What if Donald Trump ran the U.S. like a corporation?

Whether you voted for the president elect or not, we have to recognize the unique opportunities that may be afforded us by having a President who is an owner of a multi-billion dollar, multinational corporation. If President Trump were to use the same principles in governing the United States as he would evaluate a corporation he just purchased, we could experience a significant positive impact as entrepreneurs and business owners.

In this scenario, the federal government would be the parent company of USA Inc. The 50 states would be franchisees, run by individual CEOs (governors), and Congress would be the board of directors. The citizens of the USA would be the primary stock holders and would receive quarterly statements on productivity, profitability, and overall fitness of their investment. There would be quarterly meeting between the CEOs and President Trump, where each would give a state of the state and President Trump would give a state of the union report to Congress annually.

Once this core system is in place President Trump would then look at the current fiscal budget to determine the causes of the mounting deficits. He would remove redundant and unnecessary departments including the IRS, Department of Education, Health & Human Services, and the Department of Transportation. Additionally, the government would remove subsidies and special tax breaks for companies with sales above $100 million, which would total annual savings of $250 billion. The government would still provide oversight on those services by appointing a few executive vice-presidents who will oversee up 18 states each and have a staff of no more than three in this effort. 

The money saved would be given to the states to scale up for increased responsibilities, building better systems for service implementation, and fulfilling the requirements of implementing a consumption tax that replaces the income tax system.

Further, each entity of USA Inc. (TANF, Medicaid, Medicare, etc.) that provides services to the American people would be audited to determine if current strategies maximize productivity while reducing costs; for example, using a competitive bid system for Medicare/Medicaid providers including doctors, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and equipment companies. In this scenario, service providers would receive competitive rates, but will be held to strict standards of quality service and brand experience. Potential savings could easily top $50 billion dollars.

The result of these activities would be an annual operating budget of $2.8 trillion dollars and more than $200 billion dollars a year being paid on the national debt, through increased revenue from the consumption tax and savings from eliminating pork-laden bureaucracies.

In terms of raising the standard of living for USA Inc.’s shareholders, by lowering the top corporate tax rate to 25% for companies with sales above $100 million dollars and 15% for all others, it will be easy to move the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Moreover, corporations would be given tax incentives to contribute to employee housing, childcare, and health insurance to offset the increases caused by the consumption taxes. The lowering of corporate taxes would also remove the incentive for corporations to outsource services, thereby bringing jobs back to USA Inc., which will revitalize smaller states, provide funding for education, and raise the economic strength of individual communities.

With the core functionality of USA Inc. under control, President Trump and Congress would turn their attention to our global economic engine and apply the same level of scrutiny, cost cutting, process improvement, and accountability. All supply chain partners will be held to the same standards of USA Inc. or will risk removal from the supply chain. New partnerships will be forged in emerging markets that have products/services that not only fit our needs, but the prospective partner has shown a willingness to raise their standards to that of USA Inc.   

I know this is a short snippet in a much larger conversation, but we need to start this conversation with our local politicians to make the best of a once in a lifetime situation and truly make America great for everyone!!

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