Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Ideas for Paul Ryan!
Sunday’s WSJ reported that Speaker Paul Ryan is going to spend next weekend setting an ambitious idea-driven platform for the Republican House to use in 2016 to show why the Republicans should win the presidency. In other words, something much like the Contract with America that the presidential candidates can get behind and make part of the national conversation. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Here are my top ideas, in order of priority:
1: Passage of the “American Freedom Act“
Any American citizen over the age of 18 shall have the right to freely contract with any other party for any product or service for which they reach mutual agreement. In so doing, however, both parties must explicitly waive all regulatory or legal relief or recourse, save for whatever is specified in their contract. No party shall be considered subject to regulation if they are known to be acting under this specific opt-out law.
This would essentially end all national regulations, in one fell swoop. And do it in a way that is eminently saleable and attractive to American citizens.
2: Work Freedom
All government employees shall be barred from joining unions. No government contracts shall be awarded to firms that do not allow people to opt out of paying union dues.
What are yours?
Published in Domestic Policy
Excellent idea for a thread. I would add a provision to promote competition in government by “marketizing” provision of services. It would explicitly highlight the merits of getting the Elon Musk and Steve Jobs of the world involved in competitively supplying (for fee and profit) government services.
The most immediate application of this principle would be in dismantling the public school monopoly.
How does this work considering that Ryan can only influence national legislation coming out of the House? Public school monopolies are really just locally-enforced monopolies, are they not?
Does creating more Beltway Bandits really help? I have my doubts. Government contracts are, after all, at the heart of Crony Capitalism.
X-Prize-style awards for performance make sense to me (especially for the heads of Bad Guys), but outsourcing by itself is not necessarily a winner.
?
I have a few ideas for the Speaker, but they aren’t CoC compliant.
I breathlessly await what toothless resolutions he dreams up after shepherding the Omnibus onto Obama’s desk with Nancy Pelosi’s lipstick on it.
Perhaps he will courageously name a post office after Joe Biden rather than Barack Obama. That’ll show the progressive bastards.
One of the key benefits of the Freedom Act proposed above, is that it would restore all of our faith in the Republican Part as being more about principle than the accumulation of power. I can think of fewer things that would give Americans more hope that the government is here to preserve, and not constrict, our freedoms.
Resign.
Just the usual:
That’d do it for me.
Oh, I forgot!
The Typewritten Law Act – any laws proposed must be produced via mechanical typewriter by the Congressman or Senator putatively sponsoring the bill. Any typographical error immediately renders the bill void even if passed by Congress.
That’d cut down on the nonsense.
How does this keep Congress from doing what it already does: pass massive ugly Cromnibus Bills that it has never read?
A great idea – but unsaleable to people who simply cannot wrap their heads around the fact that companies are, in a sense, merely pass-throughs for shareholders and customers.
Yes – a MASSIVE simplification of the Tax Code is needed. All evidence is that they will just further complicate it. Curses.
It doesn’t, but it does force every member to actually defend their vote – they can’t just blame the current Administration for altering the intent of the law.
That’s why the explanation in easy-to-understand form is so crucial. You can sell it to anyone who understands the nature of corporations so make more people understand corporations.
Or similar, a law that says a bill must allow one day per page between the time submitted and when the vote is held. If the bill is 482 pages long, then 482 days must pass before a vote is held. Any amendment starts the clock all over again and adds a day per page of the amendment.
(It’s good to dream.)
Domestic radical. Next thing I will be reading about you carrying a gun in a national park or something.
There’s only one for me.
As it is, they defend Cromnibus nonsense by just screaming that until they are given ALL the reins of power, their hands are tied.
Agreed. The marketing is the challenge. And the bill would be demonized.
Oh yes it would. But hey, so was Obamacare and we’re stuck with it.
I would favor a Constitutional amendment that no bill shall become law, until after being fully enacted and signed into law by the President (or passed over a Presidential veto) it is read aloud in its entirety on the steps of the Capitol building by a voting member of the legislature. If the bill is not read aloud in its entirety by the end of the legislative session in which it passed it is deemed not to have passed and is null and void.
Seawriter
And without interruption!
Ryan’s already signed off on the Obama agenda… fully funded it.
Now, it’s just playing Pretend Opposition Political Theater for an election year.
Regardless of who wins in November, 2017 will see the Republicans continue to carry out the corporatist agenda of the US Chamber of Commerce.
I vote for eliminating the Department of Education. It should never have been created and has created a quagmire of rules and regulations that have stomped on the states’ rights to determine educational requirements, and done absolutely nothing to improve education.
How about voting to sell off 80% of Federal Land holdings?
Totally behind this – I’d love to own a good chunk of Utah (Utahns probably would refer to me as that yahoo from Texas).
I’ll split the purchase with you. Somewhere on the Green River, preferably.
Done and done. Just be ready to live with the very large Texas state flag flying proudly :D
Would that include all the empty buildings they’re holding onto? Yes!
As a fellow Texan, I would appreciate that very much.
Only after we balance the budget then use the proceeds to pay down the national debt.
An average of $10,000 an acre seems pretty reasonable to me – that’s $5.12 trillion to pay down the debt for 80% of federal lands.
And think of the benefits to the nation of those assets actually being used properly!
If you include the minerals it may bring even more.
And make it retroactive. No existing regulations or rules shall be enforceable until voted on (individually) by Congress and signed by the President.