Daniel Bongino for U.S. Senate

The Economy

Increases in productivity are the foundation of the remarkable growth of the U.S. economy over the past century. Productivity gains are the means by which our citizens maintain a standard of living unmatched anywhere in the world. And although we remain in the midst of a crippling recession, I firmly believe that with the application of citizen-focused economic principles, continued prosperity is within our grasp. Here are the four principles for prosperity I have been guided by and will measure any legislation by:

1. Reductions in tax rates and simplification of the tax code. Government’s role in the economy should be focused on providing for a solid structural framework along with a fair and predictable system of regulations. The tax code has become riddled with “crony capitalist” deductions for favored industries and because of this, the costs of compliance have multiplied. This has created a system where access to “power brokers” is valued more than creating economic value for the American people. Across the board rate reductions along with a reduction in the number of definable income categories accompanied by a streamlining of the tax code will reduce the government’s role in economy and allow the citizen to prosper. In addition, both the corporate and capital gains tax rates must be reduced, and loopholes eliminated, in order to spur innovation, investment and future productivity. Taxing investments in America’s production engine dis-incentivizes entrepreneurialism and discourages economic growth.
2. Prioritize education. As the world moves towards a knowledge based economy, America cannot be left behind. Our current educational model is failing our children as we fall farther behind our global competitors in performance. According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, 2,000 of the nation’s 20,000 public schools produce 50% of our dropouts and nearly 50% of our African American youth attend one of these schools. This is tragic and inexcusable but there are a number of steps we can take to make the U.S. a world leader in education and innovation. I fully support the implementation of tools such as school choice vouchers, charter schools, merit based pay systems for educators, “parent triggers” and year round schooling. In addition, we must reward good teachers, the bedrock of our educational system, and allow them to work in a system not stifled by bureaucracy and archaic work rules. These tools all have the potential to turn our system into a world leader in achievement. Although I believe a number of these changes must originate at the local level, I will engage with local leaders and support legislation that helps us to reach our goals. Continued failure is not an option and is simply a surrender to those among us that are vested in the status quo.
3. Immigration reform. Our current immigration system is broken. Immigration policy needs to remain focused on respect for the law not on the nationality of the immigrant. Our current policy is not a policy at all and I will work to make improvements through the following tools. First, securing the borders must be a national priority. The constant threat of terrorism and narco-trafficking through both our Southern and Northern border should have prioritized secure borders decades ago, but unfortunately it has not. Token measures and platitudes have inflicted untold damage to what should have been a long term plan using America’s incredible technological capacity to seek effective solutions to the problem. Secondly, I believe we must move towards a re-evaluation of the current chain migration and diversity visa based system. This system is grossly inadequate for attracting the world’s best and brightest to the U.S. and severely limits our future capacity for economic growth. Thirdly, we must continue our efforts to aggressively enforce immigration laws in the Homeland while at the same time streamlining the process for those immigrants wishing to relocate here. Economic analysis has shown that, across generations, immigrants add wealth to our nation through the importation of human capital and ideas. A growing population is also necessary to purchase the financial assets of our seniors and increase our tax base, but anyone looking to make the U.S. their home must respect the process and follow the established legal procedure.
4. Encourage foreign investment. Free and fair global trade policies and the corresponding movement of capital around the globe has led to incredible improvements in the global standard of living. The growing economies of the world are moving towards capitalism and economic liberalization as the U.S. moves slowly towards one of stagnation and regulation. We need to work with our world economic partners to reduce protectionist tariffs and increase foreign capital investments in the U.S. economy. Foreign capital flows into the U.S. helps every American by keeping interest rates low and assisting growing companies in financing future growth opportunities, creating well paying jobs for hard working Americans.

Healthcare

The ongoing debate over America’s health-care system is, at its core, two distinct issues, insurance coverage and health-care. One can have insurance and be denied access to health-care and conversely, one can receive adequate health-care and not be insured. This is clearly illustrated by our current Medicaid system which claims to insure Americans but provides either inadequate or non-existent care. A number of rigorous academic studies have clearly shown that health-care outcomes for Medicaid recipients are significantly worse than for those with private insurance and even those with no insurance at all. A recent report by The Heartland Institute documented a University of Virginia study of surgical outcomes for Medicaid patients and found that they were an astonishing 97% more likely to die than patients with private insurance and 13% more likely to die than those with no insurance at all. This gross disparity in the level of care should trouble those in power, but sadly it has not. Condemning the less fortunate among us to a failed system, guaranteed to provide inadequate health outcomes, rather than providing a temporary safety net is neither charitable nor a model for emulating as some career politicians have suggested. I fully support the block granting of Medicaid funds to the States as was done for welfare reform, in bi-partisan fashion, under President Clinton and a Republican Congress in 1995. Block granting would immediately create 50 distinct laboratories of innovation, with the States free to experiment with new, more efficient methods for delivering real health-care to those in need.

America’s current class of seniors deserve stability in their lives, yet our establishment politicians have failed to keep their promises to them by consistently promising but rarely delivering. Although the establishment has failed to maintain the economic promises to seniors planning on receiving benefits in the next decade, I believe the current Medicare system should remain an option for those 55 and older. These seniors built and fought for America and deserve some certainty in their lives. For Americans under 55 years of age we must re-tool the system to find a better way of delivering quality care. Discounting for the future, the current Medicare account deficits run into the tens of trillions of dollars. This is a multiple of the entire value of everything produced in the U.S. economy and is clearly not sustainable. This deficit has occurred for a number of reasons but the primary reason is the increasing role of government in the role of “third party payer” in a “fee for service” model. This discourages competition on the supply side and price discrimination on the demand side. I believe a voucher based system, controlled by the senior, and appropriately indexed, encourages our next generation of seniors to actively seek out those providers that provide them the best value. And, of equal importance, it encourages providers to provide competitive prices for their services and quality care. It gives economic power and choice back to seniors and takes it away from unelected bureaucrats.

Energy

The United States uses approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day. We domestically produce approximately 5 million barrels per day. Our domestic production has been steadily decreasing since the 1970’s when we produced 9.5 million barrels per day. Renewed domestic production is not simply a matter of oil prices but a matter of domestic job production. Increased exploration, discovery and production of our own domestic natural resources is a proven job creator. Locally, western Maryland has proven natural gas reserves and the development of these resources would create well paying jobs and needed income for the citizens of Maryland. We must prioritize domestic production of our own natural resources by expanding permitting while maintaining sound and reasonable environmental standards.

Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass and geothermal have shown promise but they need to compete in a competitive market, free from government subsidies. I believe that these sources of energy have a future in our energy portfolio but they must compete on a level playing field. When we insist on forcing consumers to choose amongst non-competitive options we simply shift higher costs onto them and further strain their household budgets.

Environment

Maryland’s environmental gifts are numerous and deserve common sense protections. From the Chesapeake Bay to Deep Creek Lake we are blessed to live in a state with such natural beauty. These gifts deserve common sense protections but they must be weighed against the costs imposed on Maryland’s middle class families. Environmental dictates which serve to impoverish Maryland’s working families will do nothing in the long term to improve the health of our environment. A growing economy has been the greatest pro-environmental movement in the history of the world. It has enabled our society to spend both our time and money on causes which benefit our environment. I spent some time in Rwanda years ago and I clearly remember a friend asking a Rwandan hotel employee if there was a recycling bin, the staffer responded, “Sir, plastic bottles are very valuable here, it gives children a way to bring water with them. If you throw it out, they will go and get it”. I never forgot this and I frequently refer back to that moment to remind me that we must not lose sight of long term economic growth as a means to enable us to safeguard our state’s natural gifts. We need to look at bold proposals such as leasing rights on public lands and waters with guaranteed access for our citizens. This has the potential to create profound incentives for a cleaner, healthier environment for all of the citizens of Maryland.

National Security

Our United States military is the most respected fighting force in the world and a strong national defense must be our first priority in an uncertain world. Uniformed services modernization through research and development on new programs, an increase in numbers for the special forces, equipment replacement and personnel development combined with a troop return from our two active war zones will allow us to rebuild and restore our military.

We are the most benevolent country in the world with regards to our foreign aid and we should be demanding more from aid recipients such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Our aid program to these countries needs to be matched with specific national security benchmarks. It is inexcusable to spend American tax payer money overseas on building foreign schools and infrastructure while allowing those in Maryland’s impoverished areas to collapse.

We must also support and improve our intelligence and law enforcement infrastructure. I have spent the last 17 years of my life working in the law enforcement and intelligence arenas and have witnessed firsthand both tremendous successes and unfortunate failures. The growth in COMPSTAT based law enforcement analysis and inter-agency intelligence sharing along with the potential productivity gains from the use of technology tools are success stories which must continue. The failure of our intelligence apparatus leading to the events on September 11th, was a bureaucratic failure as well as an intelligence failure. Bogging our intelligence apparatus down in excessive bureaucracy and arcane rules is bound to result in repeated shortcomings. We must look at increasing efficiency and reducing redundant law enforcement functions currently spread amongst an alphabet soup of different agencies. This will allow us to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy while at the same time increasing productivity and streamlining operations.

Immigration

I am the proud husband of an immigrant to the United States from Colombia. My wonderful wife is a shining example of the power of properly enforced immigration procedures. One of the proudest moments of my life was witnessing her naturalization ceremony in Baltimore City. She is a self made woman who paid her way through college with consistent hard work. She has added value to our country every step of the way and has overcome enormous obstacles. As I have laid out in my economic plan, immigration is not a nationality issue but a legal one. Immigrants have been, and will always be, a long term economic benefit to this country but disregard for the law is unacceptable. We must streamline the procedure for those who wish to come here legally. Our current policy is not a policy at all and I will work to make improvements through the following tools. Securing the borders must be a national priority. The constant threat of terrorism and narco-trafficking through both our Southern and Northern border should have prioritized secure borders decades ago but unfortunately it has not. Token measures and platitudes have inflicted untold damage to what should have been a long term plan using America’s incredible technological capacity to seek new solutions to this problem. Secondly, I believe we must move towards a re-evaluation of the current chain migration and diversity visa based system. This system is grossly inadequate for attracting the world’s best and brightest to the U.S. and severely limits our future capacity for economic growth. Thirdly, we must continue our efforts to enforce immigration laws in the Homeland while at the same time streamlining the process for those immigrants wishing to relocate here. Economic analysis has shown that across generations immigrants add wealth to our nation through the importation of human capital and ideas. A growing population is also necessary to purchase the financial assets of our seniors and increase our tax base but anyone looking to make the U.S. their home must respect the process and follow the established legal procedure.