OPINION:
Here’s my wish list for the incoming Trump administration: to make America healthy, prosperous and great again in 2025.
1. Slash job-killing regulations.
The regulatory state is a $2 trillion tax on the American economy. We all want worker safety, a clean environment and consumer protection, but in too many cases, the costs of regulation far outweigh the societal benefits. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to slash 10 rules for every new rule. Just do it, Mr. President.
2. Make the Trump tax cuts permanent.
As John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and others have proved throughout history, lower tax rates lead to more growth, investment and jobs. The Trump tax overhaul meant that a family of four earning $75,000 a year saw their tax bill fall by half — a benefit valued at more than $2,000. And the corporate tax rate fell from 35% — the highest in the world — to 2%, bringing jobs and capital to America.
Mr. Trump has promised to make all of these tax cuts permanent. Why? Because they worked almost exactly as we anticipated they would.
3. Replace welfare with work.
Growth will require more able-bodied Americans to get off welfare and into jobs. Welfare — which includes cash assistance, public housing, food stamps, disability payments, unemployment benefits and Medicaid — needs to be a hand up, not a handout.
4. Use America’s abundant natural resources.
America has more than $50 trillion of natural resources accessible with current drilling and mining technologies. This is a vast storehouse of wealth that far surpasses that of any other nation. We can use the royalty payments and leases to reduce our national debt while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.
5. Cut health care costs by demanding price transparency.
One of many ways to bring health care costs down for consumers (and taxpayers, who pay half the costs) is to require that hospitals, pharmacies, doctors and clinics list the prices they charge. The Committee to Unleash Prosperity estimates that $1 trillion to $2 trillion could be reduced from health care costs with no reduction in the quality of care by allowing consumers to shop around on the internet for the best price — just as we do when we buy groceries, a home or a car. This will foster free-market competition and lower prices.
6. Allow school choice for all families.
Test scores in America have been plummeting. Kids are graduating from high school without being able to read the diploma. The United States no longer ranks in the top 10 in many academic achievement ratings. A child can get a better education at half the cost in the Catholic school system and in many charter schools.
Mr. Trump has endorsed universal school choice for all children regardless of income, race or ethnicity. This is the civil rights issue of our time.
7. Implement a pro-America immigration policy.
Mr. Trump is committed to securing our border, but we also need legal immigrants through a “merit-based immigration system.” This visa system would select immigrants based on their skills, talents, investment capital, English-language ability and education, which all presage success in America.
8. Revive America’s great cities.
Our once-great cities — including New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and Seattle — have come to look like war zones. Crime has run rampant. Businesses, people and capital are fleeing and leaving the poorest Americans — mostly minorities — stranded with limited opportunities other than working at Walmart or McDonald’s for minimum wage. Since 2020, our major cities have lost nearly 1 million residents and tens of thousands of businesses.
Mr. Trump wants to revitalize our cities through deregulation, reduced tax rates, changes in zoning policies and infrastructure investments.
9. Pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate change accord and other anti-America agreements.
We must end American participation in globalist treaties that hurt America most. This includes the 2015 Paris Agreement — a treaty that most other nations have failed to comply with and yet places huge burdens on American companies and workers. Mr. Trump has also pledged to end global taxation, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s global minimum tax. Do we even need a United Nations?
10. Finally, drain the swamp.
There is a reason that three of the five wealthiest counties in America are in the Washington area. Washington is getting rich at the expense of the rest of us. Fewer than 10% of federal workers (more than 2 million) are working full time in the office even though COVID-19 ended three years ago. These employees often get paid $150,000 or more a year. Fire them if they don’t show up. And relocate federal agencies to other cities.
These are admittedly bold aspirations for an economic transformation toward freedom and free enterprise. But Donald Trump is the one person who can make them a reality.
• Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation and co-author of the new book “The Trump Economic Miracle.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.