Key Steps Vivek Ramaswamy Would Take to Save the USA
From Shawn Ryan’s Interview with Vivek Ramaswamy
Unless noted otherwise, all quotes in this post are from the interview transcript (Emphasis on quotes are added).
I usually do not write about politics.
But Vivek Ramaswamy has genuinely piqued my interest.
His platform and personality comprise the kind of candidate I can support. If given the chance, I would vote for him without hesitation. One day, I may have the opportunity to act on this political inclination.
During a recent episode of The Shawn Ryan Show, I enjoyed listening to Shawn interview Vivek Ramaswamy.
Vivek is purpose-driven.
I like that.
When people know their purpose, their “why” plans can be modified, and assets can be redirected to accommodate their purpose.
“Your plans are stupid. That's what I've found. But if your actual sense of purpose guides you, what's my purpose?
Is my purpose gonna change? No, it's not. My purpose is reviving the 1776 ideals this country was founded on.
I think we've forgotten those ideals. I think our founding fathers were incredible human beings whose legacy, both in terms of their culture, in terms of their values, in terms of their constitutional vision, we've all but abandoned. You got the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.”
During the interview, Vivek shared his potential strategies for saving the country if he were to become President.
I substantially agree with everything the man has said. So ya, I am biased.
All that aside, my bias doesn’t matter. I will present Vivek’s own statements, and you can decide for yourself.
Here is a summary of the key points from the interview Vivek would implement to save our country.
Term Limits
For Congress
Vivek would propose to Congress the enforcement of term limits: three terms for members of Congress and two terms for U.S. Senators.
Congressional term limits require a constitutional amendment. That means two-thirds of the approval of both Houses of Congress and then ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures.
That’s problematic. Not because people of all parties across this country don’t want term limits. They do!
It’s a problem because enough of the representatives in Congress don’t want to vote for term limits because it’s against their self-interests!
Many would oppose this not because it's terrible for the country but because it's bad personal business for those currently in Congress.
But Ramaswamy believes overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress for term limits can be obtained by using the existing system's corruption to our advantage.
To overcome the objection of current incumbents, he proposes this: The current Congress members would be exempt, and the term limits would only affect new members.
For Bureaucrats
The President is the CEO of the country. Government employees work work for him.
In the private world, we abide by the principle of “Employment at Will.” Why should government employees have the privilege of tenure?
When the governing body of a private corporation hires a new CEO, it’s not uncommon for many of the outgoing CEO’s management team to exit with them. There is a trickle-down effect within the ranks, with many middle managers and even line employees following their mentors and leaders out the door.
The new top dog brings in their management team and coattail staff.
Ramaswamy proposes a Presidential hiring policy that limits a bureaucrat’s term to a maximum of eight years.
“Such a policy could be implemented with an executive order. No congressional approval or constitutional amendment is required.
“Those eight-year term limits don't require an amendment. They don't even require congressional action. That's something the US president can say as a hiring policy.
For most roles, we have an eight-year term limit. You can't just sit and squat and collect the paycheck from the taxpayer without any political accountability for more than eight years if I as the president can't do that either. That's a term limit we could get past even without Congress.”
Take Self-Interest off The Congressional Table
Vivek proposes passing a law banning insider trading by members of Congress, senators, and bureaucrats.
Like the term limits amendment, the ban doesn’t have to apply to those voting for the ban; it only applies to the next guy. That approach again allows members of Congress to virtue signal without taking the hit personally.
That approach looks self-serving and hypocritical. But I think constituents would see through it if enough constituents required their representatives to pass the law.
Using this strategy, perhaps insider trading could be banned, and maybe even a few incumbent reps would voluntarily abide by the new law and call out those who don’t.
It’s time our representatives start thinking about what’s in the country's best interest by taking their self-interests off the table.
Dismantle the Machine - AKA “Drain the Swamp”
Vivek Ramaswamy's plan includes going further than eliminating the top-level bureaucrats. He suggests revitalizing the constitution by firing 75% of the managerial employee class.
Then returning about three-fourths of the $80 billion personnel budget to the people of this country.
And ending the unconstitutional practice of the alphabet soup agencies' writing and policing regulations with the force of law that constrains commerce and has a major negative economic impact on people’s lives.
He explained the reasoning, his plan, and a fair method to avoid claims of reprisal or discrimination.
“But that's what it's going to take, is a willingness to not engage in incremental reform because that's a myth, but to engage in a wholesale raising of the managerial apparatus, but not a raising of the Constitution. I'm not saying throw that out. To the contrary, that actually revives our Constitution.”
“Fire not a few thousand federal bureaucrats. I think of the four million federal bureaucrats, you know how many of the president of the United States or the new administration appoints? We're talking like tens of thousands out of, like maybe 10, 20, 30,000 out of four plus million.”
“The rest, the conventional dogma has held, are immune from being fired by the US president. Think about that. That even the US president can't fire the people who work for him.
Well, let me tell you something. Somebody who's run businesses and anybody else who's honest, who's run a business, will tell you the same thing. If somebody works for you and you can't fire them, that means they don't work for you.
In some sense, it means you work for them because you're responsible for what they do without any authority to actually change it. Well, it turns out if you read the law carefully and understand exactly how this works, no, the president of the United States absolutely can fire these employees. The reason they say they can't is because of these rules called civil service protections, which say that, I don't know, if you work at the FDA or the FTC or whatever, I can't fire you because I disagree with your view on abortion, all right?”
“Those rules do not apply to mass firings, right? If you went in and said every person whose social security number ends in an odd number is out and every person whose social security ends in an even number, at least in the first round, is in, that's totally fine because nobody can sue you then for civil rights violations or for racial discrimination or gender disparate impact or for political retaliation. No, all that's off the table because it's a large wholesale firing.
That's how you'd start. Large mass firing across the board. Take certain agencies that weren't really properly authorized in the first place and needn't exist.”
Shut Down the Southern Border
As the child of legal immigrants, the current Southern U.S. border crisis is a “personal dimension” to Vivek Ramaswamy, explaining he is the kid of legal immigrants.
“Your first act of entering this country cannot break the law. And I think it is a vestige of the deep state that accounts for that, ” says Ramaswamy.
Some steps he would take to secure the Southern border include:
Ending birthright citizenship for the kids of illegals.
Moving our own military to the southern border.
Ending all funding for Central America until they've blockaded their own borders, each country, from Venezuela to the southern border of Texas.
Ending federal funding for sanctuary cities.
Mass deportations of anybody who's in this country illegally, starting with those people who have committed a crime.
Enforce the court order against any person who has received a final order of removal from the judicial system.
End the incentives enticing immigrants to enter the country.
Unite the Country Through Success
True free speech cannot be moderated. Nor is it realistic to expect everyone to become moderates.
Vivek explains,
“We can disagree like hell, but you have the right to say it without some government actor in the deep state threatening a social media company to silence or suppress what you have to say. And we agree on that even as we disagree like hell on any range of other policy questions, tax rates to energy policies in this country. I think that that's how we actually unite the country.”
“I don't think we're gonna unite the country through moderation, through the idea of, you know, let's say there's a football field showing up at the 50-yard line, reach, stretch, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. At most, you're gonna get the people who are at the 30-yard line over to the middle. I wanna unite the whole country, the entire football field.”
“But the way we're gonna do that is reviving the common thread that unites that whole country.”
To summarize, success resides with people and their leaders who are willing to respect one another’s opinions and find consensus where possible.
Will Vivek Ramaswamy Make Another Run in 2028?
Vivek was steamrolled like the other candidates and lost early in the Republican primary to the Donald Trump re-election juggernaut. Then, he quickly and eloquently threw his support behind the Donald.
I think Ramaswamy knew his chances of being nominated as the 2024 Republican nominee were very slim.
But he is a very bright guy with street smarts.
In this election cycle, he made a positive impression. He appealed to enough of the conservative base to make a good showing and position himself as a strong candidate for 2028. If “the Donald wins,” Vivek may have secured the opportunity to serve in a high visibility role in the Trump administration.
His strategy reminds me of Ronald Reagan, who lost in the 1976 Primary but won big in 1980 and even bigger in 1984.
Vivek made his case and built a positive reputation with excellent name recognition, and his platform is crystal clear.
If Trump wins, we could be looking at twelve or more years of solid conservative leadership with Vivek Ramaswamy and other like-minded individuals in the mix.
Will Ramaswamy be back in 2028?
Only Vivek knows. But there is one thing for sure: he will not stray from his sense of purpose.
Referring to his private conversations with Donald Trump and any role in a Trump Administration they may have discussed, Vivek affirmed this,
“I want to be respectful of the detailed conversations we've had, but I want to serve this country and to have maximal impact in whatever way I can. And we've got a great relationship, and I think he's got some great ideas in mind for how we might be able to work together. But I think what he wants in a vice president versus what he wants in a different cabinet position, those are decisions for him to make.”
Parting Comments
Shawn Ryan’s interview with Vivek Ramaswamy was packed with value — much more than I have covered here.
Ramaswamy’s ideas of how he would save our republic caught my eye. So, I covered a few of the high points related to that topic.
It’s a long podcast but well worth listening to, even if you need to consume it in several bites.
This excerpt from the interview is an excellent place to end this post.
“What is it that makes me want to behave like a sheep rather than a lion? What is it that makes us want to bend the knee to some authority? And I think there's a deeper discussion to be had there when faith and patriotism and family and hard work and all the things that fill our sense of purpose disappear, we as a people are lost and are just prone to bend the knee to even self-harming behaviors that put up politicians that act against our interests.”
I find it difficult to argue with any of Vivek Ramaswamy’s ideas. Now we need a leader willing to implement the tough love.
Thanks for reading and thinking for yourself!
Russell Anderson
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P.S. I appreciate and respect your investment of precious time in reading my work! I strive to provide thought-worthy content that generates a worthwhile return on your investment.
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