An Open Letter to Mr. U.S. President-Elect: Make Respect for and Protection of Individual Rights Great Again

How about cementing your legacy in time for our country’s 250th birthday?

Dear Mr. U.S. President-Elect,

I hope this 2-or-more-part letter finds you in good spirits. I didn’t vote for you—nor did I vote for your opponent—but my reluctant hats off to your Jack-In-The-Box-like comeback. Now comes the difficult part. With a slim majority in Congress, and the opposition gearing up for legal challenges to your executive actions every step of the way, you have your work cut out for you.

On the plus side, you don’t have to worry about getting reelected. And regarding the supposed campaign promises, you didn’t make your fortune by honoring contracts and agreements, so why start now? Some call you a lame duck, but what do you have to lose? I suspect you give a rat’s ass about the fate of the Republican party and your MAGA base after you leave office. After all, you have already thrown your xenophobic and racist followers under the bus by supporting Vivek’s and Elon’s call for more H-1B visas (an ok move, but not enough; more on immigration later).

Why not aim for the stars? What follows is my suggested platform appealing to your vanity, to your desire for leaving behind a legacy, to your ambition to go down in history as the president that liberated individual Americans to be great again—a prerequisite for making America great again. A platform built on the protection of and respect for individual rights that would have made Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison proud. In short, a platform befitting our country’s upcoming 250^th birthday.

No, you won’t achieve all in practice—time’s too short for that. But you can set up yourself to be remembered as the president who changed the narrative for the ages, who set the moral groundswell in motion, who moved the Overton window towards limited government and capitalism to where it couldn’t be moved back by America’s statist enemies at home and abroad. Sounds exciting? Read on. I will cover the top three Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right presidential agenda items that will put you in the pantheon of great American presidents, starting with #1 right now.

1. Kickstart economic growth

High economic growth is a prerequisite for America to escape the government deficit death spiral with unsustainable government debt and unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities, currently totaling some $153.9 Trillion, or roughly $966,000 per U.S. federal taxpayer. The following four action areas will put us on the right path:

• Deregulate: Vivek and Elon may be a good start, but most of it will require legislative action, so start pressuring Congress to act. The marching orders should be to repeal, not reform, regulations. Executive orders have often been used abusively, but I favor using them to shut down regulatory agencies until Congress specifies exactly what it wants regulated. Legislative blank checks are no longer allowed.

• Make government energy neutral: Energy freedom is crucial for economic growth as energy fuels every sector of the economy. Only individual Americans and businesses in the marketplace should decide what is the best energy mix of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, ethanol, wood, blubber, dung, etc.—not politicians, bureaucrats and NGO’s using government force. The cheaper the energy, the better. Level the playing field by

  • removing subsidies and regulations favoring ethanol and “renewable” (i.e. unreliable) energy sources such as wind and solar,

  • removing subsidies and regulations favoring EV’s (including Elon’s) over gas and diesel,

  • removing restrictions on upgrading and expanding the electric grid, on drilling for oil and natural gas, and on building pipelines, refineries, LNG terminals, hydro-electric dams and nuclear powerplants.

  Finally, challenge state level regulations on all of the above in court, as there is only so much that can be done at the federal level. With your affinity for litigation, this should be right up your alley.

• Reform immigration: Yes, you heard me right. America has a huge competitive advantage in that many of the best and brightest around the world want to come here. We should cash in on it. But not only that. We need farm workers, meat packers, nurses, construction workers, assisted living staffers, and many other professions filled by immigrants as there aren’t enough of us here to meet the demand. Who should prioritize? You guessed it: individual Americans and businesses in the marketplace, of course. Work with Congress to replace all 185 special interest visa categories with an immigration marketplace where individuals, businesses and NGO’s can trade immigration access spots for a price determined by the market. The federal government only sets an annual limit of admission, for example 2% of the U.S. population, and screens those who are next in line to weed out criminals (according to U.S. law) and those with infectious diseases. If you’re met with resistance to this idea from “the base,” throw them a bone by precluding immigrants from federal handouts and by extending the wait time for citizenship eligibility to 10 years or more. Other than that, government is hands off.

• Unilaterally phase out tariffs and subsidies: Yes, you heard me right (again). This is the one area where your past experience of not meeting your obligations will come in handy. Forget all that pre-election boisterous rhetoric about putting tariffs on everything from everywhere. Tariffs and subsidies are killing economic growth and increasing prices. So what if the CCP and statists in other countries are diluting their currency and/or taxing their own people by subsidizing the stuff that we buy from them? You of all people should recognize a deal when you see it. Phase out all tariffs and subsidies unilaterally over your four years in office (to give current recipients and beneficiaries some time to adjust). Americans will thank you for lowering their grocery bills and the price on most everything else they buy.

Kickstarting economic growth is apprentice work. My 2^nd and 3^rd agenda item get into master territory. Taking them on is what separates the men from the boys, it’s the stuff that heroes and legends are made off, it’s for guys who can attract Slovenian super models. Stay tuned for Part 2, and Happy Inauguration!