We can easily turn this around if people will reject the Democratic party and reject our intellectual elite.
The easy start is as you note: Energy.
More coal exports, natural gas and oil extraction will produce jobs as they have in North Dakota and Texas. We must stop anti-capitalism in the faux form of environmentalism. The public needs to understand that American environmental movements increase pollution. The bans on fossil fuels move the production to Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, China and Nigeria. The bans have no positive environmental effect— they actually make it worse globally.
That starting point leads to the unthinkable— the return of manufacturing to the Unites States. Energy is potentially so cheap in the US that manufacturing can do better here than in China and Europe.
Lowering corporate tax rates is the easy windfall. America has the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It is amazing we have as large of an economy as we do given the explicitly destructive policies we maintain against business. If tax rates moved GDP growth from 2.2 to 3.5 or even 4.0 then the net effect would be massive increases in government revenue. Lower tax rates would increase revenue as they have in almost every case.
America also has exciting features that China lacks:
1. Americans steal far less intellectual property than China does. China steals literally billions of dollars in intellectual property every year. Businesses are getting fed up with that. Intellectual property can be defended in the US court system. No such thin is possible in china. Business in China is largely organized systems of theft orchestrated by the communist party there.
2. America has breathable air. Sadly, one third of our western air pollution now comes from China but it is vastly diluted compared to the unbreathable air of major chinese cities. Though the UN assures us that China has the best government for fixing environmental problems— it is an unmitigated disaster.
3. We have a sustainable human population. China killed too many of its own people and too many babies. The aging population makes life in China social impossible. There are not enough young people to care for the rapidly tipping society of aging.
All of these factors tip in America’s favor and against alternatives such as Germany, Japan, France, and Russia, None of them can match our energy position.
It will be an American century. We just need to dump the democrats in the senate and the white house.
1) Eliminate taxes on all profits realized on products produced in the United States.
2) Levy a 30% across the board tariff on all imports. No exceptions.
3) Shut down the EPA and return to reasonable emissions and land use standards. Unfortunately the business leaders have proven they can’t self regulate with respect to pollution so to protect the water and air it will be necessary to have some regulation.
4) Close the border. Eliminate “amnesty” immigration. Allow only immigration of people with education and skills.
5) Drill for hydrocarbons on both private and public lands.
6) Break up the “too big to fail banks” and the Federal Reserve. Return to a monetary system backed by gold.
7) Simplify the income tax. Eliminate the earned income credit. Establish a 5% rate for even the lowest earners - all citizens must pay into the system. Establish 10%, 20%, and 30% brackets. No one should pay more than 30%. No deductions and no credits.
8) Cut federal bureaucracy across the board by 20%. Eliminate outdated agencies - Dept of Labor, Dept of Commerce, Dept of Education, Dept of Agriculture, HUD, much of HHS.
9) Institute a draft. All 18 year olds (male and female) must give two years of military service or service on public works projects (i.e. CCC type work).
10) Reinstitute the “work” requirement for welfare the Obama administration dropped.
11) End Obamacare. Reform medical insurance by permitting national competition for insurance. Establish state high risk pools for people with preexisting conditions if the industry does not provide an option. Deny treatment to all persons in the country illegally.
12) Constitutional amendment to require budget surplus each year with national debt to be paid off in 25 years. Congress must either reduce spending or raise taxes to balance the budget.
13) Sell off federal lands to pay down national debt.
14) Bring all US troops stationed abroad home to protect the borders of the US. Let the rest of the world pay for its own defense and take care of its own problems. Keep a strong navy. Build a missile defense system for the homeland.
15) Reform legal system. Go to “loser pays” in tort litigation. Reinstate “speedy” trials. Establish streamlined appeals system. All criminals should have the benefit of a trial as well as all appeals within one year of being charged. Judges who do not uphold the Constitution should be impeached and removed by Congress.
Results:
Booming economy as manufacturing returns to the homeland bringing jobs and an economic boom.
Rest of the world respects us but does not hate us for constant meddling.
Chinese economy and ability to fund its military buildup is crippled.
Europe, Japan, and Korea have to fund their own defense instead of getting a free ride on the US taxpayer.