Washington, DC - Enact a flat tax immediately. Make Americans' lives simpler. Throw out the tax code. Let poor families pay zero. Middle class families could pay 10% to 15% and high-income people could pay about 20%. Obviously the dollar amounts and percentages can be changed in either direction, the concept is what is important. Why have we made filing and paying our taxes such a nightmare? If we simplified the tax structure in this nation we could easily eliminate more than half of the Internal Revenue Service.
Stop birthright citizenship and maternity tourism. Currently, people from China are paying in excess of $50,000 to hide out in places in California so they can give birth to a child in our Country. They accomplish this by lying on their visa as to the purpose of their visit to America. This entitles the baby citizenship in America and later a passport. This means that they can come back to America and go to college. If they are poor then you and I will pay most of their college expenses. Maternity tourism has turned into a multimillion-dollar industry with thousands of Chinese women now coming to California to give birth. The little babies can also go back to the Middle East and grow up in a militant culture. With a passport in hand they can come back to the United States to create terror. It's time to change this. Only babies born to legal residents of our country should be entitled to citizenship. However, we need to send a message loud and clear that there is no future in breaking the law to get to America to have your baby in order to gain citizenship.
Secure our borders. Build a wall that is high and wide. Guard the wall 24 hours a day. This is not necessarily a cure-all remedy but it's something that is greatly needed. We need to use our homeland security and military to guard the wall. We have lots of military personnel scattered out all over the planet. We can use some of these to patrol our borders. The cost would be phenomenal but the cost pales in comparison to the weakening of our nation.
Bring our jobs back from China and Mexico. Americans need jobs and money. It's time to cut the corporate tax rate to 15%. Perhaps then, some corporations will come home or stay here and hire legal American workers. Coming home but hiring undocumented workers should equal automatic hefty fines for any corporation. Americans have to help with this process. Labor unions cannot be waiting at every port of reentering employers to beat them over the heads with all their demands. If this scenario happens we still will not get our jobs back. Americans must also help by searching for and buying American made products. This is tough. We need to try. We need to shop as little as possible at stores that sell products made in China and Mexico. China and Mexico are not our friends. However, they do want our money and both nations would enjoy eventually taking over our nation and telling us all what to do.
Cut Government. Government has become too large and wasteful. Government is a growing, hungry monster that is demanding more and more cash. We could cut government 10% across the board with the exception of Social Security and our Military. People who have paid into Social Security for years deserve what they receive. Our military earns every dollar that we pay them and they deserve to have our full support.
Will these suggestions alone solve America's problems? No, but it's a start and we desperately need to start some place.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group, organization or this publication.
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