Author: admin

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” Ayn Rand.  Strikes a nerve doesn’t it?

BACKGROUND AND STATS: The Obama/Biden administration set the stage for a regulation nation, Trump made progress in reducing bureaucratic controls but Biden, the good Obama student, is back at it.  During the first three years of the Obama/Biden rule, 1106 new major federal regulations added more than $46 billion per year in new costs for Americans.  That was four times the number and more than five times the cost of the major regulations issued by President Bush,43, in his first three years.

But 2009-2012 was just the warm up for the Obama/Biden regulation nation. January, 2014, “We are not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help that they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone.” President Obama

In their sprint to the finish in 2016 nearly 4000 regulations made their way through the federal bureaucracy, costing billions of dollars per year and wreaking havoc on American businesses in particular.

President Reagan aptly described that concept of leading the nation; “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

In 2017, a week after the inauguration, President Trump sent a message to the Congress, the government bureaucracy and the American people with his Executive Order, “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs”, that required agencies to revoke two regulations for every new rule they want to issue.

On 20 January, 2021 a few hours after being sworn in, President Biden cancelled the Trump 2 for 1 Executive Order.

In 2020, the Trump administration’s regulatory costs were about $20 billion. In 2021, Biden’s first year, the cost exploded to approximately $200 billion.

In 24 months, Biden has demonstrated he is hell-bent on an unprecedented expansion of the regulation nation. According to the American Action Forum, Biden has imposed 517 regulatory actions costing some $318 billion.  By comparison in four years Trump imposed rules at $64.7 billion in net regulatory costs. 

The Constitution specifically gives the power to pass laws to Congress, not agencies. Yet in 2021 federal agencies issued 3,257 rules based on 143 laws. In 2022 another 3,168 rules were added to the Federal Register based on 247 laws.  But as the saying goes, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” Agencies are hard at work writing the regulations and rules that will be necessary to cover the 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion government funding bill passed December, 2022.

Under Trump, calendar year 2019 concluded with 21,964 final rules in the Federal Register which was the lowest count since records began being kept in the 1970’s.

In Trump’s first year, 2017, the Federal Register finished at 61,308 pages the lowest count since 1993 and a drop of 36% from Obama’s 95,894 pages in 2016 which was the highest in history.

REGULATIONS IMPACT: Regulations are a tax on every American. The Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates that overall regulatory costs to the economy are at least $2 trillion; about 8% of the gross domestic product. If you think of regulation costs as a tax, it would be larger than federal income tax. Or, if it was a country, U.S. regulation would be the world’s eighth-largest economy.

As President Calvin Coolidge reminded us 100 years ago, “The business of America is business.”  But:

• Mounting regulations reduce business start-ups; it’s just too hard to counter the massive government red tape.
• Meeting regulatory requirements costs businesses time and money.
• Regulations can kill the American entrepreneurial spirit that made this the greatest nation on earth.
• Mounting regulations slow overall Gross Domestic Product growth and negatively impact everything consumers. During an inflationary period, the last thing we need is more regulation trauma that further raises prices.
• Forbes reported that a 10% increase in total regulation leads to about a 1% increase in prices and most often impacts low-income households.

While large corporations across America get the spotlight, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99.9% of American businesses are “small” and there are 33.2 million of them. They employ 61.7 million workers, 46.4% of all U.S. employees.

FOR EXAMPLE: Here is one of the thousands of federal and state regulations creating a hostile business environment for small business.  

With the aim of combating wage discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC requires employers with 100 or more workers to report how much they pay workers, broken down by sex and ethnicity. The form for doing so includes 12 rows for different pay levels in 10 broad job categories, ranging from executives to service workers. For each of these rows, there are 15 columns identifying employees by gender and ethnicity; white, black, Latino, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Asian, Native American, Alaska Native, or “Two or More Races.” Employers also would have to tally the total number of hours worked by employees in each pay band over the past 12 months.

It’s easy to see possibly three problems associated with this report.  First, it’s just a mass of raw numbers. But raw numbers could be misleading because pay disparity could be legitimately due to factors such as seniority, training or decisions workers make on whether to work overtime.

The second problem has to do with perceptions. The EEOC bureaucrats’ most senior boss, aka President Biden, has told the Executive Branch and the American people in prepared remarks, June 2021, that, “White supremacy is the most lethal terrorist threat to America.”  Armed with that guidance from the president, the bureaucrats logically begin to execute their mission by looking at, you guessed it, business owners who are white. 

The third problem is that the regulation exists because of the assumption that wage disparity is so rampant in America that the federal government has to take it on. With that assumption underpinning the whole operation, one weaponized bureaucrat’s conclusions from the raw data can bring the force of the federal government down on large numbers of business owners, strangling them with red tape and legal fees

“The most terrifying words in the English language are; I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” Ronald Reagan.

NATIONAL SECURITY:  Then there are the senior bureaucrats who can, on their own initiative bend the rules and regulations just enough to produce an outcome that is favourable to their personal viewpoint but not in the best interest of We-The-People or U.S. business.  Case in point is an on-going issue called the Willow Project.  It is part of a decades-long oil drilling venture on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve which is owned by the federal government.

First, let’s be clear about the importance of drilling our own oil.  Given the strategically challenging world we live in, energy independence, achieved in 2019 for the first time in 62 years, is a critical national security issue right up there with illegal immigration.

What we should know about the Willow Project:

• ConocoPhillips acquired its first Willow leases in 1999. Willow is an $8 billion business investment.
• The National Petroleum Reserve is an area the size of Indiana that Congress specifically set aside for oil development.
• The project would occupy 0.002% of the National Petroleum Reserve.
• It would use the existing Alaska pipeline and require no new roads.
• Willow is capable of providing 180,000 barrels a day from its estimated 600-million-barrel reserve.
• It would employ 2500 workers, mostly union labour construction jobs.
• The project has passed every environmental analysis.
• It has been signed off by every concerned agency to include Fish & Wildlife and the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Willow is a low-carbon project approved by the Bureau of Land Management.
• It would generate about $17 billion in new revenue for the feds, the state of Alaska and the North Slope Native communities.
• The project has overwhelming bipartisan support in Alaska.
• The Bureau of Land Management issued a statement, “In the absence of production from Willow, energy production from this project’s oil would be replaced by other sources around the globe.”  Which, of course, would include the likes of Venezuela.
• The final regulatory review was completed in early February

What’s not to like about this project? Notwithstanding the national security issues associated with Willow, the single-focused anti-fossil-fuel crowd is naturally against it.  They have organized online activism to include more than one million letters to the White House and a petition with more than 2.9 million signatures.

Within minutes of her own BLM scientists issuing their favourable report, Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued a statement citing “substantial concerns.” Haaland has refused to meet with a delegation of pro-Willow Alaskan Natives who are advocating for the project. Where are her “substantial concerns” over our national security in light of the world’s growing energy security issues and Biden’s depleted strategic oil reserves?

While campaigning for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2018, Haaland stated, “As a Native American woman whose ancestral homeland is under attack from the Fossil Fuel Industry, I 100% support a Green New deal and a Congressional Climate Commission.”

As a new member of Congress in 2019 Haaland stated, “I am wholeheartedly against fracking and drilling on public lands.”

In order to be most efficient and effective with their $8 billion investment, ConocoPhillips is proposing construction of five drilling pads. During its review, the Bureau of Land Management suggested that three drilling pads may be sufficient. What Secretary Haaland can, and may do, in spite of all the approvals by her internal professionals’ advice, is to approve the project but limit the scope to less than three drilling pads. This would effectively kill the project in that ConocoPhillips has already declared less than three drilling pads is economically infeasible.

Additionally, it was reported this week that the production from existing industry-wide drilling was down significantly during 2022; there is a need for new drilling projects. This nation is a long way from the point where we can forget about having a steady, reliable supply of gas and oil. Biden proved that on day-one of his administration when he gutted the energy industry with a stroke of his pen and thereby negatively impacted the financial security of every American with $5 a gallon gas and $5.81 for diesel that drove the inflation equation.

Secretary Haaland’s “substantial concerns” serves to demonstrate the rules and regulations power in the hands of top-tier bureaucrats. 

TAXING BUSINESSES: Let’s begin with some sage advice from Winston Churchill: “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” Don’t you love it?

Biden, last week, “I’m going to raise your taxes,” Wow, is he ever; he is proposing $5 trillion in new tax revenue over the next 10 years. Among his business tax proposals is raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, which would affect all the big corporations and about one million small businesses organized as corporations.

Biden, for the last three years, “I will not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000” Well, I’m sorry Mr. President that is not true; you know it, your economic advisors know it but it is a great sound bite and you use it because you and all of your Democrats believe We-The-People are too dumb to know any better. 

Let me explain it to you one more time Mr. and Mrs. Democrat. Almost 100% of all large corporations and all 33.2 million small business have one thing in common; their balance sheets’ bottom line consists of two main issues, income and expenses.

READER CAUTION:  If you read on, I’m sure what I have written will insult your intelligence because its third-grade math.  But I want to get this on record as the nonsense the White House handlers are putting on the president’s teleprompter.

If you subtract the expenses from the income, you have profit; the end game for every business. When expenses go up (tax is an expense, just like the light bill) and the income remains the same, guess what; profit goes down.  When the profit margin becomes untenable something has to change; the most probable way to remedy that is to raise prices and thereby increase income. 

Headline Mr. President, when prices go up everyone is negatively impacted. Tax is just another expense in the business world; businesses may write the check to the IRS but it is the consumer who actually pays the tax.  By the way, Mr. President 99% of Americans make less than $400,000 per year.  So please stop with the, “I will not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000.”  Business don’t pay taxes, people do.

 CONCLUSIONS:

 Over the decades we have grown a federal bureaucracy which is now at the point of independent power and control that is not in the best interest of our nation.

We should not be driven by single-issue activists who can make enough noise to turn bureaucrat leaders against the best interests of all Americans.

Energy dependence is a critical national security issue that should not be left in the hands of uninformed activists.

As of 11 March, Secretary Haaland had not issued a decision the Willow project.

BOTTOM LINE:  Obama/Biden figured out how to weaponize the bureaucracy and use it against businesses, national security and the American people.  Biden has taken weaponization to an art form. 

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com

High taxes, debt, deficit spending, welfare excesses, declining population; those are descriptors that we often associate with Democrat-led states like California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York.  The Wall Street Journal recently published a simple comparative chart with a few figures representing Florida and New York that speaks volumes about Democrat vs Republican governance.  The figures from the Wall Street Journal are in bold, the discussion and conclusions are mine.

POPULATION: 

Ten years ago, the population of New York state (19.6 million) and Florida (19.5 million) were obviously very similar. But the mass migration from the Northeast in general and New York in particular has resulted in Florida with 22.3 million, a 2.7 million edge over the population of New York with 19.6 million.  Florida is the fastest growing state in the America.

But there is more to the story than just numbers of people.  It is not the poor folks who are moving to Florida, it’s a “wealth migration.” More wealth is moving into Florida than any other state by far. In 2020 taxpayers with a net total of $23.7 billion in adjusted gross income migrated to Florida; Texas was a distant second, gaining $6.3 billion. Correspondingly, IRS data tells us that New York tax revenue shrank by $19.5 billion and those losses pile up on top of each other year after year.

TOP STATE INCOME TAX RATE in Florida 0%; New York 10.9%.

TOP INCOME TAX RATE in Miami 0%; New York City 14.8%.

STATE SALES TAX RATE in Florida 6%; New York 4% (but the combined NY state and city sales tax is 8.9%).

STATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (December 2022) in Florida 2.5%; New York 4.35%.

LATEST ANNUAL STATE BUDGET: 

This is amazing; Governor Hochul’s state budget this year is $227 billion while Governor DeSantis’ is $114 billion; about half of that in New York but with 2.7 million more citizens. Florida budgets for $5,112 per person while New York’s is $11,581 per person.

The current NY budget contains a $310 million deficit which is expected to balloon to $6.2 billion by 2027 under the current rate of spending and reduced revenue. New York is a classic Democrat tax-and-spend economy and people are speaking out with their U-Hauls as they head down interstate 95. Meanwhile Florida is projecting a surplus of $13-15 billion per year through 2026.

TAX CUTS AND TAX INCREASES:

Here is an example of New York planning: County budgets in NY are of course already set for this year.  On February 17^th 2023 Governor Hochul announced that on April 1^st she plans to keep part of the federal funding the state relays to counties to help pay their massive Medicaid costs. She will withhold $626 million that the counties would otherwise get this year. County officials say they will certainly raise property taxes to cover the loss.

Two years ago, New York City raised its top marginal income tax rate to 52% on ultra-high earners; the highest personal income tax hit in the U.S. This year Hochul’s plan is to increase the top payroll tax from .34% to .50% on employers and self-employed individuals in New York City and seven suburban counties to generate $800 million revenue per year. Additionally, she proposes to increase the rate imposed on the net earnings of a self-employed business owner to .42% this year and to .50% in 2024.  And so it goes in New York, tax and spend with no relief in sight.

Meanwhile, a May 2021 headline: Governor DeSantis Signs Florida Tax Cut Package designed to provide savings for families and businesses.

Followed in May 2022; Governor DeSantis signed into law a $1.2 billion package of tax breaks, including the elimination of the state sales tax on diapers for a year, along with four sales tax holidays lasting one or two weeks each.

February, 2023 DeSantis unveiled a $1.2 billion sales tax reduction focused mainly on eliminating sales taxes on household items under $25 to provide families relief from inflation. And, so it goes in Florida with relief already legislated and more relief in sight.

MEDICADE SPENDING FY 2021:

Florida: $8.95 billion (total $28.76 billion with federal share).

New York: $26.47 billion (total $73.27 billion with federal share).

MEDICAID RECIEPIENTS in December 2022, 5.6 million in Florida (25% of the population) and 7.8 million in New York (38.6% of the population).

OK, why are 1 out of 4 Floridians getting Medicaid while in New York it is 1 out of every 2.5? Are New Yorkers less healthy? No, it’s the New York welfare-state mentality. They have constructed the eligibility requirements to get a larger number of citizens dependent on the program.

For Florida seniors to receive nursing home Medicaid in 2023, they must have income under $2,742 per month and have assets under$2,000.

For New York seniors to receive nursing home Medicaid in 2023, they must have income under $1,563 and have assets under $28,133. The point here is that the number of individuals in New York with assets under $28,133 is massive and allows the Medicaid eligibility to be unreasonably high. Medicaid recipients are another Democrat identity group who will faithfully and consistently vote Democrat.

GDP GROWTH (2016-2021) Florida 17%; New York 8%. That is an important statistic because it brings us to a discussion of Econ 101.

There is one simple equation in the very complex world of economics that the Democrats just will not abide by as they pursue their tax-and-spend programs that are putting this nation in serious financial jeopardy. Econ 101 goes like this:

Cut taxes across the board and:

• Individual discretionary spending goes up.
• Business discretionary spending goes up; business expansion, create jobs, increase wages.
• When spending goes up manufacturing goes up.
• Suppliers and transporters have more business; more jobs, higher wages.
• More jobs are created.
• Unemployment goes down.
•  Wages, salaries, bonuses and dividends go up.
• The overall Gross Domestic Product goes up.
•  As gross income goes up; greater income tax.
• Federal and state tax revenue increases.

It’s not rocket science; this formula worked when President Trump cut taxes in 2017 (which was criticized by every Democrat as a tax cut for the rich) and by 2019 U.S. tax revenue was the highest in history.  Republican Econ 101.

Republican economics, if you want to spend more grow the economy more; 2017 -2020.

Democrat economics, if you want to spend more, tax more; 2009-2016, 2021-2022. Case in point; during the Obama/Biden administration the economy grew more slowly than was projected in 2009. New legislation cost $5 trillion. Obama/Biden left behind a budget with higher entitlement spending, higher taxes and lower discretionary spending. You can Google up the full list of 21 Obama/Biden tax hikes while the national debt doubled. Democrat Econ 101.

Historically GDP growth has averaged 3% annually; Obama/Biden average was 1.59% and in their last year in office it was 1.7%.

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board conclusions concerning Florida and New York economics.  The comparative statistics don’t tell the whole story but they do show that better Governance yields better fiscal and economic results. And these results in turn attract more people, which contributes to faster growth and more tax revenue without an income tax. We don’t expect the denizens of Albany to care, but they should.

Let’s move the discussion of governance from Florida/New York to the federal level.

BIDEN’S DREAM GOVERNANCE SCENARIO:

• Amnesty for tens of millions of illegal migrants thus giving them access to all 83 federal welfare programs. A huge vote-buying identity group initiative.

• Child tax credit: $3600 per year for children under age 6 and $3000 per child age 6-17.  Families will get full credit if they make up to $150,000 per couple or $112,000 for a single parent.  Sounds good but let’s do the math on this one (round numbers for ease in understanding).

-There are 74 million children in the U.S. age 0-17.

-There are about 132 million households, (single-parent and two-parent).  

-80% of the households have income less than $150,000.

-So, there are about 106 million households that qualify for a child credit and about 59 million kids in those households.

– The average credit per child is $3,176 per year for 17 years.

-The child credit program would cost the taxpayers $3,176 times 59 million kids equals about $187 billion paid out to 106 million qualifying households per year.

Bottom line for child credit is that it makes sense as a safety net for low-income households. But for damned sure a couple making $149,999 a year does not need a government safety net to raise their kids. This is pure Democrat vote buying to regain some political traction in the middle class. 

• Wealth tax:  This is not an income tax; it is a tax on households worth more than $100 million in accumulated assets. Biden’s proposal is that the wealth tax would claim a minimum of 20% from high earners.  When it comes time to pay your wealth tax, in all probability one would have to sell assets to have the cash to pay the IRS.  At some future point you are no longer wealthy.  This proposed tax is a gift to the far-left socialists, the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. President Biden explains this to the American people as, the wealthy paying their fair share, never having to explain what fair share actually means.

• Unrealized capital gains tax: If your assets rise in value during a year, you will pay taxes on that increase even if you realized no actual gains through a sale. If you lack the ready cash you might have to sell assets to pay the tax bill. Conversely, if your assets fall in value, you would not be authorized to deduct the full loss from your income.

• Corporate stock buyback tax: This year there is a new 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks. Biden’s intent is to quadruple that tax rate to 4%.  

Why all of these new taxes? Biden needs more revenue because he’s also proposing trillions of dollars in new social spending. Fortunately, the Republican-controlled House can prevent this from happening now but it is what Biden plans to campaign on for the 2024 election.

This deranged economic thinking began with Obama’s intent for the nation which he revealed on a hot-mike during the 2008 campaign; “wealth transfer.”  It didn’t make economic sense then and it does not make sense today.

CONCLUSIONS:

Does anyone see a pattern here? The larger Democrat goal is more political control over you, over business, over everything.  Big centralized government. Massive uncontrolled bureaucracies. Out of control spending and debt.

Democrat welfare has nothing to do with safety nets for those unable to care for themselves.  Democrat welfare is all about building dependency, aka buying votes of multiple identity groups to the point they will never have to contend with a Republican House or Senate again. Clearly the emphasis is on Party over we-the- people.

Welfare needs a do-over.  Democrat welfare promotes disincentivization to work. We need to go back to the Bill Clinton/ Newt Gingrich Welfare-to-Work program. It was very successful and millions came off the welfare rolls until Obama/Biden changed a few rules in order to go full-bore on their wealth transfer philosophy.

BOTTOM LINE: “Governance” is a soft sounding seemingly harmless word.  But when it comes to running a state or the nation, governance is a deadly serious endeavor as illustrated by the Wall Street Journal with a small chart of a few comparative numbers. 

Comparative governance is another good subject for the Republicans to campaign on for the 2024 election.

Numbers are meaningful because, as Mark Twain so eloquently explained to us, “Figures don’t lie but liars do figure.”

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

MEMO for Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman, Republican National Committee

Congratulations on being reelected to your RNC position. You have less than 21 months until the 2024 Presidential election and the first primary, South Carolina 3 February 2024, is less than a year away.

LET’S BEGIN WITH THE BOTTOM LINE ON THE 2024 ELECTION. NO ONE IS IN CHARGE, THERE IS NO PLAN (JUST LIKE 2022 WHICH WAS TO HAVE BEEN A SLAM-DUNK) AND HOPE IS NOT A PROCESS!

The point being, if you settle back into your Chairwoman position at the RNC and proceed with business-as-usual the 2024 election will likely be as big a failure as the 2022 election was.  In case you haven’t noticed, Biden is already campaigning and if the past is prologue to the future, you and your organization, in all likelihood, do not yet have a plan. Beginning now, spend the next 30-60 days doing two things in support of the 2024 election; organize the RNC for action and build an operations plan for Campaign 2024.

Are there any indications the RNC is looking to 2024?  New entry in the RNC website entitled, Resolutions Adopted During the 2023 Winter Meeting.  There are nine resolutions, to include Honoring the life of Congressman (John Doe); honoring the life of Dr. (Jane Doe); support for the U.S food supply chain; oppose antisemitism; RNC commitment to life, etc.  A complete waste of time; resolutions going nowhere at the speed of light. What about the 2024 election? No plan, no one in charge.

ORGANIZE FOR ACTION: First Ms. McDaniel, you need to optimize your organization.  Focus every person on the election every day. Streamline their work process to make them as efficient and effective as possible.  Here is a list of ten topics to begin with:

One, BUILD A CAMPAIGN PLAN: A campaign is a series of organized actions aimed at accomplishing a stated purpose and typically focused on a path toward an identifiable end-state. Trial-and-error is a process but not very effective. You need to build a specific campaign plan for the next election.  Everything that happens in the RNC in the next 21 months must be focused on one thing, call it Campaign ’24.

Two, USE FORCE MULTIPLIERS:  It would seem there are never enough people and too many tasks to perform.  As you move forward leading your organization towards a slam-dunk victory in 2024, concentrate your effort around a series of force multipliers. A force multiplier is an issue, concept, procedure or action that, when concentrated on and exploited, can provide an extraordinarily positive return in relation to the limited time and effort invested in its use.  Colin Powell used to say, “A leader’s positive attitude is a force multiplier.”  More examples throughout this paper.

A clear statement of intent from you is a force multiplier. Why? Because intent is the tool that links all the leadership levels and binds them together toward an identifiable end-state.

You will need help, lots of it. Effective use of a chief of staff, war council, senior advisors, a red team, brain trust, and coaches are all force multipliers. 

Three, USE AFTER ACTION REVIEWS: AAR is a professional discussion discovering what happened, what did not happen, and why. AAR is a comparison of actual output with intended outcomes. It is NOT a critique; critique means to criticize; there is time for that in private.  AAR explicitly links past experience to future actions. What did we do good? What could we have done better? How can we immediately institutionalize changes going forward.  It’s all about accountability.

There should be brief, 15-20-minute AARs ongoing throughout the organization every day. Create a mind-set that an event, no matter how small, is not concluded until the AAR is completed. AAR is simple, free and can become the ultimate force multiplier for the organization top to bottom. 

Four, ESTABLISH NATIONAL LINKAGE AND ALIGNMENT: Beginning at your level, establish linkage and alignment between and among yourself and the RNC Chairpersons in every state to facilitate near instant communications, initiatives and dealing with a crisis. Then, demand that your subordinates at the national RNC establish the same linkage with their counterparts in every state.

Five, CREATE AGILITY: Agility is a principle descriptor of great organizations. Agility is in one sense a leader’s mindset.  An agile leader is always on the lookout for a target of opportunity and when it is identified they are quick to act on it. They are never satisfied with the status quo.  An agile leader is in a constant state of taking the organization elsewhere.  An agile organization is one that readily supports change; recognizes the need for change and its members are quick to suggest innovative ways to change the way the organization operates.  Agility is a huge force multiplier.

Six, DELEGATE OR DIE: Ms. Daniel, I do not know what your leadership style is but if you demand that every decision passes through you before execution, the RNC will grind down to an ineffective, nonresponsive, behind-the-power-curve organization and Campaign ’24 will end up looking like election 2022. The question you have to ask yourself is, do my subordinate leaders “feel” empowered to deal with increased workload, short suspenses and potential crises situations and then back-brief me on their decisions?

Seven, USE A BRAIN TRUST: Too often in the next 21 months you will face situations that need an immediate decision to head off a possible crisis; you need help. Select a small number of subordinates perhaps 3-5. in whom you have ultimate trust and confidence.  They need to be your best and brightest who see the big picture, are discreet and not afraid to challenge you.  Whenever you need help or someone to listen to a new idea, tell your executive assistant or the chief of staff, “Get the Brain Trust in here right now.” Remember, it is lonely at the top but that does not mean you need to be alone.

Eight, BUILD A RED TEAM: Select a small number (3-5) of your brightest subordinates and give them an additional duty to, “become died-in-the-wool Democrat thinkers.” Rely on them frequently to tell you how they believe the Democrats will react to “X”.  What is the Democrat’s next initiative?  How can/should we counter a Democrat initiative? Have them sit in on high-level meetings to comment.  A Red Team is a force multiplier; do not proceed without one.

Nine, PUT TOGETHER A SENIOR COUNCIL: Ask a small number (3-5) senior retired Republican superstars to advise, review and comment on Campaign ’24 initiatives.  Newt Gingrich, Condoleezza Rice, Mike Huckabee, William Bennett are names that come to mind.

Ten, BUILD A NEW WEB SITE:  In its current state, the RNC website is useless to support an election. For example, OUR RULES AND RESOLUTIONS, all 43 pages of it, should not be front and center; hide them somewhere at the end of the website or delete it. OUR PLATFORM section is three whole sentences. Ridiculous.

Start over with a blank page and a new concept for the website. It should serve two purposes. One, is to become a one-stop reference warehouse for every local, state and national Republican candidate across the nation who will use the data for building their campaign speeches and debate preparation. Secondly, it should be a one-stop-shopping center for voters of all parties who want to be better informed about the issues. This reference library will NOT be filled with long, wordie essays.  It will consist of multiple individual Fact Sheets for every policy and issue the Republicans are for and every Democrat issue and policy we are against and why. Every Fact Sheet must be filled with irrefutable and fact-checkable data. Update the site daily if necessary.  Every paper should include in the first sentence, Posted (date) or Posted (date), Updated (date). The sum total of all this IS THE PLATFORM FOR 2024.

For example, on the subject of election reform.  Task every state to investigate and report the approximate number of ineligible voters on their Voter Registration Rolls (it’s millions in California).  Then do a fact sheet on the subject pointing out the millions of ballots that would therefore be mailed out with no accountability.  Do a fact sheet with factchecked examples from every state on the danger of voter fraud with ballot harvesting and drop boxes.  Do a fact sheet demonstrating that voter fraud will be nearly nonexistent with voter ID cards. From Biden on down the Democrats call voter ID “racist.” The Republican counter to that ridiculous charge should be this question, “Are you saying that nonwhite Americans are incapable of going to the DMV and getting a voter ID card?   Point out that on May 7^th, 2025 every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license to fly within the U.S. and the Democrats claim it is racist to require an ID that will protect us from abusing voting, a sacred foundational element of this nation.

An estimated 90 million eligible voters did not vote in the 2016 election; 80 million did not vote in 2020.  RNC should press Speaker McCarthy right now to pass legislation calling for new election dates in 2024. Polls should be open on Saturday November 2^nd, Sunday November 3^rd   and Monday 4 November will be an election holiday. The only way to vote will be in person 2-4 November or by absentee ballot.

OPERATIONS PLAN CAMPAIGN ‘24

With the organization energized, it’s time to build and execute an operations plan: Every good op plan works its way through three distinct pieces; first Chart a course, secondly declare expectations and finally create conditions for success. In simplest terms an op plan is about answering who, what, when, where, why and how.

 CHARTING A COURSE, vision and strategy.

VISION: All great plans begin at the end; that is, with a vision of the end state. Vision answers the question where we are taking the organization. A leader is someone who is taking the organization elsewhere. There doesn’t have to be a lot of detail in the vision statement; just enough to feel it and see it.

The vision for Operations Plan Campaign ’24 is a slam-dunk Republican victory in the 2024 election across the country and thereby change the direction of America.

STRATEGY: How are we, in general terms, going to go about achieving the end state? Strategy is a game plan. Strategy is the alignment of assets to their greatest advantage. There are three rules for strategy; have one, two, keep it simple (be able to explain your strategy in a few words) and three, if the strategy is working, do not abandon it. Strategic planning begins with a detailed analysis of external and internal factors that lead to a game plan.

The strategy for Campaign ’24 is for the RNC to become the center of gravity for planning with dynamic information, data and guidance flowing to every Republican candidate, local, state and national. Get out front, dominate the political narrative and put the Democrats on the defensive.  Get ahead and stay ahead.

DECLARING EXPECTATIONS: The beginning of communications throughout the continuum of leadership with mission, intent and boss’ guidance.

MISSION: What it is we all are going to do; it’s the launch point.  

The RNC mission for Campaign ’24 is to tailor the entire organization to focus on the 2024 election and proactively provide guidance on Republican policy issues, programs, changes to Biden administration policy and to generally change the destructive path America is on today.

INTENT: Answers who, when, where and why. The most powerful tool available to a leader, vision binds the organization together in a common cause. Without intent, the organization will lack direction, flounder and probably fail.

It is my intent (the leader, Ms. McDaniel owns intent) for the RNC to make it possible for Republicans to win big in 2024 and thereby change the direction of our nation.

This organization will necessarily change its focus in order to support, on a daily basis, every Republican 2024 candidate in America, work faster and more efficiently, interact continuously with counterparts at the state level and produce products that are irrefutably factual in building cases for the Republicans and against the Democrats.

We are doing this because 70-80% of Americans believe the nation is off-track and headed for a massive train wreck with few survivors.

I intend to use two paths to success. First is the totality of RNC internal change; forget about the old RNC. Reinvent your job description. Understand the Campaign ’24 end-state and focus on the new mission. You are the Republican Party’s staff and brain trust for Campaign ’24. Support down to the states to the points of execution. Secondly, getting the Governors and state Republican Chairpersons to sign on to and support Operations Plan Campaign ’24.

BOSS’ GUIDANCE:  Bound the problem, prioritize, define operational considerations, set a timetable and fix responsibility.

Every new idea for the Republican Party is in play.  Nothing, as long as it is factual, is off-limits with regard to the Democrat’s tax-spend-power-control agenda.

Your work day; make everything you do more achievable for Campaign ’24. There are no second priorities.

Redefine how you work; agility, synergism, create force multipliers, always have an After Action Review, there are no bad new ideas. Age-old saying, “If you think you can, or if you think you can’t, you are probably correct.” Get on board or get out of the way.

CREATE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS:

Centers of Gravity: A place, person, thing, belief, circumstance or condition that is central to success for you and/or the competition. Before every phase of the operation, confer with the brain trust, senior council and red team to determine a very short list of issues that fall into the center of gravity category and monitor the status every day. Potential show shoppers (centers of gravity) must be identified early and then contingencies developed to deal with them.  This is a dynamic, never-ending process of identify/take action, identify/take action, phase by phase throughout the campaign.  Centers of gravity is another force multiplier.

Assumptions:  You will never have all the facts.  Consider carefully the assumptions you make, write them down and track them.  Eventually every assumption must be proven to be valid or false.  Either way, there may be significant ramifications.  If you base the whole strategy on an assumption, be prepared for a hard fall if you let the campaign play out too long and get too close to the assumption before you determine its validity. Moving a campaign forward based on an invalid assumption can be a death knell.

Critical Information Requirements: A short list of potentially time-sensitive issues the boss wants everyone in the organization to watch for.  If someone sees it, feels it or smells it, get the information directly to the RNC Chairperson. Update the list frequently. Head off small problems before they become big problems.  Another force multiplier.

Control the Battlespace: Every problem has a defined battlespace (operating environment) and every battlespace is configured such that you either have the advantage or are in a disadvantaged position. For example, are all of the Republican Governors and the state Republican Chairpersons on board?  Is the congressional leadership tuned in and responsive? Be proactive and control the battlespace thereby creating another force multiplier. 

Leader Backbriefs: For the most part meetings are a colossal waste of time; but also, leaders have to remain informed on a wide range of issues.  Create a culture of brief, frequent, stand-up subordinate leader backbriefs. Yes, another force multiplier.  

Dynamic Planning by Phase: Some organizations believe you can just build a massive to-do list of several hundred items and say, “Go”.  Well intentioned subordinates will be moving in multiple directions, no prioritization, too many assumptions, soon chaos and finally the boss says, “Well we tried and it just can’t be done.”

Why phase an op plan?  There are two good reasons. First, let’s say we are building a 2-year 4-phased plan and we have established a reasonable end-state in general terms that is easy to understand (similar to Campaign ’24). At this point how much detail do we know about phase 4?  Not much.  How about phase 1?  In phase one it is clear that we need to organize for action and build an operations plan. There are already many details associated with accomplishing those two things. 

The second reason why we need to phase an operation is because of the existence of a situation called DKDK; that is, at this early date we Don’t Know what we Don’t Know. How can we plan in detail for something that may or may not ever occur? The point being, every phase is new and different.  How so? New facts, new assumptions, new challenges, changing levels of expertise, new centers of gravity, new situational awareness requirements, new battlespace shaping actions required, new time-sensitive information requirements, different horizontal integration requirements, changing priorities, etc. Have you heard people say, “A plan is never done.”  They are correct because you will be in a constant state of discovery.

Task Lists: For every phase leaders at all levels will produce a critical task list to insure they stay on schedule to be able to move on to the next phase. For the RNC Chair, in phase one, that list will include meeting at an off-site with all the Republican Governors, the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader in the Senate where she will brief Operation Plan Campaign ’24 in great detail and seek their approval and participation.

Also, during the off-site meeting the RNC Chair will lead the discussion of the first cut of the 2024 campaign platform to include but not limited to:

-Achieve energy independence again

-Stop the movement towards near total government control

-Clean up weaponized government bureaucracies

-Tax reform

-Election reform

-Cut needless spending

-No more multi-thousand-page bills in Congress

-Cut needles spending by outlawing earmarks on legislation

-Decentralize and reform education

-Strengthen the military and reverse the DEI movement

-Lock up criminals and reform the system that keeps them on the street

-Secure our borders

-Drastically reduce the size and power of out-of-control federal bureaucracies

-Term limits

-Campaign finance reform

-New infrastructure spending to include water reserves, nuclear power and a

more secure Power Grid system.

Explain to the off-site attendees that for every platform issue the RNC will be building a library of hundreds of irrefutable Fact Sheets on the platform issues that will be available to every Republican candidate, local, state and national. For example, the Washington D.C. city council recently passed a new law that would allow an estimated 50,000 noncitizens, to include illegal immigrants and diplomats from foreign countries, the right to vote in local elections. The D.C. mayor vetoed the law and the city council overrode the veto. The D.C. law was voted down by a House of Representatives vote of 260-162; a Senate vote is pending. The point of this type of fact sheet would be to point out that 162 Democrats in the House believe nonresidents should have the right to vote. This is the type of information Republican candidates need to be armed with because it will resonate with their voters. 

The RNC library will, in its totality, focus on two things.  One being what the Republican Party is planning to do for all Americans and secondly to lay out in great detail what the Democrats have done and will continue to do to all Americans.

CONCLUSIONS:

Going forward toward the 2024 election, there are two options; one, let things play out and react to whatever happens or two, become proactive and shape the environment thereby enabling a best-case scenario to emerge. The longer we wait to do something positive about the 2024 Republican campaign, the less likely it is that we will do anything.

No leader, no plan, no success in 2024.

BOTTOM LINE:  The RNC needs to redefine its purpose and organize to fulfill it.

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

THEN (January 2021) and NOW (January 2023)

UNITY, then: On inauguration day, January 2021, we listened intently and with hope as our new President spoke to the nation about his plan for unity.

Now: As we look back on the last two years, we (about 70 million voters) recall vividly being repeatedly called racist, white supremist, domestic terrorists and MAGA extremists by President Biden in particular and many Democrat leaders in general. Unity?

ENERGY, then: Our nation was energy independent for the first time since 1957.

Now: We beg for oil from Saudi Arabia, they say “no” and we prop up the Venezuela dictator by rejuvenating their oil production industry.

GASOLINE, then: We could buy a gallon of gas in most places for about two bucks.

Now: The national average is $3.51 per gallon down from a high of $4.96. And, no Mr. President the rise in U.S. gas prices was not caused by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. By then, February 2022, the price had already increased by 78% to $3.57 a gallon and steadily rising.   

INTEREST RATES, then: Interest on a 30-year mortgage averaged 2.5%.

Now: 6.5% and probably rising in 2023.

INFLATION, then: 1.4%.

          Now: 7,0% (down from a high of 9.1% June 2022. A few hours after being inaugurated, President Biden signed an Executive Order that created instant turmoil throughout the oil and gas industry. As a result, by 6 June 2021 the average price of a gallon of gas had doubled which was a trigger to drive inflation.  Everything we buy, at some point comes out of a truck that is burning increasingly expensive fuel. The inflation rate continued to rise with the increasing cost of gas and diesel fuel.

HOME SALES, then: Sales in 2020 hit the highest point since 2006.

          Now: Sales last year were the slowest in a decade.

INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS, then: $11.8 trillion.

          Now: $9.25 trillion. A trillion dollars is a difficult number to grasp; stated another way, Americans’ retirement savings have gone down by 2,550 billion dollars

KEYSTONE PIPELINE, then: The pipeline was scheduled to begin operations in 2023 with a capacity of moving 830,000 barrels per day carbon free. Biden killed it on day-one destroying 11,000 jobs and about $2 billion in wages. 

          Now: That crude oil is moving by truck and train burning millions of gallons of carbon-producing diesel fuel.

FENTANYL, then: In FY 2020, 4,476 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the southern border.

          Now: In FY 2022, 14,000 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the southern border and the data for FY 2023, after only four months, is already about 7,000 pounds. Biden is not talking about fentanyl.

TERRORISTS, then: Three illegal immigrants on the terrorist watch list were apprehended in 2020. 

          Now: 98 in 2022. But how many terrorists that are not on the watch list entered the U.S.?

ILLEGIAL MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS, then: 646,000, FY 2020

          Now: 2,776,000, FY 2022, a 330% increase.

WELFARE, then: $847 billion.

          Now: $1.3 trillion.

FOOD INFLATION, then: 3.9 %.

          Now: 10.4 %.

HOME HEATING OIL, then: $1.94 per gallon.

          Now: $3.13 per gallon, a 61% increase.

CRIME, then:  In FY2020 the FBI reported 8.9 million criminal actions in 23 offence categories. Not good.

          Now: Crimes across America are breaking previous records every month. Murder, rape and aggravated assault increased by 25% last year. As an example of how crime is affecting masses of Americans, last year there were over 4,000 auto thefts in New Orleans. Police are under manned, demoralized and under-funded. Prosecutors and judges create revolving doors for criminals with long rap sheets.

CARTELS, then: We knew the cartels existed and were instrumental in moving illegal immigrants across the southern border.

          Now: The cartels are moving illegal immigrants to the border in numbers (December 2022, averaging over 8,000 per day) that exceed the record number for each previous month. Cartels are now operating throughout the U.S. in the distribution of drugs.  Biden will not talk about cartels because his administration’s position is that, “the border is secure. “

IRAN SANCTIONS, then:  Maximum sanctions imposed on Iran to pressure their leaders and weaken their economy. It was working.

          Now: Biden rescinded sanctions on Iran to get a new deal with them; the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. 

ISRAELI RELATIONS, then: U.S. recognized Israel as their long-time friend and most important ally in the Middle East. Through a U.S. driven initiative, for the first time ever a number of Middle East Muslim-dominated nations were officially recognizing Israel and exchanging ambassadors.

          Now:  As with the Obama administration, Israel is not a Biden priority especially with the conservative Israeli leadership.

EDUCATION and SCHOOL CHOICE, then: In January 2021 education results in general across the nation were poor, especially in public schools.

          Now: Education is on a clear path to become much worse. With a woke agenda and an equity culture the future labor force will be flooded with functionally illiterate high school graduates. Also, while all the data shows that Charter and private schools outperform public schools, Biden is dead set against school choice because of the mutual admiration between himself and the education unions that predominate in public schools. Biden has declared war on Charter Schools by directing the Department of Education to use obscure bureaucratic rules to kill the federal charter-school program without having to explain why.

STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE, then: 638.1 million barrels

          Now:371.6 million barrels.  Biden released the strategic reserve to bring down gas and diesel prices before the 2022 election. At that level the “strategic” reserve becomes a national security issue.

REGULATIONS, then:  Trump campaigned on reducing prohibitive government regulations with a “two-out, one-in Executive Order. In FY 2020 he eliminated $144 billion in overall regulatory costs.

          Now: On day-one, Biden cancelled Trump’s Executive Order.

NORTH KOREA, then: Before his departure in January 2021, President Trump had traveled to Asia and met with Kim Jong-Il on three separate occasions and discussed North Korea’s nuclear and missile testing. Following the talks, all testing ceased. 

          Now: Within days of President Bidens inauguration, North Korea resumed testing with 10 missile launches in 2021 and 67 in 2022 of at least 14 different type missiles to include submarine-launched, cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles to include (NK claims) a hypersonic-capable missile. 

MILITARY MUNITIONS INVENTORY, then: No problems, supply was sufficient to cover training and war plans.

          Now: There is a dilemma for the U.S. support to Ukraine.  On the one hand, without our critical munitions (various 155mm artillery rounds, antitank rockets, air defense missiles, long-range artillery guided rockets, etc.) the Russians would probably be in control of a greater part of Ukraine if not all of it. But our stocks are running low and for most of them it will take 5-8 years of production (while also supplying U.S. training requirements) to bring inventories up to strategically sufficient levels. More munitions for Ukraine may create a national security deficiency and training will be negatively impacted. 

Additionally, the Center for Strategic and International studies (CSIS) recently concluded a war game simulation of a conventional war with China in the Taiwan Strait. They concluded that we are, “Not adequately prepared for a protracted conventional war with an enemy with a large military like China.  Some inventories of long-range precision munitions would be depleted in a week. The bottom line is the defense industry is not prepared for the security environment that now exists.”

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION (DEI), then: Equal opportunity for all was the goal in a merit driven culture. Military readiness was high and deterrence was active.

          Now: On 25 June 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order that: “Establishes a government-wide initiative to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in all parts of the Federal workforce.

 Charges all agencies with assessing the current state of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility with their workforces, and developing strategic plans to eliminate any barriers to success faced by underserved employees.

Directs agencies to seek opportunities to establish or elevate Chief Diversity Officers within their organizations.”

That order, of course included the Department of Defense.  The DoD is a different type of organization by design and necessity. They take in a cross-section of Americans and indoctrinate them into a culture of accountability, trust and respect.  They are trained to kill and blow things up and defeat any and all enemies and do it without losing their moral compass. It’s a tall order and not easy to accomplish.  It begins the day an American raises his/her hand and takes a solemn oath. From that moment forward they live and breathe in a culture that provides every single service member equal opportunity and freedom to not only succeed but to excel as an individual and team member; to be all they can be. And the entire organization is set up to operate in a climate that is strictly merit-based.

Diversity?  President Truman, Executive Order 9981, Integration of the Armed Forces, 26 July, 1948. The U.S. military has led the nation over the past 75 years in creating a cohesive organization from a cross-section of all Americans. 

Inclusion? The U.S. military has been and is today the master of the culture of acknowledging, embracing, supporting and accepting those of all racial, sexual, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.  All a soldier needs to know is that those to his right and left have his back. He/she could care less about their heritage.

Equity? Equity is pure poison to the military ethos. All military training is based on standards for every military action; how, how many, how fast, how far, how good.  Every day some soldier somewhere will perform some action to a new, higher, better, faster standard and thereby set the precedent for all future training of that action or activity.   Not everyone can or is expected to meet that new standard but it is there for everyone to try.  To have a military built around the concept of equity (“ensure everyone can achieve the same outcome”) serves only to dumb-down the entire organization to the point that it becomes mediocre from top to bottom.  

That is what is happening to our military right now and remarkably it has taken only two years to degrade our capabilities. Why is that important? Our strength for decades has provided deterrence.  Deterrence means our potential enemies believe we can take them on and defeat them; it keeps them at bay. With degraded strength/deterrence our enemies no longer fear us and our allies can no longer trust us to deliver.

How does President Biden enforce DEI in the military? First by indoctrinating all of our future leaders with DEI front and center in all of our military academy’s curriculum. Secondly, each of the academies has a non-military Advisory Board that oversees what is going on at each campus.  Biden fired all of the Trump appointees.  Third, all nominations for flag officers to be promoted to 3 and 4-stars and all 4-star reassignments must be forwarded by the president for Senate confirmation. Do you believe any of these nominees are not committed to DEI?

General/Secretary Austin and JCS Chairman General Milley each spent decades in the military service as described above.  I cannot believe deep down in their soul that they believe DEI is good for the U.S. military. I also seriously doubt that President Biden understands the harm he has forced on the military. There comes a time when senior leaders have to put principle ahead of self and tell the boss (in this case the Commander in Chief) that indoctrination of the military with DEI is simply something they cannot, in good faith, accommodate. But they haven’t and won’t. 

One of the most powerful people in the DOD now is someone you probably have never heard of; Cyrus Salazar serves as Director of the DOD Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and reports directly to the SecDef.

As part of the DEI program on 4 February 2021, two weeks after Biden’s inauguration, SecDef Austin ordered all branches of the military to enact a “stand down” within the next 60 days so they can address supposed internal threats posed by white supremacy and other forms of extremism. The final 21-page report published ten months later stated, “Extremist activity within the Department of Defense is rare.” Any commander at any level in the military could have told SecDef Austin that in the first 24 hours of the stand down. 

CLIMATE CHANGE, then: Dealing with climate change was not a high priority issue in the Trump administration.

          Now: Biden has stated that climate is “an existential threat to human existence as we know it.” He appears obsessed with a U.S. transition to electric vehicles.

There are about 190 million vehicles in the U.S. As the number of EVs increases the price of lithium and the other scarce minerals for lithium batteries is going up and up. The price for lithium doubled in 2022.

The climate change advocates’ hyperbolic rhetoric too often consists of exaggerated claims, The world will end in 12 years” etc. rather than a well thought out long range strategic plan.  For example, when the majority of U.S. vehicles (let’s say 150 million) are powered by lithium batteries, what happens when the U.S. expends our limited lithium mineral reserves and we have to beg China for a delivery and they say, “no”? China currently controls about 80% of the world’s known lithium reserves.  It is details like that that no one, including the president, is talking about. The president has no coherent long-range plan for dealing with carbon buildup.  

INTENT: The intent of this essay was to point out the then-and-now associated with a broad spectrum of issues facing We-The-People every day; the objective was not to just pick on President Biden’s performance over his first 24 months in office. But the findings do seem to confirm what Americans told an NBC poll, 23 January 2023; 72% say the country is headed in the wrong direction.

CONCLUSIONS from then to now:

What is most alarming is that at least six of the above findings have serious national security implications. 

One, open Borders: Border agents have confirmed that since Biden took office there have been 1.2 million gotaways were observed but not apprehended. Plus, an unknown number of gotaways were not sighted or apprehended. We can only conclude that potentially hundreds of thousands of criminals, gang members, terrorists, human and drug traffickers have entered the U.S. on Biden’s watch with potentially catastrophic results in the years ahead.  

Two, the strategic oil reserve is at its lowest point since 1984. We live in a bad world; we may need that oil, all of it.

Three, our seriously depleted munitions inventory places us at risk of not being able to conduct a sustained conventional conflict.

Four, the long-term impact woke culture is having on military readiness and our declining deterrent posture is very dangerous.

Five, the administration’s do-nothing attitude towards North Korea threatens our very existence.

Six, the ever-increasing criminal activity throughout America has become a threat to every citizen’s safety and security every day.

The president’s number one priority is to look after the safety and security of Americans, all Americans.  Old saying, “Take care of the big stuff and the little stuff will take care of itself.”

BOTTOM LINE: On 7 February, President Biden told us, “The state of the Union is very strong.” We-The-People disagree.  Various polling results tell us that between 71 and 88 % of Americans believe we are on the wrong track. “You can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of reality.”

Following the mid-term elections, Biden stated that he would, “change nothing” going forward. The consequences of continuing on the same path are potentially too dangerous and threaten America’s future. Leadership 101; listen to those you lead!

This brings us to the age-old question, are you better off “now” than you were “then”?  You decide.

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

BIDEN’S NOT-SO-DISCRETE UNDOING OF AMERICA

Unemployment defined, sort of:  If you do not have a job but are looking for one you are unemployed. Makes sense, I got it.  But you are not unemployed if you do not have a job and are not looking for a job. Surely there is one too many “nots” in that sentence.  Nope, that’s our government at work. 

Take a walk down just about any commercial street in America and you will see numerous HELP WANTED signs in the windows.  There are currently (round numbers because no one knows the real ones) about 11 million jobs that need to be filled.  And there are about 7 million able-bodied men ages 25-54 who are not only not working, they are affirmatively not looking for jobs.  

THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:  It seems that every time the so-called unemployment rate goes down a tenth of a percent our president is quick to call a press conference, point out the new rate and inform us how great the entire economy is doing.  There are problems with relying too heavily on the national unemployment rate as a meaningful indicator of the state of the economy and its workforce. One, the rate does not account for those who are under-employed.

Two, as pointed out earlier, those who have given up actively seeking a job are not counted.

Three, self-employed Individuals who recently lost clients are not counted as unemployed.

Four, also the rate does not specify whether workers are part-time or full-time employees. 

The unemployment rate we are fed and use is always factually incorrect.  As of 11 January, the government’s latest report showed the jobless rate dropped to 3.5% from the December, 2022 rate of 3.6%. 

Unemployment rates are computed two different ways by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The U-3 measure is what is commonly referred to as the official unemployment rate (3.6% December, 2022); whereas the U-6 rate also accounts for those marginally attached to the labor force, those employed part time and those discouraged from looking for a job (6.4% December, 2022).

Politicians use the U-3 numbers simply because they are less scary even though they are wrong and misleading. When a president tells us what the unemployment rate is, double it and you will be close to the correct answer.

WHAT DO ALL THE ABOVE NUMBERS TELL US? The potential total U.S. civilian labor force December 2022 was 165 million men and women who could work. At the same time the participation rate was about 62%.  That’s about 102 million Americans working and 63 million not working.  Obviously in many cases the head of household has a sufficient income and the spouse stays home.

A recent study by Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute, sums up the problem this way: “We’ve now got this incredible peacetime labor shortage and we also have a drop in the number of people in the workforce. The unemployment rate is at an enviable 3.5 percent, businesses still have 10 million unfilled positions, and yet the labor force participation rate languishes at a miserable 62.3 percent, more than a percentage point lower than before the pandemic. In 2022 for every 25–54-year-old guy who is out of work and looking for a job, there were four guys neither working nor looking for work. What this trend creates is slower economic growth, wider income and wealth gaps, more dependence on government welfare programs, more pressure on fragile families, less social mobility, less involvement in society, and a lot more despair.”

So, what are individuals and families doing for income?  The answer leads us directly to a discussion on welfare.

WELFARE: The primary purpose of government welfare programs should always be to act as a safety net for the truly needy. But that objective has long since been pushed aside by the, currently active, 85 “entitlement” programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, social services, training, and targeted aid to low-income families. The federal government spent $1.1 trillion on welfare in 2021, not counting COVID-19-related costs. Additionally state and local governments spent about $744 billion, for a total of $1.8 trillion.

Of course, most of this funding is directed at low-income families.  One sure way to get into the low-income category and become a standing member of the welfare state is to not have a job and not look for one.

WELFARE REFORM:  It is interesting to look at the views of our presidents over the past 40 years:

RONALD REAGAN eloquently put it: “Welfare needs a purpose: to provide for the needy, of course, but more than that, to salvage these, our fellow citizens, to make them self-sustaining and, as quickly as possible, independent of welfare.”

BILL CLINTON’S 1992 presidential campaign placed welfare reform at its center, claiming that his proposal would, “End welfare as we have come to know it.” Four years later, with a Republican-dominated Congress, (this was a time when members of opposing political parties could still have a civil discussion on major issues) Clinton delivered on his campaign promise by signing The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The law gave states control of welfare with federal block grants and state matching funds. He created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). TANF added work requirements for aid, shrinking the number of adults who could qualify for benefits. This legislation also created caps for how long and how much aid a person could receive, as well as instituting harsher punishments for recipients who did not comply with the requirements.

With its emphasis on work, time limits, and sanctions against states that did not place a large fraction of its caseload in work programs and against individuals who refused to meet state work requirements, TANF was a historic reversal of the previous entitlement welfare program and by 2005, the national caseload declined about 60 percent. 

OBAMA/BIDEN administration effectively gutted TANF in 2012 by releasing a policy directive that allowed states to waive work requirements; the heart and soul of TANF.

Why destroy welfare work requirements which had successfully become the heart of welfare support? It is not difficult to understand when one considers two things about Obama. During his first presidential campaign, October 2008, he explained in a private conversation with “Joe the plumber” that his intent was to, “spread the wealth.”  That is just one piece of his desire to, his words, “fundamentally transform” America. By vastly expanding the welfare state he spread a great deal of wealth from hard-working middle-class taxpayers into the hands of lazy Americans who felt entitled to their monthly government check while doing nothing in return.

TRUMP campaigned on creating an economy in which Americans would move from welfare to work. The totality of his efforts was a combination of the TAMF caseload reduced by 900,000 individuals, the number on Social Security Disability Insurance down by about 400,000 and Medicaid and Children’s’ Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Department of Agriculture reported that 7.7 million individuals came off the food stamp rolls as the Trump economy took off. 

PRESIDENT BIDEN, is doing all he can to expand the number of people receiving welfare and there are lots of ways to make it happen.  The current count is 34 housing programs run by seven Cabinet departments; 23 programs providing food or food assistance; 13 health care programs; and 15 cash or general-assistance programs.

There were about 90.6 million people enrolled in Medicaid as of August 2022, about 28 percent of the U.S. population. That’s an increase of 19.3 million under the Biden administration. The recent $1.7 trillion Omnibus bill will end some expanded Medicaid enrollment so the Democrats are now scrambling to get those individuals into The Affordable Care Act.

Biden’s most egregious initiative is the push to continue and expand the refundable Child Tax Credit. Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child age 6-17 and $3,600 for children under age six.  In addition, it increased the income levels to $112,500 for singles and $150,000 for married couples. He wants to make this a permanent piece of the welfare state.

As of December 2022, there were over 49,000 U.S. households with at least one child below the age of 18 and there are about 104 million households with income below $150,000. Given those figures, it is possible Biden’s Child Tax Credit initiative is the largest vote-buying proposal ever by a sitting president.  Disgusting.

Wait a damned minute; are we saying Biden wants to give couples making $149,999 a year $7,200 for a couple of kids under age 6?  Yes, that is apparently his new definition of low income.

There’s more, but you get the point; Biden has relentlessly, and often successfully, tried to grow and expand the welfare state.

There is, however, one part of the Biden welfare system we have not heard much about; fraud. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serices, “The 2022 Medicaid improper payment rate was 15.62%, or $80.57 billion.”

In addition, “For the Children’s Health Insurance Program for low-income children, the 2022 improper payment rate was 26.75%, or $4.30 billion.”

As for the Earned Income Tax Credit, 28% of those payments are improper.

But a recent reveal of unemployment payments may be the granddaddy fraud of them all. Last week the Department of Labor stated that of the $669 billion payouts under various pandemic unemployment programs from April 2020 through September 2021, at least $60 billion is “unaccounted for” and assumed to have been paid out to fraudsters. What is equally interesting is that the U.S. Government Accounting Office pointed out that, “The department (Labor) has yet to develop an antifraud strategy based on leading practices from GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework as required by law.”

The GAO continued, “Without an antifraud strategy, DOL is not able to ensure that it is addressing the most significant fraud risks facing the system.”

Meanwhile, a  watchdog agency is reporting the loss may be, “substantially higher.”

Notwithstanding this incredible loss, we should not be too quick to criticize. After all our president has told us he appointed, “the most diverse cabinet in history.” Are we to believe diverse outbids talented and qualified?  

Have we heard the Biden administration complaining about massive welfare fraud and abuse? Nope. If your objective is to get as many people as possible on welfare, why get upset if a few thousands or millions of ineligibles are fraudulently taking advantage of the program. More people on welfare is part of the success, not a failure. 

There is one more point to be made about work requirements for welfare before we get to some conclusions:

Technically, the federal food stamp program had a modest work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents. They were limited to three months of food stamps unless they are working part time or participating in job training or community service.

However, in 2009, the Obama/Biden administration suspended the work requirement for two years.  However, after two years most states were able to continue bypassing the work requirement by using work waivers. But in 2014, Maine chose to stop waiving the work requirement for food stamps and within three months the caseload of able-bodied adults without dependents dropped by 80%.

How can we ensure that welfare acts as a safety net for the truly needy and not as a handout to able-bodied adults who can work?  Work requirements serve as a gatekeeper to ensure that those truly in need receive welfare assistance. Ninety percent of Americans agree that able-bodied adults receiving welfare assistance should be required to work or prepare for work.

CONCLUSIONS: I began this essay with a discussion of unemployment.  But I hope you can understand how that subject morphed into welfare.  They are inexorably linked.

Conclusion one: In this country every president and Congress should first of all strive to grow an economy to the point where welfare is necessary only as a safety net for those incapable of caring for themselves. We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave the welfare programs, not by how many are added. Welfare-to-work programs are essential.

Conclusion two: Welfare programs that are regulated and administered by multiple separate government departments and agencies are bound to end up with fraud, waste and abuse.

Conclusion three: We must ponder why Obama and now Biden are so hell-bent on creating a massive welfare state.  Several points on this question.

Let’s not forget about Obama’s obsession with wealth transfer and transformation of America; the former leads to the latter.

Also, looking back in time, the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives continuously from January 1955 until 1995.  Given that legacy, it has become the Democrat’s dream to regain that kind of power and control. Since losing control in 1995, they have moved toward developing various bases of support called “identity groups.”

Identity politics is defined as, “A political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation social background, social class or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these identities. Identity politics is deeply connected with the idea that some groups are oppressed.”

Biden has opened the borders; the number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. numbers in the tens of millions and they continue coming at an average of over 8,000 apprehended per day during December 2022. Plus, about 600,000 got-aways in FY 2022, that were observed but not apprehended. Plus, an unknown number of got aways that were not sighted or apprehended. Notwithstanding that many of the got-away population consists of criminals, gang members, terrorists, human traffickers and drug traffickers, Biden and the Democrats in Congress look for every opportunity to slip a provision into their multi-thousand-page legislation calling for “amnesty for all” thereby creating an enormous and perhaps overwhelming identity group.

Additionally, Biden’s welfare state in general and in particular the seven million or so able Americans who are “not unemployed, not working and not looking for a job” and are living on your tax dollars comprise a substantial loyal Democrat voting bloc.

Conclusion four:  Able-bodied Americans who refuse to work are a sad commentary compared to the will-power and work-ethic that set this country apart and made it the most admired nation in the world. 

BOTTOM LINE: A Gallop pole of over 1,000 Republicans and Democrats released 30 January tells us that lack of leadership by President Biden and the Congress is, “The most important problem facing this country today.”  What Biden is doing to, not for, America will not end well.

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com

HOW ABOUT A FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY CAUCUS, etc?

CAUCUSES: We have heard a lot lately about the House Freedom Caucus but did you know there were 460 caucuses in the 117^th Congress? I assume there will be at least that many in the 118^th Congress. 

A congressional caucus is a group of members who meet to pursue common legislative objectives.  Additionally, there are coalitions, study groups, task forces and working groups. I’ve been through the alphabetical list of caucuses and cannot find one that has to do with fiscal responsibility.  But if you are interested in the Bourbon Caucus, the Peanut Caucus or perhaps the Rodeo Caucus, no problem.

That’s our Congress, elected to do the peoples work. Ostensibly they are there to find solutions for our most pressing problems. For example, the country is financially broke and getting more so every day.  The national debt, all $31.35 trillion of it, as of 5 January 2023, is increasing at a rate of $2.7 billion per day. The debt is currently $93,997 for every person in the U.S. and we do not have a fiscal responsibility caucus.

DEBT HISTORY:  In the past, our largest deficits were caused by increased spending around national emergencies like major wars or the Great Depression.  That excuse does not work today.

A good way to express debt is as a percent of our Gross Domestic Product during a corresponding timeframe.  For example, in 2007 the debt was 35% of GDP.  Then we had the tax-and-spend eight years of the Obama/Biden misadministration and by 2016 it had more than doubled to 76% of GDP. Obama/Biden set the stage for an unprecedented tax-and-spend economy and the national debt doubled from about ten to twenty trillion dollars while taxes increased.

As debt grows so does the interest we pay. In the first two months of this fiscal year (October, November 2022) the U.S. made $103 billion in gross interest payments on the debt. At some point, interest on the debt will become the fastest growing part of the federal budget. Experts tell us in ten years our interest will nearly triple from where it is today.  This is unsustainable.

LOOKING AHEAD: Given all that, here are four important points about FY2023:

One, the Congressional Budget Office predicts deficit spending to average about $2.7 billion per day; almost $1 trillion for the year.

Two, The government spent $534 billion to service the debt in FY2022 and that number is expected to be over $600 billion this year and could soon become a $1 trillion annual expense.

Three, Biden will continue to gloat that he is reducing the budget deficit.  Compared to what?  Yes, compared to the pandemic costs, but FY2023 spending will be well above pre-pandemic levels

Four, the day Biden was sworn in as president the national debt was $27.8 trillion; today it is $31.3.  Do the math; no pandemic, no war, no depression. A tax-and-spend economy.  The only national emergencies are uncontrolled immigration, rampant crime, record inflation and energy costs/availability; all self-inflicted wounds that never should have happened. 

WHAT DO WE-THE-PEOPLE THINK ABOUT ALL THIS DEFICIT SPENDING AND RISING DEBT?  Surveys tell us that 76% of voters want the president and Congress to spend more time addressing the debt and 83% say their level of concern has risen recently. But do we even have a congressional caucus that is articulating the problems, speaking out for their constituents or proposing solutions? No, Congress is clearly on a tax-and-spend binge. We do not have a revenue problem; we continue to have a spending problem.

DEFINE THE PROBLEM:  This is not a difficult task.  Just sit back and think about how the Congress has done its business in the past year. Then give them a grade; I’m somewhere between a “D” and an “F” for the following reasons:

Total lack of discipline: For the budget process there is an existing schedule with exact deadlines for various committees and the Congress as a whole.  On that timeline they are to complete their pieces of the annual budget process in order for the budget to be passed each year by 30 September and go into effect 1 October to begin the fiscal year. This has not happened since 1996.  If leaders cannot learn from their mistakes and correct gross errors in the conduct of critical operations, how are We-The-People supposed to trust and respect them?

Pathetic leadership:  The majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate all get an “F” for leadership for the annual failed budget process. They allow the Committees as well as Congress as a whole to ignore their deadlines thereby knowingly creating an annual budget crisis and the need for continuing resolutions.  Continuing resolutions result in disregard for the thousands of government plans, programs, resolutions and changes that were to begin on the first of October. Furthermore, continuing resolutions also disregard elimination of costly programs and procedures that were to have ended on the 30September.  Continuing resolutions are costly, inefficient, ineffective, wasteful and should never happen. 

The continuing resolution fiasco eventually leads to threats of a government shutdown. At that point, the so-called Congressional “leaders” have created the annual Congressional crisis.

A potential government shutdown crisis leads to the passage of something akin to the recent Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 which Congress passed on 23 December, 2022.  That monster omnibus bill for $1.7 trillion was 4,155 pages long, was available for Congressional member review for only a couple days and contained an estimated 4,000 earmarks resulting in untold billions of wasted dollars.  None of those expenditures had seen the light of day in a committee hearing, We-The-People have never heard of them and most would never pass if considered alone.

That omnibus bill also became the vehicle for the Biden Administration to sustain their tax-and-spend mentality.

In addition to the monster omnibus bill, it has become the norm rather than the exception to pass fewer bills each year that number in the thousands of pages, that are  unread but voted on and full off needless pork.  My favorite recent earmark was a provision that will fund $10 million for gender studies in Pakistan. 

This is just a brief summary of a totally dysfunctional organization with pathetic leadership. The point being, this is a big part of the out of control spending problem that must get fixed if we are to get realistic about reducing deficit spending. 

FIVE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF DEFAULT ON THE U.S. DEBT (as reported by Market Realist):

One, interest rates would soar; killing businesses and personal investment.

Two, the value of the dollar would take a beating globally; strengthening China’s role in world trade.

Three, import prices would rise through the roof; everything would cost more.

Four, inflation would hit hard; impacting mostly the poor and middle class.

Five, credit rating downgrades could tank the stock market; personal investments and 401Ks would be negatively impacted.

All of that could come crashing down on us like a massive avalanche and we would soon be unable to recognize our once great country. 

GIVEN ALL OF THE ABOVE, CAN DEFICITE SPENDING AND RISING NATIONAL DEBT BE FIXED?  YES. 

Yes, it can be fixed but not by one action or one bill.  It will take a series of legislative actions by the 118^th Congress, led by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. And there is no requirement to invent a new approach. There is a model that worked in the 1994 midterm election and it will work now.

The minority whip in the House or Representatives in 1994, Newt Gingrich, detailed, in a Contract with America, the actions the Republicans promised to take if they became the majority party for the first time in 40 years.  In the Contract Gingrich promised a series of bills would be passed in the first 100 days of the new Congress. It is a little late but the concept is still valid today and can still accomplish the following three very important functions:

One, inform America that the Republicans have a plan beyond conducting investigations which is all we have heard the Republican leaders talk about since November.

Two, shut down Biden’s insistence that the Republicans don’t stand for anything.

Three, put the Senate and the Executive Branch on notice that there are some issues important to the American electorate coming their way for a decision.

Between 73 and 88 percent of Americans, in differing polls, say Biden has the nation on the wrong track. Irrespective of those findings, Biden said publicly after the 2022 midterms that he will do “nothing” different in the next two years.

Given the gravity of our current situation with respect to deficit spending and national debt, and the fact that the Gingrich model has worked in the past, the recommendation is that the following prioritized list of ten pieces of legislation be drafted and set in motion immediately by Speaker McCarthy and passed in the House in the next 100 days.

Priority one is the first four proposed pieces of legislation that are all in some way related to reducing deficit spending and lowering the national debt.

First, HOW CONGRESS SHOULD OPERATE. This centerpiece legislation is intended to drastically change the way Congress operates thereby changing the manner in which every piece of stand-alone legislation works its way expeditiously from inception to a vote on the floor of the House and Senate.  Since the Congress is incapable of disciplining itself, the concept is to provide external oversight over the entire legislative process from inception of a Bill to the vote on the floor. Every Bill will be standalone and will be delt with on a prescribed timeline.  Every budget will be completed by 30 September.  There will be no earmarks.

The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeakling.com 18 November, 2022. And the bill is not 4000 pages or 400, it could be/should be less than 40 pages. Every interested American could read, understand and weigh in with their Representative/senator on the proposal. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

Second, REDUCTION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. This piece of legislation has to do with the mass of the Executive Branch and where the President’s budget comes from.  Budget boils up out of the massive departments and agencies throughout the Executive Branch. There are thousands of internal small teams, branches, divisions, etc. that provide little or no value added but they each generate a budget requirement to continue to exist.  This legislation will provide a detailed description of how to go about conducting a six-month review of every element of the Executive Branch, determine its worth and eliminate those with no value added and thereby reduce the size of the President’s budget submission.  

The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 18 November 2022 and it could be/should be less than 40 pages. Every interested American could read, understand and weigh in with their Representative/Senator on the proposal. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

Third, THE TAX CODE. This piece of legislation to be passed within 100 days has to do with the Tax Code and related regulations; all 70,000 plus pages of it.  It cannot be fixed; hit the delete button and start over. Under this legislation all federal revenue will be generated based on individual gross income with one and only one deduction allowed; charitable contributions that meet certain criteria. 

This will drastically simplify the Tax Code and everyone can and will understand it.  Currently tax law is a yo-yo used in a very disruptive way by administrations.  Case in point, in 2017 President Trump cut taxes for every taxpayer, business and corporation. As a result, gross income went up, GDP grew, and after a short lag-period federal revenue increased.  Along comes the vengeful tax-and-spend Joe Biden and his Democrat-led Congress who have deleted the Trump tax cuts, added new taxes and generally done everything possible to prohibit sustained growth in the overall economy.

The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com. 8 December 2022 and the legislation could be/should be less that 40 pages. the cost to taxpayers, zero.

Fourth ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. This piece of legislation to reduce spending has to do with illegal immigration. In FY2020 border officials encountered 648,822 illegal immigrants nationwide and steps were ongoing to further secure the border. Migrant border crossings in FY2022 topped 2.76 million and is now not only a  a huge national expense but also a national security nightmare. In the first quarter of FY2023 illegal migrant encounters have averaged about 7,000 per day.

Illegal immigrant households receive an average of $5,692 in federal welfare benefits every year, more than the average U.S. citizen household at $4,431. The 2018 estimate was that every new illegal immigrant will cost more than $82,000 over their lifetime.

But the true cost of illegal immigration is hidden by a sophisticated money laundering operation. Democrats want to maximize illegal immigration but they don’t want their fingerprints on it.  While partially funded by private donations, most of the NGO financing of illegal immigrants comes from American taxpayers.

Nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, provide shelter, food, plane and bus tickets, debit cards, etc. Catholic Charities, for example, is the largest NGO involved in the trafficking of illegal aliens on both sides of the border. Most of their funding is not from the collection plate but from taxpayer dollars.

The Biden open borders policy is costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a simple way to shut down the mass migration of thousands per day.  Here is the outline:

Hundreds of thousands of noncitizens are law-abiding, hard-working U.S. residents.  Under new legislation, employers will only be allowed to employ those who have an illegal immigrant work ID card.  Employers violating the law will be subject to a $25,000 fine per worker.

The work ID cards will be issued by DMV stations throughout the U.S. over a six months period to every illegal migrant who has a job, wants to remain in the U.S. and who has no felony record. This program could be implemented within weeks of passing the legislation.

Once foreigners who are contemplating immigrating illegally figure out that they will not have time to reach the U.S., get settled, get a job and then get an ID card, all within that six-month time frame, will realize it is hopeless to approach the border. At that point, every illegal immigrant inside the U.S. without a worker ID will be subject to deportation. The mass migration will be over. It’s that simple and self-policing.

ID card holders must renew their card each year. If they committed a felony or failed to pay taxes the card will not be renewed and they will be deported.

This will not stop gang members, criminals, terrorists, human and drug trafficking immigrants from attempting to cross the border.  But with the Border Patrol Agents no longer processing thousands of migrants per day, they will be on duty along the entire border, performing border patrol and catching the criminals. 

After five years with a good record an illegal immigrant will be authorized to apply for U.S. citizenship. 

The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 13    November, 2022 and the legislation could be/should be less than 25 pages. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

Having completed those four issues most closely associated with deficit spending and national debt, the fifth piece of legislation has to do with elections. 

Mr. Speaker, there is a 100-car freight train barreling down the tracks at 80-feet per second and you are stalled on the tracks in your new Mercedes and the seat belt won’t release.  There is about to be a train wreck.  All the evidence from recent national elections tells us at some point there will be a complete national election meltdown and it will split this nation in half. Metaphorically speaking you need to get out of that seat belt right now.

We need: ELECTION REFORM LEGISLATION because existing and potential fraud comes in many forms.

Inaccurate voter registration rolls exist in every state. For example, January 2019, California was ordered by a federal judge to begin removing approximately 1.5 million invalid voter registrants from their rolls. LA county alone has a registration rate of 112% of its adult citizen population. Nearly all of the invalid voters on the rolls would in all probability receive a mail-in ballot.

Mail in ballots provide too many opportunities for fraud.

Fraudulent ballot harvesting has been well documented.

Fraud by election officials does exist.

Lack of chain of custody of ballots is a common extensive problem.

Chaotic behind-the-scenes ballot counting procedures is all too prevalent.

There is a Democrat movement towards non-citizen voting. In December 2021 the New York City council passed an ordinance allowing over 800,000 noncitizens to vote in city elections declaring, “New York city must be seen as a shining example for other progressive cities to follow.” 

The list of potential problems is too long.  A July 2021 poll of 800 registered voters (31% Democrats, 29% Republicans, 31% Independents) revealed the following:

87% were against ballot harvesting.

77% rejected the Democrat claim that voter ID is racist.

78% agreed with voter signature verification and chain of custody controls.

89% agreed that voter rolls need to be cleaned up.

88% believe states should not send mail-in ballots to the general public and non-citizens.

What about solutions? 80% of the 800 voters in that poll agree that Voter ID is a key security measure.

Honest elections are a cornerstone of our nation.  When we lose confidence in its validity, we have lost America. Voter ID is a quick, painless fix.  It will solve all of the above listed election problems. Voter ID is Election Reform.  The Democrats will call it “racist” as they have done in the past which is fine because the American people know better and they will resent the Democrats for rejecting Voter ID.

 Election reform legislation must be a high priority action for Republicans if they are to do the peoples bidding in “The Peoples House.” The percentages in the above poll tell the whole story. 

The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 16  November, 2022 and the legislation could be/should be, not 800 pages like the Democrat version of reform, but less than 25 pages. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

EDUCATION. Also included in the 100-day list of priority legislation should be specific measures to fix the pathetic state of education throughout America. The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 13 November, 2022 and the legislation could be/should be less than 50 pages. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

TERMS OF OFFICE AND TERM LIMITS are no longer in the nation’s best interest. They need to be reformed and should be included in the 100-day priority legislation list.  The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 28 November, 2022 and the legislation could be/should be less than 50 pages. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE is completely out of control with billions of dollars being spent to influence voters and to buy the support of elected officials.  It is unnecessary, unsavory and uncontrolled.  Just let the people decide based on what the candidates have to say from the “stump.” The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 30 November, 2022 and the legislation could be/should be less than 25 pages. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

ELECTION YEAR PRIMARY PROCESS IS A CHAOTIC MESS.  Delegates selected by primary, or by caucus; open primaries, closed primaries; proportional convention delegates, winner-take-all delegates; committed delegates, uncommitted delegates; delegates that are pledged, those that are unpledged; Republican rules, Democrat rules; at-large delegates, congressional district delegates; superdelegates in the Democrat party, Republican pledged delegates either bound or unbound; it needs to be completely rethought. This should be on the 100-day legislation list so that it can be fixed before the 2024 election cycle begins. The first draft of this proposed legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 2 December, 2022 and the legislation could be/should be less than 25 pages. The cost to taxpayers, zero.

UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR AMERICANS (USA). Compulsory service for all 18-year-old Americans has the potential to change and improve the culture of this country. We need legislation to begin the process of formulating the who, what, when, where, why and how of the program. An entire concept of operations for such a program that could serve as the first draft of the legislation has already been published in WeThePeopleSpeaking.com 9 December, 2022.

There you have it, ten top priority pieces of legislation that Speaker McCarthy should announce immediately. One thing all successful leaders must do is set priorities. Doing so will build support, create debate, focus supporters and create a path forward.

CONCLUSIONS:

Speaker McCarthy, you need to stop looking and acting like a Pelosi clone, talking about investigations, and concentrate on putting this nation on a different track.  Yes, we need to de-weaponize the Justice Department, FBI and IRS for starters, but let the committee heads drive that train.  Yes, Hunter Biden should probably be prosecuted but that is not your responsibility. Yes, Presidents Trump and Biden have been beyond stupid in their handling of classified documents but leave that to the journalists, talking heads on TV and prosecutors. You need to get above the daily headlines, create the headlines, drive the media, concentrate on broader issues and lead, lead, lead all Republicans toward the 2024 elections.

Specifically, Mr. Speaker, concentrate on passing the 100-day legislation package. About now you, the reader, are saying, doesn’t Covault understand that the Senate is unlikely to pass these bills and even if they do Biden will probably veto them?  I agree with you but the Republicans have to show We-The-People what Republicans are for and what they will do for all Americans. The Democrats will call the legislation racist or support for the rich or harmful to the poor, their usual sound-bite diatribe. That’s OK because the American people will see through that and favor the value added from the proposed legislation. Remember, 80% of Americans believe the country is being led down the wrong track; they are hungry for positive change.

Get a new leader for the Republican National Committee. This is a time-sensitive task as 168 voters (three from each state and territory) will vote on 27 January to select form three self-appointed candidates:

Ronna McDaniel, who has been a complete failure since 2016, wants to be reelected.

Harmeet Dhillon, a California Republican official with no visible experience in leading a large organization or building an national op plan is on the ballot.

The third candidate, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, is fanatical about supporting President Trump will likely turn the RNC into a Trump-support operation.

 Mr. Speaker, surely, we can do better. You need to quickly find someone with planning, organizing and leadership experience. Get them to sign up and push hard to get them elected.  Keep in mind that the RNC has been a complete zero for the last few years and they need to play a leading support role during the lead-up to the 2024 election.   

The RNC needs a complete overhaul and refocus.  The leader does not need to be a politician or good fund raiser or a recognized face.  We desperately need a no-BS, intelligent, experienced leader of organizations, with planning expertise and experience who can take command and lead. For those of you who routinely watch Fox News you will recognize General Jack Keane, a regular Fox contributor. By just listening to him you understand the depth and breadth of his intellect and leadership ability.  Find someone like Jack to lead the RNC.

Mr. Speaker, your priority job is to change the direction of this nation by getting every Republican candidate in the country in 2024 armed with everything they need to enhance their campaigns. There is a lot more to election preparation than raising money.  Here is a way to facilitate all that:

As soon as possible invite the 27 Republican Governors to a two-day offsite.  There should be only the governors plus four others in the room; the Speaker of the House, the Chairperson of the RNC, a scribe at the white board writing down thoughts from the attendees and a second scribe capturing it all on a computer. 

The goal of the first meeting is to create a generalized two-year phased operations plan leading to the 2024 election.  Phase one is Planning.  As each phase is about to begin, reassemble and create greater specificity of who, what, when, where, why and how for everything that needs to be accomplished in that phase. Generally, the phases will be in four-month increments.

The first order of business at every succeeding meeting will be an after-action-review of the previous four-month’s work.  Answer these three questions:  What did we collectively do well?  What could we have done better?  And, what specifically is to be accomplished in the upcoming phase?

Generally, the RNC will be tasked to research every element of the op plan and prepare fact sheets and talking points for every campaign issue that, at some point, will be made available to every Republican candidate nation-wide.

Beginning with the Phase Two meeting, the RNC Chairperson will provide a detailed in-progress-review of what specifically the RNC has accomplished during the previous four months and what is planned for the next four months. For the next two years the RNC will be the direct support staff for every Republican candidate leading to the 2024 election.

In June of 2020, just five months before the general election, the Republican National Committee met and decreed that the 2016 platform would also serve as the 2020 platform.  If you were brain-dead you couldn’t come up with anything as stupid as that.  And to top it off, as of last summer, 2022, the RNC was still showing the 2016 platform on their web site. We cannot wait until June of 2024 for the Republican National Committee to tell us what the platform should look like. If we are that disorganized and unprepared going forward to 2024, we deserve to lose

BOTTOM LINE:  The office of the Speaker of the House cannot be business-as-usual going forward.  Speaker McCarthy needs to act quickly; change the Republican Party focus; create and execute a 100-day legislative agenda; get the RNC reoriented, engaged and productive; make positive, forward-looking headlines that the main stream media cannot ignore; send shock waves through the Democrat Party as they blindly follow Biden’s pledge to change “nothing” leading up to the 2024 election.

Today the Republican Party is leaderless and we cannot wait for some presidential candidate to emerge as the temporary leader; that’s too little, too late.  Mr. Speaker, grab on to the old saying, “When in charge, take charge.”  You are all we have right now and if you can’t or won’t act, we lose.

 Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of two books, Vision to Execution and Fix the Systems, Transform America as well as the author of a blog, WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

BACKGROUND: The politicization of the media, business, the military, unions, social media, entertainment, etc. etc. has also infected many Boards of Education and it is not going well.  Simply stated, education in America is a failed organization and getting worse.

Previously I have published essays on education describing how to fix the system beginning with the elimination of the federal Department of Education and working down the organization to the local level.  But, as the saying goes, “The chances of that happening are between slim and none and Slim just left town.” 

The need is great; a short-hand look at pre-Covid education results tells a very grim story. 

Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the U.S.; that’s a student every 26 seconds, 7,000 per school-day. About 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate from high school on time. Almost 2,000 high schools across the U.S. graduate less than 60% of their students. In the U.S. high school dropouts commit about 75% of the crimes.

Oregon will soon lead the nation in percent of students who graduate from high school. Why?  In 2021 Oregon Governor Kate Brown cancelled the proficiency standards for reading, writing and math for high school graduation requirements. That simple piece of legislation told the teachers, Principals, Superintendents and School Board members that they will not be held accountable for passing out high school diplomas to functionally illiterate graduates. 

A recent Arlington Virginia Board of Education proposal would force educators to allow students an unlimited number or retakes on assignments, ban giving out extra credit and would effectively eliminate homework by prohibiting it from being graded. 

December, 2021, many of California’s largest school districts are dropping “D” and “F” grades.  The move is called “competency-based learning.”

Providence, Rhode Island, only 5% of eighth graders are proficient in math; Newark New Jersey, 21% proficiency in math; Wisconsin, Black American eighth graders perform only slightly better than white fourth graders in reading and math.

And the Covid impact on education made all of this worse.

But, in 2017 we spent $14,100 per K-12 student which was 37% higher than the average among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member counties.

Bottom Line, two thirds of our high school graduates are not adequately prepared to be all they can/should be.  And this is not a new problem, 20% of American adults cannot name even one of the three branches of government.

Post-election, 2022, Boards of Education are forming up with their new members in the 13,187 school districts representing 131,000 elementary and high schools with 47.8 million students across the U.S. The purpose of this essay is to suggest it is very possible for a school district to take on the issues, at their level, fix what is wrong with education at their level, and consistently graduate high school students who are proficient in reading, writing, math, science and history.

My purpose in publishing this essay now is that if any of you reading this are getting the impression that your newly-elected Board of Education appears to be concerned with everything except excellent academic achievement, then what follows is a scenario you might want to suggest to your school board members.

With that background, let’s take a look at what the minutes of a recent Board of Education meeting might look like.  President of the local school board speaking:

Good morning and thank you for coming in for this Saturday session with just us leaders, the Superintendent, all of our school Principals along with our newly-elected Board members.

Let’s begin with the bottom line, the nation is getting an “F” in education and we in this room are not immune to that disease. Let me explain just how bad it is.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)is the only assessment that measures what U.S. students know and can do in various subjects across the nation. Also known as The Nation’s Report Card, they grade mathematics, reading, science, writing, technology, arts, civics, geography, economics, and U.S. history for grades 4^th and 8^th every 2 years and 12^th grade every 4 years.

In 2019, pre-Covid, NAEP tested 150,600 4^th-grade students, 143,100 8^th-grade, and 26,700 12^th-grade students.  Here is a summary pulled from a large comprehensive report:

Reading, NOT proficient: 59% 4^th-grade, 66% 8^th-grade, 76%, 3 of every 4 high school seniors are NOT proficient in reading.

Math, NOT proficient: 65% 4^th-grade, 66% 8^th-grade, almost 2 out of 3 high school seniors NOT proficient in math.

Other subjects were even worse.  For high school seniors 88% NOT proficient in history, 77% NOT proficient in writing ability and 78% NOT proficient in science. That’s the bad news; the worse news is that Covid negatively impacted those results.  

Neither you nor I can fix the Washington or State bureaucratic education mess and there is nothing we can do about the other failing school districts so we won’t even try.  But what we can do is make sure we do everything in our power with the leaders in this room to ensure our high school seniors can read, write and solve math problems at a proficient level. The bottom line is to keep education decision-making close to the point of execution. 

There are two uncompromised rules that will guide us forward. First, we in this room are responsible for providing a safe and secure environment for learning on all school property.  Secondly, the leadership group here in this room is responsible for teaching every subject every day to every student to a prescribed standard that will translate to proficiency.

We must begin with the premise that an organization without standards is a failed organization, period. Success in education does not emanate from more guidance from above, not from more money from the feds, or interference from the Education Unions. Excellence in education flows from establishing standards and from enforcing those standards at the local level every day for every student in every class.

The Board members are in agreement about the course of action I am about to describe.  I have been over this with your Superintendent and he is all in.  Our purpose here today is to get you completely read in on the details and committed to execute. We are going to create and operate inside a culture of accountability and academic excellence.

BOARD ACCOUNTABILITY: We, the Board, are accountable to the people who elected us to make overall policy decisions, establish direction and define the end state.

SUPERINTENDENT ACCOUNTABILITY: The Superintendent is accountable for two things:

One, and this is the overall key to success, is to articulate in plain language an achievable standard for every subject, every grade K-12. Stated another way, what every student is to know at school-year’s end.  It is all about achieving 100% proficiency.

This process of determining standards will begin with a small group of kindergarten teachers and a couple elementary Principles meeting with the Superintendent to discuss and determine the end-state for the kindergarten academic year.  They will research the state standards, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) proficiency standards and the thoughts of those at the meeting. The result will be the standard for every kindergarten student in our district. Seated at that meeting will be the first-grade teachers who will hear the discussion and gain a clear understanding that the end of kindergarten year standard will be the start point for first grade academics. Additionally, having establish the end-of-year standard, each group will, before adjourning, break the standard down into 6-week instructional periods. That process will continue for a few weeks until there is an end-of-year standard for every subject in every grade.

Secondly, the Superintendent is accountable for ensuring that every Principal is using these standards for academic achievement. He will be making frequent visits to your schools to observe and draw conclusions about how you are performing your duties.   

Before we get into Principals’ accountability, let me see a show of hands, how many of you make it a point every day to spend at least one entire period sitting in the back of the room of an ongoing class? Ok, so that is generally not happening. More on that in a few minutes.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITY: You are accountable for day-to-day execution of the academic agenda.  This begins by requiring every teacher to develop and provide to you the lesson plans that will lead to achieving the end-of-year standard. You must approve each of those lesson plans.  Let’s say it is the halfway point of the first semester and you are sitting in on the 5^th grade math class.  You have with you the lesson plan; is the teacher ahead, behind, on point or off track?  If behind or off track, you must take steps to lead that teacher toward a successful outcome. Ignoring the end-of-year standard is unacceptable.

You, the Principal, are accountable for constantly grading the work of all your teachers. Assessing, counseling, mentoring teachers is your responsibility. In any profession, be it legal, medicine, military, etc. there are some who should be doing something else for a living.  Be on the lookout for these two types of teachers. One, is the teacher who consistently has failing student and will defend themselves by saying, ‘ I can teach them the subject but I can’t make them learn.’  Clearly a cop-out.  On the other end of the scale is the teacher who creates an atmosphere where-in students want to learn.  Keeping a failing teacher on your staff is unacceptable.

A second question for you Principals; how many of your teachers routinely give quizzes?  Hmm, I hear you saying that giving quizzes is not a frequently-used tool. That response from you begs another question.  How do your teachers know on a continuous basis if all the students got it?  Are all of the students comfortable with what was presented this week and ready to move on?  Without testing, how do they know?

The point being, we cannot allow a student to get behind.  If they are behind now it will only be exacerbated moving forward.  A staggering national statistic is that every school day about 7,000 kids drop out of school.  The overriding reason is that they got behind in the early grades, more-so the next year and the next until they find themselves in a hopeless state of mind and take the easy road, drop-out-of-school and thereafter, in overwhelming numbers, enter a life of crime and/or welfare.

In June of 2019 it was reported that 60% of North Carolina fourth graders were not proficient in reading.  Are we naïve enough to believe they probably caught up in fifth grade?  The reality is they probably regressed the following year and years after.  Obviously, North Carolina schools are not teaching to standard and are not dealing with problem students in a timely manner.

Here is what we are going to do, teach, test, teach, test routinely and immediately identify any student who gets behind. What do you do with a student who fails the final exam in June?  A massive summer session for 60% of all the 4^th graders who are behind in reading plus every other student who is behind in math is not in anyone’s budget. To just rely on periodic final exams, be they 6-week exams or end of semester exams, to determine if a student is proficient does and will not work.  Teach/test, teach/test is a viable solution. The alternative is to just pass them on to the next grade where they will get further behind

If a student fails the Thursday quiz, he/she needs to catch up by Monday because the teacher will be moving on to more difficult material.  This is where the teacher/student/parent contract kicks in. More on that in a few minutes.  Additionally, you, the principal could set up a tutoring program whereby volunteers are available for after-school assistance.  

You, the Principal, have to be sitting in on classes routinely. Otherwise, how will you know whether or not teachers are teaching to standard, testing to standard so that all students are on schedule to be proficient in all subjects when the school-year ends?

An organization without standards is a failed organization. We can always hope for a positive outcome but hope is not a process.

TEACHER ACCOUNTABILITY is simply staying in their lane, teaching and testing their subject to standard. Sex education, gender, Critical Race Theory, and politics are the parents’ responsibility and are absolutely forbidden subjects is our school system. I need a show of hands that you all are completely on board with that directive. If one of your teachers does have discussions with their students on these subjects you will initiate a formal counseling session with that teacher, back it up with a written statement and inform the Superintendent of the actions taken.  If there is a second occurrence in your school, the Superintendent will initiate a formal counseling session with you. Everyone clear on that?

PARENT ACCOUNTABILITY: Parents are a critical element in the education equation.  Get them involved and make them understand that they are also accountable.  The first parent-teacher meeting normally takes place some days or weeks after the school-year begins. We are going to invite and encourage parents to meet with your teachers during the week before classes begin.  Every teacher will begin the discussion by explaining the end-of-year standards, the teach/test agenda, there will be homework and the importance of not falling behind and what happens if their student does poorly on a quiz.  The parents will get an email immediately if it is determined a student is behind with instructions for additional homework over the weekend as well as information on the school’s tutor program.

Let me close with a comment about teacher unions; on the national level they have become completely politicalized, try to dictate education policy and are completely out of their lane.  If one of your teachers has a personal issue with our policies or with your leadership, our preference would be for the teacher to use our chain of command to resolve their issues. But if they feel the need to see their union representative, that is their right and we accept that.  What is not acceptable is for any union representative, of their own initiative, to be physically in your school or directly contacting you or your teachers. All union communications and meetings will begin with me, Chairman of the Board of Education and no one else.  I need a show of hands from every person in this room on that issue.

I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, I am not anti-union but the teachers unions have gotten completely off base in this country; making education policy, telling teachers how to teach and what to teach; publicly advocating for or against political issues unrelated to education.  We don’t need that and I will deal with it, not you.

The bottom line of this discussion today is that we are going to create and execute a culture of accountability and academic excellence with no student left behind.

Let me take your questions, I don’t want anyone leaving here today without a complete understanding of the way ahead in our school district.

Author’s comments: Improving education is not rocket science. The point of the above dialogue is that any school district could, and in my estimation, should self-initiate these simple steps and move towards academic excellence.

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com

The intent of this series has been to answer President Biden’s question, “What are the Republicans for?”  His point being, at the time he said it, the Republican Party does not stand for anything. 

The intent for the Republicans in the House should be to move quickly with a legislative agenda that will highlight numerous national issues that can be/should be solved during the 118^th Congress.  This will also begin framing the Republican Platform for the 2024 presidential campaign.

Part 1, of this series, how to fix education and rede relations and a plan for immigration reform.

Part 2, election reform.

Part 3, a plan for fixing a dysfunctional Congress. 

Part 4, taking on the bloated bureaucracy and uncontrolled spending by the Executive Branch.

Part 5, terms of office and term limits.

Part 6, campaign finance reform.

Part 7, cleaning up the primary election mess.

Part 8, the IRS and tax reform.

Part 9, universal service for America.

Part 10, and the final part of this series, world peace.

Presumptive Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy speaking:

Russia invades the sovereign nation of Ukraine, February, 2022.  The world watches, in real-time, levels of destruction not seen since World War II news reels that would be shown in movie theaters.

Ninety-eight per cent of the world’s current population of 8-plus billion have no personal recollection of the WWII destruction in Europe. Therefore, this ongoing invasion is a game changer invoking questions like, how could this possibly happen today?  Why have we not stopped it?  What can we do?  How can they deliberately target women and children?  Who can help?  Should some collective group of countries join forces and counter attack Russian forces?  What should NATO do?  Should the EU put together a counter offensive force?  Who would/should lead such a force?  Can Ukrainians ever rebuild the thousands of destroyed structures?  If the invasion ended tomorrow, where would the returning refugees live?  Who could/should finance rebuilding Ukraine? Where will they find food and clean water?  Where will they work?   Will there be electricity?” etc. etc. etc.  The questions are almost endless because it is an understatement to say, this is unprecedented. We need answers and actions.

The daily media dose of reality has touched nearly everyone’s heart and mind with feelings of disbelief, distrust, disgust and anger towards Putin and his forces; empathy, sorrow and compassion for the millions of in-country displaced Ukrainians, out of country refugees, those mourning killed or missing family members and what the Ukrainian people face in the foreseeable future. 

 The international after-action-review must not be a thousand-page bureaucratic study published in a couple of years from now which would be worse than worthless. What it must be is a succinct accounting of three simple, but essential, questions:

First, what, collectively, did we, the world, do well?

Second, what should we, could we, the world, have done better?

Third, and most importantly, how can we institutionalize a faster, better, more organized, more aggressive and all-inclusive plan for preemptive actions that would preclude this ever happening again? Let me emphasize the word preemptive because the world watched Russia mass forces and equipment for months and did nothing. That question leads us to a discussion of Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations, world peace and the uprising.

BACKGROUND leading to a proposed solution:

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS:

With technically advanced machine guns, tanks and chemical warfare, World War I was optimistically referred to as the war to end all wars.  January, 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson outlined an idea for an organization that would be charged with resolving conflicts before they exploded into bloodshed.  In 1919 the structure of The League of Nations was laid out in Paris and the Treaty of Versailles went into effect January, 1920 with 48 member countries. The U.S. Congress failed to ratify our membership in the League.  Between 1920 and World War II there were numerous opportunities to act, but it never did.  The League of Nations was abandoned during World War II.  The League was not necessarily a bad idea, but numerous times, when actions were required, European countries found it too difficult to put together an effective united front against an aggressor to include the rise of Germany, pre-World War II. 

THE UNITED NATIONS:

June, 1941 representatives from thirteen nations (the U.S. was not included) met in London and signed the Declaration of St. James’s Palace expressing a vision for a postwar world order.  The next step was the Atlantic Conference August, 1941, at which President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill laid out a more detailed form of the alliance called The Atlantic Charter. The final step was the Yalta Conference, February, 1945 when Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed on the establishment of the United Nations as well as the structure of the Security Council.   

Despite having endured for 77 years, generally speaking, the UN is a weak-intentioned bureaucratic mass that is involved in everything and accomplishes very little.  Case in point, did the UN respond to the Russian invasion?  Yes, and for the UN is was remarkable fast; on March 3^rd, one week after the invasion, they voted overwhelmingly for a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces.  Wow, that must have shaken Putin to his core.

The UN is an established international organization perfectly positioned to be a greater force for the greater good for the collective world.  But in its current condition it is incapable of deterring or bringing to a close a conflict such as exists in Ukraine today. We need to completely rethink this issue, right now.

THE UN TODAY:

In order to understand what must be fixed, here is a short-hand view of what is wrong. The UN consists of six principal organs:

General Assembly

Security Council

Economic and Social Council

Secretariat

International Court of Justice

Trusteeship Council (currently inactive)

Of these, the General Assembly and Security Council being the dominant pieces.

THE SECURITY COUNCIL:

The Security Council consists of five permanent members, the U.S., China, Russia, France and the UK (allies during WW II) and ten elected members.  The presidency of the Council rotates among the fifteen members, each serving for one month.  Is anyone surprised that Russia was president in February 2022 when they attacked Ukraine?

Under the United Nations Charter, the principle function of the Security Council is to:

Ensure international peace and security. There it is in black and white, ensure international peace and security as its number one responsibility.  Additionally, the subset authority allows the Council to:  

Investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction.

Recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement.

Formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.

Determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken.

Call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression.

Take military action against an aggressor.

Right there in the Charter are the elements necessary for world peace. Given these clearly articulated responsibilities and authority, we can conclude that the UN in general and the Security Council in particular have been abject failures for almost eight decades.

First of all, can you imagine a large international company CEO having fifteen Executive Vice Presidents, each given the opportunity to lead the company for a month every fifteen months; thereby allowing each to bring his or her biases and priorities to the forefront.  It’s insane. A perfect formula for failure.

A UN INITIATIVE FOR WORLD PEACE:

How is world peace possible? In a word, deterrence.  That is, fear, in the mind of any potential aggressor, of rapid retaliation by a superior force.  It is possible for the United Nations to establish and sustain a world military force to deter and, if necessary, bring to bear on the battlefield the collective military might of the other 194 member nations?  Here is an outline:

Every member nation would agree to contribute to a world-wide deterrent force that can be deployed anywhere in the world within a seven-day period.  Every nation will contribute according to its capabilities.  Some examples:

The U.S. has the greatest capability in the world for world-wide force projection.  For example, the world watched in awe in 1990 as the U.S. deployed an overwhelming force to the Gulf War and, in two days of fighting, defeated Iraqi forces which had invaded Kuwait.  One U.S. contribution to the UN force could be our entire air-cargo fleet to fly directly to various countries and transport their force contribution directly to the targeted area.   Another critical U.S. contribution could be our fleet of about 650 aerial refueling tankers; by comparison, the remaining countries have about 250. 

Countries with few military resources (36 nations do not have a defense budget) could provide field hospitals, portable field surgical units with doctors and nurses, air craft maintenance capabilities, truck drivers, border patrol personnel, etc. Nations with only small maneuver organizations could provide, for example, man portable air defense and anti-tank teams and snipers.  There would be a very long list of non-combatant rear-area support requirements.  Countries with established combat forces could provide special operations personnel, armored units, light infantry, artillery, helicopters, tactical aircraft, naval vessels, air defense, combat engineers, all the elements for a military theater of operations. Selected nations in several regions would be responsible for providing an airport that can be quickly transformed into a full-up military operation with multiple runways, an expanded tarmac, maintenance facilities and housing for the military contingent.  

The force could be called the International Deterrence Force, IDF.  The “D” in IDF definitely does not stand for Defense.  The IDF will not be designed for defense. It will send an undeniable message to any nation that is contemplating an offensive action that within seven days an overwhelming world-wide force can be in-place for a counter offensive.  That is the real-world definition of deterrence.  The UN/IDF could borrow NATO’s Article 5 concept; an attack on one member is an attack against all members.

Who pulls this all together and leads the force?  A 4-star military leader with senior command experience would be nominated by the UN Secretary General.  After being thoroughly vetted, he/she will be voted on by the General Assembly by secret ballot. A majority vote will secure a two-year assignment which can be extended to four years.  The IDF Commander will select a deputy and the two of them will put together a lean-and-mean, full-time, rapidly deployable international staff.  The commander’s headquarters will be in Europe while the deputy will be in Asia.  For the sake of continuity, upon completion of the IDF Commander’s tour, the deputy will get first consideration as the replacement commander. The IDF staff will consist of subordinate commanders for ground forces, air, naval, theater logistics and humanitarian issues. 

Every six months the Commander will personally brief the UN General Assembly on IDF readiness.  For every nation, their IDF contribution will be subject to inspection by the IDF Commander/Deputy Commander and their staffs. Every nation must regularly inform the IDF when their force will be engaged in military exercises so that they can be observed.  The IDF Commander will establish and publish standards for every contributed element.  Every nation will provide a very detailed quarterly readiness report on the trained-to-standard and deployability status of their IDF contribution. 

The IDF headquarters will maintain a robust intel-processing element linked to the intel gathering capabilities of all 195 countries.  

International Deterrence Force Condition, IDFCon: All contributing nations will exist in a state of one of four different readiness IDFCon’s.

IDFCon 1:  Normal peacetime condition.  A completed plan will be in-place in every member nation.  Readiness standards will be in force for every IDF element.

IDFCon 2:  The Secretary General and IDF Commander having identified a potential threat to a member nation, will tailor a force for deployment and place them on 24-hour alert.

IDFCon 3:  All personnel and equipment for the designated units will move to assembly areas.  Deployment aircraft will move to their first pick-up airfield. 

IDFCon 4:  Deployment of all designated deterrence elements to the target area and prepare to initiate an overwhelming counter offensive. 

FUNDING: 

The UN will budget for the two IDF headquarters.  The participating nations will budget for and fund their participating units and sustain them at trained-and-ready IDF combat-ready standards.  

The IDF Operations Plan will first and foremost be designed with the intent for every element to rapidly deploy to an area of operation where they can represent an overwhelming deterrent force from all 194-member nations.  But the total force may not, in all cases, be necessary.  Therefore, the next planning step is to have the capability to rapidly tailor a force for scenarios that require a lesser, but still overwhelming force sufficient to deter, and if necessary counter attack. As the saying goes, always take a gun to a knife fight.  Two examples:

An attack on small-country “A” in Africa appears imminent by a larger neighboring country “B”.  The IDF Commander determines that inserting a couple infantry battalions on the ground could sufficiently deter the attack. Using the concept of intent to always have an overwhelming advantage, the commander will in fact deploy a full infantry brigade along with combat supporting forces and tactical air support. Result, Country “B” packs up and goes home. Deterrence, a powerful force for world peace. 

A more serious and far-ranging scenario might look like this:  China continues to threaten Taiwan with aggressive air and naval operations.  It is determined that the demonstrations are a rehearsal for an actual attack.   The Secretary General and IDF Commander agree to go to IDFCon 3.  China’s achilleas heel is imported gas and oil.  Inform China that a combined naval force from member nations is enroute to the South China Sea to create an impenetrable blockade to all incoming gas and oil tankers.  Additionally, missiles and aircraft capable of taking out the gas and oil pipelines from Russia will be immediately forward deployed.  Execution of this scenario could shut down China in a few weeks and result in half billion unemployed workers.  The Secretary General will request China publicly sign a pledge to acknowledge that forevermore Taiwan will be considered an independent nation free of all ties to China and provocative military actions against Taiwan is forbidden. Deterrence in action in support of world peace. 

BOTTOM LINE ON THE UN:

Having laid out a concept of operations for an International Deterrence Force capable of achieving world peace, it is time to admit that, given today’s reality, it cannot happen inside the existing UN.

The UN has been a failed institution since its inception in 1945 for one reason, the veto.  At the Yalta Conference in 1945 President Roosevelt, General Secretary Stalin and Prime Minister Churchill agreed that each of the permanent members of the Security Council was to be granted veto power over any resolution under consideration.  The UN Secretary General is a powerless position, the power resides in the Security Council.  More specifically, the power resides with the five permanent members, U.S., UK, France, China and Russia.

Every significant resolution to be considered by the General Assembly must first be voted out of the Security Council.  Each of the fifteen members (five permanent and ten elected for a temporary term) have one vote.  But here is the problem, the Charter says, quote, affirmative decisions shall be made by a vote of nine members, including the concurring votes of all five of the permanent members.  One veto by a permanent member and the resolution is dead. I say again, all five of the permanent members must vote yes. Most would agree that Communist China and Communist Russia will never agree to changes to the UN Charter that would stand-up the IDF. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the unprecedented civilian casualties and wanton destruction of civilian property has become a wake-up call for the world.  Now is the time, and it may never be more relevant, to strike with a plan that will, to the greatest extent possible, guarantee world peace.  There are two courses of action, one internal to the UN and the second external:

COURSE OF ACTION 1, INTERNAL UN UPRISING: 

The Secretary General could work to garner support from, let’s say, about 150 member nations for a change to the UN Charter.  The changes, none of which are currently authorized, could be as follows:

Do away with the Security Council and/or the five-permanent-member concept and/or the one-vote-veto rule.

Move the mission statement, that for seven plus decades has been the unfulfilled responsibility of the Security Council, to the Secretariat; that is, ensure international peace and security.

Replace the appointment process for a new Secretary General with a system whereby anyone from a member nation can campaign for the position.  A new Secretary General will be elected for a 6-year term by a secret ballot majority vote of the General Assembly.  Proceed to establish the International Deterrence Force.

It is highly unlikely this course of action will ever happen.

COURSE OF ACTION TWO, UPRISING EXTERNAL TO THE UN:

The U.S. should initiate actions to seek support from most of the 195 current UN member nations to join a new organization called United for World Peace. The organization would look like this:

A small headquarters anywhere in the world.

An elected president for one six-year term.

A fully operational International Deterrence Force as previously described.

The United for World Peace mission statement could be pulled directly from the UN Charter as follows:

One, ensure international peace and security.

Two, investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction.

Three, recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement.

Four, formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.

Five, determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken.

Six, call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression. 

Seven, take military action against an aggressor.

UNITED STATES LEAD:

The U.S. could lead this initiative and it should be done based on an international after-action-review of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which answered the three important questions:

First, what, collectively, did we, the world, do well?

Second, what should we, could we, the world, have done better?

Third, and most importantly, how can we institutionalize a faster, better, more organized, more aggressive and all-inclusive plan for preemptive actions that would preclude this ever happening again?

The five selling points for a United for World Peace organization are obvious:

One, the UN Charter, with its one veto policy cannot be fixed and renders the UN helpless.

Two, we must prevent a repeat of a Ukrainian-like disaster.

Three, we must be proactive with an overwhelming deterrence force continuously in place.

Four, NATO, in being since 1949, is a perfect example of deterrence in action for forty years of the Cold War.

Five, for all United for World Peace member nations, an attack against one would be an attack against all.

Every member nation would commit some resource to the International Deterrence Force in accordance with their capability. Why would countries sign up to be a member? Here is a starter list of answers as to why a United for World Peace organization is needed now and why it would be an easy sell at this point in time. 

Middle East countries and Israel are fearful of the hegemony intentions of a nuclear-equipped Iran but powerless individually to stop it. South Korea and Japan are very nervous about North Korea’s aggressive offensive missile and nuclear programs.  Taiwan is fearful of a China invasion. Europe is fearful of more Russian aggression.  Former Soviet Republics are fearful that they may be next on Putin’s list. The Baltic countries and Finland are fearful of Russia. India is in a constant state of unrest over China’s border incursions. Who knows what the next move may be by dictators in Latin America?  African border disputes are a recurring concern.  Nations’ support for terrorist activities threatens the world. Aggressors who would use cyber-attacks to inflict humanitarian and economic disaster on another nation is a growing threat. 

It is not difficult to believe the United for World Peace organization could quickly become a 150-nation force for peace.

CONCLUSIOINS for both courses of action:

A successful United for World Peace organization (Course of action 2) could be subsumed by the UN if they can find a way to revise the existing Charter (course of action 1). 

With an International Deterrence Force in place there is no longer a requirement for NATO. The combined defense budgets of the NATO members was $1.2 trillion in 2022.

With the IDF in place, defense funding could probably be reduced around the world by hundreds of billions of dollars through elimination of redundant force capabilities. For example, right now NATO members (Germany in particular) are ramping up their defense spending for forces that may, in fact, be redundant beyond IDF requirements.  

There will no longer be a need for nations’ bilateral treaties for mutual defense.  

Since 2016 the European Union has been talking about the need for an EU armed force.  Cancel that nonsense. 

With world peace assurances in place, the next step could be a world without nuclear weapons, chemical weapons or biological weapons.

The UN peacekeeping force budget for 2021 was $6.38 billion.  With active world-wide deterrence and an overwhelming rapidly-deployable counter-offensive force, no in-place peacekeeping forces will be necessary.

The next step could be for the IDF Commander to visit North Korea to discuss ICBM and nuclear testing.  Then on to Iran to discuss Iran’s role as the world’s leading supporter of terrorist organizations, etc.; proactive measures.

With a proactive International Deterrence Force in place, no nation would ever need to feel alone or stand alone.

PUTTING WORLD PEACE IN PERSPECTIVE:

The United States of America is a Constitutional Republic wherein We-The-People delegate our responsibilities to elected representatives.  We are a Democracy; a form of government where every person has a voice. For the past 250 years this transformational success story has made us the envy of the world. Through the decades we expanded across the continent. We led the world by outlawing the scourge of slavery. We transformed from an agrarian society into the world’s leading industrial powerhouse.  We rapidly expanded into a world military power, fought and won two World Wars and then benevolently helped rebuild the defeated nations.  We have explored space and shared our findings. We lead and won the forty-year Cold War against the USSR. But there remains one final task to transform the world into a better, kinder, safer place than it has ever been; a tremendous undertaking that no other nation is capable of performing.  The United States of America must create the conditions that will guarantee world peace forever.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

During a press conference, January 2022, President Biden, insinuating that republicans only want to criticize his programs, asked the rhetorical question, “What are Republicans for?”  Well, Mr. President, the Republicans in the 118^th Congress, representing all Americans are for what we have been talking about for the last couple weeks. Let me recap:

One, education results are pathetic and getting worse.  We must transform the system.  Cost to taxpayers, zero.

Two, we must stop the massive flow of illegal immigrants forever, redeploy the Border Patrol agents to stop criminals, drugs and terrorists and provide the hard-working, law-abiding immigrants a path to citizenship.  Cost to taxpayers zero, saving billions.

Three, without election reform we are in a category with despicable third-world dictatorships.  Cost to the taxpayers to reform the election system, zero.

Four, our Congress is dysfunctional; it is wasting hundreds of billions of dollars each year and hurting all Americans. Cost to reform it, zero.

Five, massive bureaucracy and excessive spending by the Executive Branch must get fixed.  Cost to the taxpayers zero, saving billions.

Six, we are for changing federal government terms of office and imposing term limits. Cost to the taxpayers, zero.

Seven, unconstrained political campaign contributions have threatened the viability of our election system. Cost to fix it, zero.

Eight, make the primary election process more effective, efficient and fair.  Cost to fix it, zero.

Nine, the current tax code and a bloated, inefficient, incompetent, weaponized IRS must be completely rebuilt. Cost to the taxpayers zero, saving billions. 

Ten, universal service for America will transform the nation and return a culture of accountability, trust and respect. Taxpayers will finance this investment and it may well be the best money we ever spend.

Eleven, world peace is within the art of the possible. The U.S. must lead this initiative; we are the only ones who can do it. Cost to taxpayers, zero and it will save hundreds of billions of dollars world-wide in defense spending.

From Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, when taken at the flood leads one to fortune.” There will never be a more appropriate time than now to pursue these transformational issues for the benefit of every American.

There is currently considerable discussion about the New World Order. Well, here is a new twist on The New World Order; call it World Peace.

Thank you for meeting with me over the past few days to gain an understanding of new initiatives for the 118^th Congress that define what the Republicans stand for. This is what we intend to do for, not to the American people. 

Author’s note:  This concept of ops can be found in FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA, chapter 8

The Republican Party cannot afford to miss an opportunity to pass this transformational program for world peace.   Again, I ask, if you have contact with any movers-and-shakers in Washington, please provide them a copy of this plan.  Thank you.  Marv

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

The intent of this series is to answer President Biden’s question, “What are the Republicans for?”  His point being, at the time he said it, the Republican Party does not stand for anything. 

The intent for the Republicans in the House should be to move quickly with a legislative agenda that will highlight numerous national issues that can be/should be solved during the 118^th Congress.  This will also begin framing the Republican Platform for the 2024 presidential campaign.

Part 1, of this series, how to fix education and race relations and a plan for immigration reform.

Part 2, election reform.

Part 3, a plan for fixing a dysfunctional Congress. 

Part 4, taking on the bloated bureaucracy and uncontrolled spending by the Executive Branch.

Part 5, terms of office and term limits.

Part 6, campaign finance reform.

Part 7, cleaning up the primary election mess.

Part 8, the IRS and tax reform.

Part 9, (herewith) universal service for America.

Presumptive Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy speaking:

What I want to do today is present the entire concept of operations for Universal Service for America. Let me begin with some background information.

BACKGROUND: Compulsory national service for all 18-year-old Americans is a program that has never existed in our nation.  It has the potential to transform America in a very positive way. The subject is compulsory national service for all 18-year-old Americans.

As I go through this with you, I will identify each subject area, for example as background I want to say a few words about the draft.

THE DRAFT:  Drafting U.S. men in times of national emergencies has been a tool since the colonies drafted them to fill the ranks of their militias to fight in the Revolutionary War.  The latest draft was in effect from pre-World War II until discontinued in 1973.

Now some comments about the SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM:  The Selective Service System is run by an agency in the Executive Branch of the federal government. Selective Service is responsible for registration and running a draft in times of national emergency.  Currently, men aged 18-25 who are U.S. citizens or are immigrants living in the U.S. are required to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of turning 18.  Immigrants must register within 30 days of arriving in the U.S. Those who fail to register will not be eligible for federal student aid, federal job training, or a federal job and may be prosecuted and face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or jail time of up to five years.

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON SERVICE.  Since the dissolution of the draft in 1973 there have been sporadic conversations about a compulsory national service program for all young adults.  As part of the FY 2017 Defense Authorization Act, President Trump and the Congress established a National Commission on Military, National and Public Service.  Their specific mission was to accomplish two things:  Conduct a review of the military selective service process and consider methods to increase participation in military, national and public service in order to address national security and other public service needs of the nation.

After two and a half years of extensive public engagement, the Commission issued its final report in March 2020, containing its findings and recommendations which include:

One, requiring women to register with the Selective Service System at age 18. 

Two, increasing military outreach, particularly to those areas with a low-propensity to join the armed forces.

Three, expanding educational opportunities during military service and developing strategies to recruit and retain in high-demand occupations.

Four, expanding civic educational programs in schools.

Five, significantly increasing non-military service opportunities in order to create, quote, “an expectation of service” by 2031.

The Commission’s report, entitled Inspire to Serve, explains a vision that, quote, “…. every individual will be exposed to voluntary service opportunities throughout their lifetime, beginning with young people….”.  They also repeatedly commented on the need to create an American culture of service by 2031.  What was most important about the report was what they did not say.  Two things:

One, they completely failed to recognize the elephant in the room, that is, do we need compulsory national service for everyone 18-years old? 

Two, while they frequently emphasized the importance of creating a national culture of service, they provided zero insights into how that was going to be possible. 

CULTURE OF SERVICE:  Over the years I have given the power of culture considerable thought and here are some of my conclusions:

There is a culture, either positive or negative embedded in every organization, large and small, and it is a powerful and pervasive force in every one of them.

You cannot imprint a new culture on an organization with a speech, memo, email or the words in a Commission report.  It is, in and of itself, a huge undertaking and it may take years for it to take hold.

The absolute best way to create the Commission’s culture of service is to make it a centerpiece of a compulsory service program wherein 99 + % of all young adults can be brought into it through daily discussions and actions over a protracted period of time. In due course, 99 + % of the U.S. population will have been subjected to an identical process.  “Indoctrination” is not a bad word when used in a positive way.  Indoctrination during compulsory service is how a “culture of service” can become part of America’s fabric.

The final Commission’s hearings were held by the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 11, 2021, where their recommendations appeared to be well received by Senators of both parties.

ABOUT THIS CONCEPT:

A concept of operations is a good place to begin a long-range strategic planning process.  Its purpose is to tell the story by first defining the problem to be solved, providing a vision of the end-state, that is, what we believe can be accomplished, and finally, filling in some of the blanks by describing the who, what, when, where, why and how of the concept.  When completed the concept of operations can become a public affairs tool, a sales pitch and in this case, it is going to become legislation. 

BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING BY DEFINING THE PROBLEM: Begin with these two questions: Are there any identifiable problems that need to be solved? Yes. Is there an existing program that addresses these problems? No. Some wise person once said, “If you cannot define the problem, there is no solution.” So, here are…….

THE PROBLEMS: Let me discuss six youth-related issues that will continue to plague this nation far into the future unless bold steps are taken now.

One, GANGS:  The FBI reports, quote, “there are some 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with about 1.4 million members criminally active in the U.S. today. Many are sophisticated and well organized; all use violence to control neighborhoods and boost their illegal money-making activities, which include robbery, drug and gun trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking, and fraud.”  Youth gangs are the training ground for a life of crime. 

The average number of members per gang is reportedly 42.  About half of all homicides in the U.S. are gang-related.  The Justice Department reports that, quote, “The average age of gang members arrested in the U.S. is 17 or 18.”  This information, in and of itself, is sufficient justification for a mandatory youth program in America.  We need to take these young adults off the streets and introduce them to a different way of life.

Two, DROP-OUTS AND ILLITERACY: On average 7,000 students drop out every school day; 90% of them end up on welfare. Nationally, 68% of all males in prison do not have a high school diploma. The National Assessment of Education Program, NAEP (aka “America’s Report Card”), reports that 64% of high school graduates are below proficiency in reading and 76% below proficiency in math.    

Another example: There are 190 Military Occupational Specialties in the U.S. Army.  In North Carolina for example, 23% of the high school graduates who want to enlist in the Army lack the cognitive skills to perform the most basic tasks and are therefore categorized as functionally illiterate.

An education system in which more than half of students entering 9^th grade either drop out or graduate incapable of further education or satisfactorily performing in the private sector or the military is unsatisfactory.  Increasing proficiency and thereby providing a greater chance for a successful future can be a part of a universal service program.

Three, YOUTH OBESITY: It’s is a common, serious and costly disease.  From 2000 to 2020 obesity in the U.S. population increased from about 30% to 45% while severe obesity doubled.  Half of the obesity problem is with adolescents aged 12-19 years. Mandatory participation in daily exercise and counseling on healthy habits will help to establish a healthier future America. 

Four, CULTURE: It’s a powerful and pervasive force in every organization; it is an organization’s personality. Is it caring, hateful, fast, energetic, visionary, risk-taking, vengeful?  America is drowning in a culture of hate and blame.  A year of character development can change young adults and henceforth, transform America.

Five, RACE: There is no way to explicitly measure the state of race relations in the United States, but they are at least not what they should be.  Babies are not born bigoted, disrespecting or hateful.  While growing up they learn it at home, in school, on the playground and on the street. A universal service program’s character development along with integrated team work every day will enhance the understanding and cooperation among all races represented.  The U.S. military has successfully practiced this solution for decades.

Six, WELFARE:  It is a fact that the more education one completes, the less likely they are to be on welfare. About 32 million households, or 27.1%, benefit from one or more of the following:  Medicaid, food stamps, subsidized lunches, public housing, unemployment and some sort of direct cash assistance.  Universal Service for America will provide young men and women the opportunity to be better prepared to hold good jobs and stay off welfare.

Given that background, the question before us is, should we have universal service for America?

In consideration of these six problem areas (gangs, drop-outs, obesity, culture, race and welfare), the better question is, are these problems in the process of being solved with or by other national programs?  I believe the answer is an unequivocable NO.  Universal Service for America, or as it may become known as, the U.S.A. Program, can be a transformational undertaking and is therefore worth the effort to make it happen. It can become a rite of passage for all Americans. 

What are the EXISTING NATIONAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS?  There are national service organizations in existence, such as AmeriCorps, YouthBuild, Senior Corps and the Peace Corps. What they have in common is that they are relatively small in size and they are 100% voluntary. One of the most enduring government youth programs has been Job Corps, a free residential education and job training program for young adults, aged 16-24, run by the Department of Labor.  Let me provide some revelations about Job Corps in order to make a couple important points.

From July 2016 to June 2017, Job Corps reported 3,673 safety and security incidents among the 79,000 enrollees (drugs, assault, alcohol, security breach, serious injury) according to the General Accounting Office analysis.  Other headlines over the years include, “Job Corps is one of the most wasteful, least effective programs in the federal government.” “Congress spends billions on ineffective job-training programs.” “Job Corps, a recipe for waste, fraud and failure.” “The Federal Job Corps training program is a flop.” “The government has taken on a role for which it was never intended, pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into a broken web of job training.”

The point to be made here is that the federal government has a very long history of attempting to build organizations and run them effectively and efficiently.  Their success rate is about zero.  If we are to move forward with legislation for Universal Service for America, it must NOT be organized, over-regulated and operated by government officials and bureaucrats.

HOW WILL UNIVERSAL SERVICE for AMERICA, BE ORGANIZED AND FUNDED?  To avoid the pit-falls of the decades-old Job Corps program, Universal Service for America should be organized as a non-profit 501C3 national non-governmental organization (NGO).  An NGO is a non-profit, citizen-based undertaking that functions independently of the government.  NGOs are organized on local, national and international levels to serve specific social or political purposes.  Despite their independence from the government, many NGOs receive funding from local, state, and federal governments. 

There are about 1.5 million NGOs operating in the U.S. Widely known examples are Doctors Without Borders and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).  The federal government should fund salaries, housing, meals, transportation and medical services for Universal Service for America.

OPERATIONAL UNDERPINNINGS: For Universal Service for America to be successful it must be based on and encompass, as a minimum, the following nineteen resolutions:

One, at age 17 all U.S. citizens and non-naturalized immigrants must register for Universal Service for America with the existing Selective Service System. Congress should amend the Selective Service System Act with two changes:

Amend the enrollment age from 18 to 17.  This will provide Universal Service for America staff with a valid database of potential participants a year in advance of their reporting for duty at age 18.

Currently the law says that, “Failure to register with the Selective Service is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment.”

The law should be amended to read:  All American citizens must register with the Selective Service within 30 days after their 17^th birthday. Immigrants residing in the United States who are 17 through 25 years of age must registerwithin 30 days of arrival in the U.S. Those who have not done so by their 18^th birthday are subject to imprisonment for five years.  If, after one year in prison, they register with the Selective Service and report to the next available Universal Service for America program, the remainder of the 5-year sentence will be forgiven. 

Two, attendance is mandatory for all high school graduates who are 18 years old plus all 18-year-old non-graduates.  Exceptions include: women who are pregnant or have a child; individuals who are physically or mentally impaired; and those who join the military immediately after high school graduation. Individuals who are head-of-households may apply for an exemption 

Three, Universal Service for America will be 12-months in duration beginning June of each year. This needs some discussion:

Unlike AmeriCorps, YouthBuild and Job Corps that may have just a few thousand up to 75,000 enrollees, Universal Service for America will have about four million enrollees on a continuous basis. That is almost twice the size of the entire U.S. military, active duty, Guard and Reserve combined. 

Compulsory service for all 18-year-old Americans and immigrants will be an enormous undertaking.  For a 2-year program, following the first-year enrollment of 4 million people, all succeeding years would have about 8 million continuously in residence.  For example, a small city, population 50,000, would have about 1,600 participants in residence at all times.  A 2-year program may be too large to run efficiently and effectively.

If it is a 12-month program, that begs the question: What impact will it have on all of our colleges and universities which will, the first year of the program, be without an entire incoming freshman class? There are three possible solutions to this problem:

The first is exempt compulsory service for all high school graduates who will be enrolled as full-time college students by the fall semester after high school graduation.  There are enormous downsides to this alternative: It defeats the overall intent and purpose of the program, which is to create a culture of service for all Americans; many students have no business going to college, but may use college enrollment simply as a way to dodge the compulsory service; and it would create an unhealthy division in America for all times, meaning those who did and those who didn’t “serve”.  It will defeat the advantages resulting from “rite of passage”

A second alternative is to require all college students to attend at least two, and perhaps three or four summer sessions of Universal Service for America; the first immediately following high school graduation.  There are potential downsides for this alternative:  Every June there will be (in round numbers) about 4 million new candidates for Universal Service for America; about 2.5 million will be college bound in September and 1.5 million will begin their full year of service. 

If the college students are to complete their service commitment by attending only summer sessions, after the first year of the service program there will be an additional surge of 2.5 million (those having just finished one year of college), 6.5 million total for the second summer; then a summer surge to 8 million the 3^rd June and to 10.5 million for the 4^th June and 10.5 million every summer thereafter.

The logistics associated with those summer surge numbers would be staggering to begin with and creating these summer surges will likely negatively impact the overall quality of the program. 

The third alternative is for the federal government to create a one-time bailout fund for colleges and universities to offset the no-freshman-class situation that will occur the first, and only, year of Universal Service for America.

Continuing with the program’s operational underpinnings:

Four, after 6 months in the program, anyone who is qualified to do so may enlist in the U.S. military.

Five, all attendees will be provided with a photo identification card with personal description information, a Universal Service for America ID number and expiration date.  The ID will enable free local public transportation while in the program. In conjunction with the Selective Service, each states’ DMV facilities will produce and issue the ID cards.

Six, everyone will be stationed at a location removed from their home of record and will not be stationed with others from their home community.  

Seven, men and women participants will not cohabitate.

Eight, the majority will be stationed in urban areas.

Nine, every full-time attendee will be authorized vacation days over religious holidays and during July or August.

Ten, lodging, meals, uniforms, transportation and medical care will be provided.  Each attendee will receive a stipend of $500 per month.

Eleven, uniforms will consist of dark blue pants/shorts, white shirts and a red hat.  Uniforms will include a name tag, a Universal Service for America logo, which will include the American flag.

Twelve, everyone will participate in physical training five days per week.

Thirteen, everyone will abide by the Universal Service for America Code of Conduct.

Fourteen, no one in the program is exempt from any local, state or federal laws. Universal Service for America will not provide legal counsel to attendees when apprehended for violations of the law.

Fifteen, transgender individuals will abide by local, state and federal rules in force for where they reside during their term of service.

Sixteen, mandatory unannounced drug testing will be the norm.

Seventeen, all will participate in leader training by being team leaders or higher as they move through the program.

Eighteen, this should be a no-frills experience for each participant consisting of long work days, community service on the weekends, and basic accommodations. 

Nineteen, there will be two Universal Service for America websites: One to keep the general public apprised of every aspect of the program; and the second will be an internal site available to leaders and staff.  Innovation has been the lifeblood of this nation since its inception; best-practices will be templated and shared. Additionally, the internal site can be used to clarify program policies and procedures.

PARTICIPATION NUMBERS for a 12-month, all-18-year-old program:  Using 2020 data, it is possible to forecast the approximate number of participants if Universal Service for America could begin operations within the next few years; 3.7 million 18-year-old high school graduates, plus 300,000 18-year-old non-graduates and some, yet to be determined, number of 18-year-old non-citizens living in the U.S.

A TYPICAL DAY in universal service for America:  The intent of the schedule is to address the problems associated with gangs, dropouts, illiteracy, obesity, culture, race relations and welfare. And most importantly, to build a culture of service to society.  The days will be tailored to individual needs with the objective of transforming lives and thereby giving them a greater chance at a successful life.

MORNING SCHEDULE:

Physical training

Gather in a classroom setting, in groups of about 25, with a volunteer instructor, and discuss elements of the Character Development curriculum which I will get to in a few minutes.

For the remainder of the morning, based on arrangements with local schools, those who have not graduated from high school, could, attend virtual classes and gain credits towards receiving a high school diploma.

Through arrangements with local Community Colleges, those participants interested in some type of technical training could take morning classes. 

Those seriously deficient in reading, writing and math skills could attend remedial morning classes.

Have an “open” period each morning for guest speakers, leadership training, lessons on U.S. history and civics; whatever subjects enhance the overall program.

AFTERNOON SCHEDULE:

Generally, this will be the time for community service.  There are so many ways to help out and become visible to the public in positive ways, for example:

Clean parks and playgrounds, volunteer at a museum, assist at a walk-a-thon or community run, deliver food to the homebound, work at a food bank, take care of animals at a shelter, tutor students who have fallen behind in their studies, walk kids home from school, donate blood, help kids with their homework, offer free music lessons, coach a youth sports team, teach adults internet skills, teach CPR, assist immigrants with conversational English, chaperone a field trip, help out at a community center, volunteer as a lifeguard, be a crossing guard, do social media for a local nonprofit, help set up a community event, organize a clothing drive, adopt a highway and clean it, participate in musical performances at nursing homes, deliver groceries to the elderly, write letters for a senior citizen, lead an exercise program, sponsor an animal at the zoo, work for a charity like Habitat for Humanity, volunteer at a fire station, teach self-defense, paint over graffiti, work with special-needs kids; there is no end to this list.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:  Values are key drivers in our lives.  Our values motivate us, determine what we strive to become in both life and in the work place, determine how well we will fit into an organization.  Values are drivers in our decision making and set out moral compass.  Character Development is value development; here are the building blocks:

Five days per week, following breakfast, participants will assemble, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and then participate in a character development class.  The Character Curriculum will be, ACCOUNTABILITY, CITIZENSHIP, COMMITMENT, COMPASSION, COURAGE OF CONVICTIONS, COURTESY, CONFIDENCE, HEALTHY HABITS, HONESTY, HONOR, HUMILITY, INTEGRITY, JUDGMENT, LEADERSHIP, MORALITY, PERSEVERANCE, PUNCTUALITY, RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, SELF-RESPECT, SELFLESS SERVICE, SPORTSMANSHIP AND TRUST.

Just imagine the impact this can have with four million young adults having a substantive discussion about one of the subjects in the Character Curriculum five days a week and then adjourning to live/be/do/demonstrate those values on a daily basis.  It is a powerful initiative and will displace our current culture of hate and blame.

GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR USA:  For this Non-Governmental Organization, the federal government will be responsible for financing the bulk of operational costs, including salaries, housing, food, transportation and medical services.

The states will use their Division of Motor Vehicles facilities to produce and issue Universal Service for America ID cards for each 17-year-old as they register with the Selective Service.  

Local officials will provide free-of-charge public transportation.  They will also become points of contact for program officials to coordinate the use of participants to fulfill community service tasks.

UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR AMERICA LEADERS IN THE FIELD: There is and always will be a perfect source of men and women to become qualified leaders and staff for the program. Annually the Defense Department retires thousands of men and women who have just finished 20-30 years of service, are looking for a second career and all have four things in common.  One, they are proven leaders.  two, they have years of experience teaching and training.  Three, they understand standards and have spent two or three decades living up to them.  Four, and perhaps most importantly, they have served in a totally integrated inter-racial environment with an overarching value base of accountability, respect and trust.  What more could one ask for in a person to lead and mentor these young adults?

OPERATIONAL LOCATIONS:  It will not be practical to run the program with individual participants scattered across sparsely populated rural areas.  This will, by necessity, be a program where they are housed and operate in urban areas with population densities of at least 50,000.  The total U.S. population living in areas with at least 50,000 density is about 250 million.  Doing the math, there are about 5,000 urban segments, each with a population of about 50,000.  To accommodate all 4 million participants June through the following May would require housing nearly 800 participants per 50,000-population segment. A city of 200,000 would need to house 3,200 (800 x 4) etc. across the U.S. urban landscape. 

UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR AMERICA HEADQUARTER’S OPERATIONAL CONCEPT:  Centralized planning with emphasis on maximum decentralized execution is a must.  The federal government is infamous for getting it backwards. When they attempt to run an operation, invariably they will, through thousands of pages of regulations, create a top-heavy bureaucratic mass attempting to micromanage all aspects of an operation.  And, in most cases they fail.  Without decentralized decision making and execution, innovation and operational flexibility will be unachievable.

Centralized planning by the CEO, the planning staff and Board of Directors will prescribe policy and articulate achievable standards.

LAUNCH THIS OPERATION WITH A PHASED PLAN: In long-range strategic planning, phasing the operation is an imperative. simply put, at the front end you don’t know what you don’t know. As you move forward in time, key data will come to light and can then be properly assimilated into the total equation.

Phase 1, If this was a military operation this step would be called Shaping the Battlespace. For this program to succeed we need a strong, robust, multi-faceted Public Relations Campaign to generally enlighten everyone and to convince the general population that this is worth the effort, worth the investment in tax-payer money and will make our nation better and stronger than it can otherwise become. We must recognize that mandatory participation is potentially a tough sell.

The intent is to get a lot of traction with the White House, Congress, Governors, local officials, the general public and media. Also in phase 1, find a pro bono CEO for this program.  The first order of business will be to pull together a pro bono Board of Directors, composed of movers-and-shakers to find financing for a national Public Relations Campaign.

Phase 2, the CEO and his/her Board of Directors should push for Universal Service for America Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, funding to be included in the President’s budget and that it is looked on favorable by the Congress during the budget process. 

Phase 3, the first-year funding will be modest in that it may be prudent to begin the programs with a pilot program.

It would be very difficult to begin this operation with a full complement of young adult participants (about 4 million) on day one and a fully-staffed and trained national organization to run it.  Therefore, the first-year funding should accommodate a pilot program with about 1,000 volunteer participants in each state.

In Phase 3 the CEO will give the states a heads-up that, if passed by Congress, the law will require the states’ DMV facilities to be prepared to coordinate with the Selective Services System and register prospective attendees

Phase 4, the President signs the bill which will provide pilot-program funding for Universal Service for America as a Non-Governmental Organization.

Upon passage of the Universal Service for America Act the CEO will hire a staff to complete the phased plan.  There will be hundreds of issues to work on, for example: develop an organization chart; hire and train leaders and staff; logistics for housing and feeding attendees; initial registration to get the program started; develop a national database of those who register as a 17-year-old; develop a recruiting and training program for volunteers; liaise with state and local authorities; construct plans for Character Development; write a Code of Conduct; determine pay scales for permanent and temporary hires, etc.

The planning staff must also deal with the subject of discipline, a very delicate and important issue.  Inevitably, established rules and standards will be violated. The planners must define in detail who will have disciplinary authority and what the punishments will be for various categories of infractions.  Additionally, the headquarters staff must have a robust Inspector General Directorate to deal with complaints, potentially fraudulent activities, and any other activities that may call into question the integrity of the organization. 

Phase 5 will begin in June, bringing 18-year-old volunteers into the program in each state. 

VOLUNTEERS: Where do the volunteers come from to teach the Character Development curriculum?  There are about 70 million Baby Boomers currently retiring at a rate of about 10,000 per day and many are looking for something interesting, meaningful, and challenging to do in retirement.  Additionally, many local organizations, (country clubs, churches, charitable organizations, etc.) will be willing to sign up for a number of volunteer positions and keep them filled on a permanent basis.

COMMUNITY INTERACTION:  The nation needs to buy in to the idea of compulsory national service. They need to meet these young people, see them volunteering and working in teams for the betterment of the community. Therefore, a key to success will be the extent to which the participants can be temporarily joined up with businessmen and women, civil servants, first responders, and every part of what is going on in the community every day.   Arrange for participants to walk the beat with a law enforcement officer, spend a night in jail, see what goes on in the backroom of a supermarket, ride along when a fire truck is called out, spend some nights in a hospital emergency room and be a part of every community group doing volunteer work.  Participants need to be visible, see the good, the bad, and the ugly America and expand their horizons by seeing and doing new and different things every day. 

A logical and valuable extension of this interaction is to institute, in every community, a mentoring program wherein leaders in all walks of life can personally, one-on-one interact with one or more of the participants over the year and by extension, into the future.  Mentoring can be a life-changing event for both. 

VISION:  All planning should begin at the end with a clear vision of the end-state. This first step is a must-do because there is truth in the old saying, quote, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

The VISION for UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR AMERICA is to set in motion, through positive training and mentoring of all the nation’s 18-year-old young adults, a process that will mitigate the problems associated with gangs, dropouts, illiteracy, obesity, race, culture and welfare. Over a period of years Universal Service for America will transform this country into a better, safer and more prosperous place for everyone. 

Vision is WHERE we need to go with this vital and important program.  

MISSION:  Once in place, there needs to be an overarching clear and brief statement defining what it is the organization is to focus on and accomplish every day.  For example, the U.S. Army’s mission is to prepare to fight and win the nation’s wars; clarity and brevity. 

The UNIVERSAL SERVICE FOR AMERICA MISSION is to annually engage all 18-year-old Americans in a program that will enhance their education, build character, strengthen their self-determination and set in motion a lifelong appreciation for community service, all while internalizing and learning to live in a culture of accountability, trust and respect. 

The mission is WHAT Universal Service for America needs to engage in each day.  

THE CEO:  The position should be filled by an American patriot who is an influential and respected voice on cultural, political, and educational issues; preferably someone who has held positions of great importance to America to include perhaps an Executive Branch department head for a previous president. He/she should be a familiar voice for traditional American values.

CONCLUSIONS: 

It is within the art of the possible for Universal Service for America to become a valuable national recruiting resource. The military can now be more focused on a single group of 18-year-old Americans.  Local businesses may find a beneficial fit with some of the participants and offer them positions at the end of their national service obligation.  Technical businesses may look at the training the participants are engaged in at the community colleges to find prospective hires. The federal and state civilian work forces are constantly in need of an infusion of young talent, etc. 

The percentage of the U.S. population which has benefited from compulsory service will grow every year and become transformational and drastically reduce the severity of the problems we are faced with today; gangs, dropouts, illiteracy, obesity, culture of bland and hate, race relations and welfare.

This campaign with its character development, daily emphasis on values and teamwork, participants living and working in a culture of accountability, trust and respect can ultimately change how a nation thinks and acts, from the bottom up, for generations to come. 

The power of the Character Development being discussed with every participant each day will result in the following:

As participants learn more about a life of accountability, they will be less likely to resort to hatred and blame.

Participants who are steeped in commitment, confidence, perseverance, punctuality and responsibility do not skip classes or work schedules, do not fall behind or drop out and are more likely to pursue additional education, get a job and stay off welfare. 

Participants who are deeply rooted in trust and respect will rally against bullying and are unlikely to become racially bigoted adults.  And they will believe, quote, “They will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  MLK

Participants who accept being compassionate, courteous, honorable, and demonstrate the courage of their convictions, will not return home to their street gangs.

Participants who accept honesty, morality and integrity as their guiding light are more likely to become life-long upstanding citizens.

Participants who understand, live and accept a life of selfless service are unlikely to become self-serving adults.

Participants who gain an understanding that there is a lot they don’t yet know and even part of what they believe might be incorrect, will have the quality of humility. 

Participants who gain an understanding of self-respect will recognize that they are now better than they used to be and can be counted on in times of temptation because they are morally dependable. 

With this value base, graduates of Universal Service for America are more likely to exercise good judgment and become good-to-great leaders.

Universal Service for America will be expensive but there is a huge difference between an expense and an investment. 

Amtrak is a good example of a tax-payer funded government-run expense.  Fifty-one years ago, President Nixon signed the Rail Passenger Service Act creating the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, later known as Amtrak, to take over intercity passenger rail obligations. Amtrak has lost money every year requiring a federal subsidy.  In 2019 it was $1.9 billion in the red. As if that is not enough, the government Covid relief packages in 2020 provided $2 billion dollars to Amtrak.  Additionally, the infrastructure bill passed by the Senate in August, 2021 contains $66 billion for intercity rail. That, Mr. and Mrs. taxpayer, is a government expense.

Universal Service for America, on the other hand, should not be categorized as a government expense; it is an investment in the future of our great nation.  Yes, it will be expensive but the pay-back is incalculable.  Go back and review the problems associated with young Americans today and then ask yourself if those problems could be even partially eliminated, would it be worth the investment?  The offset for U.S.A. program operational costs will be more Americans employed and paying taxes and fewer on welfare and in jail.

Additional take-aways from this subparagraph on expense vs. investment: 1) The government must never take over the program and attempt to run it.  If that happens the program will fail from being ineffective, inefficient and lacking in ingenuity; and 2) The Congress must never be allowed to insert its partisan influence into the program’s curriculum via the annual appropriation to the NGO. If they do, the program’s integrity will be lost. 

A PARTING THOUGHT: As we consider this legislation there is value in looking at the Israeli program of mandatory military service for all men and women. Four things that stand out are:

One, mandatory military service has become a rite of passage for all Israeli citizens.  The U.S.A.  Program can become that for all Americans.

Two, the army serves as Israel’s melting pot. Participants from every background are blended together for better understanding, appreciation and tolerance of each other.  The U.S.A. Program can do that for the United States.

Three, women have equal status. and equal responsibilities.  The U.S.A. Program can promote and advance that in our nation.

Four, service in Israel’s defense force is viewed as a precursor to the nation’s economy which has grown faster than any other developed country in the past 25 years. The parallel is that these young people learn how to solve problems, work with diverse groups of people and build networks. The U.S.A. Program can do that in the United States and easily offset the program’s investment dollars.

What comes to mind is a photo I recently saw of five young women, probably in their late teens, casually dressed, smiling and obviously having a delightful conversation as young ladies are want to do.  It is the type of photo that might have been taken in any other nation but not this photo; these were Israeli women because each had with them an M16 military rifle. They were holding the weapons casually, safely, expertly and with obvious confidence as if it was a purse or backpack.  What come to mind was that these young adults were probably already steeped in accountability (for themselves, defense of family, teammates and country), citizenship, commitment, courage of convictions, confidence, honesty, honor, integrity, morality, perseverance, punctuality, respect, responsibility, self-respect, selfless service and trust.

Israelis consider the end result of their mandatory service to be national pride, skill and gender equality.  It can do the same in the United States.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; we should not be too proud to copy something that works for others. 

KEYS TO SUCCESS:  A critical step in every long-range strategic planning effort is to STOP about now, take a deep breath and consider that when the overall Concept of Operations has been thought through and at least has touched on most of necessary questions (who-what-when-where-why-and-how?) then ask, what are the keys to success?  Or stated another way, what can cause this to fail? The keys to success for Universal Service for America are:

A Public Relations Campaign that is nation-wide and very robust.

Resist becoming fully engaged until we have had the opportunity to learn from a pilot program of at least one year.  Learn to walk before we try to run.

Character Development is the pillar that will make Universal Service for America last for a lifetime.  In the daily routine, the period devoted to Character Development must be priority number one.

Everything in the program must contribute to and point toward creating a lasting culture of accountability, respect and trust. 

The program will fail if it becomes government-run. It will fail if it becomes a political football from administration to administration and/or from one Congress to another. Character development cannot ever be viewed as a partisan issue.

BOTTOM LINE: 

If goodness, and hence greatness, is to be regained for this country, it will be accomplished one person at a time through character development and a culture shift from blame and hate to accountability, trust and respect.

Just for a moment imagine, across this great nation, millions of young adults in classrooms with their hands on their hearts, looking at the American flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and then sitting down with a dedicated patriot volunteer to discuss character and values. The result will be transformational for generations to come.

Why should we do this?  To paraphrase a French political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, who came to America in the 1820s to study our nation; he concluded in his book, Democracy in America, that America is great because it is good; when it ceases to be good it will cease to be great.  There needs to be a time and a place wherein all Americans can contemplate goodness and thereby plan to live a more fulfilling and productive life by being all they can be. That time is now and that place will be as a participant in Universal Service for America.  Goodness doesn’t just happen; it is a work in progress. Our intent has to be focused on refreshing and perpetuating America’s goodness.

A dedicated Republican, a great patriot, and publisher of conservative issues every other day throughout the year to tens of thousands of subscribers has reviewed this proposed legislation and commented as follows, quote, “I personally consider this proposal of such importance, I am devoting this entire newsletter to its circulation. Short of a Devine Intervention, I can think of nothing that would more substantially improve life in our United States of America than implementation of Universal Service for America at the earliest possible moment.”

Are there any questions?

OK, see you tomorrow for another look at Republican Party transformational legislation coming out of the House during the 118^th Congress.

Author’s note:  This concept of ops can be found in FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA, chapter 7. The next proposed Speaker presentation to America outlining the legislative agenda for the 118^th Congress will soon appear entitled, WHAT’S NEXT REPUBLICANS? (Part 10).

The Republican Party cannot afford to miss an opportunity to pass this transformational program of universal service.   Again, I ask, if you have contact with any movers-and-shakers in Washington, please provide them a copy of this plan.  Thank you.  Marv

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

The intent of this series is to answer President Biden’s question, “What are the Republicans for?”  His point being, at the time he said it, the Republican Party does not stand for anything. 

The intent for the Republicans in the House should be to move quickly with a legislative agenda that will highlight numerous national issues that can be/should be solved during the 118^th Congress.  This will also begin framing the Republican Platform for the 2024 presidential campaign.

 Part 1, of this series, how to fix education and race relations and a plan for immigration reform.

Part 2, election reform.

Part 3, a plan for fixing a dysfunctional Congress. 

Part 4, taking on the bloated bureaucracy and uncontrolled spending by the Executive Branch.

Part 5, terms of office and term limits.

Part 6, campaign finance reform.

Part 7, cleaning up the primary election mess.

Part 8, (herewith) the IRS and tax reform.

Presumptive Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy speaking:

On 16 August 2022, President Biden signed into law a $740 billion bill that focused on climate, health care and tax increases and was called the Inflation Reduction Act and oh-by-the-way provides an extra $800 million to the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents.

This is another one of the mega-bills, 750 pages, that no one read before they voted on it.  If the $80 billion for 87,000 new IRS agents had been a stand-alone bill, it would have had to pass muster in Congressional committees in both the House and the Senate with expert testimony and We-The-People would have known what was coming, been informed of the pros and cons and been able to dial in to our Congressional Delegations. But no, that makes too much sense.  Now it’s the law and I have not heard anyone who believes there is anything positive about adding 87,000 agents to the current IRS force of about 90,000.  “As government expands, liberty contracts.” President Reagan said. So, what can we do about it?

First, let’s take a look at how the IRS is doing these days?  The Wall Street Journal and various other open sources recently shed some light on their capabilities or lack thereof:  Here is a summary of some reports from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: 

Last year the IRS answered only about 10% of taxpayer calls.

There is a backlog of 17 million unprocessed tax returns.

$19 billion, 28%, of earned-income tax credit payments in FY 21, were “improper.”

67,000 claims, $15.6 billion, for low-income housing tax credit from 2015 to 2019, quote, “lacked or did not match supporting documentation due to reporting errors.”

A May 2022, audit found that 26%, $1.9 billion, of its American opportunity tax credits for education expenses were improper in FY 2021.

27%, $541 million, of its net premium tax credits (Obamacare) were improper in FY 2019

May, 2022 audit,13%, $5.2 billion of its enhanced child tax credit payments were improper.

September, 2020, the IRS issued 89,338 notices to taxpayers insisting that balances were owed even though the taxes were not actually due.

February, 2022, audit found the IRS department responsible for ensuring retirement plan tax compliance suffered a 23% decline in the quality of its examinations from 2018 to 2020,

In 2010 the Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act to identify wealthy Americans using undisclosed foreign accounts. The intent was to raise $9 billion in revenue by 2020. An April 2022 audit showed the IRS has spent $574 million to implement the law and had found only $14 million in revenue. Let me reread those last two sentences that deal with intent and results. The intent was to raise $9 billion in revenue by 2020. An April 2022 audit showed the IRS has spent $574 million to implement the law and had found only $14 million in revenue. Amazing!

In 2010 the IRS began a program to examine returns from “high income” individuals (those with incomes of over $200,000). But from FY 2015-2017, 73% of the targeted returns were for those earning less than $200,000. Again, intent and results mismatch, aka gross mismanagement with little or no leader oversight.

In the past seven months the Treasury Inspector General has issued damaging reports on IRS mismanagement of its partial-payment program for delinquent taxpayers, for its auditing of partnerships and its struggle to handle internal employee misconduct.

In those twelve short pieces of information, we see a clear picture of an organization in chaos with low standards, ingrained mismanagement and little or no viable leadership. In spite of this reality, Congressional Democrats and the president believe it is a good idea to spend $80 billion, that we don’t have, to double the size and weaponize one of the most inept, inefficient departments in the government.

Have we even properly defined the IRS problem?

The most pathetic issue here is that the IRS’s day-to-day performance standards stem from a big-government, over-regulated, bloated bureaucracy. Is the IRS’s problem that they are short 87,000 employees? Of course not, but too many in Congress and the president continue to believe that every problem can be solved by throwing thousands of bureaucrats and billions of dollars at it.

What the Republicans need to do is define the base problem first.  Then, and only then, develop a specific plan to fix the problem. 

Here is the problem:

According to the Public Law 117-154 (23 June, 2022), the U.S. Tax Code is 6,871 pages. But when you include the federal tax regulations and the official tax guidance, it rises to approximately 75,000 pages.  That’s the problem.

How do we fix it? First, how not to fix it.  Do not appoint a special commission to fix it by working their way through 75,000 pages adding, subtracting and rewording.  Doing so will probably result in an even worse 80,000-page document. 

Instead of trying to fix it, hit the delete button, all 75,000 pages, and start over with a clean sheet of paper.  Start out with a long-range strategic planning maxim; that is, begin at the end.  In this case define the dual end state factors first. After that, plan for the specific issues: how much tax, what types of tax, how are they divided up among taxpayers and the IRS role in administering it.

Dual end-states:  First is the alignment of overall annual government budgeted requirements with accurately projected revenue. The second is based on the assumption that few, if any, Americans can accurately articulate what the current Tax Code is about.  What we need to end up with is a new Tax Code that can be read in a few minutes and understood by every taxpayer in America.  Both are within the art of the possible as follows:  

New Tax Code, CHAPTER ONE, INDIVIDUAL GROSS INCOME:

All taxes will be based on individual gross income. So. the first thing is to define exactly what constitutes individual gross income, how it is derived, how it is reported and how it can be verified.  Also begin with a threat of very harsh penalties for anyone who is caught hiding or misstating their gross income. Fear of going to jail is a powerful incentive.

CHAPTER TWO, TAX DEDUCTIONS:

The current 75,000 pages of tax Code/regulations undoubtedly contains hundreds of possible deductions. Therein lies a big part of the problem and requires thousands of IRS employees to deal with it. 

Under this plan there is one and only one authorized deduction from personal gross income; charitable contributions. But the charities have to be real and operate under a strict set of standards in order to qualify.

The Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation’s tax return, 2014, provides a perfect example of a charity that would not qualify as a tax deduction by donors.

In 2014 the Clinton Charitable Foundation total revenue, in rounded numbers, was $178 million. From that, actual grants to charity amounted to about $5 million; three per cent.  Most of the contributions went for exorbitant salaries and expensive travel.

This Tax Code chapter must include standards for a charity to qualify for a tax deduction. For example, grants to charity must be at least 60% (or whatever we determine the correct number should be) of charitable revenue for an organization to qualify.

Every charitable organization would be required to submit income and expenditures annually to the IRS and be subject to audits.  For each tax year the IRS would publish the list of qualifying charitable organizations to be cross-checked with individuals’ tax return deductions. This will guarantee every doner that their money is actually going to a worthy cause.  If the charity can’t pass the smell test and make the annual IRS list, they will probably soon be out of business, which is a good thing.

 CHAPTER THREE, CORPORATE TAX:

Let’s begin this discussion with a fact: corporations do not pay taxes, people pay taxes.  The so-called corporate tax is, to the corporation, just another cost of producing a product.  The tax is no different than the cost of raw materials, salaries, marketing, etc.  The money that a corporation pays to the government in taxes, has already been passed on to workers in lower wages and to customers in a higher priced product. 

So, let’s do away with all that nonsense and the hundreds of millions of dollars that businesses spend on accountants and lawyers to compute their tax returns.

Under this plan, there will be no corporate taxes.  There is another way, a more sensible way, to turn corporate income into government tax revenue.

Let’s say for example that General Motors has a very good year.  As a result, they might raise wages and salaries, hire a few hundred new employees, build a new plant (future wages/salaries), pay more and higher bonuses to their top performers, and pay higher dividends to stockholders.  All of those corporate actions will translate into higher individual gross personal income for thousands of tax payers. Bottom line, the government gets their revenue, the corporations’ products become more competitive in the global marketplace and the gross domestic product goes up. 

Therefore, under this new tax plan corporate tax gets explained in a sentence, no corporate tax, instead of thousands of pages of tax regulations. And, perhaps more importantly, corporate tax will no longer be a political yoyo under a tax-and-spend administration. 

Taking taxes off the table for businesses and corporations has many positive residual effects.  As an example, in 2017 President Trump cut corporate taxes from 35% (highest in the world) to 21%.  Economists predicted one of the positive delayed impacts would actually be increased tax revenue rather thnt reduced federal income. They were correct because cutting corporate taxes resulted in higher wages, hiring went up, businesses expanded and generally the entire economy grew and pushed government revenue to the highest levels in history.

Taking corporate taxes to zero will cause an economic revolution: overseas manufacturing will come back to the U.S., we will be less dependent on China, wages will go up, unemployment down, those who can work will be forced off the welfare rolls, GDP will increase and overall government revenue will shoot up.

CHAPTER 4, CAPITAL GAINS TAX:

Capital Gains Tax is currently a separate tax that is levied on profits an investor realizes when he or she sells a capital asset for a price that is higher than the purchase price.

As of 2021, the long-term capital gains tax is typically either 0%, 15% or 20% depending upon your tax bracket.

Under the new Tax Code there will no longer be a separate tax on capital gains.  If you invest $10,000 and can prove it and then sell it for $15,000 at a later date, that is simply a $5,000 addition to that year’s gross income that may or may not put you in a higher tax bracket. 

Capital losses occur when an investment is sold for less than its original purchase price. Under the new Tax Code this will have zero bearing on your taxes.  Why should you get a tax break for making a bad decision and losing money?

This simplified formula for Capital Gains Taxes also does away with the Biden-proposed nonsense of taxing Capital Gains on investments that have not yet been sold.

CHAPTER 5, DEATH TAX, aka Estate or Inheritance Tax: 

Death taxes are the most morally corrupt initiative in our government.  Therefore, in the new Tax Code there will be no such thing as a Death/Estate/Inheritance Tax.

Death Tax is a tax on your right, even though you are now deceased, to transfer everything you own at the time of your death.

The Death Tax habitually hits rural America especially hard.  Farmers and ranchers generally fall into an economic category of being, land rich and cash poor.  Agricultural land has almost always increased in value over time; that’s the good news….land rich.  The problem with agri-business is that there is little or no consistency in profitability from year to year.  Perhaps last year’s harvest put a pile of money in the bank. But this year a 30-minute violent hail storm cut your soybean yield by 50%. In Southeast U.S., a sustained drought cut the 2022 cotton harvest by about 50%.  A year ago, no farmers were anticipating that the anhydrous ammonia fertilizer they would need in 2022 would go up by $86,000 for 1000 acres of crop…..cash poor

So, Mom and Dad pass away and the two kids now own the farm; a farm they love, where they labored as youngsters and where their children might someday want to farm.  But both middle-income kids have a house mortgage, car payments, some student debt and a couple overdue credit card payments.  No way they can dig up a few hundred thousand dollars to pay the Death Tax. They have no choice; they have to sell.  Some of you are thinking, but there are estate value limits before the death tax becomes applicable.  Yes, you are correct but you are also missing the larger issue; we need to get this monster off the books forever.

This is unamerican government-greed insanity.  Under this proposed Tax Code, you inherit it, you own it; period.  Do what you want with it, not what the damned government tells you what you must do. 

CHAPTER SIX, TAX BRACKETS:

The concept of operations for this plan is to divide personal gross income into many brackets ranging from zero to billions of dollars. That could end up to be a lot of pages depending on how small each bracket is.  The good news is that the individual taxpayer only has to refer to one of those pages; the page that lists the tax rate for their particular gross income.

The brackets would be progressive but also careful to not disincentivize a taxpayer.  True story:  An acquaintance of mine is a successful upper-level executive in France.  She told me that upon getting a promotion resulting in greater responsibility and longer working hours, the salary increase put her into a new/higher tax bracket; the result, her net take-home pay actually was less than before the promotion.

THE TAX CODE MODEL will look something like this and I will use some numbers just to illustrate the intent:

First, define the gross income brackets. For example,

-Zero to $100,000 in increments of 25K.

-100K to one million, increments of 100K.

-One mil to 10 mil, increments of one million.

-10 mil to 20 mil, increments of two million.

-20 mil to 100 mil, increments of 10 million.

-100 to one billion, increments of 100 million.

-Remaining increments of $500 million each.

That’s about 45 brackets but the number is immaterial to the Tax Code model; it could be more or less refined than that.

Secondly, determine the number of taxpayers in each bracket.  After the first year under the new Tax Code that will be easier to do and should be updated every year.

Third, begin refining the first model with a working end state number; that is a budget of, for example $4 trillion. Up to $25K gross income the tax is zero.  Then beginning at $25K gross income for example, 7.28% for the second bracket, $25K to $50K. Then adjust the rate upward by one half % for each bracket.  Using the above brackets, the tax rate for $1 million gross income would be 12.78% etc. and the rate for $1 billion gross income would be 28,78%.

So, the president submits his budget to Congress the first Monday in February. February-September Congress works to publish a final Congressional Budget Resolution by 30 September.  Let’s say the budget is $4.436 trillion beginning the fiscal year on 1 October. 

The Tax Code model would work with these key pieces of input:

An agreed-to permanent set of brackets (my estimate is about 45); permanently in the legislation.

An agreed-to permanent tax progression percent from each bracket to the next resulting in a permanent tax rate for each bracket. My example is one half per cent progression.

An annually calculated number of taxpayers in each bracket.

The Congressional resolution budget number as of September each year.

The first run of the model would spit out a projected revenue number.  If it falls short of the budget, simply increase, by perhaps a tenth of a percent, the tax rate for each bracket. The point being within a few minutes of adjustments the projected revenue from taxpayers’ gross income will equal the budget request.

Today taxation is a complete mystery to almost every taxpayer. We all live with the April surprise when our tax accountant tells us how much we owe or will get as a refund.  No more April surprises.  Now a family can sit down at the kitchen table, calculate what they expect their gross income to be and from that know exactly what their tax burden will be and proceed to work up their family budget

Monthly withholding taxes should result in a consistent flow of revenue to the government and rarely should there be an April surprise tax due or a refund.  That should reduce the IRS personnel requirement by tens of thousands.

Currently it is safe to say no one understands everything contained in those 75,000 pages of tax law, tax regulations, and legal findings over the decades.  Now every citizen will be capable of knowing it all.

Remember when President Trump reduced taxes for everyone and the Democrats all called it a tax cut for the wealthy; those days would be over with complete tax obligation transparency.

BACK TO THE IRS:

The problems with the IRS is not that they  don’t want to do a good job.  It is also not that they are short 87,000 employees.  The problem is the ridiculous 75,000-page tax system.  Fix the system, transform America. Perhaps the IRS, under this system may only need a few thousand folks; certainly not the current 90,000 or the requirement for 87,000 new hires.

BALANCED BUDGET:

Fixing the IRS should not be a stand-alone effort.  It can also present an opportunity to pass a Balanced-Budget Amendment.  In just the past fourteen years the national debt has increased from $10 to $31 trillion and there is no relief in sight. The total transparency of tax and revenue with this new tax plan will provide the opportunity to fix our current deficit spending mania. 

Congress, whatever party is in power, has clearly demonstrated they do not have the discipline to control spending.  We do not have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem.  A Balanced-Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would constrain total government spending to be less than or equal to total tax collections. Given Congress’ predilections towards annual deficit spending, it is the only way we can get our national debt under control. 

CONCLUSIONS: 

This discussion began with the assertion that President Biden’s new law which provides an extra $80 billion to the IRS to hire 87,000 new IRS agents is beyond ridiculous and completely unnecessary. 

But, in a larger sense, the new law is illustrative of the way our government does business; one nit-pick at a time and by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it. They appear unable and/or unwilling to look at the larger picture and approach problem-solving by fixing the system in its entirety.

Also, alignment of the government’s calendar (fiscal-year budgeting and calendar-year taxing) would be a helpful step. 

One of the realities of this legislation will be that the lobbyists representing lawyers and accountants will go crazy and do everything possible to shoot it down. But this is not about lawyers and accountants, this is about the greater good for every U.S. citizen in particular and the welfare of the nation as a whole.    

BOTTOM LINE:

This proposed legislation is potentially one of today’s most needed and most important transformations. It is so common sense and non-political in nature, that I am counting on a great deal of support from my Democrat colleagues.

If our great nation is to survive, We-The-People have to speak up and be heard on these pressing national issues. We-The-People can dream and plan for the eventuality that perhaps a future tax return could simply consist of a post card that is enroute to an informed, competent, responsive, non-weaponized IRS. 

Are there any questions?

OK, see you tomorrow for another look at Republican Party transformational legislation coming out of the House during the 118^th Congress.

Author’s note: The next proposed Speaker presentation to America outlining the legislative agenda for the 118^th Congress will soon appear entitled, WHAT’S NEXT REPUBLICANS? (Part 9).

This proposal is a potential game changer for America and will be readily accepted by most citizens.  The Republican Party cannot afford to miss this opportunity.   Again, I ask, if you have contact with any movers-and-shakers in Washington, please provide them a copy of this plan.  Thank you.  Marv

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com