Our governments stand in the way of economic and cultural progress at all levels: local, state, and our beloved federal administration. The obstacles that governments place in front of us mean that our economy is smaller than it could be.
These obstacles take many forms and affect us at every level of the economy. Take for example, the story of
"Isis Brantley, an expert African Hair braider in Dallas, Texas, when cops showed up at her door. The mother of five is well known for her expertise in the art of braiding hair the African way. No heat or chemicals were used during her sessions; just pure creativity and talent. She had a huge clientele, including Erykah Badu, and had taught about a hundred others the art as well.
“As soon as I opened up the shop, wow, the red tape was wrapped around my hands,” she said.
“Seven cops came in, in front of my clients, and arrested me and took me to jail like a common criminal. The crime was braiding without a cosmetology license.”
Isis Brentley's arrest was in 1997. It was 16 years before she filed suit in court, and another two before she received a ruling in her favor. That's 18 years of the government making our economy smaller, preventing a woman from working in her chosen occupation, preventing her hundreds of customers from benefitting from her work. Think of it, 18 years that the government bound her.
You might think, "But Carmen, why are you mentioning this story. It's a story where the courts (the government) ruled in her favor. And later the same year, the Texas legislature and governor passed a law deregulating hair braiding in Texas. Her government delivered her a huge victory. Just give the government time and right result happens."
The story of Isis Brantley is the tip of the iceberg. Our governments cumulatively prevent hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity annually. There are countless regulations, import tariffs, restrictions, and 'hints' and 'strong hints' from federal regulators about what is permissible. Very often, regulations are in place simply to protect existing businesses from competition from new companies. It's impossible to know how many businesses were prevented from even existing because the federal government protected an existing business from competition.
But it's not just regulations and administrative law that prevents businesses. Immigration restrictions are costing us hundreds of billions of dollars. Our economy will grow, increasing our standard of living and wealth, if we would simply allow workers to enter our nation with relative ease. Relative ease means you walk or drive across a bridge, bring a boat or ship to pier, land at an airport, or walk across dry land.
I know that's like the ultimate crazy talk. "Just let people come in?!!? Are you bonkers?!??!?"
No, it's keeping them out that's bonkers. Read on.
First, no federal welfare for any immigrant. No federal welfare for any immigrant administered by the states. I'm easily in the top three most anti-welfare candidates for president. Guaranteed every Republican running will buckle to pleas for welfare. He or she will justify it, rationalize it, and grant approval. Not me. Welfare is destruction. I won't approve destruction of our nation.
I won't pay immigrants to come here. I won't pay to support them when they arrive. I won't pay them 10 days, 20 days, 10 months, or and number of years of assistance. You come here at your own risk.
I personally feel strongly that foreign people should not easily be granted citizenship either. You need to have an understanding of what it means to be an American. Personally, I think you should be born here. Then you have time to learn absorb what America is. I don't think that most immigrants need to be granted citizenship. I think the bar should be pretty high. I wish most Americans would themselves live up to that bar. Civic, government, and legal understanding could use some improvement. But hey, that's what birthright citizenship is for.
Imagine 10,000,000 immigrants coming to the United States. Double that. Triple that. There is plenty of room. And what's more, people create more than they consume. 30,000,000 immigrants into the United States would mean a massive increase in our economy.
But it gets better. When I'm president, I will not allow regulatory barriers to protect existing companies from competition. And I will call out any state that does. That's all 50 states. They are all in the business of coddling certain business partners. They will dump millions and tens of millions into business parks, zones, and economic stimulus corridors. That's all political. The payback for these initiatives is political. People of each state and city pay very high costs for the focused, private returns on these "investments". That's if there even is a gain. Often, and very often these political-corporate orgies are total business failures.
If you see a ribbon cutting ceremony with a government official, you're likely looking a high-cost public-private partnership with public liabilities and private gains.
That's another way that government makes it hard for people to compete. They've just payed 10-200 million in tax payer dollars to benefit the company you want to compete against. Talk about a leg up for your competition.
I'm pro-business. When I was young I heard a candidate describe themselves as pro-business and I thought "Oh, that's great. They're going to reduce government regulation." Then I learned that 'pro-business' Republicans have no intention of significantly reducing government regulation (certainly only an extremely rare Democrat intends to do that). A 'pro-business' Republican means that they are open to public-private partnerships. It means that they will use the police power and the purse of government to favorably benefit certain businesses. They might even reduce some red tape for select businesses, but there is no grand reduction of the gigantic burdens of the American administrative state. I'm a different kind of candidate.
I'm pro-business like it was meant to be. I'm pro-business in that if I'm in office and I get wind of a restriction on business that makes it hard to compete. The magic want I will wave is scrutinizing that regulation. Why was it created? Who does it benefit? Is it designed to help one business over another? Is it designed to help one sex or race over another? If the answers lean to the side of government intervention to favor one American or one group over another, then that regulation will be deleted.
This is how the government grows the economy. It allows it to grow. The people will grow the economy. The government can only offer a legal framework. That legal framework must be completely blind justice. No differentiator, intrinsic or extrinsic, can make one human superior over another in the eyes and the action of the law. Anytime the government benefits one person or group over another, it's actually causing the shrinkage of our economy, the gradual destruction of our legal system, and a corruption of our culture. When the government helps one person over another, it's undoing what it means to be America.
I'm going to usher in the largest and most dynamic economy the world has ever known. The economic growth of any period in world history or American history is about to be dwarfed. You will need 30,000,000 immigrants to enter this country with the amount of jobs we're going to produce. The economy will be unleashed to outperform and dream what the SEC, FEC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, and every other branch of the evil octopus would ever imagine.
I say it's evil, and frankly, when you're controlling other people, I think that is a measure of evil.
Please do not hate our government officials. Do not tar and feather them. Do not spit on them. Do not refuse to take a seat next to them on a bus. They only exist because of what the American people allow. You're as responsible for the state of this nation as any government official. In fact, you getting angry is actually feeding into more destruction.
If you want to change American, really change American from the bottom up. You have to be willing to not say "No!". You might think, "But Carmen, isn't "NO!" the battle cry?" And I say no, it's not.
Think very carefully about what you are up against. You're up against something that you created. Yes, you have full responsibility for the state of your nation. You are the king or queen among the rest of us. We got rid of King George, and George Washington became the first among equal kings. You might think, "But I don't know how government works. I don't know foreign policy. I don't know economics. I don't know law." That doesn't matter. You have intuitions:
Forcing people to take certain actions is wrong. Harming people physically is wrong. Slandering people is wrong. Taking things for yourself entrusted to others is wrong. Breaking the law is wrong. You know these things. If all our public leaders followed just these five commandments, our nation would be far ahead of where it is.
If the government controls the economy and control your actions, You can't expect the economy to grow. These hinderances are so pervasive, so entrenched, so vast, that our economy is slices of pie short of the whole. And its much more than just dollars. Our cultural economy is hindered too. Our understanding of ourselves and our lives is smaller than what it can be. There is no government program that can "amplify our cultural understanding". Any such program will shrink our understanding.
Essay in progress
At the local level, we see businesses not allowed to open or their opening is delayed forcing expensive battles with city hall for new businesses. Just ask a small business owner if their city government makes their lives harder in any way. Unfortunately I'm not running for mayor of every single town in the United States. I'm running for president, so the legal authority I seek is limited mostly to federal and international concerns. But a president can set a tone that reverberates to the state and local levels. I also plan to work with people to help illustrate how some state and local regulations keep their economies smaller.
Full disclosure, I'm not acquainted with Isis Brentley or anyone else mentioned in this story. This story is in the public domain, which is how I know about it. Isis Brentley has not endorsed my candidacy for president. But I'd be thrilled if she did.
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