3. Repeal the 16th amendment

to the constitution, "the one that provided for income taxes,"

and all other federal taxes, and replace them with Rep. [John] Linder's

Fair Tax Program. It is essentially a national sales tax with some moderate

refund provisions for extremely low income people. It is fair, it is simple,

and if the feds are collecting taxes on sales alone then they have no

business knowing what you earn (no 1040 forms!). A flat tax is less desirable

because it would still require income reporting.

4. Join and contribute to the

Libertarian Party (I'm thinking about joining). If they grow in strength,

we can break up the two-party system and force coalitions that would strengthen

the conservative position. For those who are unfamiliar with the Libertarians,

they are the party of maximum personal freedom and responsibility. I have

little love for either major party. The Democrats are populists and socialists,

and the Republicans behave like watered-down Democrats in order to not

appear "mean-spirited". It is like a choice between Classic

and Diet Coke.

5. Every law passed by Congress

should be required by constitutional amendment to have an expiration date

of not more than 10 years. Thus the suffocating layers of bureaucracy

would have to constantly be re-justified to stay on the books.

6. The constitution should

be amended to not allow the federal budget to be in deficit over any consecutive

four-year period. This would allow for deficit spending in recessions,

if it was accompanied by surplus budgets during the following recovery

years.

I don't have the answers to

all the world's problems, but I thought I would take a shot at the ones

in your Feb. 13th column. Let me know what you think.

Bill Gilmer

[email protected]

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