The Presidential To Do List

The Presidential To Do List

November 10, 2016
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Return America to Greatness

The ballots are in and the votes are counted (mostly). Business mogul/reality T.V. star Donald J. Trump will serve as our country’s 45th president. 

 

American Encore would like to congratulate President-elect Trump. When he’s sworn in on January 20th, we hope he hits the ground running on our nation’s most pressing issues: the national debt; tax and regulatory reform; and health care.

 

Our national debt grew by $5.8 trillion under President George W. Bush. To make matters worse, President Obama added $6.5 trillion. During President Trump’s first year in office, the national debt is projected to hit $20 trillion. This is dangerous and unsustainable.  

 

To get on a path of fiscal solvency, the federal government must rein in spending. In fact, the only way to stimulate the economy and get government’s finances under control is to cut spending and taxes. Our government wastes billions of your tax dollars every year on pet projects (like $5 million for hipster outreach), and waste, fraud, and abuse. Here’s an example of waste, fraud, and abuse from The Brookings Institution:

 

Medicare. Roughly 10% of Medicare’s $600 billion budget goes for what officials delicately call ‘improper payments, according to the 2014 financial report of the Department of Health and Human Services. Some are improper merely because providers ‘up-code’ legitimate services to boost their incomes. Some payments go for services that serve no valid purpose. And some go for phantom services that were never provided. Whatever the cause, approximately $60 billion of improper payments is not ‘chump change.’

 

Simplifying the tax code and cutting rates across the board would stimulate our economy.  This chart from the Heritage Foundation shows that while the top tax rate has varied from 28 percent to 91 percent, the percentage of the GDP taken in by the government has barely changed.

            

Not only is the U.S. overtaxed, it’s overregulated. Rules with an economic impact greater than $100 million a year are known as major rules. Every year since 2001, there have been at least 127 major rules proposed or finalized.  That’s a lot of regulation with a pretty hefty price tag. According to The Competitive Enterprise Institute, that price tag reached $1.885 trillion last year.

 

Finally, ObamaCare is imploding before our eyes: people have lost their plans and doctors; premiums are up an average of 22 percent (much higher in some areas) combined with the thousands in out-of-pocket dollars needed to cover the enormous deductibles; and there are still 29 million uninsured Americans. With the GOP in control of the House, Senate, and White House, ObamaCare can finally be replaced with a patient-centered free market program.

 

We at American Encore look forward to seeing the Trump Administration’s solutions to these important issues.

 

 

Sources:

It's Time for an American Encore