We need to get back to basics. Government should pick up the trash and
patch the potholes.
1)
National defense is a basic duty of government. (Article I, section 8 of the
Constitution) It is obvious our armed forces are over-extended. We
need 100,000 more soldiers in the Army and Marine Corps.
Possible threats may require naval blockades of
Iran
or
North Korea
so the Navy needs more ships.
2)
Fighting crime is a basic duty of government. We should increase the
budget of the FBI and forensic labs. The FBI has new anti-terrorism
duties, but its budget has not increased. We need more DNA testing to link
criminals to different crimes and to exonerate innocent prisoners.
3)
The judiciary was established by Article III of the Constitution.
Judges’ pay has not increased with inflation. We need to increase the
pay of federal judges to maintain the quality of justice.
4)
The Patent Office was established by Article I, section 8 of the Constitution.
The Patent Office is overwhelmed with a 2 year backlog of patent applications.
We need to:
- reform production quotas of patent examiners and open regional offices in
locales with lower costs of living than
Washington
,
D.C.
-
impose user fees. Like passports, if an applicant wants faster
processing, she pays more.
- establish bonus fund for patent examiners to improve the quality of patents.
For each year a patent is not invalidated (up to, say, 5 years), the patent
examiner gets a bonus each year.
- reduce frivolous lawsuits by amending the Federal Rules of Procedure to
include an offer of judgment. If a litigant offers a settlement, the other
litigant rejects it and does not recover more than the offer, then the rejecting
party must pay the legal expenses of the offering party.
5)
We must update infrastructure. We need to:
- repair bridges and roads. Fund with gasoline tax. Price of
gasoline may increase but it would not decrease. If actual cost of
gasoline decreases, taxes increase to keep price stable. High gasoline
prices also discourage consumption. Buying less gasoline reduces the funds
flowing to Hugo Chevez of
Venezuela
and
Middle East
terrorists.
- update the air traffic control system with GPS technology. Sign on at www.smartskies.org.
However, passengers must pay at least half of the user fees necessary to
renovate the system.
- reduce traffic. Use congestion pricing; if you want to drive during rush
hour, you pay a toll. Expand mass transit and reduce its cost for
passengers. Fund with gasoline tax. This would reduce regressive
effect of gasoline tax.
- replenish the Highway Trust Fund.
- expand public-private infrastructure partnerships (toll roads).
6)
We need rational immigration laws (Article I, section 8 of the Constitution)
based on market principles.
- There is a 5 year backlog to become a citizen. We need to impose user
fees. Those who can afford to pay more get quicker processing, which
shortens the line for everyone else. The delay is caused by background
checks required since 9-11. User fees would pay for faster and more
accurate background checks.
- We need a guest worker program. If unemployment is 5% or less, we allow
more guest workers. If unemployment exceeds 5%, we allow fewer guest
workers. Some argue that illegal immigrants drive down wages of American
citizens and legal residents. If the average compensation in a particular
occupation decreases, we allow fewer guest workers or immigrants to fill
positions in that occupation.
- Mexicans won’t stop crossing the border until (1)
Mexico
adopts free market reforms, modernizes its economy, and creates more jobs, and
(2)
U.S.
employers stop employing illegal immigrants.
- We should abolish quotas on work visas. If a business can’t find an
American engineer and wants to hire an engineer from overseas, the business can
pay a user fee for a work visa, with the user fee fluctuating according to
demand and supply.
