ISSUE: Decades of “Diversity” have caused classification of American citizens into competing groups based upon ethnicity, skin tone, sexual preferences, etc. We are Black Americans, Native Americans, LGBT, ad infinitum.
“More than good motives should be required when government seeks to allocate its resources by way of an explicit racial classification system… the basic principle of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution protects persons, not groups… distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry are by their very nature odious to a free people. Adarand v. Pena, (USSC, 1995)
CONCEPT: Distribute all federal funding, including federal funds distributed to the 50 states, to American citizens in need, based solely upon one criterion: Annual Household Income.
This criterion is entirely neutral, devoid of any ethnicity, religion, marital status, age, sexual lifestyle, or politics. It includes all low-income American citizens as eligible for federal assistance if residing in a household that meets certain poverty thresholds. Every American citizen in need of assistance would be eligible. Non-citizens would be ineligible.
DISCUSSION:
- An appropriate federal agency can determine algorithms based upon number of persons in a household, proof of citizenship and tax returns from income earning household members.
- All federal agencies can, within a 12-month period, rescind all divisive (“Hyphenating American”) programs, and pool federal funds to be distributed to those in need, based upon annual household income only.
- All federal policies based upon ethnicity, ancestry, religion, marital status, sexual preference would be repealed, greatly reducing federal over-regulation.
- Significant federal and state workforce in numerous agencies would be no longer needed, reducing the size of government.
- The U.S. Census Bureau has one Constitutional task to conduct every ten years—to count America’s population. With the guiding principle of Annual Household Income, much of the data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau could be outsourced to private sector industries that utilize consumer data. Downsizing the 4,000+ workforce of the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies would simultaneously downsize the cost of government to its taxpayers.
THE GOAL:
Decades of Diversity has, perhaps even unintentionally, divided American people, pitting race against race, rich against poor and escalated attitudes of divisive entitlement. Federal assistance eligible for all citizens to move out of poverty, on a fair and equitable basis of Annual Household Income will ultimately promote unification of our citizens as… Americans.
To continue the path forward of Making America Great Again, we must be One People, One Nation of Americans, thriving and grateful American citizens whose country encourages individual initiative, but provides temporary financial safety nets to households currently in poverty.
When Justice Clarence Thomas was asked, “Do you think we really have or will ever have justice for all?” Thomas responded: “The closest we will ever come is when there is one set of “books” for everybody.”
For Discussion or Inquiry, contact:
Elaine Willman, MPA
Willman-Davis Intergovernmental Resource Services
Phone: 509.949.8055
Email: toppin@aol.com
