The Cruz Five for Freedom Summary

TedCruz.org ^ | November 10, 2015

[Isara]

"We should shrink the size and power of the federal government by every and any means possible. What does that mean? That means eliminating unnecessary or unconstitutional agencies."
- Ted Cruz

I. FIVE FOR FREEDOM

Abolish the IRS, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A Cruz Administration will appoint heads of each of those agencies whose sole charge will be to wind them down and determine whether any programs need to be preserved.

1. Internal Revenue Services - end the political targeting, simplify the tax code, and abolish the IRS as we know it.
2. Department of Education - return education to those who know our students best: parents, teachers, local communities, and states. And block-grant education funding to the states.
3. Department of Energy - cut off the Washington Cartel, stop picking winners and losers, and unleash the energy renaissance.
4. Department of Commerce - close the "congressional cookie jar" and promote free-enterprise and free trade for every business.
5. Department of Housing and Urban Development - offer real solutions to lift people out of hardship, rather than trapping families in a cycle of poverty, and empower Americans by promoting the dignity of work and reforming programs such as Section 8 housing.

II. TWENTY-FIVE FEDERAL "ABCs"

Empower the people by reducing the alphabet soup of Agencies, Bureaus, Commissions, and other programs that prop up special interests, at the taxpayer's expense. A Cruz Administration will identify all unnecessary programs - these 25 are merely a start:

Eliminate the following Agencies, Bureaus, Commissions, and programs:

1. Appalachian Regional Commission
2. Climate Ready Water Utilities Initiative
3. Climate Research Funding for the Office of Research and Development
4. Climate Resilience Evaluation Awareness Tool
5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
6. Corporation for Public Broadcasting
7. Corporation for Travel Promotion
8. Global Methane Initiative
9. Green Infrastructure Program
10. Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
11. Legal Services Corporation
12. National Endowment for the Arts
13. National Endowment for the Humanities
14. New Starts Transit Program
15. Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund
16. Presidential Election Campaign Fund
17. Regulation of CO2 Emissions from Power Plants and all Sources
18. Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Vehicles
19. Renewable Fuel Standard Federal Mandates
20. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
21. Sugar Subsidies
22. Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
23. UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
24. UN Population Fund
25. USDA Catfish Inspection Program

III. GRACE COMMISSION 2.0

Re-institute President Reagan's Grace Commission to assess federal spending levels and evaluate areas of waste and fraud.

• Appoint private-sector leaders to serve on a commission that, as President Reagan described, will work like "blood hounds" to improve government efficiency.
• Under Ronald Reagan's Administration, the Grace Commission report recommended 2,478 "cost-cutting, revenue-enhancing" suggestions, without raising taxes, weakening defense, or harming social welfare.
• As Chairman Grace recognized then, "every dollar we can stop spending is a dollar that the government does not need to borrow." Never has that been more needed than today.

IV. CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Hold Congress accountable by enacting a strong Balanced Budget Amendment and requiring that a majority of members approve any major, cost-inducing regulation.

• Sign a Balanced Budget Amendment to start spending responsibly and save future generations from additional crippling debt.
• Sign the REINS Act to ensure that Congress approves of any regulation or rule that would have an impact of $100 million or more.

V. HIRING FREEZE AND REDUCTION

Reduce costs by instituting a hiring freeze and federal pay reforms.

• Put in place a hiring freeze of federal civilian employees across the executive branch.
• For those agencies in which it is determined that a vacant position needs to be filled, I will authorize the hiring of a maximum ratio of one person for every three who leave.
• Reduce the annual across-the-board adjustment for federal civilian pay so that rather than receiving automatic yearly raises, federal workers would have more opportunities for merit-based pay increases.

Estimated Savings of Over
$500,000,000,000 in 10 Years

[Isara]

FYI

[rdb3]

Bump

[Carry_Okie]

I don't see the Forest Service and the BLM.

Bad move there.

[Slyfox]

Well, with Cruz’s plan we would be able to stop the financial hemorrhaging even if he was only able to do half of his list.

[HKMk23]

Huh.

Good start.

I’d sure like to see the EPA, BLM, BIA, and BATFE make the list. Phase II, perhaps?

[Cold Heat]

Had to bookmark that for reference.

[Cold Heat]

Both of those agencies have some legitimate things that they do..and have done for decades, but in recent years they have become militant. They look like swat officers and this needs to be rolled back and their charters rewritten.

[Cold Heat]

Cruz has not addressed this yet, but I know he would do so.

Since Obama was elected, he has at times referred to some sort of civilian armed force and this I believe is why he has militarized numerous agencies, including of all things the IRS, BLM, Forrest sevices and others..

It’s my view that the liberals are afraid that the populace might just reject what they are doing. It’s come close....It may well happen before he exits..

Tyrants always fear the people more that the people fear them.

[octex]

Thanks for the posting of Cruz’ page! I hadn’t seen before.

[trebb]

I don't see the Forest Service and the BLM. Bad move there.

Yeah - and nothing about darter snails either.......................................Like, was your comment for real????

Now for a short public service announcement to all on FR:
I prefer Cruz and my money goes to his campaign, hence the Cruz link. If you like someone else, donate to him/her (find your own link to do it) and if you use FR and don't donate, then please don't complain about the welfare leeches or those who have Obama Phones because, functionally, you are no different than any other FReeloader

PS - If you are one of those who cannot afford even a small donation to FR or a candidate, God Bless and happy FReeping!.....

GO CRUZ!! Keep it up Trump!!

Donate to Cruz

Donate to FR

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Sweet.

Ted is setting the agenda for smaller government, like Trump did for immigration.

[DoodleDawg]

For those agencies in which it is determined that a vacant position needs to be filled, I will authorize the hiring of a maximum ratio of one person for every three who leave.

So if three of President Cruz's Secret Service agents leave he will authorize only one replacement? Three air traffic controllers leave then only one is replaced? Three Border Guards leave then only one will be hired?

[Cen-Tejas]

Ditto !

[Carry_Okie]

Both of those agencies have some legitimate things that they do..and have done for decades, but in recent years they have become militant.

Equine feces. They are completely unconstitutional. The USFS was set up in a conference committee and is illegal. It exists primarily to manage inventory for Weyerhaeuser.

Considering that I've written three books on environmental policy, habitat restoration, and regulatory racketeering, you have a lot of cheek "instructing" me about the supposed worth of these agencies.

[Carry_Okie]

Yeah - and nothing about darter snails either.......................................Like, was your comment for real????

There is no form of regulation more disastrous to the US economy than environmental regulation, of which Federal land use control is the epitome. Environmental "protection" is the raison d'etre of global socialism. Heck it even underlies the rationale for the destruction of public education (it's in writing)!

For Cruz not to be sufficiently aware of this to make a point as a high priority in his program it is concerning to me. For him to succeed at it requires an education I am willing to offer, owning the first patent in a free-market environmental management business method, having written three books and many articles dealing with the topic of regulatory corruption, and having personally conducted the most detailed, successful, and enduring native plant restoration in North America. Finally, G-d's first commandment to humans was to care for His creation and his apocalyptic punishments arise out of failing to follow His explicit commands as to how to conduct ourselves toward that end.

Got it now?

So, yes, the comment was more for real than you could reasonably have imagined.

[Cold Heat]

I totally understand your feeling on this, as I am aware of the long history, especially with the BLM..

What I tried to convey is that because of the large amount of federal acreage, still growing, someone has to manage it. Someone has to patrol it for lease rights and hunting and recreational activity.

I am not at all trying to say that there is any good in these agencies or that the agencies should continue to exist as is.

It’s only that if closed, the required departments would likely need to be transferred to a different agency so that they can continue to do some very simple tasks and that is the management of federal land, just as we have people who manage federal buildings. They are tax payer assets and will need to have some sort of monitoring.

Either that or we sell them back into the private sector, but I doubt you can do that with all of it, and it may in fact become necessary, perhaps sooner then later.

[Carry_Okie]

What I tried to convey is that because of the large amount of federal acreage, still growing, someone has to manage it. Someone has to patrol it for lease rights and hunting and recreational activity.

Correct. It is and should be a business run by those who are good at it.

It’s only that if closed, the required departments would likely need to be transferred to a different agency so that they can continue to do some very simple tasks and that is the management of federal land, just as we have people who manage federal buildings. They are tax payer assets and will need to have some sort of monitoring.

The land should be turned over to the States and auctioned off. Better, the various management functions should be privatized and the land gradually possessed by contract. If the contracts require subsidy in the short term, it would be cheaper than paying lawyers like we do now. Ultimately, I believe the system can price services against what are currently unaccounted socialized risks, for which I have a patent on the business method as a way to prevent somebody else from doing it first. I don't have the cash to enforce it.

[Cold Heat]

I don’t have any issues with that.

I believe that there is a lot of federal land that we have no business owning. But getting it back into State hands or private hand will likely require a land grant of sorts..in other words just give it back.

I own a small amount of acreage,,all wooded.

It takes me quite a bit of effort to keep it in good condition, ie: blocked access roads by fallen trees, washouts, fencing repair.

This is all I am taking about, I was not justifying their actions, past or present.

[Carry_Okie]

I believe that there is a lot of federal land that we have no business owning. But getting it back into State hands or private hand will likely require a land grant of sorts..in other words just give it back.

I don't think the Feds have legitimate title to it in the first place. The Constitution lists: "forts, dock yards, arsenals, magazines, and other needful buildings." It states that the standard for Federal acquisition requires the approval of the State legislatures. Admitting States with reservations is a complete violation of the equal footing doctrine. They should just quitclaim it, all of it, even intertidal zones.

Now the Feds do have a mandate for dealing with the movement of interstate resources, particularly water, as a matter of regulating commerce, but that was primarily to preclude protectionist behaviors destructive to asset value. Once ALL of the assets are accounted, including intangible environmental risks, even those issues then resolve to commerce.

[Cold Heat]

Admitting States with reservations is a complete violation of the equal footing doctrine. They should just quitclaim it, all of it, even intertidal zones.

What a mess...

But we let it happen. I suppose the real culprit is a populace who has abdicated it's roll as a plank holder. (best word I could come up with)

It's our responsibility to either remove people through elections or file grievances (supreme court) over bad governance.

While we have done some of this at times, we apparently have not done enough. It is our country to lose, and I think we may have lost it.