What would you do if you were president after Obama?

The Roman historian Livy wrote about the Roman statesman, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who answered the call of duty to his country in a time of crisis. In 458 BC, Cincinnatus was named dictator of Rome for six months to rescue a consular army surrounded by the Aequi on Mount Algidus. When duty called, he was working on his small farm. He accepted the request of the Senate to lead the Roman Army. He defeated the enemy in a single day and returned triumphantly to Rome. Cincinnatus maintained his power for fifteen days, long enough to return Rome to normalcy. He then resigned and went back to his farm.

Cincinnatus was admired for his lack of ambition although he was consul in 460 and 438 BC, and for his selfless patriotism. If you were called to duty to save our country, what would you do, what would be the first thing you would tackle in order to save our floundering economy? I asked random conservatives and libertarians, and developed their brief answers. I would increase economic freedom by making it much easier to start a business. Current regulations are so arcane, vending, zoning, taxation, that it is hard to maintain or start a new business. I would control immigration by putting troops at the border in addition to current border patrols. I would start by putting three divisions on the southern border, two infantry and one mechanized. The fence is not a good deterrent as many have proven that it can be easily escalated, cut through, or crawled underneath. I would assign the border control to both the federal and state governments. I would give states the right to confront illegal aliens.

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I would reverse abortion laws since the demographics show that population birth rates in most western nations are below replacement values. Western civilizations would disappear without 2.1 babies per family. Sadly, a disproportionate number of black babies are being aborted in the U.S. I would reinstate “don’t ask, don’t tell” because soldiers have not been consulted if openness increases or decreases troop morale. Liberals have decided for the majority. I would reform the tax code to make it uniform and less burdensome on small business. I would prefer, however, to institute a flat tax. It works very well in several countries that are prospering economically. I would repatriate all profits of large companies and make them pay tax on all their earnings overseas. I would audit all major Wall Street firms and particularly the Federal Reserve System because it does not answer to anybody. I would make the Fed prove that our gold reserves at Fort Knox are intact. I would pass a budget amendment forcing Congress to pass a budget. It has been almost 900 days since the Democrat-controlled Congress passed a budget. I would institute term limits for Congressmen and Congresswomen. To serve one’s country was not meant to be a life-long career of corruption, bribery, and theft, becoming rich at the trough of government. I would appoint a commission to identify all powers not specifically enumerated in the Constitution and fight relentlessly to excise them from government. I would reduce business tax rate to about 25 percent, eliminate deductions, and repeal most of the new regulations in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Act. I would cut EPA’s solar expenditures and all regulations that are stifling economic growth and development and kill jobs in many sector industries, including mining, oil exploration, land use, and water use. Solar expenditures, as proven lately, are likely to bankrupt us. In spite of four highly touted solar panel manufacturers going out of business, four more Obama-supported crony capitalist ventures in the solar panel industry have received $4.7 billion dollars for the advancement of his “green” industry agenda. I would cut Social Security; eliminate the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its budget, including Medicare and Medicaid, which are in trouble financially. “I would defund and repeal Obamacare” was the most popular choice of respondents. The monstrous 3,000 page bill that nobody read, nobody discussed, and Nancy Pelosi asked that be passed first before we knew what was in it, is the elephant in the closet that is already draining billions. Doctors are busy implementing and establishing the bureaucracy required to run Obamacare. It has already resulted in unusual delays in treatment. None of the promises made by Obama turned out to be true so far. Premium costs for most families have already gone up 9 percent to $15,073 in 2011, the largest increase since 2005. Single premiums have gone up 8 percent. People were shocked that their adult children premiums, no annual caps on benefits, and no co-pays for preventive care were not free, they added to the premium. Health care premiums did not decrease by $2,500 per family as promised. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, “premiums increased significantly faster than workers’ wages (2.1%) and general inflation (3.2%).” “If you like your current plan, you can keep it.” Many Americans, who can afford and like their current plan, will not be able to keep it. Fifty-six percent of employees will be able to keep their plans under the “grandfathered protection.” The Kaiser Family Foundation survey says, “Numerous firms responded that being grandfathered was administratively difficult and it would limit the firm’s flexibility in the future.” “Small business tax credits would encourage employers to provide coverage.” “With that savings, employers may be able to cover an additional worker or hire that extra employee they’ve needed.” The Kaiser survey says that only “fifteen percent of non-offering small firms with 3-49 employees considered health insurance because of the tax credit.” The 1,472 waivers given to crony employers and unions because they could not afford the premiums will expire in 2014. Mid- and large-size employers will have to provide “the essential benefit package” or pay a $2,000 fine. The fine is so small when compared to the premiums that middle and high earners will be forced into health exchanges and lower income workers into Medicaid. Medicaid only pays 86 cents of every dollar, forcing doctors and hospitals to pass the cost to privately insured patients, driving up the cost of premiums for them. Obamacare will increase Medicaid enrollment by one third in 2014 and two thirds of the currently uninsured will be placed on Medicaid. The cost of all this Medicaid expansion will come from the higher private health insurance premiums. Premiums will also go up because of the rising costs of healthcare. Americans spend, including out-of-pocket, $7,538 a year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. U.K., Norway, and Sweden spend $2,995. (Betsy McCaughey) Respondents believed that SOX should be repealed. Sarbanes Oxley Act, passed July 2002, known as SOX, an act of corporate responsibility, to protect investors by “improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures, made pursuant to the securities laws, and for other purposes,” was enacted after numerous scandals such as Enron and WorldCom. SOX does not apply to privately held corporations. Supporters believe SOX improved the confidence of fund managers and investors in the veracity of corporate financial statements. Opponents argue that SOX introduced a very complex regulatory environment into the U.S. financial markets thus reducing America’s international competitiveness against foreign financial service providers. The respondents were extremely knowledgeable and offered viable solution to our economic crises. No matter which president will replace Obama in 2012, his/her job will be extremely difficult to fix our disintegrating economy, which the Democrats and Obama’s misguided economic policies have devastated.