President Trump on Wednesday announced several executive actions that would defund the United Nations, bolster Department of Homeland Security resources to detain illegal aliens, and—most importantly—begin the promised construction of the wall along the southern U.S. border. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Tuesday hinted at what was coming, telling an audience it would be “common-sense” actions that would “drive the Left crazy.”
Here are 10 more ideas that should drive the Left even crazier.
1) Earmark money from the infrastructure stimulus to build dams in California, perhaps across the West. Imitate Franklin Roosevelt! Also: we need clean energy. Dams have practically zero emissions. In addition, California is desperate for better water infrastructure. And it would produce jobs, particularly for working class men and women of all races.
2) Make assimilation the focus of immigration policy with an emphasis on American principles: rule of law, natural rights, responsibility to live and let live in free, diverse nation. Point out that that the Constitution does not, in fact, make everyone born on U.S. soil an American citizen. The U.S. Supreme Court has never actually ruled on children of illegal immigrants, people here on tourist visas, and so forth.
3) Make our nation-state a focus of civic education. Use the explicit language that we need to “Stop Making Aliens of our Citizens” and do a better job of assimilating natural born Americans into our culture and principles. Our model for including immigrants into our society should be the one proposed by John Quincy Adams when he was asked about what the United States “owed” to immigrants from Germany: “Emigrants . . . coming here, are not to expect favors from the governments. They are to expect, if they choose to become citizens, equal rights with those of the natives of the country.”
4) Open refugee settlement centers in the Hamptons, Palo Alto, and Malibu. Settle them in local parks, and note that people are “more important than trees.”
5) Suspend “prevailing wage” or Davis-Bacon rules. Point out that the rules are racist in their origin, passed to help white workers over non-white workers. And note that the New York Times was correct to say that the correct minimum wage should be zero. Also note that the Wagner Act, which created the National Labor Relations Board way back in 1935, needs to be repealed and replaced.
6) Create a true “enterprise zone” in 10 square miles of Detroit. No minimum wage, and very few other regulations, other than basic rule of law and safety. If Democrats object, point to their New Deal roots and challenge them to once again answer the call for “bold, persistent experimentation.”
7) Investigate foreign support for the anti-fracking campaign and Occupy Wall Street. Make it part of a larger, comprehensive report to study foreign efforts to influence American politics over the past half-century or more.
8) Increase the boxes on all “race” forms: require that any forms asking for that distinction must also distinguish between various European nationalities, demonstrate more specificity among “Hispanics”—Cuban, Brazilian, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, etc.—similarly for those of so-called “Asian” extraction. Are they Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc. Also, include Taiwanese as one of the options. Note that it is naked “Western imperialism” to impose names like “Asian,” “Native American,” and “African” upon the diverse peoples of those continents.
9) Crack down on discrimination against Asian-American students at Harvard, and other elite schools. Point out that discrimination against Asians has a long and unfortunate history in the United States, and is still going on in the Ivy League universities and many other places.
10) Abolish the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Yes, we know, this one is already in the air and driving people nuts. But don’t just talk about it. Do it—while pointing out that Hollywood and the American arts establishment can fund its own “performance art,” thank you very much, without the help of American taxpayers.
That’s 10 ideas to drive the Left further into madness. We have even more. Do you? Leave your suggestions in the comments. Special thanks to Richard Samuelson for his contributions.