As your Senate representative to DC, I will work to MAKE AMERICA WEALTHY AGAIN, by first devolving the Federal government:

Introduction

The following are the issues I see as standing in the way of making America Wealthy Again. The important thing for us to understand is that over a long, long timeline, politicians have been driving down our ability to become wealthy and stay wealthy. No matter how hard one tries to save, inflation and rising costs as a consequence of regulations seems to eat away at the savings. Tax shelters, such as 401k are threatened every few years as politicians looking for another source of tax revenues. “Taxation without representation” has been reduced to an empty platitude when politicians are hell-bent on listening to Wall Street instead of Main Street.

Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a sub-national level, at a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolution with regards to the Constitution means returning all powers that rightly belong to the States and local government back to them. The Federal government has no grounds to duplicate what rightfully belongs to the States and We the People. Click here to read more on the subject of Devolution.

But you may ask, “what are you proposing to “devolve”? To understand what needs to be devolved, we need to first understand how progressives “evolved” the Federal government into the tyrannical behemoth it is today. The following essay is necessarily long because I feel it is important to first cover how we came to be here with ever diminishing returns on our personal investments and sweat equity, since 1971 when we were taken off the gold standard, with which to build the wealth of our nation. How foreign and domestic enemies of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness conspired, and continue to conspire, to drain our wealth.

After 1971 wages declined while productivity went up

The Great American Heist

The heist was cooked up by domestic and foreign enemies of America’s unique status in the world and sought to reestablish the Central Bank. Twice before, we had a Central Bank for a time before they were abolished.

The First Bank of the United States (1791–1811) was chartered by Congress and signed by George Washington. The First Bank of the United States was modeled after the Bank of England and differed in many ways from today’s central banks. For example, it was partly owned by foreigners, who shared in its profits. Also, it was not solely responsible for the country’s supply of bank notes. It was responsible for only 20% of the currency supply; state banks accounted for the rest. Several founding fathers bitterly opposed the Bank. Thomas Jefferson saw it as an engine for speculation, financial manipulation, and corruption. In 1811 its twenty-year charter expired and was not renewed by Congress.

After five years, the federal government chartered its successor, the Second Bank of the United States (1816–1836). James Madison signed the charter with the intention of stopping runaway inflation that had plagued the country during the five-year interim. It was essentially a copy of the First Bank, with branches across the country. Andrew Jackson, who became president in 1828, denounced the bank as an engine of corruption. His call for the destruction of the bank was a major political issue in the 1830s and shaped the Second Party System. In 1934, he was blocked by Congress from completely dissolving the bank, so Jackson attempted to counteract this by executive order requiring all federal land payments to be made in gold or silver, in accordance with his interpretation of The Constitution for the United States, which only gives Congress the power to “coin” money, not emit bills of credit. A subpoena to audit the bank’s records was flatly rejected and its chief, Nicholas Biddle, remarked that it would be ironic if he went to prison, “By the votes of members of Congress because I would not give up to their enemies their confidential letters“. Despite congressional corruption, Biddle was eventually arrested and charged with fraud. The bank’s charter expired in 1836.

The third time “would be a charm”, as they sought to cement their grip via control of the political establishment. Their diabolical plan was multi-layered and scheduled over a very long time-line.

As a result of our Civil War, the United States incurred significant debts by borrowing from England and other countries. These loans came with hefty terms. After diluting the Constitution with the 13th and 14th Amendments without too much protest from the People, who were too preoccupied with rebuilding their lives after the war. The cabal then set about capturing the District of Columbia with the Organic Act of 1871.

But the globalists had more in store for us…

^{Enter The Federal Reserve}

Consider that this year’s Tax Day will fall on the 110^th anniversary of the Titanic sinking on 15 April 1912.  The sinking derailed efforts to prevent the establishment of the Federal Bank in December of 1913 and just 6 months later World War 1 began.

Titanic tragedy was criminal

Over 1,500 souls perished, including 3 influential Americans, John Jacob Astor IV, a German-American millionaire who had made his fortune in real estate, Benjamin Guggenheim, heir to the family’s mining business, and Isidor Straus who was the German-born co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York.  It is said that they were resolutely against the establishing of the Federal Reserve Bank and had they survived, they would have successfully blocked passage of the Federal Reserve Act.  On the other hand, JP Morgan and John Rockefeller, among other rich and powerful men, were in favor of the Central Bank.  They got their wish.  Interestingly, JP Morgan was also to have boarded the Titanic with the others, but canceled at the very last moment.

The Federal Reserve Act was passed and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913, establishing the Federal Reserve System as the central bank of the United States to provide the nation with a “safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system”.

On June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in Sarajevo to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. When 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip and his fellow members of the nationalist Young Bosnia successfully assassinated them. Hmmm, “Young Bosnia”… Anything like the “youth” infested Antifa, BLM or Occupy Wall Street?

Thus started WW1 which incurred 40 million causalities worldwide: estimates range from around 15 to 22 million deaths and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history, never mind the Spanish Flu in the closing days of the war. In the end, the cost for America was around 4,000,000 soldiers were mobilized and 116,708 American military personnel died during World War 1 from all causes (influenza, combat and wounds). Over 204,000 were wounded and 757 U.S. civilians died due to military action.

The loss of so many potential breadwinners would decimate the economy in the coming decades. Meanwhile, bankers played both sides and profited no matter who won or lost.

Then in the middle of WWI, the Death Tax was instituted. Why? Could it be to grab some of the wealth left behind by 10s of thousand soldiers that would not be returning home from war? Or perhaps to grab it from the victims of the Spanish Flu?

By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed.

So much for the Federal Reserve Bank stabilizing the economy… We must end the Federal Reserve Bank!

Wait a minute; did I just mention the Death Tax? I’ll discuss further in the next section below.

Social Security Offramp

Having reset the US economy and security expectations of Americans, it was time to introduce other component of the Plan to “exfiltrate” the wealth of Americans.  Before we cover the Social Security scam, let’s back up and look at the Death Tax.

Estate Tax instituted in 1916

As stated by the IRS (instituted to collect revenue on behalf of the Federal Reserve Bank), “The Estate Tax is a tax on your right to transfer property at your death. It consists of an accounting of everything you own or have certain interests in at the date of death (Refer to Form 706)”.  A tax on your Right… Let that sink in.

Throughout the Great Depression, many a family lost their farm, not just from the poor economy, but from the death tax.

Prior to the Estate Tax enactment, life insurance policies were a hard sell to most Americans.  For example, Mutual of Omaha is a modern day Fortune 500 mutual insurance and financial services company based in Omaha, Nebraska.  Originally founded in 1909 as Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association, Mutual of Omaha is a financial organization offering a variety of insurance and financial products for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States.  However, with introduction of the death tax, a byproduct of the 16^th Amendment, the insurance industry instantly attracted customers anxious to preserve their assets for future generations.  Farmers that could afford it, lined up to pay for life insurance, rather than risk their family having to sell the farm in order to pay the death tax.

Stage set for Social Security

The Social Security Administration (SSA) began life as the Social Security Board (SSB) which was created by President FDR on August 14, 1935.  This was introduced as a response to the social and economic upheaval brought about by the establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank; instituting direct taxation of the people based on their incomes and assets (estate), disruptions to the workforce from WWI casualties and the displacement of millions of Americans as a result of the Great Depression.

Ponzi scheme from the start

Ida May Fuller was the first beneficiary of recurring monthly Social Security payments.  Fuller filed her retirement claim on November 4, 1939, having worked under Social Security for a little short of three years.  She would later observe: “It wasn’t that I expected anything, mind you, but I knew I’d been paying for something called Social Security and I wanted to ask the people in Rutland about it.”  Her claim was approved so the first Social Security check, check number 00-000-001, was issued to Fuller in the amount of $22.54 (equivalent to $450 today).  She continued collecting monthly benefits until January 1975.  During her lifetime, 36 years after filing, she collected a total of $22,888.92 in Social Security benefits but only paid in $24.75.

Does anyone not see a problem with that math?  FDR touted it as an “insurance”, which it is not, rather it is a tax for which any future Congress can alter the terms or even choose not to disburse.   So the next time someone claims that SS is a right, remind them that it is an inalienable right that can be taken away.

By the way, the SSA is now estimating that we will run out of money by 2028, but if we immediately raise the social taxes by 10% and cut benefits by 20%, SS will last until 2030 before running out of funds. 

China Joe Biden, shortly after declaring the vax mandate and that his “patience was grown thin” with the “vaccine-hesitant”, also suggested that if retirees refuse to take the jab, then they may not be entitled to SS benefits.

Have you figured it out yet?  Anytime Big Government grants you a benefit, it comes with strings designed to control your behavior and can be withdrawn at any time should you refuse to comply. And that is an illegal violation of the Constitution, yet the RINOs see no issue with going through the kabuki theater of “fighting for your benefits, while begging you for campaign contributions to “stop the Democrat plan to reduce your benefits“.

How long must we wait before we get serious and overhaul SS? After the money has run out leaving millions in the lurch? Unacceptable.

Covid-19 Blood Money

The other aspect of entrusting our economic security to the government is what can happen when evil people are in charge of it.  Remember these 5 governors on the left?  Well, ‘L’ has dug into Governor Cuomo and what she discovered is absolutely chilling.  Her concluding excerpt:

In early 2020, Cuomo imposed strict lockdown policies—many of which are still in place—and became the media’s golden boy because of it. “The governor of New York’s morning news conferences have become part of the country’s new daily rhythm,” the Washington Post’s Style section gushed in March 2020. “He’s the strongman who can admit he’s wrong. He speaks fluently about the facts. He worries about his mother, and by extension, yours, too.”
…
So in the end, who’s really the winner here? Certainly doesn’t look like it’s Cuomo. Or New York residents.
 
Looking back at opinion piece Cuomo wrote for the New York Times on March 15, 2020, it’s terrifying to read what his proposals were in his open letter to President Trump—including mandating a federalized shutdown and utilizing the military to operate hospitals: “We believe the use of active duty Army Corps personnel would not violate federal law because this is a national disaster.”

Andrew Cuomo’s governorship has been defined by cruelty that disguised chronic mismanagement. Why was that celebrated for so long?

There’s a macabre logic for Gov Cuomo and other tyrants in their eagerness to jab and isolate our elderly with this Covid-19 Plandemic, simply to save money on social services by murdering them. Read her exposé here, Cuomo’s Blood Money.

Sarah Palin warned us of Death Panels a decade ago and sadly too many mocked her and instead, put their faith in Big Government.

Securing our personal retirement plans

According to the 2020 Investment Company Institute Factbook, as of 2019, 58% percent of American households held assets in retirement vehicles, i.e. 401(k), IRA etc. This is up overall from 42% in 1992.  We need to not only educate the other 42% of households that don’t hold any investments, but make it easier for all Americans to invest.

The average balance for a 401(k) is now $104,000 and the average contribution rate is 8.6-percent. Bear in mind, this doesn’t include the nearly 15% that the government already confiscates from your payroll to “fund” social programs. Imagine if you were able to invest that same 15% into your 401k or IRA instead of handing it over to the government to dilute and use or save the 8.6% for other purposes? And last but not least, ban Congress from ever raiding our savings with tax schemes or otherwise tampering with them.

Illegal Aliens Are An Economic Drain

An American Thinker article from June 2016, “How And Why The Government Forces You To Finance Illegal Immigration“, best summarizes how We the People directly and indirectly fund illegal migration to the detriment of our culture, economy and ever diminishing wages.

Illegal immigration was not created by business. Businesses cannot give them drivers licenses, government benefits, or issue unconstitutional executive orders as President Obama has. Only government can get away with those actions. How it forces you to financially support illegal immigrants in the U.S. is the real story.
 
It costs just as much for illegal immigrants to live in the U.S. as it does for documented immigrants. The price of gasoline is the same, along with food, used cars, and housing. Public education is actually higher for illegal immigrants, up to 50% higher, since illegal immigrants use expensive programs such as English as a Second Language that English-speaking students do not. So the question then becomes, if it’s so expensive to live in the U.S., how do people working at low-paid jobs no one else will do afford cars, housing, education, insurance and other expenses necessary for daily living?
 
Anyone who states that people earning ten dollars an hour can pay their own way should do a brief review of the expenses of living in the U.S. The Kaiser Health Group states that today it costs $12,000 and more to have one baby. Mexicans make up the majority of illegal immigrants in the U.S., but there are many from Europe and other parts of the world who have overstayed their visas. With regard to family size, it’s important to note that Mexicans today have about twice as many children as white families and one more than black families. The Center for Immigration Studies has recently found that Mexicans are now having slightly smaller families, but regardless of family size, someone has to pay for that $12,000 per child. And, if you are aware of it or not, you are paying for it.
…
Another way government has devised to pay for illegal immigrant is to divert money appropriated for city and state services to illegal immigrants. This creates a shortfall that states and cities make up by issuing  bonds. The explosion of spending on illegal immigrants, as well as the explosion of retirement costs of public sector workers, are the reasons why municipal bond debt has skyrocketed in the past ten years and is now driving some cities and states into bankruptcy. While no state has yet had to confront bankruptcy in Federal court, the passage of time only increases interest costs, it never reduces them.
 
 Public sector union pension costs are also driven by illegal immigration. And in states like Illinois state law puts priority on payments to municipal pensions. These are enforced through state law. So a city that cannot afford its annual pension contributions will have the state declare it is delinquent and can divert state grant money to the pension funds. This is why Chicago’s mayor recently cut back on mental health facilities. Public pensions have, in IL state law, priority even though they say they are devoted to helping children and the disabled.
 
Other hidden costs are in property taxes. Illinois now has ten cities, including Chicago, where the entire property tax payment goes only to pensions, not services. This lack of revenue prompted Democrats to pass the stimulus programs and Recovery Act. So it ends up in the national debt. The exact amount of national debt created by illegal immigration has yet to be honestly audited.

In personal practical terms, in 1996, a brand new entry-level F-150s MSRP started at about $14,000, while a fully-optioned SuperCab Lariat four-wheel drive cost about $27,000. In Austin, Texas, where I worked on a variety of construction projects first as carpenter, then master carpenter, I pulled in between $12 and $15/hour — the equivalent of  933 – 1,166 hours of work if I wanted to buy the base model pickup.  Twenty-five years later, a new 2022 F-150 MSRP ranged between $40,000 and $79,000 for the Limited, yet construction workers in Texas are now averaging nearly $17/hour according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — 2,353 hours of work just for the base model!  A doubling of labor of effort.  Why? Because illegal workers are driving down the average salaries not only in construction but in many blue-collar sectors.

When the US Chamber of Commerce solemnly urges Congress to allow unchecked immigration because there are jobs that “Americans won’t do”, that’s only half of the truth.  Those are jobs that Americans won’t do at a barely a living wage.

Next Steps for Making America Wealthy Again

1)  Reinstate Glass-Steagall Act which mandated the separation of commercial and investment banking by preventing securities firms and investment banks from taking deposits, and commercial Federal Reserve member banks from:

• Dealing in non-governmental securities for customers.
• Investing in non-investment grade securities for themselves.
• Underwriting or distributing non-governmental securities.
• Affiliating (or sharing employees) with companies involved in such activities.

2) Develop an off-ramp from Social Security by upholding the promise to provide a retirement pension for all seniors. This would include a phased switchover from the net 15% government social security taxation to individual retirement plans consisting of a mix of 401(k), IRA and other investment vehicles.  It is disingenuous of politicians to insist that ending government administered social security as a betrayal of Americans, when the reality is that the opposite is true – the government deceived Americans into believing that it could better manage “investments” and administer benefits on behalf of the citizens instead of the free market.  Only when we as a nation can admit to ourselves that this “insurance” is actually a tax, we can dispense with the notion that somehow the monies we were forced to contribute is actually ours.  The truth is that current contributors are funding current recipients based on what beneficiaries earned in their lifetime.  Simply put, all contributions are put into the general fund and “IOUs” created for the worker.  When it is time to retire, it is the general fund that actually pays the benefits.  Therefore, we can end Social Security and still fulfill the IOUs.  Conceptually, reforms would include the following:

• End all federal and state/local taxation of SS benefits – retirees have already paid their “fair share” to society throughout their working career.
• End federal taxation of the current 12.4% of wages.  W-2 workers only “see” 6.2% taken out from their paycheck, but the employer also pays 6.2% “on their behalf”, by deducting that amount from their wages in advance.
• Workers can then take that 12.4% and invest all, or a portion, into an individual retirement plan of their own.  Whatever remains in one’s account can be safely passed on to heirs.
• In order to not forget or leave anyone behind in the social security reforms, we will necessarily need a means-tested sliding scale of 100% SS benefits for those 55 and older to 0% for those under 40.  We also cannot ignore those who are on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and or Survivors Benefits.

3)  Implement an off-ramp for other subsidies that undermine our wealth. To use RFS, as used by many Iowa Farmers as an example.  The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program was created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), which amended the Clean Air Act (CAA).  The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) further amended the CAA by expanding the RFS program.  EPA implements the program in consultation with U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy.  The RFS program is a national policy that requires a certain volume of renewable fuel to replace or reduce the quantity of petroleum-based transportation fuel, heating oil or jet fuel. The four renewable fuel categories under the RFS are:

• Biomass-based diesel
• Cellulosic biofuel
• Advanced biofuel
• Total renewable fuel

The 2007 enactment of EISA significantly increased the size of the program and included key changes, including:

• Boosting the long-term goals to 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel
• Extending yearly volume requirements out to 2022
• Adding explicit definitions for renewable fuels to qualify (e.g., renewable biomass, GHG emissions)
• Creating grandfathering allowances for volumes from certain existing facilities
• Including specific types of waiver authorities

For all the farmers that depend on RFS, putting emotions aside, let us think about this rationally. Where will you be if the China Joe Biden administration gets their way of eliminating “fossil fuels” (a misnomer deserving its own discussion) and we convert to electric vehicles as part of the Green New Deal? Does anyone honestly believe the government would ride to the farmers’ rescue with bailouts? Or would they be content to let Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and other oligarchs buy up prime farmlands at rock-bottom prices?

Seriously… These people hate you and won’t lift a finger to help unless there’s a political payoff.

Jennifer Granholm, Energy Secretary who holds millions of dollars in electric vehicle stocks openly displays her contempt for panicked Americans in search of gasoline during the fuel shortage due to the Colonial Pipeline hack – allegedly by “Russian” hackers. This administration is astonishing unserious about this supposed foreign attack on our economic security. The Deep State always use Russia as their whipping boy for their own manufactured crises, which are then used to “nudge dumb Americans” towards a desired political outcome.

To add insult to injury, Michigan Governor Gretchen Half-Whitmer, on 11 May 21, threatened to go after Enbridge’s profits from a Great Lakes oil pipeline if the company defies her order to shut it down. The Democratic governor issued the warning in a letter to the Canadian energy transport company on the eve of a state-imposed deadline to halt operation of Line 5, which moves oil through northern Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Ontario. Enbridge repeated its intention to defy Whitmer’s demand.

The sooner we understand that these progressives HATE us, the sooner we can begin to reclaim our government. And part of that means letting go of subsidies that are only used to prop up unsustainable initiatives. If corn and soybeans were legitimately better used for fuel instead of food and feedstock, this market would not need subsidies.

4)  Allow individuals to leverage their individual retirement savings towards a homestead or to start a small business without penalty. This is to be encouraged as it would strengthen the backbone of America’s economy. Generally speaking, individuals may not withdraw funds from their retirement accounts without incurring early withdrawal penalties. Nor could they withdraw or borrow against their company’s 401(k) plan unless the company specifically allows it. Reforms would include:

• Make individual retirement accounts portable, thus empowering the individual to be flexible on choosing the best plan to fit their needs
• Invest in their account, either to save it all for their retirement or to eventually make the bold move towards financial independence and security by starting a business.
• They can pass on all of their wealth and assets intact to their heirs.

5) Promote entrepreneurship by making it easier to start a small business.

• 2-year tax holiday for startups.
• Increase participation in Mentor-Protégé programs by making it a sub-contract requirement in every Federal contract, in which startups can leverage in their first 2 years of operation.
• In most cases, licensing is merely a scam to collect rent and to raise the bar for entry into a particular business sector.