Turning the Clock Forward

From American Thinker.com (Sept. 30):

This essay suggests ten key areas of change for SCOTUS, each of which could help turn America around. These changes might not contain all that needs to be done to restore the republic, but they would move us far down the path. These categories allow a cohesive, united country to emerge to solve our problems in an innovative process not possible under the current administrative state.

Category I. Taxation.

Legal scholar Richard Epstein argues that the Fifth Amendment – by mandating compensation for property seized for public use -- means that higher tax rates on different people constitute an illegal “taking.” Progressive taxes, therefore, are illegal. The alternative is a flat tax law that could be codified in a couple of hundred pages instead of the current 80,000 pages.  It would be a tremendous stimulus to the economy – perhaps up to a 3% economic growth rate over time.

Category II.  Federal Agencies and Regulations Revoked.

The Education Department could be a test case because education policy falls under state authority. The President could say that the Feds have no authority in education and withhold funding from the Education Department.  If the Supreme Court agrees, this process could be repeated in numerous other cases.  The President could issue an Executive Order defunding dozens of agencies that are not constitutionally authorized, leading to a scaled-back Federal government as initially designed.

Also, SCOTUS can declare Federal government regulations unconstitutional in many cases. Courts can fill in legislative gaps as they did before the rise of the administrative state. These regulatory rollbacks could generate as much as a 2% economic growth rate over time.

Since tens of thousands of state and local entities are tied to federal regulations hand and foot, the decline of the administrative state would free them as well.

Category III. Education.

Education vouchers should prevail throughout schools. This would free education, allowing schools, new and old, to thrive in a competitive environment. [read more]