1. Get out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) – The first thing we must do as a nation is withdraw from all organizations that would not allow the United States to put its own best interest first. The World Trade Organization needs to be the first on the chopping block. We cannot allow this supra-governmental body any opportunity to act as a judiciary body against us. (Learn More)

2.Cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – Once out of the WTO, the next step must be rewriting our trade deals. We are currently in one-sided “free” trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement. These have put us at a major disadvantage, in both the global economy and our economy at home.

These lopsided “free” trade deals put American workers in direct competition with workers in other countries who earn much lower wages. To produce here in America, manufacturers would need to pay their workers $18-20 per hour. That same product can be produced right across the border in Mexico, at wage rates of just $3 per hour, and then shipped back to the U.S. duty- and restriction-free. The United States has literally incentivized the off-shoring of American jobs through “free” trade and tax breaks to companies that outsource.

3. Free Trade – The “free” market, in conjunction with “free” trade, allows the rich to get richer while the middle class evaporates. The rich get richer by exploiting cheap labor over seas. The middle class and the poor get poorer as they take jobs earning lower wages. It may seem that the poor are bleeding the government dry via welfare, but in reality they want to work; they just can’t find jobs.

Meanwhile, there are more and more jobs for a rising middle class in China: jobs that once belonged to American workers. The wealthy in the United States are not worried about the disappearing domestic market — American citizens who can afford to buy their goods — because they are creating a new marketplace to sell their products in China.

4. Tax Reform (value-added taxes and tariffs) – To compete globally we still need to export. We must become a strong manufacturing nation again. Rather than continuing to fight in today’s trade war, we can prepare to compete overseas with tax reform. We can do this by implementing a Value Added Tax (VAT), a tax that has been adopted by most European nations. We should follow their lead.

As we raise tariffs, so will our competitor nations. We should negotiate with countries one at a time, making trade and competition with other nations fair. As the playing field in other countries levels out compared to ours — wages rise, environmental standards are imposed and enforced, currency manipulation ends — we can lower the tariffs we impose on goods from those nations. In the interim, we can still tax imports on top of the tariffs, as other nations do to us currently.

We can then use the money earned through tariffs and a VAT to subsidize American exporters, just as our competitors are doing to us now. Germany, for example, charges a 19 percent VAT on goods entering their country and offers rebates to their companies when they export. This gives them a huge advantage over the U.S. Foreign companies can afford to charge less both at home and here in the U.S., while our companies are forced to charge more to cover the cost of the foreign VAT.

A VAT should not be applied to food or children’s clothing.

5. Regulate imports to stop toxic food from entering our boarders – Food safety in the United States is not up to par. We are importing more and more of our food, but we do not have the resources to ensure that it is safe. Americans now get 15 to 20 percent of all the food they consume from overseas. This includes two-thirds of our fruits and vegetables, and 80 percent of our shrimp and other seafood. Despite the nearly unavoidable nature of imported food, our government agencies lack the ability to properly inspect imported food for contaminants.

We currently inspect only about 1 percent of all imported food, and Americans are getting sick as a result.Tariffs on food could be used to inspect for safety and quality. Low prices are no excuse for selling tainted food to citizens and should not be used to feed our children.

6. Lack of Planning – The problem with the American economy comes into view when we look at the so-called “plans” coming from Washington. Plans rebuild infrastructure, but without Buy American clauses – giving dock and construction workers temporary employment. Pushing more job-killing “free” trade deals, which means that those workers will go home only be able to buy foreign-made products. This just puts more and more money in the hands of China and other wealth-producing nations.

7. Lack of leadership – The real solutions are simple, but may be hard to see for politicians who are only concerned with their next election. Our leaders must look to the long term, and be brave enough to put their chance at re-election at risk in the interest of helping our nation. We have waited to work on any sort of real recovery for too long, and there will be some pain to get back to stability. The longer we wait, the harder it will become. We need true, fearless leadership from our politicians so we can right this ship.

8. End our unfunded and unreasonable wars – We end our wars overseas. Our greatest battle is at home: saving our economy. While keeping troops overseas may make job numbers look better, it makes our national bank account look worse. If other nations want us to act as their military — as their world police — they should pay for it. They should not only cover our costs, we need to earn a profit that we can take home and use to pay for our own defense. Freedom isn’t free. If they want a lower price or more say in the matter, they can become a U.S. territory and apply for statehood.

9 . The Citizens ruling must be reversed – We need a Constitutional Amendment that clearly states that to be a citizen, one must have a pulse. This amendment should also define, and not redefine, speech as written, verbal or other physical communication, such as sign language.

Money is not speech. It is not a way to speak louder. It is merely a way to quietly subdue the free speech of others. If speech is free and money is speech and all men and women are created equal, then we should all have equal wealth to ensure we all have the equal right to speak. This would be absurd, and if our Supreme Courts cannot see this error, then we must make an Amendment to clarify the intent of our Constitution.

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