One thing is certain following the 2008 elections: the American people voted for change. They craved change so badly that they put a foreign policy novice who has never even run a neighborhood watch, no less a country, in the White House. While I firmly disagreed with that decision, I wholeheartedly support altering the status quo.
Conservatives have historically sought to preserve and defend traditional institutions from change. We do ourselves and our country a disservice if we ignore this present climate of transformation and fail to articulate our own vision for a better country. It’s time for ideas, and conservatives need to stop conserving and start proactively leading. Here are eight changes America needs…now:
Repeal the 16th Amendment. Before Barack Obama, we had another socialist named Woodrow Wilson as our President who brought us the federal income tax. Our Founding Fathers had known that an income tax contributes to the unimpeded growth of massive government, and that it makes absolutely no economic sense to tax the wealth of a nation or its people. With its disproportional burden (a large portion of Americans pay no income tax while another portion pays massive income tax), it’s time to kick this antiquated socialist concept to the curb. Tax on consumption is much more feasible and fair.
Abolish the IRS. If we repeal the 16th Amendment, we no longer need this massive instrument of government sponsored theft known as the IRS. Think of the trickle down benefit this will have across the country. In some offices, it takes multiple full-time employees just to calculate how much to withhold from a worker’s paycheck to give to the government.
Abolish the Department of Education. Yes, I am a public high school teacher. Yes, I believe in education. Yes, I believe the Department of Education is an unacceptable federal government intrusion into the domain of local and state authority. Constitutionally, the national government has no business involving themselves in school employment or curriculum.
Establish Personhood. A complete ban on abortion should be the goal of any civilized society. Medical science now validates unquestionably that what is conceived in the womb is a human being…a person. And as the author of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision Harry Blackmun wrote, “If…personhood is established, the [case for abortion rights], of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.” Human beings should have great freedom to act responsibly with their bodies, but they are not (and should not be) guaranteed a “right” to destroy another human being. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding conception, since it is a human being, it is guaranteed by our Declaration of Independence and Constitution the unalienable right to life…period.
Balance in the Classroom. It’s time to tell the mindless prophets of the religion of Darwin that faith cannot be taught as science any longer. Pretending like the complexity of life doesn’t point to a designer is delusional, absurd, and insults the intelligence. It is time to mandate in our local school districts that it is okay to be scientific in science class: to question consensus, to expose the assumptions behind Darwinism, and to discuss alternative theories.
Abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is a disgrace. There’s no Bureau of Irish, Jewish, or Caucasian Affairs where the government plans the lives of those individuals as though they are too ignorant to make decisions for themselves. This abominable organization is given billions of our hard-earned dollars every year to “take care of the Indians.” And what have they done? They have created the most destitute and impoverished among us. Under the direct supervision of the federal government, unemployment is near 90% on many Indian reservations. It is an incredible model for what government dependence will do to a people: demoralize, dishearten, and enslave them.
Deport Illegal Aliens. The sophistry of “there are too many illegal aliens in our country to deport them all” must be discarded. We must be a nation that respects and upholds the law. Deporting those who are siphoning jobs and resources that rightfully belong to law-abiding American citizens isn’t nativist, isn’t heartless, isn’t racist…it’s common sense. And there are no technical barriers to being able to accomplish this task; we lack only the political will. Cease providing jobs, services, and living quarters to illegals, and the problem begins solving itself.
Make English the Official Language. Whether it is Mandarin, Spanish, or Russian, in the name of multiculturalism, we obligate ourselves to spend an inordinate amount of resources on catering to the various language needs of immigrants. If one immigrates to an English-speaking country, the expectation that they possess an ability to communicate in English is not bigoted. Codifying English as our national language would save billions currently being spent on providing government services, ballots, documents, and educational opportunities in whatever language the individual requires.
These eight ideas are the beginning of ‘change we can believe in.’
Peter W. Heck
