Bush's Second Term Agenda
by Amy Ridenour
Our national conversation
now turns from polls to problems, and how to solve them.
Here's what President
Bush should focus on during the next four years:
National security
must remain central. Bush's thrust has been sound. When it comes
to the threat from Islamic militants, half-measures won't do.
If democracy does not take root in the Muslim world, terrorism
will thrive. We must stick -- literally -- to our guns, and not
be distracted by critics who believe anything less than perfection
means failure.
Afghanistan's elections
were a stunning success. Iraq's are on schedule. We're safer
now than we were, and we'll be safer yet if we persevere.
The Administration's
policies vis-à-vis a potentially nuclear Iran and North
Korea likewise are sound.
Economic prosperity will remain a key priority. Thanks in part
to investment spurred by Bush tax cuts, the economy grew at a
3.7 percent annual growth rate during the third quarter.1 America
now enjoys an economic growth rate more than double that of Europe's.2
Maintaining economic
growth in the long-term, however, requires that we get a handle
on excessive spending -- both discretionary and on Social Security
and Medicare. We'd also do well to put brakes on regulatory growth
and out-of-control lawsuits, and reform our health care system.
During this next
presidential administration, the first baby boomer will receive
a Social Security retirement check and approach eligibility for
Medicare benefits. By 2030, 80 million Americans will be 65 or
older. Yet, both programs are technically insolvent. Radical
reforms are needed or our economy -- and our young -- will drown
in red ink.
To rescue Social
Security we should permit younger Americans to invest some of
their Social Security taxes in private retirement accounts. Since
Social Security currently receives more in taxes than it pays
out, this can be done without reducing benefits to current and
near-future retirees. In exchange, today's young Americans would
accept reduced government benefits after they retire, easing
the strain on taxpayers, but because their private accounts would
likely grow at a much faster rate than they receive from Social
Security, they'd ultimately retire with more money.
This system is wildly
popular in Britain. We need presidential-level leadership to
convince Americans to try it.
Bush's core suggestion for overall health care reform involves
increasing every American's control over his own health care.
This should be aggressively pursued.
Regulations, the
so-called invisible tax, cost every American household $8,000
per year, rivaling the cost of the federal income tax system.3
Our government at the federal level alone spends $25 billion
more administering these rules.4 Yet, regulatory reform is barely
on the agenda, and a plethora of special interest groups, environmental
organizations chief among them, demand even more rules. Despite
the fact that environmentalists seem to think Bush is their worst
enemy, the regulatory burden has not lessened under Bush, who
could make regulatory reform a higher priority.
Over the past half-century
the cost of lawsuits to our economy has grown three times faster
than our GDP.5 Unreasonable jury awards cost an estimated $70-126
billion extra in health care costs every year,6 while shortages
of doctors in high-risk specialties, such as obstetrics, are
increasingly common. 76 percent of physicians believe excessive
lawsuits hurt health care quality.7 Solid options for reform
are trotted out regularly, but have been stymied in the U.S.
Senate. Presidential leadership could break this logjam.
It no doubt is too
much to ask that any one President, in a four-year term, simultaneously
wage the War on Terror, promote prosperity, and fundamentally
overhaul Social Security and Medicare while reforming our health
care, regulatory and legal systems. But he can lead a national
conversation about the fundamentals involved in tackling each
one.
If he does so, he'll
fix some problems, and start work on others -- and hand over
to his successor a stronger, freer America.
# # #
Amy Ridenour is president of The National Center for Public Policy
Research. Comments may be sent to aridenour@nationalcenter.org.
Footnotes:
1 Tim Kane, Ph.D.,
and Rea Hederman, "Past. Present! Future? Economic Growth
in America," Heritage Foundation WebMemo #601, October 29,
2004, available online at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm601.cfm
as of November 2, 2004.
2 Tim Kane, Ph.D.,
and Rea Hederman, "Past. Present! Future? Economic Growth
in America," Heritage Foundation WebMemo #601, October 29,
2004, available online at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm601.cfm
as of November 2, 2004.
3 Heritage Foundation
"Issues 04 Briefing Room: Regulation," downloaded from
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/issues2004/regulation.cfm#FF
on November 2, 2004.
4 Heritage Foundation
"Issues 04 Briefing Room: Regulation," downloaded from
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/issues2004/regulation.cfm#FF
on November 2, 2004.
5 U.S. Tort Costs:
2002 Update, Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, as cited by the Business
Council of New York State.
6 "Addressing
the New Health Care Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation
System to Improve the Quality of Health Care," U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2003,
as cited by sickoflawsuits.org.
7 As cited by Donald
J. Palmissano, M.D., J.D., representing the American Medical
Association in testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Committee
on the Judiciary, Washington, D.C., June 12, 2002.
