What Would I Do?

            I'm no expert, but I know what I'd do.

            I would start with discretionary spending, since the blowhards in Congress have been arguing about it these last few months. I would cut it by 25% right now, and another 25% over the next five years. There have been umpteen proposals for eliminating unnecessary departments and federal programs. It will hurt, but it has to be done.

            I would go after Obama's legion of tsars. I would fire them all and wipe out their departments. Then I would go after the departments of Education, Energy, Interior, the EPA, and Homeland Security. These bloated, ineffective, counter-productive, and largely useless departments present enormous targets for reducing the cost of government.

            Next I'd  go after agriculture subsidies for billionaire farmers and rules that allow the super rich to own vast properties but avoid paying taxes by planting a cabbage patch and claiming they are farmers.

            This is a minor point, but I'd love to ground Air Force One. Harry Truman didn't spend his time flitting about the country making speeches to hand-picked audiences; he spent his time working at his desk. Obama could learn from his example.

            I would reduce our dependency on foreign oil by drilling everywhere oil and gas has been found. Obama's de facto moratorium on drilling offshore and in Alaska is insane. And I would build nuclear energy plants. Lots of them. They're the most efficient, clean, and safe (yes, safe) sources of energy.

            Now on to military spending. I have always been a supporter of national defense. But enough is enough. Our own survival comes first. I would bring our boys home from Iraq and Afghanistan; close most of the overseas bases; forgo any thoughts of playing the role of international policeman and nation builder; reassess the need for so many carrier task forces that are becoming increasingly irrelevant; spend the money on wounded warriors and their families, not on new weapons systems; and bring on BRAC Phase 2.

            Now the big one: entitlements. How did this country survive without Medicare, Medicare, and Social Security? Without reneging on our promises to seniors and without removing the safety net for the poorest among us, there is a lot we can do.

            First, I  would repeal Obamacare. It cannot be allowed to add a trillion dollars a year to our deficit.

            Second, I would revise the eligibility criteria for Medicaid, beginning with anyone above the poverty line. Thirty percent of Americans are on Medicaid, and none of them pay for their health care. That shouldn't be. No one should get totally free medical care; everyone should have to pay something, even if it's a small co-pay.

            Retirees are entitled to Medicare. This should not change. But why not adopt a form of privatization as recommended by Paul Ryan? And why wait until 2022?

            Retirees are also entitled to Social Security. But if someone chooses to retire early, it should be at his or her expense. Some rules should be revised, such as the one that awards social security benefits to the wife and children of early retirees even if they are millionaires who can afford to retire at age 55.

            Speaking of entitlements, illegal aliens should not be entitled to anything. Not free health care, not free education, not free food, not free housing. No free benefits of any kind.

            On the revenue side, I'd scrap the IRS and replace it with a Fair Tax, a consumption tax, or a combination of the two. This will ensure that everyone pays taxes, as opposed to the 45% of Americans who pay no income tax at all, and it will eliminate the onerous and costly income tax system we now have.

            And just to make everything fair, I'd make everyone subject to the same rules, conditions, benefits, and privileges. Members of Congress who pass our laws should be subject to them like the rest of us.

            I could go on, but the bozos in Washington aren't listening.