America is the greatest nation on the planet, but I see many opportunities to make it even greater. Below are 21 steps in the areas of economics, culture, politics, foreign policy and national security that I believe can significantly enhance America’s greatness.

The order does not represent prioritization, but some of these steps are related, such that I wanted to deal with one before the other. Many of these ideas have been discussed before and I have added some new concepts to others. Any of these could be implemented alone, but I believe that implementing them all would expand the value that each would add by themselves. Also, to implement all of them would require various transitional periods and phase-in approaches. Each step is listed below with a single sentence description and they are all expanded upon in subsequent sections.

All of these steps, except the last one, have been posted previously on their own. Now that they are all developed, I wanted to publish all of the 21 steps in a single post for easier reading. I welcome any feedback on the content of this post and your ideas on restoring American greatness.

1. Union Makeover – unions take on a new role that ends their involvement with wage contracts and replaces the employer as the benefit provider.
2. Healthy Choices – increased competition will make health insurance affordable for all and keep health care quality the best in the world.
3. Tax Revolution – income taxes are replaced with a consumption tax.
4. Social Security R.I.P – a mandatory retirement account for each worker averts the coming Social Security disaster.
5. Working with Welfare – improved incentives will drive capable workers off of the welfare roles while maintaining the “safety net”.
6. Criminals at Work – prisoners pay their dues to society and get a real opportunity for a second chance.
7. Limiting Congress – term limits will help infuse Congress with fresh minds and reduce abuses of power.
8. Living Within a Budget – the federal budget becomes zero-based using the previous year’s tax revenue and preset priorities.
9. Every Vote Counts – election processes and financing are revamped to ensure fairness and optimal results.
10. Marriage Vow – a marriage amendment is necessary to ward off state-level challenges to this important societal institution.
11. Abortion No-Demand – abortion demand will be lowered through alternative choices without the need to overturn Roe v. Wade.
12. Race to the Finish – black victimization and oppression give way to a new age of racial enlightenment.
13. Religious Expression – unshackling religious expression from the misinterpreted church and state separation will strengthen our society.
14. Rethinking Education – state and corporate alliances enhance academic quality and opportunity.
15. Fences for Freedom – a full border fence and tightened port security will protect our nation from illegal immigration and terrorist intrusions.
16. Pink Slips for Illegals – employers will have preset timeframes to dismiss illegal immigrants from their jobs and provide their travel expenses home.
17. The Enemy Within – the federal government, along with its citizens, are empowered with methods to find plotting terrorists before they can act.
18. Orbiting Security – a fully functioning missile defense system provides needed protection from international threats.
19. Save Your Energy – energy independence will be achieved through the combined use of our energy resources and alternative solutions.
20. Rewarding Innovations – annual monetary awards are given to the country’s top innovations in the areas of energy, health and the environment.
21. Peace Through Liberty – our key foreign policy objective is spread freedom and democracy around the world to achieve lasting peace and prosperity.

The labor unions in the first half of the twentieth century served a valuable purpose. Workers needed unions to drive improvements in working conditions, negotiate increases in wages, enact legislation to restrict management abuses and establish the U.S. Department of Labor. But they became victims of their own success. In the new world of labor-management relations, they are continuing to operate like they were still under the management abuses of the previous decades. It is time for unions to get a makeover and establish a new and more effective role for the American worker. For this new role to be successful, the changes must lead to a win-win situation among workers and companies.

The first thing that must change is union involvement in wage contracts. These contracts stifle productivity and reward poor performance and seniority. Workers have set wages based on their years of experience, so potential top performers have no incentive to produce more and poor performers get paid more than they are worth. It’s time for union labor to compete for jobs in the market place like most other workers. The top-performing union workers will now have the opportunity to leverage their skills for higher wages. Companies can offer the higher wages to them because they will be paying lower wages to others who are not as skilled. Now here is where the union can really add value for the lower performing and novice worker. Various types of training can be offered by the union, including classroom sessions, self-study and tutoring by their highly-skilled union brethren. Workers who are between jobs can sign up for classes to brush up on their skills. The new union would also be able to arrange for development of new skills for individuals who initially chose a line of work that they maybe weren’t very suited for. Also, if jobs are taken over by offshore competition or become obsolete due to technology, the unions could take the lead on training their members with new skills to compete successfully for other jobs. Companies will demand, and pay a premium for, highly trained union workers. Along with this, the Minimum Wage Law needs to be repealed. Companies should be able to offer wages based on supply and demand of the workforce and not be forced to pay a minimum wage determined by Congress. If a company has a job worth $5 an hour and there are workers who want it, more power to them.

The next change for the new union is to provide member benefit packages that they currently negotiate for with the companies. Unions with significant membership volumes should be able to negotiate very reasonable prices for health, dental, auto, life, disability and any other types of insurance that the members might need. The largest unions may even want to underwrite the insurance themselves. On top of that, they could negotiate fees with money managers to set up retirement savings accounts for all members. This eventually will remove the need for companies to provide these benefits to their employees and they can redirect that money towards wages, bonuses and retirement contributions.

Union members may also decide to use their membership fees to offer other types of member benefits such as:

- Education loans or scholarships

- Affiliated credit cards

- Memorial fund for families of deceased members

- Eliminated or reduced membership fees during times of unemployment

- Various types of insurance programs

- Discounted gym memberships

- Day care

- Subsidized transit passes

With this makeover, unions become attractive for all types of workers, including white-collar management and those in professional positions. The objective is for potentially all workers to be members of unions that represent various groups of jobs and professions. Doctors, astronauts, managers, accountants, scientists, journalists, bankers, lawyers, police officers, etc. would all want to unionize with this new model.

It really does become a win-win situation. Workers get training to make them successful, along with benefit packages that are portable between jobs and throughout retirement. Companies are freed up of having to pay for employee benefits and can use the money to attract the best employees (and no more strikes!).

2. Healthy Choices

The only problem now with health care is that it is a big expense for most people and it causes many people decide to roll the dice and not buy health insurance. It is a good deal for those working for employers would subsidize most of it, but it becomes a problem when they lose their jobs or retire. The solution is not to provide a government-controlled, taxpayer-funded system (a.k.a. single payer, universal, etc.), but to drive price reductions in health insurance through pooled risk and competition. At such time when nearly everyone has become a member of a union (see #1 Union Makeover), these unions will be the risk pools that negotiate affordable health insurance contracts for their members.

Most of the unions will contain a mix of individuals who span from low-cost, healthy to the high-cost, unhealthy. Overall, the risk is balanced out and the unions should be able to negotiate reasonable rates with insurance companies, based on their numbers and risk assessment. Also, smaller unions may choose to partner with others to increase their numbers and bargaining power. Another option is for unions to underwrite their own health insurance plan, where the union itself would provide insurance to its members (receiving the premiums and paying out the claims).

Members would still have the incentive to use medical services wisely, due to co-pay requirements, etc. and the possibility that rates would increase if the pool moves into a higher risk category. Doctors could leverage their unions to negotiate better malpractice insurance and, in turn, set their rates more competitively.

The main benefit is that having affordable health insurance is no longer dependant on having a job where an employer provides it. Workers can belong to unions for their entire adult life and continue to have reasonably priced benefits, like health insurance, during their working years and throughout retirement. Medicare would no longer be needed once all workers were unionized and would eventually be phased out.

3. Tax Revolution

The current income tax code is nearly 8,000 pages and cannot be understood by the average citizen. It is a complex maze of regulations that have been piled on one another for decades. It is time to revolutionize the way the federal government is funded. A flat income tax, a value-added sales tax and an embedded sales tax (“FairTax”) have been researched and offered up over the past couple of decades. Any one of these would be a better alternative to the current income tax, but my choice is the FairTax. The details about the FairTax can be found at www.fairtax.org and a brief overview from that site is presented here:

What is the FairTax plan?

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

The FairTax:

- Enables workers to keep their entire paychecks

- Enables retirees to keep their entire pensions

- Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities

- Allows American products to compete fairly

- Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy

- Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding

- Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation

- Abolishes the IRS

My proposed changes in the federal budget (see #8 Living Within a Budget) reduces federal spending and ties it directly to the revenue produced from the FairTax. This should make the FairTax rate significantly less than the 23% set in the current legislative bill.

4. Social Security R.I.P

While there were certainly good intentions with the Social Security program, it was based on a questionable concept where current workers would pay to support workers who were now retired. At the time it was set up, there were many more workers than retirees, so each individual didn’t have to contribute all that much. Along the way, the money coming in for Social Security was not saved for that use, but was distributed out in the general funding pool and replaced with I-O-Us. Also, with the size of the Baby Boomer generation, the number of retirees will soon exceed the number of those in the work force. The Social Security system can be nursed along for a while longer, but that would mean increasing the contributions from workers and/or reducing the retiree benefits. Neither option is a viable solution.

Instead, Social Security will be phased out and replaced with legislation requiring a secured retirement account (SRA) for all working individuals. The account would be set up with an individual’s first job after reaching the age of 18. There would be any number of options for companies who could set up the account and administer it. The rules of the account would be very similar to those of existing IRAs, including setting a retirement age for withdrawals and providing for some loan and hardship provisions.

The key difference with an IRA is that the account is funded directly out of the wages paid by the employer. Five percent of all wages paid to an individual will be directed into their SRA account. For example, a worker with a weekly salary of $1,000 will get a check for $950 and $50 will be deposited in the SRA account. Also, these SRAs will require the investments to be made in “safe” government-backed securities, such as treasury bonds, for the first $50,000 in the account. Above $50,000, the individual owning the account can invest the money in any allowable investment vehicle and can self-manage the money or hire an investment professional. Also, individuals can authorize any amount over the five percent to be taken out of their wages and deposited to the account. IRAs, 401k accounts, etc. would no longer be needed since there are no tax advantages any more (see #3 Tax Revolution) and the SRA will accommodate all the retirement funding needs.

Essentially, this change forces all workers to have, and fund, their own retirement accounts. Anyone that works most years from 18 to their retirement age will have a nice nest egg and not need government assistance to support them. Compound interest and dollar cost averaging should produce significant gains in the five percent contributions being made during the working years. Couple the SRA with the health insurance and other benefits provided by the unions through retirement, and retirees will be able to keep a high quality of life throughout their lives.

A few other things to note…when a man and woman get married, they are automatically given joint ownership of each other’s SRA account. If one spouse had not worked and does not plan to, then there will be only one account between them. If a divorce occurs, the funds in the account, or accounts, will be split up equally based on all the contributions made during the time they were married. Upon the death of an owner of an SRA account, the money in the account is passed on to a beneficiary’s SRA account, unless it is needed to provide child support for beneficiaries under age 18.

5. Working with Welfare

All existing welfare programs would be eliminated. A program would be established for those individuals, and their children, who are unable to work due to physical or mental handicaps (Safety Net). They would have a reload-able debit/ID card to handle their living expenses. There would be a set annual amount based on the current cost of living (including minimum insurance coverages) in that area and the number of individuals in the family. For example, let’s say that in a particular city the set amount is $20,000 to support an individual with the basic necessities to live. An additional $5,000 may be the amount set for each child of that person.

Those who are able to work, but are currently unemployed, would be put into a different program (Unemployment Support). This program would provide temporary unemployment funds until the person gets employed again. It would also be based on a set amount for the area the person lives in, but not an amount that would cover the minimum living expenses. In the same city as the previous example, the unemployment program may only provide $10,000 annually to cover expenses between jobs. However, even if the individual gets a low paying job for $15,000, that person will still receive $5,000 of the unemployment funds so that they at least can maintain an annual income at the Safety Net level ($20,000) when they are working. Since these are people who can work, they would also be members of unions that would provide benefits, such as health insurance, during times of unemployment (see #1 Union Makeover).

Both the people in the Safety Net and Unemployment Support programs would be able to accept any amounts of charity (food, clothing, shelter, money, etc.) without impacting the funds they are receiving from the government. Since there are no longer any tax deductions for charitable contributions (see #3 Tax Revolution), those that truly want to help the needy will have the opportunity to provide their time and money directly to those individuals, or through organizations such a food shelves, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, religious outreach programs, Goodwill Industries, etc.

6. Criminals at Work

All prisoners, except for those with life sentences (no parole), would be expected to work during their time in prison. Some of the jobs would be offered from local, state or federal organizations, while others would come from private companies.

The incentive for providing these job opportunities is that the employers would not have to provide any pay for the work. All they would have to do is provide training, tools, equipment and necessary raw materials to do the work. There are likely many types of work that criminals could perform while in prison and many companies and organizations that could benefit from the products or services that they would produce.

The incentive for the prisoners to do the work is that this would be the main factor for granting parole. Prisoners eligible for parole will need to have been actively working the whole time they have served (less sick time, holidays or other time off) or they will not be approved. The other advantage is that they will now have experience in something that will highly increase their chances of finding a job when they leave the prison. Even the companies that employed them in prison will want to check out these “interns” as potential regular employees when their prison time is up.

It becomes a great rehabilitation program for the criminal and becomes a source of workers for companies.

7. Limiting Congress

The reelection rate for members of Congress is over 90%. An increasing number of them are serving 30 years or more. It has become a life-long career for many of them, which is antithetical to what the Founding Fathers intended. The Founders expected citizens to put down the tools of their trade, come to Washington to serve their country and then return to their homes to live with the legislation they enacted.

Congress has established for itself lucrative pay, benefits and perks. This, along with the power it gives the members, is very enticing to candidates and they don’t want to give it up once they get in. But, to stay there, an incumbent’s main focus needs to be on the next election. Instead of making decisions for what is best for the country, they must satisfy voters and contributors who will provide them with the money and votes for their reelection.

We need to get rid of the career legislators and provide the opportunity for more citizens to serve in Congress and contribute fresh ideas. Career politicians quickly lose touch with the average American and their needs. Also, they are more susceptible to abuses of power involving money, special favors and sex.

If term limits make sense for the Executive branch, then they also make sense for the Legislative branch.

What I propose here is a constitutional amendment with the following term limits:

- Representatives can serve up to five 2-year terms for a total of 10 years and

- Senators can serve up to two 6-year terms for a total of 12 years.

Additionally, legislator’s pay would be linked to military pay scales. Legislators will be paid a salary that is tied to the average pay of mid-level officers in the four branches of the military. This makes it so that they cannot vote themselves any pay increase without corresponding increases in military pay. The point is that they understand that they don’t deserve more compensation for their service to the country than those who defend it.

Members of Congress would continue to have additional funds for key expenses, including lodging and travel while in session. They would also have a limited expense account to hire several aides to assist them in their work. They would not receive any other benefits when in office (see #1 Union Makeover) and would not receive a pension upon leaving (see #4 Social Security RIP).

What this change ensures is that Congress gets regular turnover to bring in new faces and fresh ideas. It will no longer be a magnet for people who are mainly seeking the position for the money and power. On the other hand, it will entice those individuals who truly want to serve their country. Because of the term limits, most legislators will leave office needing to return to a normal job. They know that they will have to live under the legislation they passed, just like any other citizen. We should get a much better quality of legislative decisions coming out of Washington than we have gotten previously when their votes were overly influenced by a reelection focus.

I also believe you will see much more interest and participation in the elections with this change. As the 2008 presidential race is demonstrating, voters get excited to vote when there is no shoe-in incumbent in the mix.

8. Living Within a Budget

Federal spending is out of control and the national debt has reached $9.2 trillion. The reasons for the excessive spending are that federal government is funding things they have no business being involved in and once the funding is in place, it becomes an entitlement that never goes away. Additionally, if we don’t spend more on entitlements each year, then people complain that their programs are being cut. Also, there is no law to limit Congress from spending more than it receives in revenues. Legislators, in there unending focus on reelection, add billions in funding that is earmarked for pet projects in their states. These earmarks are literally slipped into legitimate funding bills at the last minute with little chance for review. Once the bill hits the President’s desk, there is no opportunity for these individual items to be vetoed without vetoing the entire bill.

The changes we need to make are for Congress to approve only balanced budgets, to significantly reduce the amount of annual spending and to reduce the federal debt.

First, a Balanced Budget Amendment or some similar type of legislation needs to be implemented that doesn’t allow Congress to approve one penny more in annual spending than the amount of revenue received over the previous 12 months. This will force Congress to make tradeoff decisions among competing funding requests. Also, the balanced budget legislation will eliminate entitlements by not allowing any automatic carryover of spending from year to year. All spending items in the budget start at $0 and legislation must be introduced and approved for those items to receive any funding. I should also note the Congress will have the authority to adjust the FairTax rate (see #3 Tax Revolution) as necessary to achieve desired revenue levels.

Federal spending will be reduced significantly from current levels through the following items:

- Elimination all business/corporate/farm subsidies and grants (let them compete in a free market)

- Elimination of current welfare programs and Medicaid (see #5 Working with Welfare)

- Elimination of Medicare (see #2 Healthy Choices)

- Phase out of Social Security (see #4 Social Security R.I.P.)

- Elimination of the Department of Education (see #14 Rethinking Education)

- Reduced funding for many other departments (Labor, Health & Human Services, Agriculture, Housing & Urban Development, etc.)

The following are the priority budget items that need to be funded:

- Interest payments on the national debt

- Pay-down of the national debt

- Executive, Legislative & Judicial branches

- Departments (Homeland Security, Defense, Energy, Commerce, Justice, State, Interior, Treasury, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, etc.)

- Agencies (CIA, FCC, NASA, NTSB, OSHA, SEC, USPS, etc.)

- Welfare Safety Net and Unemployment Support (see #4 Working with Welfare)

- Supplemental Disaster/War Fund (“extra” money for natural disasters or military actions)

- International Assistance (a.k.a. foreign aid)

If the actual revenue does not meet total spending amount budgeted, then the pay-down of the national debt, supplemental disaster/war fund and international assistance will be the first candidates for funding cuts to make up the difference. Extra pay-down of the national debt will be made with any revenues that exceed the total spending.

The final part of this change will be to provide the President with line-item veto authority. That will allow the President to cross-out those unrelated pet projects without rejecting the entire bill. Any vetoed items would need to go back to Congress and receive a two-thirds majority to have the veto overridden. It provides the President with more fiscal responsibility and a necessary check and balance against wasteful spending by Congress.

9. Every Vote Counts

The election reforms proposed here involve the presidential nomination process, campaign financing and voting regulations. Implementation of these reforms would require coordination between the Federal Election Commission, national and state party leadership and the state governments.

Presidential Nomination Process

Every state would have a presidential primary. There would be only four primary dates for the entire country and all parties, including third parties and independents, would vote on one of those four dates. The country would be divided into four groups representing sets of 12-13 states. States in each group would be scattered across different regions of the country and have combined delegate counts that totaled up to approximately 25% of the total delegates. The primary dates would occur in March, April, May and June and the four sets of states would be rotated so they would all change order from one election to the next.

Each state primary would be a winner-take-all for the delegates apportioned to that state by the two major parties. The candidate in each party getting the most votes would be pledged all of the delegates. There would continue to be a threshold (60%) of pledged delegates that would be needed to lock in a candidate as the nominee. Also, a party may decide to use Super-Delegates. If they do, they would be used upfront to pledge themselves to a candidate before the first set of primaries. That way, these veteran political insiders would provide direction to the party rank-and-file on who they think are the best candidates. The rank-and-file could then decide to follow the Supers’ lead or go their own way. If, after the four sets of primaries, no one has achieved the required threshold, then the decision would be made during the July conventions. Each of the parties would need to establish their own process on how to decide the nominee during the convention (highest vote total or delegate count, runoff voting, back-room negotiations, Super Delegates decide, etc.).

As referenced above, third party or independent candidates are also included in these primaries. When voters get to their polling places, they will be able to request one of three ballots. One of the ballots will have the Republican candidates, one will have the Democratic candidates and the other will have all of the third party and independent candidates. Party registration would not be required to take a Republican or Democratic ballot. A qualified voter can select any ballot, regardless of whether they are, or are not, registered with a political party.

Only the vote totals will be tracked for the third parties and independents since they involve multiple parties and don’t have a process set up for apportioning delegates. After the primaries are done, only those candidates that receive 15% or more of the total vote count will get the opportunity to appear on the general election ballot. For example, let’s say that 100 million people vote in the primaries with the Republican candidates getting 40 million of that total the Democrat candidates getting 40 million. That means that a single candidate from the third party ballot would need to get at least 15 million of the votes from the remaining 20 million to appear on the general election ballot. This will ensure that only viable candidates will be able to compete with the Republican and Democratic candidates in the general election.

All these changes in the nomination process would ensure a consistent process for all parties and ensure that all states/voters get a fair chance to influence the outcome. With 60% of the delegates needed to secure the nomination, at least three of the four sets of primaries will be needed to decide the nominee. These changes also provide an opportunity for a third party or independent candidate to compete with the major parties, but candidates must achieve a high primary vote total to demonstrate their viability in a general election.

Campaign Financing & Disclosures

All current campaign financing legislation will need to be repealed. Going forward, all candidates who pay the presidential election fee and are listed on the primary ballots will be required to provide full disclosures on a Federal Election Commission (FEC) web site. The disclosures will include:

- Personal Information (marital status, family members, residences, education, affiliated organizations, employment, military service, age, religious affiliations, criminal history, health report, etc.)

- Policy views on the top 15-20 issues of the day (developed for each election cycle). They would include such issues as the Economy, Foreign Policy, National Security, Taxes, Federal Budget, Defense, Welfare, Abortion, Capital Punishment, Energy Policy, Environmental Protection, Space Exploration, Trade, Gay Rights, etc.

- A listing of all official endorsements from individuals and organizations.

- A listing of all financial donors and their contribution amounts.

There will be no more limits on the amount of money that can be donated to presidential candidates. This is essentially a free speech issue and citizens have the right to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to who they want for President. However, there will still be some rules regarding these contributions:

- The contributions must come directly from an individual (no groups or organizations or “bundling”).

- Contributions can only be accepted from those individuals with exclusive U.S. citizenship (those with dual/multiple citizenship cannot contribute).

- Contributors must provide their full name, current address, phone number and SSN (only name, city and state will be published on the web site).

- The FEC will frequently audit the list of contributors and notify the campaign if it has accepted an illegal donation, which requires an immediate refund. Also, the FEC will list all the illegal donations that the candidates received to provide full disclosure to the public.

This financing reform makes it so that only individuals can donate, they can donate as much as they want, but they need to do so publicly for everyone to see. The other disclosures will also provide voters with key information about the candidates to help them make an informed choice.

Voting Regulations

For both the primary and general elections, the voting process will include the additional regulations as follows:

- A photo ID with address will be required to vote. It will be matched against voter registration data. If someone has not previously registered, then they will also need to bring a utility bill with an address matching the ID card to get registered.

- A voter must be registered to request an absentee ballot.

- All ballots and instructions will be printed in English only.

This will help reduce voter fraud and provides an incentive for new citizens to know the national language if they plan on participating in the election process.

10. Marriage Vow

The change for this step is to get the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) adopted. The proposed amendment states the following:

"SECTION 1. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups."

Marriage is currently considered a state issue. A number of states have passed laws protecting traditional (man-woman only) marriage, but judges in other states are giving legal support for same-sex marriages. States should not be deciding this on an individual basis because it is a fundamental societal institution and has significant inter-state impacts.

The main reason for preserving traditional marriage is because it is the best arrangement for raising future generations of Americans. Research overwhelmingly shows that children are most well-adjusted and successful in life when they are raised by a mother and father who are married. Despite the fact that there are single parents and same-sex couples who provide tremendous love, care and support for children, there is no real substitute for having both a mother and a father role model. Traditional marriage is too important of a building block in the foundation of a healthy society to allow it to be redefined by state governments and judges.

Having states pass legislation that allows marriage for same-sex couples is also problematic in a couple of ways. First, what if a married same-sex couple wants or needs to move to a state where legislation has been passed that only supports a man-woman marriage? Their marriage would not be recognized in the state and you can just imagine all the lawsuits that would ensue. Secondly, once a state has allowed same-sex marriage, it will likely be challenged to also allow other relationships (e.g. polygamy). How can a state rationally defend itself by saying that two men, or two women, can marry, but a man and multiple wives cannot? It is easy to think that changing marriage to allow same-sex couples will be the end of it, but it will only start us down a slippery slope where marriages can be any relationship people can imagine (two sisters, plutonic brother-sister relationship, a guy and his pet, etc.).

One thing to remember is that all the benefits bestowed on married couples within the income tax code are gone (see #3 Tax Revolt). Therefore, there are no longer any tax benefits that same-sex couples lose out on by not being married. Additionally, this amendment would not take away any legal rights from same-sex couples. If they want to commit to their relationship, they can develop contracts that provide joint ownership of their possessions and bank accounts, define beneficiaries for insurance, develop wills and estate plans, etc. While they can’t obtain a marriage certificate, they can still have a ceremony of their choosing to announce and recognize their relationship with family and friends.

This amendment really boils down to providing what is best for our country’s children. It is not meant at all to disparage gay relationships. Raising as many children as we can in traditional families will provide the best hope for future generations of Americans. The adoption program I discuss in the next step (see #11 Abortion No-Demand) also plays a part in strengthening the family in our society.

11. Abortion No-Demand

While most pro-choicers are not pro-abortion, they are fearful that any legislation (parental notification, prohibiting partial birth abortion, etc.) will become a slippery slope towards making abortion illegal. On the other side, there is the belief that abortion is the killing of a human life and that all abortions are morally and legally wrong.

The solution to this abortion battle relies on a compromise between the pro-choice and pro-life positions. The common ground is that neither side sees abortion as a good thing, and the less abortions that happen, the better. The basis for this change is to set up an environment where most women would choose to not have an abortion. This won’t eliminate abortions totally, but it should dramatically reduce them over time.

The compromise solution is what I call the National Abortion Reconciliation Act. This federal legislation will provide a way to resolve the current abortion battle in a way that should satisfy both sides, with the exception of the pro-life and pro-choice extremists. What it provides is strong incentives for a woman to see her pregnancy to term and put the child up for adoption, but ultimately gives her the final choice without any legal consequences.

For pro-lifers, this act establishes the following:

- A national adoption agency that that focuses only on pregnant women who do not want to keep the expected child. Other existing private agencies will still remain to handle other children and international adoptions. This federal program will establish fees, rules, criteria, etc. for potential parents who are looking to adopt newborn babies of U.S. citizens. The women choosing adoption will be ensured of quality health care, counseling and supplemental income as necessary during their pregnancies. Registered married couples (see #10 Marriage Vow) will be the primary source for matching with the adoptee candidates. Singles and other couples (e.g. same-sex) will be a secondary source and only used if there are not enough qualified married couples to meet the demand. This act will also prohibit any future claims and contact by the natural mother or father of the child, except in special situations where the adoptee parents die or are determined by law to be no longer competent to raise the child. There will be ongoing national marketing and all hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices will have program materials that can be provided to pregnant women. It will partner with pro-life organizations to assist with information distribution and counseling.

- A pregnant woman must sign an acknowledgement that she received information on the adoption program from the agency before she can choose an abortion.

- Pregnant women under 18 will need to inform their parents or guardians and the father before deciding on an abortion.

- Partial birth abortions cannot be performed, except when they are the only choice to save a mother’s life.

For the pro-choicers, this act provides the following:

- No federal or state law may be established that prohibits, or penalizes, a woman choosing to have an abortion performed by a qualified physician.

With the significant financial incentives and societal support for adoption, women should be less likely to choose abortion.

12. Race to the Finish

It’s time for black Americans to take the next step to unleash the shackles of racial victimization and group mentality and truly assimilate as individuals into American society. The United States has been blacks’ worst nightmare, but it is also their best hope.

Slavery was eliminated after the Civil War, but blacks faced another hundred years of segregation, discrimination and racism. They responded appropriately during this time by coming together through the development of cultural bonds and black organizations (e.g. NAACP). Because of the efforts and sacrifice of leaders like Martin Luther King and the black organizations, institutional discrimination was removed through the civil rights acts that were first initiated in the 1960s.

Despite the legislation and court decisions that opened the doors for blacks, Democrat politicians and self-appointed civil rights leaders have held them back from taking the next step to full assimilation in American society. While having good intentions, they kept blacks polarized in a separate black society that continued to preach victim mentality and government solutions. Most blacks followed dutifully.

Fortunately, many did not and they were able to reach great heights in business, industry, science, arts, sports and politics. Many also brought themselves out of poverty and are part of a growing middle class. They achieved success by fully assimilating themselves into American society and making their way through the doors of opportunity that are now available to all. In doing this, they also had to break away from a separate black society where they were led to believe that they were permanent victims of racism, solely dependant on government funding, programs (e.g. affirmative action, diversity training) and lawsuits to survive.

The enlightenment shown by the black successes has demonstrated a model by which other blacks can prosper in society. The model first recognizes that victimization thinking only hinders the chances of moving forward and that existing racism is a hurdle to overcome – not a closed door that can’t be unlocked. Secondly, pursuit of the American dream can only be accomplished within the American society and that American society is not a “white society”. Other races and ethnicities have successfully jumped into the melting pot to assimilate into, and enhance, American society. This assimilation has also been the key to knocking over many of the racism hurdles that they faced when first immigrating to this country.

Racism stems from seeing only the differences in another person. It is natural to think that someone is not like you when you see their different skin color and maybe associate them with negative stereotypes. A racist attitude melts away when a person gets to know someone of another race and realizes that skin color is really the only real difference between them. How many people do you know who have close relationships with other races and continue to exhibit a racist view? When individuals of differing races come together in close relationships such as neighbors, friends, work colleagues, students, families, organization members and teammates, they can observe first-hand the similarities among them. That is why assimilation, via these relationships, is the key to overcoming much of the remaining racism and moving more blacks forward in American society.

While the idea is simple, it will be difficult to achieve and the burden of making it happen will require the dismantling of some black organizations and artifacts of black separatism. Some of these were important and beneficial during the civil rights struggle, but they have outlasted their usefulness. Continuing to have them around will only hinder this new era of black assimilation. The following need to be ended, dismantled or phased-out:

-        Black separatist and supremacist organizations (NAACP, Nation of Islam, New Black Panthers, etc.)

-        Churches that preach black liberation theology or the like

-        Black caucuses in the government

-        Affirmative action and racial quotas

-        Allegiance to the Democratic Party and its failed solutions

-        Use of the term “African-American”

-        Black dialects (Ebonics and others)

New black leaders will also be needed to replace the civil rights leaders whose time has passed. These new leaders need to tear down the walls of separatism and guide individuals towards societal integration. There are many successful blacks out there who understand this and would make great role models and spokespersons.  

There are other issues significantly affecting black citizens that also need to be addressed such as poverty, crime, single mothers and education. Several of the other “21 Steps…” will help address these in a way that supports the overall assimilation effort. Blacks need to be an integral part of American society and the American society needs blacks to enhance the greatness of this country.

13. Religious Expression

The first amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. This is very straightforward, but, unfortunately, it has been misinterpreted, distorted and extended well past what the Founder’s intended. Judicial activists have put up a “wall”, separating anything government-related on one side with anything spiritual-related on the other. The amendment was written to allow free expression of religion, yet many court cases have resulted in just the opposite, where free expression has been prohibited. The only thing that was meant be prohibited with this amendment was the establishment of a single American religion, along with any laws that limit free expression. It was not meant to restrict prayers in school, Ten Commandments plaques in courthouses, “Jesus” license plates or the like.

America was founded on the idea that everyone was created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. God was acknowledged in the founding and religion has provided strong moral underpinnings as this country has evolved. Religious beliefs are positive influences on the citizens of the nation and their expression must be allowed and supported.

Reversing the legal precedents set by decades of court cases is an ominous undertaking, but we need to take steps to move in that direction. Getting judges at all levels that support the free expression established in the Constitution is necessary. We need to vote for the political leaders who will appoint and confirm these kinds of judges. We also need individuals who will continue to challenge the so-called separation of church and state through their exhibition of religious expression. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has done the most to try and stifle religious expression, especially that of the Christian religions. All religious people in the country need to stop donations to the ACLU to help dry up the money they use for litigation against free expression. Reestablishing religious free expression on a legal front will take time and persistence, but can be done if citizens are willing to stand up for their constitutional rights.

On another front, religious leaders and organizations have the ability to reshape this country by bringing together all religions in an effort to support each other and the country itself. It can start with an annual convention titled “One Nation Under God”. The objective of the convention is to solicit ideas and foster discussion on how religions can come together for the betterment of the country. There would be information on the beliefs and practices of each religion as a way of achieving awareness of the similarities and differences. From there, opportunities would be explored on how these religious organizations and their members could unite behind action steps leading to a better country for all. Common ground for these discussions can be found in helping the less fortunate, educating children, supporting families, protecting the country, cleaning up the environment, reducing religious intolerance and supporting free expression. One action would be to develop a standard non-denominational prayer for any schools or other organizations interested in using it. Another would be to support scientists who are exploring evidence and theories on how intelligent creation and design have been involved in the origin and development of life. They could maintain and publish a list of judges and politicians who support religious free expression. They could establish a centralized, multi-faith food shelf program with distribution channels through various churches, synagogues and mosques across the country. They could initiate a national “Show Your Faith Day” where on a set day of the year people are asked to proudly exhibit some expression of their religion, such as wearing a necklace with a cross, carrying a holy book, donning a yarmulke or any other form of expression. There are really endless possibilities as to what could emerge from this convention where people have the common bond of being Americans and believing in God.

Once the linking together of religions in the United States takes hold and the benefits for the country emerge, then this concept can be taken internationally. Another convention could be started with the title of “One World Under God”. Now, many countries can get involved in a cross-religion effort that addresses how the combined power of religious organizations can make the world a better place to live and maybe find that there really is a pathway to “heaven on earth”.

14. Rethinking Education

The first part of this change is to eliminate the Department of Education and remove federal control. Let the states, communities and parents provide for the education of their children. They are in a much better position to understand and provide for the academic needs of their K-12 students. Standard national tests will continue to track student progress in key academic areas, but local school systems will be free to use whatever teaching methods, books and tools that work best to educate their students.

Since teacher unions will no longer have control over teacher pay or the hiring/firing decisions (see #1 Union Makeover), it will open up the door for schools to go after the best teachers and pay them for what they are worth. They also will be able to release teachers who are not performing up to expectations. There will be a lot of competition among the nation’s schools and the outstanding teachers will be in demand. Teacher quality and results will be measured in various ways to determine how well they are performing. Each school system will find their own ways to determine how well their teachers performed, but a couple of key measures will be typical. First, take the scores of the national tests at the end of the school year and compare them to the students’ scores in those tests from the end of the prior year. Effective teachers will see their students’ scores improving. Secondly, the students and parents will receive a survey at the end of the school year. The survey will ask specific questions to solicit feedback on how the students and parents assessed the effectiveness and quality of the learning environment provided by the teachers. Again, effective teachers will see very positive feedback from the surveys. Also, an annual recognition program will be established to identify and recognize the best teachers in the nation. Good teachers will have a lot of incentive to stay in the teaching business, along the opportunity to be recognized and paid as the skilled professionals they are.

Home schooling options would also be provided through the schools. If parents are qualified and want to teach their children at home, the local schools will provide them with the curriculums, books and other materials. All home-schooled children will also be given the standard national tests each year to measure their progress. Parents will be able to teach the child up to whatever grade level they are comfortable with and then have their child start attending school when that level is reached. For example, a parent might want to teach her child up through 6th grade and then have the child switch to school during grades 7-12. The grade a student starts at when changing from home to school would be mostly determined by the student’s standard testing results. Even while being home-schooled, a student will be able to participate in athletics and all extracurricular activities that the local school offers. There would also be the option for a student to take most of his classes at home, but attend school to take specialized classes like band, theater, art, shop, cooking, etc.

All students would have the opportunity to qualify for the many “academic teams” that schools decide to sponsor. The teams would be formed to compete in state and national contests in areas such as debate, music, math, science, spelling, creative writing, performing arts, etc. This would provide opportunities for gifted and talented students to achieve their potential, along with getting national recognition.

Another part of these educational changes is to have school districts form alliances with state and local businesses. These alliances would provide benefits to the schools and to the businesses. The main benefit for the school is the additional funding that the businesses would provide. Depending on the type of businesses that support the school, there are also other non-monetary options that could be provided. Here are some examples:

- student internships

- part-time jobs

- after-school day care

- athletic uniforms and equipment

- adjunct instructors for business-related courses

Possible benefits for the businesses would be:

- getting the school named after the business (e.g. Microsoft High School, Wal-Mart Middle School, Exxon Elementary School)

- source of workers for intern or part-time positions

- source of full-time employees after graduation

- advertising and marketing to students, parents and teachers

A final part of this change is to institute year-round schooling. Having the summers off for the children to work the family farms made sense a hundred years ago, but those family farms are few and far between now. Also, the three-month brain-drain makes it difficult for students to pick up where they left off when they return in the fall, requiring teachers to spend the first month or more going over basics that they were taught last year. The plan for year-round schooling includes 4-day weeks (Monday-Thursday) with 2-week vacation periods in the spring, summer and winter. The start of each school year would continue to be in the fall, typically just after Labor Day. The school year would finish around the end of August.

Providing local control, business alliances, teacher incentives and a year-round learning environment will drive academic improvements and better prepare our next generation workforce.

15. Fences for Freedom

We need a border fence and tighter port security to prevent people from coming to this country illegally. The lack of secure borders poses several threats and high costs to U.S. citizens. It is a way for terrorists, drug smugglers and other criminals to enter the country. To conceal their status, some will commit identity theft. Many end up getting health care benefits paid for by our tax dollars. They get hired for jobs that legal immigrants and citizens could be doing. Estimates are that averages of 12,000 illegal immigrants are entering the United States every day.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 allows for funding of 700 miles of fencing on the Mexican border, but it doesn’t mandate that the fence be built. This legislation needs to be superseded by my new Fences for Freedom (FFF) Act which will be a comprehensive mandate to build a fence the entire length of the U.S./Mexico border (approximately 2000 miles), increase security at every U.S. port and significantly expand border fencing, surveillance and personnel on the U.S./Canada border.

The U.S./Mexico border fence will be the priority. Firms winning bids for sections of the fencing while have timetables that include penalties for not meeting them and incentives to complete the work ahead of schedule. The specifications will be for a double-walled chain-link fence with a driving road in between. Some modifications can be made to accommodate extreme terrains. There will also be cameras and sensors placed strategically at various points along the fence. Also, protection barriers will be placed along the way to stop destruction of the fence by ramming it with a vehicle.

At all the significant border towns with main roads going between the countries (Nogales AZ, Columbus NM, Brownsville TX, etc.), there will be an Inspection Center to check goods going between the countries, a Security Checkpoint to verify proper credentials of those entering the country and an Immigration Service to process citizenship applications. Many more Border Patrol facilities will be placed along the fence, especially where the terrain is more amenable to making a crossing attempt. They will be fully staffed to ensure adequate coverage to monitor any illegal crossing attempts.

The FFF Act will also provide funding to beef up security at all U.S. ports, including those in Alaska, Hawaii and the Great Lakes. This involves low-tech security devices such as drug-detecting dogs to high-tech cameras, x-ray machines and other surveillance equipment. Port security personnel will be tightly screened and monitored and the security operations for all ports will be run by the U.S. government (no foreign companies).

Even though the most pressing problems are at the Mexican border, the FFF Act will also increase security along the Canadian border. Again, border towns with main roads will have an Inspection Center to check goods going between the countries, a Security Checkpoint to verify proper credentials of those entering the country and an Immigration Service to process citizenship applications. The land border is over twice as long as the one with Mexico and overall posses more rugged terrain that would make it expensive and costly to build a fence the entire length. However, additional fencing would be added at key stretches, along with more Border Patrol facilities.

The enhanced border and port security will greatly improve our ability to keep unwanted individuals and goods from entering the country.

The next step is to deal with the 12-20 million illegal immigrants who have successfully crossed the border or have stayed past their visa expiration dates (see #16 Pink Slips for Illegals).

16. Pink Slips for Illegals

There are already laws in place that prohibit employers from hiring illegal immigrants, but they are not fully enforced, or should I say they are hardly enforced. What Congress needs to do it develop legislation that puts the onus on employers (both companies and government agencies) to resolve the immigration problem within our borders. Here’s how it works:

An Employee Verification agency would be established that has access to all citizen and visitor registration information (SSNs, visas, etc.). From the date that the legislation is enacted, all employers would be given three months to submit identification information on all of their employees to the Employee Verification agency. The agency would analyze the information on each employee and notify the companies of any who are suspected of being here illegally. There will be a process where any employee deemed illegal can challenge his or her status to ensure that any mistakes are given the chance to be corrected. Once an employer has a validated list of illegal employees, they each need to be notified of their employment termination date. These dates will be determined by a timeframe based on a person’s length of employment. Those who have worked here longer will receive a longer period of time to make preparations. Those who have been employed for less than a year will have their termination date set three months out. 1-3 years of employment gets six months. 3-5 years gets nine months and 5+ years gets the maximum of one year to end their employment. Employees can leave earlier if they want, but as long as they show up and successfully perform their jobs, employers must continue to provide them at least their current wages and benefits. Additionally, it will be the responsibility of the employer to cover reasonable travel expenses for the employee and his or her immediate family and household members to return to their country of origin. These individuals will be given special status to allow them unencumbered access to mainland transportation and airplane travel to leave the country. They will also be able to travel to an Immigration Center on their way out and file a citizenship application. They will be given no advantage or penalty, but be processed just like any other new applicant.

Employers will be periodically checked to ensure that they have given the pink slips to their illegal employees and that the employees have been terminated on schedule. Those employers failing to comply will face significant fines and penalties that increase with each violation.

Going forward, any potential new hire will need to be processed through the Employee Verification agency. Failure of the employer to do so will again invoke severe fines and penalties, along with the immediate termination of that employee.

With this change, the illegal immigrant population in the country will be mostly gone over a period of one to two years and very few will be able enter with the enhanced border security (see #15 Fences for Freedom).

The next step is to find ways to identify those in the country (citizens or illegals) who may be planning terrorists attacks and stop them before they can carry them out (see # 17 The Enemy Within).

17. The Enemy Within

The 9/11 terrorists attacked us from within. They were able to get into the country and establish, what looked to be, normal lives. All the while, they were preparing for that fateful day in 2001. In retrospect, we can see that there were clues, and if put together could have helped authorities stop the attack. We now know who the enemy is and we are much more aware of the ongoing threat that we face. President Bush reacted well in establishing Homeland Security and leveraging surveillance technology to monitor communications and financial transactions of suspected terrorists and others within terrorist-supported countries. He was also right to encourage citizens to return to their normal lives and not let the threat of terrorism dominate our lives.

However, the President really missed an opportunity to fully engage the people in this country to help identify potential terrorist plots. Establishing a terror-alert color scheme and telling people to be a little more observant than they had previously, is not enough. After seven years without another attack, 9/11 has become a distant memory for many and complacency has set in again. The next attack will come from those that live among us and the police and government agencies alone may not be able to prevent it.

Since 2002, government agencies, such as Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, etc., have been working on bringing all the information on potential terrorist threats into a single database where this data can be analyzed together and shared among the intelligence and law enforcement organizations. It has faced various hurdles, but, hopefully, this database will become fully operational in the near future and serve as a comprehensive clearinghouse for intelligence on terrorist plots.

While the intelligence agencies have their roles to gather and analyze intelligence data, the best hope we have to avoid another attack is to enlist all Americans as “citizen soldiers” who observe and report suspicious activity where they live, work and worship. We have over 350 million people who will be on the front lines for the planning of future attacks from within our borders. Essentially, we need to establish a “neighborhood watch”, but on a much broader scale across the entire country. This program would be taught by local law enforcement to groups of citizens who would be given guidance on what to look for and how to report their observations to a tip line.  These tips would be linked in with other related data to form a more complete picture of threat possibilities.

The benefit of this is not just getting more information to assist with national security, but it also helps engage the American people to support the ongoing war on terror. It will keep everyone’s awareness raised and reduce complacency during extended times between attacks. Hopefully, the time between attacks will become longer and longer, but there is no end in sight for potential threats. Getting American citizens to do their part is critical in the long term battle against those within the country who are probably already planning the next attack.

18. Orbiting Security

President Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in 1983 as a means to defend against mutually assured destruction (MAD) between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The concept was to develop a combination of land-based missiles and space satellites that could identify and destroy incoming enemy missiles. After the Cold War ended, SDI morphed into other more limited defense initiatives under Presidents Bush and Clinton.

Times have changed in the 25 years since Reagan launched SDI, but the need for it has never been greater. Although the former Soviet Union is not a current threat, they still possess nuclear weapons and several other countries have developed, or are in the process of developing, them. These include two current enemy nations; North Korea and Iran. Even among the America-friendly countries that have nuclear weapons, there is a real threat that the missile installations and control centers could be raided and taken over by terrorists.

Along with threats from other parts of the planet, we also need to start thinking about threats from space. I don’t think it will ever come from space aliens, although this enhanced SDI could help if we were attacked. More likely is that we will have to deal with an approaching comet or asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. The same technologies that are being researched and developed to destroy missiles before reaching their destination could be used try and break up the projectile or at least alter the course enough that it misses our planet.

This new version of SDI would involve a joint venture between the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). The objective would be to implement defensive weaponry in strategic locations on the planet, in orbit around the Earth and on the Moon. Significant federal funding needs to be budgeted for acceleration of defense technology research such as lasers, x-rays, particle beams, etc. and for the deployment of missiles and satellites.

The land-based systems will need to provide security perimeters around the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska. These systems would also be placed in locations within the borders of our allies, while operating under joint control. Additionally, ship-based defense systems would patrol the world’s oceans and be able to position themselves in key locations anywhere in the world to address potential threats.

Orbiting satellites would be used to identify launched missiles and eventually be able to destroy or disable them. There would need to be enough satellites placed in strategic orbits so that there is always complete coverage of the entire planet. These would also be the front-line for any space-based threats. These satellites would be monitored and maintained through manned space stations and the Space Shuttles.

The third deployment location of SDI will be on the near side of the Moon, which will provide defense capabilities at an orbit much farther out than the satellites. The defense systems on the Moon would be part of a military base that could operate as a manned or unmanned facility. It would also serve as a scientific research center.

The comprehensive approach of SDI, combined with border security (see #15 Fences for Freedom), “citizen soldiers” (see #17 The Enemy Within), energy independence (see #19 Save Your Energy) and support for other democracies (see #21 Peace Through Liberty) will be keys to protecting the country, and the entire world, for centuries to come.

19. Save Your Energy

We need the next President to set a goal for this country to become energy independent in the next decade or two.  Initiating the “Energy Race” will put this country in a position to secure the commitment and innovation of U.S. entrepreneurs and industry to achieve this economic and national security goal.

The Energy Race sets in motion two competing solutions whose combined results will ensure we meet the goal as quickly as possible. The first one involves unleashing the energy resources we have available in this country and the second is to drive innovation of new technologies and renewable sources of energy.

To tap into our existing energy resources (oil, natural gas and coal), we first need to remove federal restrictions that currently limits American free enterprise from tapping into all of the energy resources we have available within our borders and in the waters off our coasts (Note: 7/14/08 - President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling, although new oil exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf will remain off limits until Congress also takes action). We will need oil for many more years and it doesn’t make sense to be at the mercy of the other oil producing countries, especially when some of them support terrorism against the United States and its interests. We need to ensure a fast track for American energy companies to be able to explore, extract, refine and distribute our energy resources. This will mean moving hurdles to quickly approve permits and bypass unreasonable environmental restrictions. This includes ensuring that no cap-and-trade legislation is passed that will put a brake on our goal for energy independence. When the resources are located within specific states, these states will have the final say in determining if, when, how and where these resources will be tapped. In addition to the fossil fuels, the other resource that we need to maximize is nuclear power. The door must be opened to putting dozens of nuclear power plants on-line over the next couple of decades.

The second leg of this strategy involves spurring the innovation of Americans to develop new technologies and find renewable resources that can eventually make us less dependent on fossil fuels. The country needs to aggressively pursue alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, wave power, etc. We also need to discover and develop technologies that optimize the use of fossil fuels and leverage the use of renewable resources. Although this may sound contradictory to the goal, we need to repeal the current government subsidies (read taxpayer funding) that currently props up the not-ready-for-prime-time alternative energy sources and technologies. We shouldn’t be paying for them until they can compete directly and become cost effective. American ingenuity will find effective and efficient solutions that will allow us to achieve a significant reduction in the percentage of fossil fuels vs. alternative sources by the time we eventually achieve energy independence. We can also provide incentives to spur the search for new and innovative solutions (see #20 Rewarding Innovations).

This combined approach will get us to the finish line of the Energy Race in the fastest time possible and free us from dependence on foreign sources. Additionally, it will generate many jobs and stimulate our economy. Even though it will take years to get some of this American energy onto the market, a total commitment to energy independence from the President on down will produce near term price reductions of foreign oil and curb the high prices driven up by speculators.

20. Rewarding Innovations

The “American Innovation Awards” are established to reward U.S. citizens who invent innovative solutions in the areas of Energy, Health and the Environment. The objective is to stimulate new and improved solutions in these three important areas and to help advance them into the marketplace.

Each year, nominations will be accepted and reviewed by a committee of judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Each judge must be a practicing or retired expert within one of the three areas. There will be nine judges with three representing each area.

The judging will focus on ideas that are patentable, marketable and provide significant cost benefits.

The types of innovations that the judges will be looking for in each area are as follows:

 Energy

- Alternative and renewable energy sources

- New methods or technologies that improve energy output or reduce the cost

- Enhanced methods for extraction of natural resources

- Improved distribution methods

Health

- Cures for diseases

- New or improved medications

- Human body replacement parts (real or artificial)

- Prolonging life

- New or improved surgical techniques

- Sustaining wellness or enhancing physical abilities

Environment

- Reducing pollution

- Cleaning up pollution

- Finding new or improved uses of natural resources

- Enhancing or beautifying nature

- Adapting to environmental changes

The awards will be presented at a lavish White House dinner and ceremony with each winning individual (or group) receiving a check for $5 million. A condition on the check is that the winners either start, or continue, to bring their solutions to market. They can do this themselves or sell the rights to someone who will.

These awards will help “prime the pump” and provide added incentive to find solutions to these three critical issues impacting America’s future: energy independence, healthiness and a clean environment. These are also important international issues and the solutions will be available to all nations that can benefit from them.

21. Peace Through Liberty

The United States of America is the greatest nation in human history, not only because of what it provides to its citizens, but also for its contributions to the rest of the world. Think about what the world would be like today if the United States had not turned back the spread of Japanese imperialism, Italian Fascism, Nazism or Soviet Communism. And, imagine what the world might be like in the next couple of decades if Islamo-fascism were allowed to spread unrestrained.

Fortunately, the United States has stepped in, and since 9/11 this country has taken the lead in going after Islamo-fascist terrorists and their breeding grounds. Thousands of terrorists have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s terrorist regime. More importantly, this country has not been the victim of a successful terrorist attack since 9/11.

However, the current world war is not like any of the previous ones. A military victory will not be able to end it. It may never totally be over, but the best hope to dissipate this ideology is by spreading freedom and democracy into the countries that support it. Freedom and democracy are the only weapons that can truly beat back the ongoing threat of Islamo-fascism. Ronald Reagan made this observation about the power of democracy in his farewell speech in January 1989:

“Countries across the globe are turning to free markets and free speech and turning away from ideologies of the past. For them, the great rediscovery of the 1980s has been that, lo and behold, the moral way of government is the practical way of government: Democracy, the profoundly good, is also the profoundly productive.”

Islamo-fascism cannot survive in nations that offer individual freedom and a democratic government. When people get their first tastes of freedom, the totalitarian rule imposed by Islamo-fascism can no longer be stomached. The benefits resulting from democratic societies are plentiful; raised standards of living, reduced unemployment, less pollution, improved health, better education and more. People who are able to pursue life, liberty and happiness will never again allow themselves to be controlled by a totalitarian ideology.

As the United States has led the way to defeat previous ideologies in past world wars, we must do so again to defeat Islamo-fascism. Our key weapon will be the spreading of freedom and democracy across the globe. Depending on how successful we are, this could be the last world war that mankind ever faces.

While the United States will lead the effort, it must first begin by establishing an alliance of other democratic nations who will work together to replace totalitarian regimes. This organization, to be known as the Alliance of International Democracies (AID) will operate differently than the United Nations, so far as member nations will not take actions based on proposed resolutions and voting results. For each issue, members will meet to determine possible actions and each member can decide their role, if any, on specific actions that one or more of the members decide to pursue. The goal of the organization is to have all non-democratic nations converted to democracies by the end of the 21st century. As nations become converted, they will be invited to join the alliance and be able to contribute as members.

The priority for AID will be to focus on countries that are either imminent threats to member nations, are known to provide support for terrorist networks or are developing weapons of mass destruction. The standard approach will always begin with diplomatic discussions and, only if necessary, escalate to economic sanctions, stimulating regime change from within or taking military action. The diplomacy will first offer the country various incentives such as financial aid, humanitarian aid and a team of experts who can assist in determining the most appropriate type of democracy (representative, parliamentary, etc.) and help develop its new constitution. If the diplomatic efforts are exhausted without success, the next approach is to seek appropriate sanctions that can be placed on the country with support from member nations. This can involve trade restrictions, freezing international bank accounts, embargoes, etc. If this turns out to be ineffective, then further escalation will result through identification of dissident groups within the country that would have the potential to overthrow the current regime and be committed to replacing it with a democratic government. AID would be able to offer money, weapons and limited military support to these groups, if necessary. The last resort is an attack by military personnel from member nations to overthrow the current regime and provide support for the country’s citizens to establish a new democratic government.

AID will also assume other objectives that will replace the need for the United Nations. The AID member nations will meet regularly to negotiate trade policies, respond with aid for natural disasters, find ways to adapt to climate changes, encourage religious freedom and harmony, promote peace and global security, ensure adequate food supplies and distribution, control the spread of disease, protect patents and intellectual property, etc.

Freedom and democracy opened the way for America to become a great nation. They are the greatest gifts we can bestow on other nations and a key to future world peace.

Final Thoughts

Although this great “American Experiment” has been hugely successful, the country has not been all that it can be. Leftist politicians, judges and activists have distorted the meaning of the constitution, eroded our liberties and implemented socialist policies. My purpose in writing the “21 Steps…” was to suggest ways we can bring back the greatness that America is capable of achieving. Although many of my “steps” can surely be improved upon, my hope is that this article will encourage political leaders to come up with some bold ideas and muster the courage to put them into action.

I end this post by mentioning that the title of my Townhall blog site is a composite of words that Ronald Reagan used to describe the greatest country in the world.

“I've spoken of the “Shining City on the Hill” all my political life…after 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home…the American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind…We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth.”