Introduction.
When the Founding Fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and later the Constitution, they assumed a certain level of human decency, the obvious blind spots notwithstanding, ie: slavery.
The Trump administration has exposed all the shortcomings of the U.S. system of government that has relied heavily on norms based on common morality and human decency for almost 250 years, of which he and his administration have none. Not only that, by capturing all 3 branches of government, even codified laws have been ignored with impunity. In light of the sorry state of the country in 2025, specific steps are urgently needed to correct the abuses of the Trump administration. Hopefully starting in 2026, and assuming that by 2028 the country has not already fallen into a permanent dictatorship, the following steps are proposed to counteract the shortcomings exposed by Trump.
The next congress and president should address the following issues:
1 - Undoing of everything Trump has done.
Executive orders, laws (with help from congress), re-hire fired employees to restore proper function of government, re-open closed agencies, re-join international treaties, etc... The few good executive orders can be re-implemented the proper way: by congressional action.
2 - Personal liability.
Make every government employee, including the president, personally liable for illegal behavior and laws that they push when they are declared unconstitutional. This is the only way abuses like those of the Trump administration will end. The way this is currently handled, by filing lawsuit after lawsuit, is extremely slow and expensive, and it is only the taxpayers that pay. No more impunity.
Furthermore, a politician that proposes a law that is eventually declared unconstitutional should be prosecuted for breach of the oath of office. After all, don't all politicians swear to uphold the constitution? Since they have access to the best lawyers money can buy, at taxpayer expense, ignorance of the law is no excuse.
3 - International conflicts of interest.
Introduce a Constitutional Amendment to forbid the presidency to anyone with businesses or assets in a foreign country. Obviously current law that forces business interests into blind trusts is not sufficient.
4 - Political corruption.
Vigorous enforcement of anti-emoluments laws, new ones when necessary and real consequences, including expropriation of applicable businesses when said laws are ignored.
5 - Supremacy of data and scientific research.
Since the private sector has demonstrated repeatedly that it is not interested in long-term, basic research, and government funding has propelled this country to the pinnacle of scientific research, data collection and scientific research will return as one of the most important functions of government.
6 - A country of laws.
A country that claims to believe in the supremacy of law cannot depend on arbitrary military power instead. Thus joining all international treaties and the ICC will be a top priority.
7 - Saving social security.
Eliminate the limit of taxability, making all wages taxable. At the very least, raise the limit to $500K and index it to inflation. [1]
8 - Arbitrary and Emergency powers.
Repeal the law that allows the secretary of state to arrest/deport anyone deemed to have views contrary to US interests. Review all laws and repeal all that give arbitrary power to government officials that infringe on constitutional rights, especially emergency powers laws.
9 - The First Amendment is for everyone.
Any attempt by any branch of government - Federal, State or Local, or any official thereof, to intimidate or threaten a person or business because of an idea, no matter how repugnant or how it is communicated, will carry an automatic fine, payable immediately to the censored party. See item 2.
10 - Inflation.
Inflation only benefits the finance industry and robs everyone else of purchasing power. Monetary policy will target 0% inflation. As this is not an exact process, erring on the side of deflation is preferable, thus gaining small amounts of purchasing power for the consumer. [2]
11 - Debt.
11.1 - Consumer Debt.
Debt will be declared a public danger that leads to concentration of wealth and bankruptcy of everyone else. Suitable laws will be passed that, at the very least, cap interest rates. A study will be launched to understand why people get in debt and why they can't get out of it, making the public a class of indentured servants. Solutions found to eliminate debt shall be codified into law. [3]
11.2 - Public Debt.
Republicans used to be the party of fiscal discipline. Thanks to the capture of Government by special interests (see item 17), politicians are no longer capable of spending or taxing responsibly. Reducing the deficit will be a priority (see item 13 and 14).
12 - Private property and housing.
The U.S has prospered because of ownership. The finance industry prospers because of the principle of "rent seeking". Laws will be passed making it extremely difficult to expropriate the primary residence (details here [4]) and discourage other schemes that give control of what is purchased to others, for instance manufacturers (ie: the right to repair [6]).
13 - Progressive taxation.
Concentration of wealth is destroying the country and turning it into a feudal society. A progressive taxation scheme will be implemented immediately.
14 - Tax choice, or budgeting by directed funding.
Allow each individual taxpayer to select what areas of government spending the individual's taxes will fund. Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment are not included in this, as they are funded by separate taxes.
Separate funds will be created for, at first, large categories and then, as the system is fine-tuned, into smaller self-consistent groups. Originally, a few large groups could be: Defense, Medical care, Scientific research, Education, Welfare, Natural Resources and Environment, Transportation, Administration of Justice. Later, large categories could be sub-divided into smaller parts.
The other side of this program, which could be called "Tax Choice" or "Directed Funding", is the tax return form, where each taxpayer would have a series of boxes, one for each government spending category where he/she would enter what percentage of his/her taxes are to go. This way, the individual taxpayer could be assured what government programs his/her taxes will fund. Each taxpayer could select none, one or more boxes and in each the corresponding percentage of the total tax paid. If no box is selected, the government would decide where the particular taxpayer's taxes go.
Would any programs disappear? Probably not, given the vast diversity of views across the country, but everybody would feel better since their money would only pay for what they support. Tax compliance would most likely rise and it would be instantly known exactly how much support each area of spending really has.
15 - Education.
Free public higher education, free from political interference and indoctrination, is essential for a healthy democracy. An educated population is more resilient to manipulation by propaganda and more independent without debt (see 11 above). The backhanded attempts from private institutions (religious or otherwise) to get their hands on public education money will be stopped.
16 - Single payer health care.
Not only will this eliminate the profit motive in health care, thus lowering prices, it will allow everyone to be covered and all the inefficiencies of billing will disappear, as all the special interests that now get fees, resulting in the highest health care prices in the word, will be gone. Medicare will also be modified so it covers all healthcare and the single payer entity (a combination of expanded CMS and the VA) will be able to negotiate with the oligopolies (hospital chains, pharmaceutical companies, etc...)
17 - Public financing of elections.
Repeal Citizens United and institute public financing of elections. Private interests have bought the government and this is not acceptable. Per the constitution, the government is "of the people, by the people, for the people", not for the corporations or the oligarchs.
18 - Arm sales.
Vigorous enforcement of existing laws that forbid arms sales to countries that don't adhere to humanitarian laws or treaties. Repeal the immunity that gun manufacturers enjoy.
19 - AI, robots and employment.
Immediate launch of a comprehensive study to understand the effects of AI and robots on employment. It is becoming more and more obvious, no matter what the politicians keep saying, that the basis of a capitalist society: work for pay, is slowly disappearing. A solution needs to be found before the collapse of the economy. If people don't have jobs and can't buy anything, where does it leave a capitalist economy? What happens to corporations that can't sell anything because no one can afford to buy anything because no one has a paying job?
The solution is likely going to be some sort of guaranteed basic income, that can be seen as a dividend of a prosperous country, just like shareholders profit from corporations. But universal basic income is unlikely to be the complete solution. The supply of essentials, especially housing, has to be addressed too. A possible solution is described here. [3]
20 - Military procurement.
Politicians seem incapable of resisting the oligopoly of defense contractors. Part of the problem is Citizens United (see item 17) but a complete re-assessment of pentagon contracts needs to be done. Interestingly, this is the one part that Trump/DOGE/Musk are unwilling to touch, most likely because Musk and his companies are making billions from defense contracts.
21 - Truth in news.
As the country is living in alternate realities thanks to social media algorithms, it is imperative that truth be labeled accurately in all mass media: broadcast, cable, internet. A project will be started to label in real time whether some claim is true or false. Any entity that refuses to carry the labels will by definition be classified as propaganda and sanctioned appropriately. Additionally, any AI entity or chat bot must be labeled and regulated as such. Pretending that any such entity is human is nothing but fraud. Any product generated by AI will be labeled as such, irrespective of whether the claims contained therein are true or not. The same labeling requirements apply to AI-generated content.
22 - Separation of powers.
The Marshall Service shall be put under the jurisdiction of the court system immediately. Trump has proven that a rogue justice department can not be trusted to enforce court decisions against the administration.
23 - Vigorous anti-trust action.
The dangers of consolidation of markets have been known for decades, but the anti-trust division has been asleep at the wheel. No surprise since it has been captured, like the rest of government, by big business. See item 17. Furthermore, and specifically in media, oligopolies present tempting targets with deep pockets ripe for intimidation and extortion. The administration has successfully used this tactic recently against multiple media conglomerates.
24 - Private prisons.
All private prison and detention center contracts will be cancelled immediately. Not only do private prisons pose a clear conflict of interest, they are an attempt to evade the laws and regulations that apply to regular prisons.
25 - Crypto currency.
As Crypto currencies are the ideal medium for criminal organizations to launder money, the federal government's only purpose in this area will be to vigorously recover the profits from crime and prosecute the criminal organizations that use it.
26 - Communications from Government.
26.1 - Public relations/documentation/instructions/press releases/political pronouncements.
All communications and data from all levels of government must be available on government web sites, free of charge and independent of outside businesses. Messages/videos can also be sent via private businesses/platforms, but the same content must also be available on government web sites, mailing lists and RSS feeds. All communications must be archived and be easily searchable in perpetuity.
26.2 - Real Time Law Enforcement Communications.
Radio transmissions from police and other law enforcement agencies have been publicly available, not encrypted, for decades. This provides an essential element of access and transparency for the preservation of democracy. The recent push to encrypt such communications will be stopped at all levels of government as this leads inexorably to the secret police of totalitarian states.
27 - Plastic pollution.
Make the manufacturers pay for the garbage they generate. Details here. [4] This will provide the needed incentive to clean up the environment.
28 - Equity in health care.
Lawmakers will be forced to use the healthcare systems they legislate for the rest of us, and not be allowed to give themselves a much better plan.
29 - PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security.
Reassess the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and repeal the PATRIOT act. A clear overreaction to 9/11, DHS needs to be reassessed, and probably dismantled, now that the panic is over and the current abuses are there for everybody to see, ie: the Gestapo tactics of ICE.
30 - Climate Change.
The Trump administration has been selectively eliminating subsidies and incentives for green technology. Subsidies and incentives given to the fossil fuel industry also need to be revoked. It used to be that the Republicans said that the Government should not be in the position of choosing winners and losers, which leads to the inescapable conclusion that such subsidies are corruption plain and simple. See item 17.
31 - Partisan Gerrymandering.
In light of the abuse by Texas republicans, it is clear that national standards for independent redistricting need to be established. Partisan gerrymandering needs to be outlawed and independent commissions need to be established that will create political districts based only on population, with boundaries designated by algorithm.
32 - Felony Murder.
This bogus and totally unethical charge has to be eradicated from the legal system, at all levels. As explained in detail here [7], it has been abused to an incredible extent and has ruined countless lives.
[1] Credit: Robert Reich.
[2] Considering the history of the great depression, it is understandable that the U.S. government is deathly afraid of deflation, just like Germany cannot forget the Weimar Republic's hyper-inflation and has acted accordingly.
[3] The obvious cause of debt is, of course, not enough money. This brings up issues of a living wage, cost of housing and other essentials, inequality, power dynamics between employer and employees/unions, but there are also less obvious reasons: marketing and advertising, media manipulation, etc...