Presidential

Presidential

by

Gunther January

*****

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 by H.G. Hartung

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer:

All names and characters in this novel are fictitious. The characterizations combine the traits of many persons and personalities in an effort to entertain the reader.

******

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 ----- Inauguration

Chapter 2 ----- Jobs Plan

Chapter 3 ----- Contracts

Chapter 4 ----- Televised Chat

Chapter 5 ----- Recapitulation & Flattery

Chapter 6 ----- Brainstorming

Chapter 7 ----- Sponsorship

Chapter 8 ----- Proselytizing

Chapter 9 ----- The Unveiling

Chapter 10 --- The Senate Debates

Chapter 11 --- The House Debates

Chapter 12 --- Assessment

Chapter 13 --- The Thrust

Chapter 14 --- Signing into Law

Chapter 15 --- Chatting Up Farming

Chapter 16 --- Administration Farm Program

Chapter 17 --- Setting the Stage

Chapter 18 --- Agricultural Reform Plan

Chapter 19 --- Agricultural Chat

Chapter 20 --- Presentation to the Senate

Chapter 21 --- Presentation to the House

Chapter 22 --- Draftsmanship

Chapter 23 --- Chatting about Money

Chapter 24 --- The House Rules

Chapter 25 --- Farmers Arise!

Chapter 26 --- Senatorial Superfluity

Chapter 27 --- Foreign Aid

Chapter 28 --- Afghanistan

Chapter 29 --- Federal Payroll & IT

Chapter 30 --- Undocumented People

Chapter 31 --- Green Card

Chapter 32 --- Border Defense

Chapter 33 --- Soft Landing

Chapter 34 --- Narcotics

Chapter 35 --- Social Security Stir

Chapter 36 --- Tax Chat

Chapter 37 --- More of Less Taxation

Chapter 38 --- Action on Taxation

Chapter 39 --- Senate Approval

Chapter 40 --- Corporation Taxation

Chapter 41 --- Corporation Tax Chat

Chapter 42 --- The House & Corporation Taxes

Chapter 43 --- The Senate Affirms

Chapter 44 --- Reining In the EPA

Chapter 1

Inauguration

It is the 17th of January, 2010, Inauguration Day for newly elected President Richard Sage. Having just been sworn into office by Chief Justice John Rogers, President Sage approaches the lectern, clears his throat, and commences:

"My fellow Americans, it is with a great sense of awe that I stand before you. Right now, I feel the burden I bear to serve as your President settle upon my shoulders. This great and wonderful country of ours, the United States of America, is currently in anguish! Sixteen percent of us, who are fully trained and able-bodied, are out of work. This is tragic! Our first order of business is to quickly open well-paying jobs for these unemployed and those who are under-employed among us. Your elected members of Congress are definitely anxious to get everyone back to work. I promise a new and higher level of cooperation with our Congress starting tomorrow morning! My goal is to sign new job-generating legislation within the next thirty days.

"The second issue we must deal with is taxes. The Personal Income Tax abuses every man and every woman in the United States of America. The sole justification for taxation is to provide funds needed to run the Federal Government and to support its budget. Taxation should never influence our everyday decisions on how we live! May I ask you a very personal question?

He makes a pregnant pause.

How many times a week does this thought cross your mind? Is it deductible? Is it deductible from what, why from your Federal Personal Income Taxes, right? That’s my point here. Taxation should not, must not, affect the way you live your life. But it does affect the way you live your life. How can we eliminate this by-product of personal income taxation? I propose that we accomplish this by abolishing the Federal Personal Income Tax. Are you shocked? Can this be done? Is it possible? Yes! in a New York minute. Your next question may be: How? We have to get these trillions of dollars from somewhere -- right? Right! Plans to end personal income taxation have been ricocheting around this country and throughout the Federal Government, for the past fifteen years. You’ve certainly gotten lots of mail concerning this subject. So what’s to be done? Currently, in every state of the Union, sales taxes are routinely collected on every purchase we make, except groceries, of course. If we add a Federal Sales Tax to the state and local sales taxes, how much more will it cost America to collect this new tax?

Again Sage pauses for affect.

"It will cost one tenth of one percent! Yes, one tenth of one percent. And think of the burden this would lift off the shoulders of the Internal Revenue Service. Today only seventy-one percent of you who call the IRS for advice get through to a tax adviser and that after waiting an average of fifteen minutes on the telephone line. Ending the personal income tax will free thousands of employees of the IRS for reassignment to work with business income taxes. (These IRS folks might actually have time to take a coffee break now and again.) My goal is to have Federal Personal Income Taxation stop on the 31st of December, 2010! The Federal National Sales Tax would commence on the first of January, 2011. Are you all with me on this plan? If this comes to pass, you will have the rest of this year to make your big-ticket purchases before the sales taxes increase.

"The third issue that we must resolve is the sleepy state of our economy. When America’s economy (the total of all revenue generated in the United States) is growing at a minimum of five percent per year, we have historically enjoyed full employment. [That is less than five percent unemployment. That’s when only one person, whom you know, is looking for a job.] Once America reaches an economic growth rate above five percent, all of us should continue to become financially better off year after year. That’s progress! The increase to the growth rate of our economy due to increased purchases in 2010 (by people avoiding higher 2011 sales taxes) should get us to the ‘magic’ five percent economic growth rate. [Currently our economy is growing by only two and one-half percent per year.] In 2011, without withholdings from your paycheck for personal income tax, we will all have more money to spend, further boosting our national economic growth. Shall we say seven percent! Well that may be a tad optimistic, but let’s be positive! It’s good for the heart and relaxing for the soul to be in a positive state of mind.

"Now on a more sober issue, we dare not be careless about personal security here at home. We dare not be careless about threats to our security from beyond our borders. I promise you all a safer America and more secure borders. We will soon discuss these issues in greater detail.

"Before I leave the microphone, I must remind you that my comments here will be analyzed ‘to death’ by our national media. You have heard what I said. Trust me. I mean every word -- exactly. Don’t accept additions, caveats, or opinions from the media. To keep you all informed about the important issues we’ve just considered, I plan frequent chats with you from the White House. It’s my responsibility to keep you informed as to crucial goings-on in your government. Those of you who have the heart and energy to join with me in making America better, I will be asking you, from time to time, to call your Congressmen to give them your opinion regarding pending legislation. Your Congressmen and women need to hear from you in order that they may properly serve you. I am counting on your help. I now thank you all for responding when I ask for your help in steering the United States of America. If you are asking yourself if we can reach these lofty goals, I offer you a motto: Yes! we can!"

Chapter 2

Jobs Plan

It’s 10 A.M., Monday, 24th of January, 2011. An inner circle of this administration is meeting in the Oval Office to plan for a larger meeting that will include the leaders of Congress. President Sage (POTUS) is seated at the Resolute Desk. Pivot rocker recliners fill out the remaining floor space for the others. POTUS is trying to create a relaxed, informal setting for these meetings in order to maximize participation and openness. The Vice President, Constance Ricardo, is seated to his right. The White House Chief of Staff, John Zimmerman, is seated to his left. Before him, in no particular order, are the following: Secretary of the Department of Labor Jonathan Jobs, Secretary of the Department of Commerce Frank Forbes, Secretary of the Department of Transportation James Carman, Secretary of the Department of Energy Gaston Hoyle, Treasury Secretary Aaron Goldman, Director of the Office of Management & the Budget Charles P. Anderson, and the Chief of the Council of Economic Advisors Alvin Green.

Lady and gentlemen, this meeting, as y’all were earlier advised, is for planning a quick boost to employment in America. Directly, we will have a larger meeting with the leaders of Congress to develop a consensus for job-creating legislation. Certainly there are actions that we, the executive branch, can initiate without Congressional approval. Let’s discuss these first.

Mr. Carman, a few years ago there was a tragic failure of bridges of the Interstate Highway System in Minneapolis. Subsequently, a national survey was conducted of all the bridges of the Interstate Highway System. How far along are we towards completing renewal of these bridges and the road surfaces of the Interstate Highways?

Carman deftly clicks on his Ipod then begins:

The United States Interstate Highway System has over 45,000 miles of roadway, counting both sides of the divided highways. Most of the bridges are relatively short, simple, durable, steel-reinforced concrete structures of which ninety-five percent were judged perfectly serviceable. The roughly five percent of those needing renewal have been restored to serviceable condition, meaning perhaps twenty more years before further repairs might be needed. Of some one thousand bridges that are high (often interlaced) or long, sixty percent were deemed in need of either minor or major renewal. The major renewal has been completed. About eight hundred big bridges still require minor repairs to put them into fully serviceable condition.

If we pursue completion of minor repair of all bridges within six months, how many new jobs would we open? asks POTUS.

At an average of twenty men per bridge, I estimate a maximum of 16,000 jobs, answers Carman.

Mr. Jobs, do you concur with Mr. Carman’s estimate? asks POTUS.

Mr. President, my resources tell me that Mr. Carman’s estimate is pretty accurate, says Jobs.

Mr. Carman, what is your estimate of total cost? asks POTUS.

Cost will range between $5,000,000 and $50,000,000 per bridge. The average cost will be approximately $12,000,000. Total cost would be just under $10,000,000,000, answers Carman.

Jobs? asks POTUS.

Sounds right, answers Jobs.

Mr. Anderson, how much money is in the National Highway Trust Fund?

$41,876,543,000 responds Anderson.

Mr. Carman, you are hereby authorized to issue the orders to complete these repairs by June 30th, of this year, stipulates POTUS. Folks, we are trying to create as many new jobs as we can, but I regard these bridge repairs as restoration of our nations vital infrastructure; therefore cost per job created is not a significant metric.

That figure is $250,000 per job created, interjects Anderson.

I knew you’d help me out with that, Chuck, rejoins POTUS with a smile. He continues, In keeping with infrastructure restoration, I want us to consider the 45,000 miles of roadway, next. Back in the early 1990’s, Interstate 35 just north of Denton, Texas was so far gone that traveling about thirty miles of the Interstate Highway was a bone-jarring, teeth-rattling, tire- torturing nightmare. Ultimately, the interstate highway had to be totally reconstructed. They broke up all of the roadway structure right down to the base and constructed a brand new roadway out of steel-reinforced concrete. In the same time frame in the State of Arkansas, the right lane of a northbound section of Interstate 30 became similarly rough. Most semi-trailer truckers refused to use the right lane between Hope and Little Rock. (As I remember, Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas at that time and Hope was his birthplace. Heh!) Now turning from feckless examples, during the late 1970’s and 1980’s, Interstate 20 in East Texas was a marvelous example of diligent maintenance. The roadway was steel-reinforced concrete. I’d never encountered any damage greater than a crack, but I witnessed their restoration work many times. They used jackhammers to remove weakened concrete aggregate from among the reinforcing bars right down to the base. The base was restored by adding it a slurry of sand richly mixed with Portland cement. After the new base had set, they added additional steel reinforcing bars then poured in new concrete aggregate. When traveling Interstate 20 East, one encountered a steady stream of these restored ‘patches’ in the roadway. The roadway maintenance was marvelous! But alas, over-paving with asphalt has taken over in that region. With that introduction from my personal experience, let’s open the discussion on restoration of our Interstate Highways. Jim Carman, how many miles of Interstate roadway surface are considered unserviceable?

Of 45,000 miles of Interstate Highways, fifty percent is in need of, at the very least, surface smoothing, disgustedly opines Carman. Most of the roadway is steel-reinforced concrete aggregate; but about twenty percent is asphalt pavement, which is sometimes put down over a steel-reinforced concrete aggregate roadway. I’d like to give a synopsis of roadway construction if you will give me the time.

POTUS answers: Well, this meeting has proven very productive so far! I’m inclined to hear some details about roadway construction. Do any of you have impending appointments today?

A few shrugs, but no objections materialize.

POTUS continues, Let’s all freshen our coffees or teas and perhaps sample some of John’s pastries. We might need a little help keeping eyelids up.

After a short break, everyone is back in his chair.

Carman begins: "The Asphalt Institute notwithstanding, the basic Interstate Highway roadway construction scheme is to create a smooth base with earth and sand stabilized by Portland cement, set up heavy steel-reinforcing bars, and pour concrete aggregate to finish. There has been a continuous marketing effort by the oil interests, through the Asphalt Institute, to promote the use of asphalt paving without reinforcing bars instead of concrete aggregate. The life expectancy of an asphalt Interstate roadway is far less than that of the steel-reinforced concrete aggregate roadway primarily due to the heavy semi-trailers that almost single-handedly break down the roadway. There has been a fair amount of misguided paving over concrete aggregate roadways with asphalt. The resulting smooth roadway is pathetically short-lived. The semis repeatedly stress the bond between the top pavement and the aggregate surface, causing the paving to spall in an initially local failure that quickly progresses into an ever larger area of exposed concrete aggregate.

"Now, renewal must restore the roadway to serviceable condition, and the restored roadway should really last at least five years to justify the labor expended. Diligent maintenance, such as that in East Texas as described by POTUS, is the ultimate economically effective solution; but few areas of the country practice this.

"We have at least three conditions that define Interstate roadways as unserviceable:

One, concrete aggregate is viable, but surface roughness is excessive.

Two, concrete aggregate has failed locally, or generally, and must be replaced.

Three, pavement courses over viable concrete aggregate are spalling.

"Since I have been Secretary of the Department of Transportation during the last four years of the previous administration, I have been able to complete developmental testing of roadway refurbishment methods. The consensus of the technical associates of my department is that there is one optimal method of refurbishment for each of the unserviceable roadways:

One, the viable but excessively rough concrete roadways should be smoothed and trued by a process called ‘milling’.

Two, localized areas of broken down concrete aggregate should be removed by use of jackhammers and larger areas by complete removal of all of the aggregate down to the base. New concrete aggregate, appropriately reinforced with steel bars, should be placed to restore the roadway.

"We recommend removing the unserviceable asphalt paving wherever it has been placed over viable concrete aggregate. Thereafter the concrete aggregate should be smoothed and trued by milling. Paving over a concrete aggregate roadway is a poor repair for two reasons:

One, heavy semi-trailer trucks very quickly create a washboard-like surface condition that causes irritating vibration and noise in automobiles.

Two, heavy semi-trailer trucks cause fatigue failure in the paving within one to three years (soonest where there are freezing winters) causing localized or general removal of the paving. If the concrete aggregate surface was properly roughened prior to the placement of the asphalt, the newly exposed aggregate is very rough indeed.

I suspect that paving over concrete aggregate is politically motivated. Replacement every three years is a nice sop to road construction firms, labor unions, and the Asphalt Institute. I propose that we leave state and local governments the responsibility to continue to maintain these roadways.

POTUS interjects, So now we know what to do to restore the Interstate Highway System portion of the United States infrastructure! Can you propose a schedule, projected costs, and jobs created?

Carman continues: Item two, concrete aggregate roadway repair is both the most urgently needed and the most labor intensive of the two refurbishment plans that I have proposed. Approximately forty percent of the Interstate Highway System requires such localized repair; ten percent requires complete replacement. Mr. Jobs, I could use your help here. Can you estimate the number of man-days of labor needed per mile of roadway for localized reconstruction assuming no more than one percent of the concrete aggregate road surface is damaged?

Jobs answers: Our data reveals that crews doing the reconstruction usually number six men for removal of the damaged aggregate, three men for reestablishing the base, and six more men (including concrete truck drivers) for putting down the new concrete aggregate and finishing the surface of the same. These crews can restore approximately one-tenth mile of roadway per day. By the way, our cost estimate is one hundred thousand dollars per mile of this type of refurbishment, paying an average labor rate of eighteen dollars per hour.

Thank you, very much, John, Carman exclaims! The total man-days of labor required would then be 1,080,000. If we can complete this work in six months, 7,200 jobs would be created. If the work is completed in four months, 11,000 jobs would be created. The cost estimate is $2,250,000,000."

POTUS responds, Y’all are hereby authorized to proceed immediately. Mr. Zimmerman, can you arrange to have the required Executive Orders ready for my signature by tomorrow evening?

No problem, Sir. You will have the necessary Executive Orders by 3 PM, says Zimmerman.

POTUS: Mr. Carman, please proceed with the rest of Item Two of the refurbishment plan.

Yes, Chief! responds Carman, This is the costliest part of the plan. Approximately ten percent of the Interstate Highway System concrete aggregate roadway must be replaced. Tearing up the damaged roadway and recycling the steel and aggregate would cost $250,000 per mile. Rebuilding the base would cost another $50,000 per mile. Setting the reinforcing steel, pouring the new course of concrete aggregate, and finishing the surface would cost a whopping $5,000,000 per mile. That totals $5,300,000 per mile times 4,500 miles, or $24,000,000,000.

POTUS interjects: Mr. Anderson, what’s left in the United States Highway Trust Fund after deducting the expenditures that we have already designated today?

Mr. President, Anderson responds, After today’s earlier deductions, the Fund will be $35,626,543,000. If we deduct the proposed $24,000,000,000 the Fund would be reduced to $11,626,543,000."

POTUS rubs his furrowed brows in contemplation. We’ll do it! How many jobs will this part of the program create?

Carman asks, Mr. Jobs, can you give me the number of man-days required for the base restoration and placement of the new roadway?

One mile of the refurbishment process will take five hundred man-days, Jobs complies.

Thanks, John, that’s a total of 2,250,000 man-days, says Carman. I’ll add a hundred man-days per mile for the destruction and recycling of the old roadway which brings the total to 2,700,000 man-days. If we budget completion for the end of 2010, the number of jobs created becomes 10,400.

Anderson interjects, The cost of those 10,400 jobs is $2,306,250 per man.

POTUS muses: At least we will have a serviceable Interstate Highway System by the end of the year. Mr. Zimmerman, how many jobs have we created today?

Zimmerman answers, 21,400 new jobs, Sir, assuming we budget completion of the localized concrete aggregate reconstruction for completion in four months.

A pregnant silence ensues.

Carman interjects: Are we ready to address Item One -- milling?

POTUS offers, How about a brief ‘potty’ break?

After ten minutes of relief and the odd cookie with coffee, the meeting resumes in the Oval Office.

POTUS: Mr. Carman, let’s polish off the final item on today’s agenda.

Carman begins: I first encountered a milled concrete aggregate surface on Interstate 80 in Nebraska in 1986. It was eerily awesome to be driving at seventy miles per hour without any perceptible surface variation, neither vibration nor noise. Later that night, I encountered an operating milling machine. It was moving at a true snail’s pace, smoothing one-third of the width of one lane of the highway. A stream of concrete-water slurry was dropping off a conveyor belt and landing in the ditch beside the shoulder of the highway. At that time the depth of removal was perhaps three-sixteenths of one inch. The roadway was serviceable before being 'milled', therefore one pass of the machine was adequate to create a billiard table flat highway surface. Today the milling machines are still the same width. Six, in a staggered formation, would be required to mill a two lane (one direction) Interstate Highway. They seem to cut a little deeper today, probably because the roadway surfaces are deeply dished by heavy semi-trailer trucks. Two passes are normally needed. If you travel a section after one pass of milling, you will encounter circular depressions, perhaps an eighth of an inch deep, that remain after removal of a quarter inch of the concrete aggregate surface. In most parts of the United States, the left lane’s surface is in better shape than the right lane because the heavy semi-trailer trucks spend the majority of their travel time in the right lane. One pass might clean up most left lane sections. There are a couple of hundred milling machines currently operating in the contiguous forty-eight States. Milling is carried out at night to minimize disruption of traffic. Operating speed of the milling machine is about one mile per hour. We estimate that twenty percent of the Interstate Highway System requires milling to reestablish a serviceable roadway, so that’s about 9,000 miles. One pass per left lane requires three machines. Two passes per right lane requires six milling machines. Nine machines restore one mile of Interstate Highway in one hour. Two hundred machines could restore 9,000 miles in four hundred hours. That’s ten weeks minimum time to mill nine thousand miles of the Interstate Highway System. Job creation is minimal for this part of the plan. Two hundred drivers and one hundred support workers would mean three hundred jobs for ten weeks. The cost is roughly $20,000 per mile, for a total of $180,000,000. Cost per job created is $600,000.

POTUS interjects again: "Do it! Mr. Zimmerman, I will need a rough script for my televised report to the American people this Wednesday. We’ll discuss it, but I will want to present a state-by-state breakdown of where the jobs will be created. Gentlemen and lady, I am elated with what we have accomplished today. As you heard earlier, the required Executive Orders will be signed tomorrow afternoon. Copies will be forwarded to every one of you.

"Now I have a request of the Secretaries of the non-fiscal departments. James Carman has the mandate to push the restoration of the United States Interstate Highway System to serviceable condition absolutely as soon as humanly possible. As I see it, the Executive Branch is to do the following: