5. Addressing Government Efficiency
Reforming Government Employment
The federal workforce must be constrained and operate with efficiency and accountability:
- Annual Performance Evaluations: Annually terminate the bottom-performing 7% of employees, allowing for rehiring of better candidates. Termination must equally span all levels of seniority and departments.
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- Fixed Staffing Levels: The number of non-military employees on the government payroll is 1.5% of the non-farm employment. It must reduce by 0.05% annually until it hits 1%, at which point departments must downsize staff proportionally to the last year’s employment rate. This will require a compulsory reduction in force across the board any time the employment rate in the US drops for any reason (e.g. Covid).
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Banning Government Worker Unions
Unlike private unions, government unions can bribe politicians by endorsing them in exchange for raises and increase benefits. Legislation should:
- Prohibit unions for federal employees.
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6. Fixing Legislative Processes
Revising the Filibuster
The filibuster should remain a check on majority power but require:
- • Continuous speaking on the Senate floor to sustain a filibuster.
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- • Limits on non-debate-related stalling.
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Strengthening Lobbying Transparency
Amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) to:
- • Mandate that all lobbying meetings occur in government-controlled conference rooms.
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- • Require public livestreams and transcripts.
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- • Impose severe penalties for secretive lobbying.
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Extending the Revolving Door Ban
Strengthen existing rules preventing legislators from transitioning into lucrative lobbying jobs. Harsh penalties must deter unethical career shifts. Extend the delay between a government job and a lobbying position to seven years.
7. Economic and Fiscal Reforms
Ending Corporate Favoritism
The government must stop picking winners and losers in the economy. It is not the governments’ job to pick an industry or an area of research to promote. The government is not composed of economic, market or technological geniuses who know better than the free market:
- • No tax benefits are to be given to one corporation or industry without offering the same benefit to every small business and sole proprietor in every industry.
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- • Ban any financial incentives or disincentives targeting specific companies or industries.
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- • No incentives or rebates can be given for any industry. If an industry can’t survive in the free market, it should not survive.
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- • The US Government cannot support, fund or approve of any studies, except for those directly related to national defense.
Reforming Government Patent Ownership
In the theme of not picking winnres and losers; all non-military/non-defense research and/or patents funded by even $1 of taxpayer dollars must:
- • Be freely available for public use by any U.S. citizen (foreign citizens must apply for and, if granted, purchase U.S. government licenses).
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- • Except in issues of defense, the government is not allowed to indicate their willingness to purchase any technology without making a public announcement. Any citizen or U.S. company is permitted to compete to produce that product or do the research for that technology.
8. Defending Civil Liberties
Repealing the Patriot Act and the NDAA
The Patriot Act and NDAA infringe on inalienable rights and freedoms. Repeal them to restore privacy rights and protect against government overreach. Add laws in place to prevent and prohibit future overreach in the event of another “emergency” on our shores.
Protecting Peaceful Protesters
The FACE act must equally apply to every type of protest to ensure equality in treatment without political preferences. Revamp the FACE Act to ensure civil disobedience protesters are shielded from unjust prosecution while maintaining protections against actual harassment.
Addressing False Claims in Divorce
False claims (like about abuse) in divorce cases devastate families and are ignored on purpose by judges. Implement mandatory federal penalties for proven false allegations, reducing perjury and misuse of the court system and the gross violation of the rights of innocents.
Repeal the Johnson Amendment
The Johnson amendment was made to stop non-profits from being able to get involved in politics. While not originally intended for churches, it has effectively muzzled churches and brain washed pastors to become one of the sheep and not a sheepdog. If the IRS were to even try to implement the Johnson Amendment, it would lose in the Supreme Court. Inalienable rights are exactly that. Inalienable! Not even you can give up an inalienable right. However, the IRS by just pretending to wield a blunt foam sword, has been effective in scaring pastors from taking their prophetic role like Samuel, Elijah, Jeremiah and Nathanial. Congress should put an end to this charade and repeal it.
9. Modernizing National Governance
Simplifying the Tax System
Appoint Ron Paul as Treasury Secretary or in some other capacity to oversee a complete overhaul of the tax code, prioritizing simplicity and fairness. Allow Ron Paul to determine the methodology to shut down the Federal Reserve and cancel all the artificially created debts by the Federal Reserve for issuing us some color-printed paper yet demanding a repayment in real goods and services. We only own them the cost of printing.
Progressive taxes were Marx’s idea (Communist Manifesto 1848). Flat taxes and sales taxes while better are still unfair, as they have no relationship to the level of services the government provides to you as an individual. So, start laying the foundations for the gradual move to a no-income tax system and only charge fees for services. That is, if government provides you with a particular necessary service, you must then pay for that precise service for yourself. You do not need to pay for services to others. For example, National Defense is considered a necessary public service. Housing, food, and education are not, and you can choose to participate in the latter, but not in the former.
Evidence indicates that with no income taxes, charitable giving will soar, and private charities could easily cover the entire cost of welfare as they are 6x more efficient than government charity. (see www.J3iP.com for details).
Conclusion: Building a Resilient Republic
Reforming the presidency and government isn’t about undermining the office but ensuring it remains accountable to the people. By enacting these reforms, the United States can safeguard itself against the whims of any future leader and create a foundation for lasting stability and prosperity. We fought a war to stop being in servitude to a monarch.
This is just the beginning of the discussion. There are many more reforms that could strengthen the republic, but space and attention spans require us to stop here. If you have other laws and protections you’d like to see enabled, email them to me at protectliberty@vac.org. They may show up here in future columns.
Each step, from border security to government transparency, strengthens the principles of limited government, accountability, and justice. With control of all branches of government, the opportunity for meaningful change is now. It’s time in 2025 to act decisively to protect the republic for generations to come.
The question is: Can we apply enough pressure to make this happen?
“We the people” have to make that happen.
It’s on us.