Ron Paul, running for the Republican nomination for the President of the United States, has outlined a bold plan to Restore America Now should he achieved the presidency. Ron Paul explains: America is the greatest nation in human history. Our respect for individual liberty, free markets, and limited constitutional government produced the stronger, most prosperous country in the world.
Ron Paul has proposed a series of fundamental reforms to put the United States back on the right track.
Balanced Budget. Ron Paul will deliver a balanced federal budget within three years of his presidency.
Spending. Ron Paul will cut $1 trillion in spending in his first year, eliminating five cabinet departments: Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Interior and Education. He will also end the TSA, corporate subsidies, foreign aid, and foreign wars.
Entitlements. Ron Paul will allow young workers to opt out of federal entitlement programs. He will also block grant Medicaid to the states, as is consistent with his support for federalism.
Government Waste. Ron Paul will provide for a 10% reduction in the federal workforce and end Congressional pay and perks. He will take a salary equal to the median personal income of the American workers -- $39,336.
Taxes. Ron Paul will lower the corporate tax rate to 15% and the tax rate on the repatriation of profits to 0%. He will also extend Bush tax cuts, abolish the Death Tax and end taxes on personal savings.
Regulation. Ron Paul will repeal ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley. He will also mandate REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, Washington Post) for congressional review and authorization of regulations imposed by the President before implementing new regulations.
Monetary Policy. Ron Paul will audit the Federal Reserve and implement currency legislation to strengthen the dollar and stabilize inflation.
Bottom line: "Dr. Paul is the only candidate with a plan to cut spending and truly balance the budget. This is the only plant that will deliver what America needs in these difficult times: Major regulatory relief, large spending cuts, sound monetary policy, and a balanced budget." (Ron Paul's Executive Summary, Restore America Now)
ObamaCare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act increased insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions and expanded insurance access to over 30 million Americans. A few of the provisions include:
1. Guaranteed issue will require insurers to offer the same premium to all applicants of the same age and geographic locations without regard to pre-existing conditions.
2. The individual mandate will require everyone not covered by an employer-sponsored or public insurance program to purchase an approved private insurance policy or pay a penalty.
3. Firms employing 50 or more people will pay a shared responsibility requirement if the government has had to subsidize an employee's health care.
Funding for ObamaCare comes from a broadened Medicare tax on incomes over $200,000, an annual fee on insurance providers, a 40% tax on "Cadillac" -- unusually expensive -- insurance policies, and a 10% federal sales tax on indoor tanning services, all of which will generate $409.2 billion over the next 10 years.
Dodd-Frank. President Obama described Dodd-Frank as a
sweeping overhaul of the United States financial regulatory system, a transformation on a scale not seen since the reforms that followed the Great Depression.
The main components of the Dodd-Frank bill include the consolidation of regulatory agencies, comprehensive regulation of financial markets with increased transparency of derivatives, consumer protection reforms, a "resolution regime" that complements the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) authority, and the Volker Rule, described by Wikipedia.org as a proposal [that] specifically prohibits a bank or institution that owns a bank from engaging in proprietary trading that isn't at the behest of its clients, and from owning or investing in a hedge fund or private equity fund, as well as limiting the liabilities that the largest banks could hold.
Sarbanes-Oxley. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 set new standards for U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms. Ron Paul stated on Sarbanes-Oxley that
these regulations are damaging American capital markets by providing an incentive for small US firms and foreign firms to deregister from US stock exchanges.
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