were ponzi schemes set up to buy voters. They are unconstitutional and should never have been allowed to pass.
The federal reserve must then be eliminated. The foreign debt should be backed by gold and silver. Domestic debt and commitments must be eliminated. NO MORE counterfeiting of money and no more expansion of government programs supported by a fiat currency and taxes. The people should be allowed to buy and use gold and silver as currency.
The department of education should be closed and the control of the education of our youth returned to the states and local governments. It is there that the people can determine what they wish their children to be taught in school. Parents and local communities know best how to educate their young. Who in the world EVER thought the federal government should be given the power to indoctrinate our kids??? Unbelievable.
One of the problems in this country has been the misallocation of funds. In the first place when you let the federal government control ANYTHING most of the money is lost within the bureaucracy. I would venture the guess that not 10 dollars out of 100 gets to where it was supposed to go. It just disappears in the system and no one can account for it. It takes 100 bureaucrats to do the job of 10 people. There is no reason for the federal government to take 500 million dollars from workers all over the nation to build a bridge in Nome for the use of 100 people.
It is this writer's opinion that the federal government should make none of these decisions. The states should. The cost of ANY project ... ANYWHERE ...should be covered by those people who will use it and who benefit from it. These projects should not be paid for nor subsidized by persons who will never use them, benefit from them, or even see them.
If Oklahoma City and Wichita want a super highway with a 90 mile per hour speed limit for transportation needs, let them build it and make it a toll road and the people who use it pay for it. If it does not benefit the guy in Florida then he should not be paying for it. If he travels to Oklahoma City and decides to make a fast run to Wichita and the highway serves his purpose, then he can use it and pay the toll for the use. If he never uses it he should never be faced with paying for it.
The eminent domain laws have got to go. Liberty starts with the right to own private property. There is NO justification for overruling this right by any government. If there is no right to own private property then there is no liberty. To take private property from a man who owns it is theft plain and simple. Government was set up to protect it. To take it is contradictory to the very purpose for which government was established. To allow government to override the rights of man is to say that man exists to serve government when, in truth, government was established to serve man. It is backwards thinking to accept the government has any such right.
Years ago I was visiting with a farmer who was an elderly veteran of world war II. He explained to me that he had served in the military during the war and was badly injured, but when he got out he went to work at the post office. He financed his farm and he explained that he had a monthly payment of 300 dollars per month and that he worked for 30 years to pay for his farm. He went on to say, "You know, I worked for 30 years to pay for my land and now the property taxes are more than the payments I made for the land when I bought it. So, really, you would have to say that I never paid for it or owned it. My kids will never be able to afford the taxes on this place, so it will end up going back to the government. I don't feel like we ever own anything. We just rent it from the government."
This is a sad fact that exists and it is a travesty. He was no longer working and I am not sure how even HE made the taxes. This use of taxes on a mans property has been used for a long time to support local services, but it needs to be reconsidered and other means of supporting services derived. When a man has worked his entire life to provide a home for himself in retirement he should be left in peace. We leave our elderly in a hopeless and hapless position. Is it any wonder they feel like they worked their entire lives for nothing?
In his case he had no children in school, there was no fire department in the area...it was all volunteers, and the only law was the county sheriff. He had no other form of service from either a city or county other than the road along his property. Why should he be paying hospital tax, school tax, city tax, etc. There is no justification to tax him for services he did not use or indeed did not have.
Taxes are a penalty. Owning a home should not be penalized. Why have a school tax when you can have tuition? Private schools and universities survive on tuition. What you are doing is charging those who do not use the service to subsidize those who do. Misallocation of funds...again. If I want to fish, I buy a fishing license and the money is used to support the parks and wildlife. Those who do not wish to fish are not charged for fishing and that is how it should be in all things. Charge the users and drop the subsidies and the taxes.
If the parents are paying the tuition, the parents will select good schools and good teachers. Schools who want students will be motivated to have good teachers and teach what parents want to be taught. When the money is in the hands of the people it belongs to and they control it....they will regain control of what they get for that money. When their children are grown they will no longer have the burden of paying tuition.
When you pay taxes a lot of the money is lost in the bureaucracy. You must pay for the appraisers, the accountants, the collectors, the officials. If you just paid tuition it would ALL go to the school. The taxes are an inefficient way to fund the school, you get worse teachers, worse schools and you lose control over the education of your children and you support more bureaucracy.
The elderly or the childless have no concern and no say in the schools and they should not be penalized because they live, or because they worked 30 years to own a home, or because they breathe. Let them survive and enjoy their pursuit of happiness. These folks have little or limited income and to take it from them for any reason at that stage in their life is mindless and a violation of their rights.
There is not one citizen in one town that does not value law enforcement. Yet you do not need to tax to support them. Donations and contributions can provide it. How much different would the service be if they all knew their salaries were dependent upon the service they provided you? It is free market principles. So, what if a town has no donors and insufficient money for the needed force? Well, if crime goes up the donations go up, or the people who are concerned about the crime move to a community with more donors, more concerned citizens, and better law enforcement. Freedom to move. You vote with your dollars when you have and control them.
In this country a man's earnings are no longer his. A man's property is no longer his. This is all wrong and not at all what our founders intended. They established government to protect private property, not confiscate it. Your earnings are now confiscated and your property as well. As my farmer friend so accurately said...you never..REALLY own it anymore. It is now a lie. If you work 30 years to pay for your home it should be yours and that of your family... PERIOD.
What I am telling you is that the systems man has devised for governance have departed from the fundamental principles our founders intended and therein is the heart of the problems. Look around the nation at the states which are going broke. They have seen that their liberal programs of taxes, theft, corruption, and graft do not work. Yet, what do they do? Do they start returning to the fundamental principles of property rights and freedom? Do they go back to what works and reduce the bureaucracy? NO, your leaders pile on more of the same. Indeed they use it as an excuse to heap it on you.
California just decided that since they can't pay the bills they will just tax their citizens another 10%! Good grief! They are headed for a cliff and instead of turning around they are running faster for the abyss. Wake up and fix the problems rather than add more of the same! What idiots! Your leaders in government are leading all to non-existence. What you are seeing at the state level is what is coming nationally. Guys, it works from the bottom up not the top down. If the states crumble and the individuals go broke, the nation comes next.
It is time for a revolt in state politics and some major rethinking by the voters. You are going to have to find some leaders who will clean it up and restore your rights....or the end will surely come. We left the path of freedom when we undermined property rights and it will erode the fabric of the nation as surely and the sun shines. If you have not read the description of liberty on this site you should do so. If you think we have not gone far astray from the form of government our founders intended then you need to read the book "The 5000 Year Leap."
We must return to honoring the property rights of man, free market principles, morality, and rethink the allocation of funds to be free. Return the control of the money to those who earn it. Let the people decide how best to allocate THEIR money. They alone can use it effectively. They can best determine where their money should be spent. The results they achieve and the governments they form will be fair, just, and efficient. Those governments will then serve rather than steal. They will perform rather than demand performance. Stop looking for security or protection from governments. The price for not looking after yourself is your freedom and in the end you find you have neither security nor freedom.
What has evolved in this country is a climate of uncertainty. Why? Because with more government control of your life there is less certainty as to what the future holds. The more they regulate and control...the more they change the rules of the game at their whim. When you cannot anticipate what the next five years holds in store you cannot plan long term for either business or retirement. How can you make decisions for your future when your future is controlled by others and you are at their mercy?
When you control your money and your government, then you can eliminate the uncertainty.
You can then plan a retirement. In the current environment it is impossible to do so. We have changing government and changing laws and there is no way in the world to plan 10 years ahead because you have no idea 10 years from now what the laws will be. This has to stop. I have lost 100's of thousands of dollars on more than one occasion in my lifetime due to changing whims of government and I have seen 100's of good people ruined by such changes after meticulously planning for decades for their retirement. It has to stop and the stop is in returning man's property and his earnings to the rightful owners and to stop the theft and misallocation of that money.
There is greed and there is lack of concern for people, but it is not the local businessman. The problems are with the companies that are too big to be allowed to survive and a government that is to big to survive. These mulit-nationals, big pharma, industrial agri business and their global strategies for control of the world have got to go. They may not necessarily be shut down but the control and trade within our borders can certainly be brought under our control and withdrawing from these deceptive international trade agreements is the start.
As far as government agencies are concerned most should be eliminated. They were supposedly set up to protect and benefit the people but they have not protected the people. They have been used as weapons and no protection has been forthcoming. The EPA, OSHA, SEC, FDA, and others are a waste. The SEC didn't protect anyone from Madoff, the FDA no longer keeps dangerous drugs off the market, OSHA is just unnecessary. The EPA is a joke and has been the source of much governmental abuse. The government needs to be limited and small and people need to look to themselves for their welfare and not the federal government.
The FDA is looked to by millions as the guardian of public safety. It used to be assumed that they tested and prevented dangerous drugs from ever getting into the market place. That is no longer the case. Many of the people working at the FDA are on the payroll of the drug companies. They now let drugs on the market which kill. You do not need to take my word for it. Look at the commercials and listen to the disclaimers....."can cause sudden death." Sign me up! I sure as hell want that!
If that is not enough, look at all the commercials for trial lawyers filing class action suits over drug damages. There has been a conspiracy going on for years between the drug companies and our law makers. The drug companies do NOT want you to know about proper nutrition or natural cures. They cannot patent them, so they cannot profit from the sale of them. They want to keep you from knowing about them altogether. Anyone with any common sense has to know that what you eat is going to effect the structure of your body and subsequently your health. It is the old adage...garbage in ....garbage out.
Yet in med school our doctors are not taught about nutrition or any natural cures. WHY? I will give you but one example of what I am talking about. It has been known for a very long time that scurvy, which was common amongst early sailors, was found to have been caused by a lack of vitamin C. As soon as this was discovered and seamen were provided oranges, lemons, limes...vitamin C, the scurvy problems were eliminated.
However, your faithful drug companies do not want you to know such things. What they have done is to get your loyal lawmakers in congress to pass a law that states that ONLY DRUGS CAN CURE A DISEASE! No kidding. And, who do you think enforces this ludicrous law? Your protector...the FDA.
So, if you told me in conversation that you had scurvy, and I told you to take vitamin C because it would cure it. I could be prosecuted. Why? Because only drugs can cure disease and since I claim that vitamin C will cure your disease, I have then prescribed a drug and since I am not a licensed physician I can be prosecuted for doing so! This is but one example of your tax dollars at work, the corruption in Washington, the effect of special interests on legislation, and a fine example of how your protector,.....the FDA works for you.
The error was in ever thinking that someone else, especially a federal government, could protect you or look out for you better than you can do it for yourself. It is but one example of Americans shirking their individual responsibility for the unrealistic dream that someone will take care of you.
But if the people are to control their property, their rights, or their freedom it has to start with control of the money. The control by the people to whom it belongs......YOU. To regain control you must stop the theft at all levels. It is time for change alright....REAL CHANGE. The change will require you to start assuming responsibility for yourself and your prosperity and quit expecting that anyone is going to do it for you.
This all boils down to a revolution. A revolution which starts with you...the individual. You must see the errors , correct your own thinking, and then demand the changes in government starting with your city, your county, your state, and the federal government.
It is a big undertaking but either people re-think the path we are on or we are doomed to bondage and poverty. The only question then is one of time...just how long is it going to take? The country is in a precarious position. It hangs by a thread. Your actions every day from this moment on determines your destiny and that of the nation.
You may do a little and buy some time, but, if you and the nation are to be saved, truly major revolutionary changes must be made at all levels and they need to start now. Every day that is wasted draws you nearer the edge.
This is not a fight for a day, a week, a month, or a year. It is a fight which means getting engaged and staying engaged in this fight for reform until the battle is won. Be realistic. Realize this is going to take time and prepare yourself for a long fight. It took 100 years to get this far off track. It may take 20 or more to get back on track. We commit to it or we succumb to the leftist move from socialism to world fascism or communism and disaster. Those are the only two choices we have.
For me, it is a fight to the death. I set no limits on time or effort....I am sworn to do WHATEVER it takes...legally...to save this country. I hope you will join with me. Vow to be free.
We have set up a web site for Voters of America where we work together to do what has been explained on this site. Members have to be invited to join the site. If you wish to join with us, you may email me from the"Contact Us" tab at the top and put "invitation" in your subject line. I will send you an invitation to join with us and it will allow you to join the site.
from the book "The Cold Hard Truth" soon to be released.
