The
President's First Day in Office
by Harry Browne
I'd like
to tell you what actions I'd take if I'd been elected President.
After
my inaugural day, I'd probably spend little more than an hour a day
in the Oval Office, because a busy President is a dangerous President.
But for the very first day, I'd an extremely long agenda.
On that
first day in office, by Executive Order I would:
* Pardon
everyone who had been convicted on a federal, non-violent drug charge,
order their immediate release, reunite them with their families, and
restore all their civil rights. (Anyone convicted of using violence
against someone else in a drug case would not qualify as "non-violent.")
* Pardon
everyone who had been convicted on any federal gun-control charge, tax-evasion
charge, or any other victimless crime, order their immediate release,
and restore all their civil rights.
I would
empty the prisons of those who haven't harmed anyone else and make room
for the violent criminals who are currently getting out on plea bargains
and early release.
Following
the issuance of the pardons:
* I would
announce a policy to penalize, dismiss, or even prosecute any federal
employee who violated the Bill of Rights by treating you as guilty until
proven innocent, by searching or seizing your property without due process
of law, by treating you as a servant, or in any other way violating
your rights as a sovereign American citizen.
* I would
immediately order that no federal asset forfeiture could occur unless
the property's owner had been convicted by full due process. And I would
initiate steps to make restitution to anyone whose property had been
impounded, frozen, or seized by the federal government without a legal
conviction. (Over 80% of such seizures occur when no one has even been
charged with a crime.)
* As Commander
in Chief of the Armed Forces, I would immediately remove all American
troops from foreign soil. Europe and Asia can pay for their own defense,
and they can risk their own lives in their eternal squabbles. This would
save billions of dollars a year in taxes, but -- more important -- it
would make sure your sons and daughters never fight or die in someone
else's war.
* I would
order everyone in the executive branch to stop harassing smokers, tobacco
companies, successful computer companies, gun owners, gun manufacturers,
alternative medicine suppliers, religious groups (whether respected
or labeled as "cults"), investment companies, health-care providers,
businessmen, or anyone else who's conducting his affairs peaceably.
* I would
end federal affirmative action, federal quotas, set-asides, preferential
treatments, and other discriminatory practices of the federal government.
Any previous President could have done this with a stroke of the pen.
Do you wonder why none of them did?
And then
I would break for lunch.
There's
More . . .
After lunch,
I would begin the process of removing from the Federal Register the
thousands and thousands of regulations and executive orders inserted
there by previous Presidents. In most cases these regulations give federal
employees powers for which there is no constitutional authority.
I would
call Office Depot and order a carload of pens -- to use to veto Congressional
bills that violate the Constitution or that spend more money than necessary
for the constitutional functions of government.
I would
send to Congress a budget that immediately cuts federal spending in
half -- on its way to reducing the government to no larger than its
constitutional size.
Congress
would undoubtedly pass a larger budget and expect me to sign it. I wouldn't.
I'd veto it.
Would
Congress override my veto?
Maybe it
would and maybe it wouldn't.
Even if
Congress succeeded in passing bills over my veto, _the battle finally
would be joined_. We finally would have something we haven't had in
my lifetime -- a President standing up to Congress.
At long
last, there would be two sides arguing in Washington -- one to increase
government and one to cut it sharply -- instead of the current trivial
debate over whether government should grow 5% a year or "only" 3%.
"Just
Say No"
No President
in the past several decades has had the will, the determination, the
courage to "just say no" to Congress.
No President
in the past several decades has even tried to reduce the size of government.
Any President who wanted to do so could have managed it -- even in the
face of a hostile Congress.
No President
since the 1950s has proposed a single budget that would reduce the size
of the federal government. And when Congress has come back with even
larger budgets, no President has vetoed them.
Every President
who claimed to be against big government has had that veto at his disposal,
but none thought enough of your freedom to use it.
As President,
I would - for the first time -use that office on your
behalf. I would say no to Congress. Whatever new program it wanted to
spend money on, I would veto. Whatever new tax it wanted to impose,
I would veto. Whatever new intrusion it wanted to make in your life,
I would veto.
No deals.
No excuses. No apologies. No regrets.
But I would
do more than just defend what little freedom you have left today. I
would go on the offensive. I wouldn't rest until the income tax was
repealed, the federal government was so small you wouldn't worry about
who was elected President, and you had control over your own money,
your own freedom, your own life.
And when
we achieved this, we'd have a celebration. Do you remember the German
youths who tore down the Berlin Wall and sold pieces of it to us?
Well, we
would tear down the IRS building and sell the pieces - and use the proceeds
to help IRS agents find honest work. Do you think any of my plans would
appeal to George W. Bush or Al Gore?
Not likely,
is it?
So why
are we worrying over which one of them will win the current legal mud-wrestling?
Copyright©2000
Harry Browne
This
article first appeared on WorldNetDaily.com
