E-Newsletter No. 34_______October 2016
Opportunity for All, Favoritism to None

Our Editorial Board believes that there is probably general agreement among our country’s citizens that the federal government should promote a level playing field – – an equal opportunity for each citizen. America continues to be “The Land of Opportunity” – people have the opportunity to become whatever they want to be. But a key difference between the Right and the Left is in regards to understanding the fundamental difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes (i.e., Socialism / Communism).

So, what does “Favoritism to None” mean? It simply means that the federal government should not advance any type of policy that benefits any particular segment of the country’s citizens. There should not be any “crony capitalism”. There should not be any special tax breaks given to any special interest group. There should not be any policies that attempt to “socially engineer” the country’s citizens.

The underlying meaning behind the “general welfare” clause in the US Constitution has been perverted by the Left. The general welfare of our country’s citizens is simply in reference to the federal government’s responsibility to ensure the general welfare of the country as a whole (i.e., national defense), and to protect each citizen’s rights (the level playing field discussed above). It was never intended to be a requirement to provide cash welfare payments to individual citizens, or “free” college, or subsidized healthcare, etc. As we have noted in earlier newsletters, there appears to be no limit to the Progressive agenda. The Left believes the US Constitution is a “living document” that should be interpreted to justify any program or policy that the Left would like to implement. Any program for any special interest group can be justified under the Left’s definition of the general welfare clause, and there should not be any limitations placed on the federal government. The Left rejects the concept of “Favoritism to None”.

The federal government also distorts the marketplace. All you need to do is look at the rising cost of education and healthcare to see the detrimental effects of the federal government’s involvement and dollars. The federal government needs to remove itself from any commercial activity and minimize its role in the economy. The time has come to privatize the US Postal Service. (Contrary to the Democratic Party’s platform, the post office is not a “national treasure” – it loses $5 billion a year). We also need to end the federal government’s role in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and privatize those institutions. Much has already been written about the federal government’s role in creating the housing bubble, along with the resulting credit market collapse during 2008.

Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable as currently constituted. Our elected officials need to stop avoiding this reality, and begin addressing the financial challenges that are facing these programs caused by the ongoing changes in the country’s demographics and the ongoing decrease in the number of workers per retiree. Having said that…. Our country needs to honor its commitments to current retirees. We also need to create a transition plan for people over the age of 55 who are approaching retirement. Everyone who has paid money into Social Security should get their money back (with interest). But, going forward, no one should ever get more than that amount, because anything above that amount represents theft from future generations. We need to transform Social Security into a means-tested welfare benefit that would be available to any retired citizen who needs such financial assistance.

Healthcare is not a “right” any more than food or housing is a right. Providing for healthcare costs is a personal responsibility. We need to repeal Obamacare and remove the federal government from the management of the country’s healthcare system. But we also need to move towards a new healthcare system for all of the country’s citizens – a system that doesn’t show favoritism towards employees versus the self-employed, or for healthy people versus people with pre-existing conditions. Our Editorial Board recognizes that there is an oversight role the government needs to perform in regards to the healthcare ikndustry, but the country’s healthcare system needs to remain firmly within the private sector (the doctors and nurses, their patients, hospitals, and healthcare insurance companies). This private market-based healthcare system should continue to cover the vast majority of the country’s citizens (as was the case prior to Obamacare). We then need to implement a second-tier “public” healthcare option (by transforming Medicaid) to cover those citizens who cannot afford to (or who choose not to) participate in the private healthcare marketplace. And each citizen needs to pay into this “public” healthcare pool via payroll tax withholdings for medical care.

The federal government’s welfare / poverty programs have been an absolute, abject failure. This result was inevitable, because this is not a proper role of the federal government – – it is a role of civil society. We need to get the federal government out of the welfare business by changing the federal income tax code to enable citizens to direct a portion of their federal tax obligations directly to those organizations that they wish to support, rather than have those funds coercively paid to the Washington cartel.

We recognize that the federal government has a valid regulatory oversight role that needs to be performed in any situation where “protecting the country as a whole” is involved. But we need to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy (the administrative state). Once the US Senate and House of Representatives have determined (legislated) a particular regulation, the actual execution of a regulatory oversight role needs to be taken out of the federal bureaucracy, and be performed at the state and / or local level (financed by federal block grants, if necessary). We want a federal government so small you can barely see it.

We need to rebuild the US military after seven years of neglect, and we need to re-establish and strengthen our country’s relationships with our allies. The federal government needs to change its focus away from internal domestic “social engineering” issues, and have our federal government re-focus on its role of being the world’s leader. We agree that America should not be the world’s policeman, but we can no longer afford to “lead from behind.”

The Left will try to keep our government focused on their internal domestic “social engineering” agenda. We need to have our federal government re-focus its attention on its duties laid out in the Constitution.

US Debt Clock – – September 1st – $60,144 per citizen / October 1st – $60,208