ARTHUR'S MANIFESTO

This article is named "Arthur's Manifesto". This article will detail where I stand on most major issues within the political arena. This should put my articles into context and erase any question in my reader's minds on where I stand. I know that many of you think I am some sort of whipping boy for the GOP and this should give you some insight into my independent thinking and superior intellect. I do differ slightly with the GOP on a number of issues; of course, many of you won't know which ones since you have no clue what the Republican Party's platform is but read it anyway. ENJOY!! I would certainly like to field some questions and comments on this article since I think it may be the most important article so far. Email me at arthur@arthurshall.com.

TAXATION:
I am in favor of a flat national sales tax. I would roughly estimate that we would need about a 20% rate to make it somewhat equitable. I would expand non-taxable items to any food items, which would roughly mean anything that is commonly bought at a grocery store; tobacco, alcohol, cleaning items, etc. Doing this would eliminate most of the burden paid by the lower class and would place a higher burden on those who insist on spending rather than saving. Implementing this type of tax would, no doubt, increase the nation's saving rate, something that is sorely needed. This would eliminate all Federal Income Tax and eliminates most of the need for the Internal Revenue Service. To tax corporations, I would use a variant of the Value Added Tax (VAT) that is used in most of Western Europe.

The next change would be elimination on tax on dividends. Dividends are profits from corporations that are paid to stockholders, this money is already taxed in the VAT tax so it redundant to tax the recipient also. Next on the chopping block would be the estate tax. Currently, if you have an estate of over $1.5 million ($3 million for a married couple) it is taxed at 40% federally. This is the DEATH TAX!! I am in favor of raising the limits to $5 million ($10 million for married couples) and make the tax 25%. There is no way that when a person accumulates $50 million dollars (keep in mind, he has already paid taxes on that amount) through a life of hard work that the government should rob his family of approximately $19 million. With my proposal that number would be cut to $10 million, still terrible but a bit easier to swallow.

I would immediately suspend Social Security for everyone under the age of 45 and raise the benefit age to 72 for those over 55 and 75 for those who are 45 to 55 years old. I cannot be sure that this change would fix the impending solvency problem but I have a sneaking suspicion it would. If it did not, I would be willing to have the under 45 year old class pay 2% rather than the 6.2% to bolster the fund. I am not in favor of governmental interference in private sector retirement funds. This is a direct disagreement with the Bush administration. After the Social Security tax is eliminated, it would be up to the individual to make those decisions, you will see that most of my manifesto is related to personal responsibility and this is one aspect of life where I believe that the work should be done by the individual. Also, the suspension of Medicare would work similarly with age brackets and cost caps. Medicaid should be eliminated immediately, no discussion needed.

FOREIGN POLICY:
This is a difficult section to write because predicting outcomes and scenarios is foolhardy, but I will detail my general attitude towards foreign policy and how that would influence decisions. First of all, I believe that the war on terrorism is much more than that. I believe that this is the "World War III" that people have been waiting for. On one side, you have Western Civilization and as much us inhabitants of this institution disagree, we would agree this is a great place to be. On the other, you have a fascist enemy who does not see the world with the same set of values. They do not value freedom, equality, education or free-will. This will be the main foreign policy issue for the next fifty years in my estimation. The first step was made, bravely, by the Bush Administration with the invasion of Iraq. Installing a westernized parliamentary democracy in the heart of the Middle East is important and critical to winning the bigger battle. This burgeoning democracy will put pressure on the Fascist governments of Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia to reform. The threat of US military intervention should also nudge these dictators toward the path of democracy. This can be accomplished by the retention of a force of 50,000 US troops in Iraq permanently. A large Air Force base should also be housed in Iraq so that regular fly-overs can be done just so these people know who is boss. I do not respect the sovereignty of fascist dictatorships so regular military supervision would not be a breach of international law.

Speaking of international law, I do not believe in the concept in any way shape or form. We should immediately withdraw from the Geneva Accords, the United Nations, NATO and all international treaties that deal with military operations. No other organization should have any influence on US military operations, scope, or organization. I would attempt to coerce Great Britain to also withdraw from the UN thus making it a world organization by name only. I would strengthen all ties with Russia and the surrounding states of the former Soviet Union. This includes militarily, economically and diplomatically. I believe that if the US, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Russia were to team up to win WWIII, the outcome would be swift and decisive.

I would continue the current approach in dealing with China. I am of the belief that China's march into the first world of nations will be derailed soon by an uprising from within. No nation can maintain a Western style economic model and totalitarian domestic policy. When the middle class becomes empowered and emboldened by growing affluence they will demand rights and a voice, it has happened in every major nation in the history of the world. I would team with Japan to build its military into an offensive force that would counter-balance China's growing military might. A militarized Japan would make China think twice about an expansionist policy in Asia. I view Japan as our most important ally, second only to Great Britain.

I support the continuation of close ties with Israel. Israel is a critical ally in the Middle East and their advanced military force has been and will be critical to our march into dominance of the region. I would continue to distance our nation from the old powers of Europe (France, Germany, and Italy); we should embrace the new EU nations like Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic nations. These nations do not have cultures that despise our values and we should use the goodwill from the collapse of the Soviet Union to leverage influence into the parts of Europe that will be the force behind of Europe’s economic growth in the next 30 years. The economic and diplomatic isolation of these old European powers will force them to become less communist and less antagonist towards US interests abroad.

DOMESTIC SOCIAL POLICY:
As you know, I support most of the current administration’s policies in this area. I support banning embryonic stem cell research, partial-birth abortion, and placing strict limitations on the practice of abortion in general. I also place special significance on our unique federalist system of government. This deals with the independence of state's in most policy decisions. For example, if one state wants to ban abortion and another wants abortion to remain minus partial-birth, I support the state's right to do so. One of the best things about our system of government is the federal system that allows customization of laws and culture on a state-by-state basis and over the years liberals have done significant damage to this structure and I believe that these rights are central to our nation’s greatness. The last Amendment to the US Bill of Rights reads as follows “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” That seems pretty self-explanatory to me, if the constitution does not give the federal government jurisdiction then it is up to state to make the rules. This would eliminate most of the federal government, including the Department of Education, Dept. of the Interior, the FCC and the FDA among many others. I do not support the federal regulation of the airwaves and in general I am strictly against censorship of any kind. That being said, if a state wants to ban a television show or a radio program for being objectionable, I support the right of the state to do so. Of course that would mean that fag-glorifying shows like Will and Grace would be banned in most of the country and that would be a good thing. I am strictly opposed to all forms of labor unions and they should banned immediately or at the very least, every company should have the right to hire non-union workers, just as workers should have the right to work at a place of their choosing without having to join a union. I also call for the repeal of the federal minimum wage, if people are willing to work for three dollars per hour, they should be allowed to do so. A minimum wage only causes labor shortages and high unemployment.

TRADE POLICY:
I am for the continued opening of the world trade markets for goods from all over the world. I am vehemently opposed to all protectionist measures such as tariffs, subsidies and quotas. In my view, if an American company does not produce a good that is as good as a competitive product for another nation, we should welcome the superior product and let the American company die. That being said, we should take strong action against nations that subsidize their own domestic producers in order to thwart any advantage that we may have. The World Trade Organization has been a positive force in creating a level playing field for all nations and I support continued American patronage of that organization. I am in full support of NAFTA and CAFTA. These agreements have opened up Latin markets for American companies. NAFTA has significantly improved the economy of Mexico and CAFTA will do the same for the rest of Latin America. While I do not care about the economic status of these third-world nations, an improving global economy helps our economy by opening more markets to our advanced products and services.

IMMIGRATION POLICY:
I am a proponent of the open-door policy. I believe in opening our borders to all comers with the notable exception of residents from Middle Eastern nations. I would halt all immigration from these nations and severely restrict visitation and residence of Middle Eastern nationals. I would not allow them to study at our public schools and would not allow them to work here on Visa status. I am also in support of financial incentives to bring highly qualified and successful immigrants to our nation. I would start something called “New American Enterprise Zones” in the Midwest, where the government would provide 0% interest loans for homes and business in the Midwest. These immigrants would have to have degrees from non-religious schools and have a successful track record in business or the public sector. This would accomplish two things. It would bring productive new citizens to our nations and also awaken the widely economically depressed Midwest. As for the illegal immigrants, I would immediately grant them citizen status so that we can readily track and assimilate these new Americans. You may ask why I am in support of this liberal immigration policy. The reasons are economic in nature; we need more immigrants to hold labor costs down. High labor costs hurt our economy in the same way that low unemployment does, it creates an inflated price of labor. Also I have found that most immigrants, especially those from Latin America, are hard workers and are generally good workers, citizens and neighbors. They appreciate the greatness of our nation, that is, after all, why they are here.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY:
This is one area where I take umbrage with most Republicans. I have a progressive view on energy and environmental policy. First, I believe that all passenger cars and trucks in the US should be hybrid or diesel, this should take place immediately. Older cars would be grandfathered in, but all new vehicles should be able to get 40+ MPG. This would go a long way to cut our dependence on imported crude oil. I also propose tax incentives for companies to develop other types of alternative-energy vehicles such as fuel cell and biodiesel. I would waive the national sales tax on these types of cars to provide incentive for consumers to purchase them.

I support the exploration of oil on our domestic lands, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The exploration and exploitation of these resources should be done as carefully as possible. I also support government support of the nuclear industry. Nuclear plants are the safest, cleanest and most efficient form of electrical energy and we should aim for tripling our national output in the next five years. Within ten years, I believe that we should able to be 100% dependant on nuclear power for our electricity needs. Currently, 20% of our electrical power comes from nuclear plants and over 50% is from coal, which is terrible. We should move strongly to eliminate the burning of coal for power generation. Instead, we should export our significant coal resources to other nations who need it. This would also allow us to remove the dams that have destroyed our river systems and fish habitat. Only 7% of our power comes from hydroelectricity and yet it seems that dams are everywhere. That is inefficient and the removal of these dams will help our nation’s river systems and reinvigorate our native fish and other aquatic wildlife species. Currently 17% of our electrical power is generated from natural gas and to me that seems like a waste of an incredibly versatile and expensive product. We should be exporting natural gas to nations that do not have this resource. These changes will allow us to move from energy dependency into a position where we are a net exporter of energy.

FOREIGN AID:
I believe that foreign aid is an important part of US international diplomacy. We spend next to nothing on it currently and I propose increasing foreign aid to nations that share our values. I would suspend foreign aid to Africa in all forms. Africa has become completely dependent on foreign aid and most of it has been stolen by corrupt leaders and dictators. The only way for Africa to become a contributor to the world in any way is do it themselves from within. Being able to leverage foreign aid into influence and power is the reason to provide it. For example, I believe that we should grant the Russian oil industry $100 billion dollars and in return we get price assurances and guaranteed access. This develops their economy and provides us with assurances and decreases our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. This to some may seem to be a quid pro quo and it is. We give you money and you give us what we want, simple as that, it is a transaction. We can use our financial dominance to secure our nation and we should do everything to do so.

ECONOMIC POLICY:
I am certainly in favor of the current Chairman of the Fed, Alan Greenspan. He has done an incredible job in managing our economy with manipulation of the federal funds rate. The long term goals of the Fed should be first and foremost to control inflation. Core inflation should never exceed 4% and all measures should be taken to assure this. The Fed also has an important role in correcting speculative bubbles. If more was done in the 1990s to curb the uncontrolled growth of the stock market, the fall would not have been as painful. The same needs to be done with the ever-growing housing bubble. This has the potential to hurt many more people than the stock market bubble did and this is a major short-term concern in the US economy. We should also maintain a dollar neutral policy meaning that we should manage the strength of the dollar to a neutral position. Recently, the Fed has been pursuing a weak dollar strategy and while it does help domestic producers, it hurts our ability to secure goods worldwide and if anyone thinks that oil prices and the weak dollar are not linked, they are sadly mistaken.

These are the most important aspects of our nation and while I could go on and on with more specific things, this manifesto should give you an idea on where I come from and where I see things going in the near and long-term future. Thanks for reading.

-arthur@arthurshall.com