1장
America's Crossroads: A Vision for National Renewal
In a world where politicians speak in carefully measured soundbites, Donald Trump's "The America We Deserve" stands as a stark departure-a blunt assessment of America's challenges delivered with characteristic directness. Published in 2000 as Trump contemplated a presidential run, this book offers a fascinating glimpse into the mindset that would later capture the White House. Long before "Make America Great Again" became a campaign slogan, Trump was diagnosing what he saw as America's ailments and prescribing his own brand of solutions. The book became a cult favorite among political insiders who recognized its significance as an early blueprint for Trump's eventual political platform. What makes this work particularly intriguing is how it reveals Trump's political thinking before he became a partisan figure-addressing issues from healthcare to education with surprising positions that don't fit neatly into traditional political boxes. As we navigate today's hyper-polarized landscape, revisiting this candid manifesto offers valuable insights into the businessman-turned-politician who would dramatically reshape American politics.
2장
The Business Mindset: America's Forgotten Advantage
The Wollman Rink story perfectly encapsulates Trump's fundamental belief about human motivation and self-interest. When New York City failed to renovate this Central Park ice rink after six years and $13 million, Trump stepped in and completed it in just four months for $2.25 million. Why the difference? Trump points to motivation-his casino employees in New Jersey work diligently because they understand their efforts directly benefit themselves and their community, while city construction workers lack this connection, seeing no personal stake in their work's quality or timeliness.
This principle extends to Trump's view of effective governance. He celebrates Mayor Rudy Giuliani's approach to New York City's finances-slashing taxes instead of raising them, reducing commercial rent costs, cutting paperwork, and implementing tax abatements that saved property owners millions. Contrary to traditional thinking that predicted revenue losses, these tax cuts generated more revenue. After reducing the hotel occupancy tax, the city gained nearly $50 million in additional tax revenue. Similarly, tax-free shopping weeks brought suburban shoppers back to city stores.
The results were remarkable: between 1994-1996, New York gained almost 21,000 jobs in tourism and restaurants alone, and 178,000 private wage jobs overall-reversing the previous administration's loss of 320,000 private sector jobs. This represented the highest annual percentage increase in the city's history, with growth distributed across all five boroughs. Welfare reform helped over 300,000 recipients leave public assistance.
This business-minded approach worked elsewhere too. Indianapolis under Mayor Goldsmith reduced operating expenses by 26%, cut bureaucracy, balanced the budget, reduced property taxes, increased police presence, and invested $1.1 billion in infrastructure. The city spent half what Washington D.C. spent per resident with far better outcomes-lower crime rates, lower unemployment, and poverty rates below the national average.
"The formula is simple," Trump explains. "Reward production, screen out non-contributors, let people keep their earnings, simplify regulations, and let human ambition flourish." The 1996 welfare reform legislation followed this example, resulting in welfare caseloads dropping by 4.4 million.
Trump distills governance to two basic principles: First, get government out of activities it can't do well. Second, focus government on providing public convenience (transportation, infrastructure) and safety (police, firefighters) efficiently, judging by visible results.
He rejects historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s theory about cycles of government activism followed by periods of "thoughtless, insular selfishness," arguing that Americans never truly disengage. Even during supposedly inactive periods like the Eisenhower or Reagan years, Americans were busy creating businesses, building technological innovations, and launching the computer revolution.
"The business of America truly is business," Trump concludes, "because business links private ambitions to social needs." The couple opening a dry cleaners or restaurant pursues their American Dream while meeting community needs. This unleashed creative genius of the American people is the real story of America-what happens in Washington is merely the sideshow.
3장
Education Reform: Competition as the Path Forward
American schools have transformed from centers of learning into centers of violence and mediocrity. Beyond safety concerns, our education system is failing its fundamental purpose-students drop out in alarming numbers or receive meaningless diplomas from watered-down curricula. The statistics are devastating: over half of New York City students read below grade level, with only 48.4% of ninth graders graduating with their class. Nationwide, 38% of fourth graders read below "basic" level, while 30% of college freshmen require remedial classes to learn what they should have mastered in high school.
The problems stem from misguided educational philosophies prioritizing "self-esteem" over actual learning. Rather than correcting errors, schools celebrate "creative spelling" and "estimating" in math to avoid hurting feelings. Meanwhile, American students rank dismally in international comparisons-19th out of 21 nations in math and 16th in science.
Despite claims of underfunding, inflation-adjusted spending on public education skyrocketed from $15.6 billion in 1961 to $293 billion in 1997, with per-pupil spending nearly tripling. We've reduced class sizes and increased teacher salaries, yet SAT scores plummeted 62 points from the mid-1960s to 1991. Instead of demanding accountability, we simply "re-centered" the tests to mask declining performance-what Trump calls "educational fraud, plain and simple."
Modern education has replaced precision with "estimating"-what previous generations simply called "wrong." Rather than risk damaging self-esteem, educators now avoid judgment, despite life's harsh realities. There's no room for mathematical error when setting chemotherapy machine dials, launching space shuttles, or building skyscrapers. The consequences are devastating: American twelfth graders rank near the bottom internationally in math and science, and since 1983, we've graduated 20 million students who can't do basic math and 25 million who don't know basic American history.
The obsession with building self-esteem has produced a generation of students who feel great about mediocre performance. While American students ranked 12th out of 14 in international math achievement, 90% reported "positive attitudes" about their math abilities. Meanwhile, South Korean students who ranked first had the least positive self-assessment. Programs like "I Like Me!" have replaced actual achievement with empty self-congratulation, despite thousands of studies finding no connection between high self-esteem and better outcomes.
Children recognize this hypocrisy-we can't raise self-esteem while lowering expectations. When Bessemer School in Colorado scrapped their self-esteem sessions and focused on academics, reading proficiency jumped from 12% to 64% in one year. True self-esteem comes from genuine achievement, not false praise.
Trump believes competition is the solution. "If you want to see how school choice strengthens education, look at your local market," he explains. "Two bodegas on a block create competition-fresh produce, reasonable prices, and specials to attract customers. A monopoly grocery store with no competition offers poor service because customers are locked in."
Our public schools operate in this competition-free zone, surrounded by union walls. Teachers' unions donate heavily to Democrats (85% of soft money) and had one in eight delegates at the 1996 Democratic Convention, ensuring politicians oppose school choice.
The results of competition are clear when comparing Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem to nearby public schools. Despite serving the same poor neighborhood with overcrowded classrooms, 70% of Our Lady's third-graders read at or above grade level compared to just 20% at PS 102. The difference? If Brother Louis fails, parents will take their children elsewhere. His handbook emphasizes self-discipline, and students who underperform face consequences. Our Lady spends just $2,500 per student versus $7,617 in New York City public schools, yet produces twice as many graduates.
Luis Iza's Operation Exodus demonstrates similar success-with just two employees and sixty volunteers, they've provided nearly $700,000 in scholarships to foster children in forty-four states without taking public money. All one hundred current high school students plan to attend college with SAT scores nearly 400 points higher than local Washington Heights schools.
Trump concludes: "To save our schools, we must give all parents choice in where they send their children, challenge both public and private schools to demand more from teachers and students, and embrace competition-the American way forward to a well-educated workforce."
4장
Reclaiming Safe Streets: A Zero-Tolerance Approach
Crime represents America's biggest scandal-a symptom of societal trouble like a fever. Despite being the world's richest country with unprecedented opportunities, our crime rate remains unacceptably high. Though it has dropped recently, population growth threatens to make it skyrocket again. Trump rejects the soft-on-crime philosophy that views criminals as victims of society: "The only victim of violent crime is the person being attacked-the perpetrator is nothing more than a predator."
Trump argues that tough crime policies are our most important form of national defense, allowing citizens in all neighborhoods to live and work safely. He criticizes well-meaning people who oppose building more prisons and hard-edged policies like New York's, noting they typically have doormen and don't walk through dangerous streets-they think too abstractly about crime because they lack firsthand experience with it.
Those who worry about criminals' rights claim to care for underdogs, but Trump believes officials who prioritize safe streets do more to help the little guy realize his dream than anyone else. Criminals target a small percentage of the poor, with most violent crime occurring in just 3% of neighborhoods-areas where struggling families could use all the help they can get. "No one deserves to fear for their lives simply because of where they live," he writes.
Crime fragments America by separating our population, reducing economic and cultural opportunities, and forcing most citizens to live in fear. Cities should be dynamic centers of culture where suburbanites and tourists feel safe enjoying urban life. Trump advocates a zero-tolerance policy toward anyone obstructing the safer America we all deserve.
He dismisses the argument that America has too many people in prison: "That would make sense if police were rounding up innocent people, but that's not happening-you generally have to be a longstanding criminal to qualify for jail." Critics who claim America has an "addiction to imprisonment" are plainly wrong. While fine-tuning punishment is possible for victimless crimes, those who call for "humane alternatives" rarely want these facilities in their own neighborhoods.
On guns, Trump takes a moderate position: "I generally oppose gun control but support the ban on assault weapons and a slightly longer waiting period. With today's Internet technology, we should be able to verify a potential gun owner's record within 72 hours."
Regarding capital punishment, Trump is unequivocal: "I don't believe all criminals can be redeemed, nor do I accept that capital punishment is uncivilized." He points to the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Texas, arguing that lethal injection is too comfortable for such perpetrators. "Civilized people don't tolerate barbaric behavior," he states. Capital punishment serves two purposes: it upholds civilization by removing those who've declared war on it, and it deters crime.
Trump praises New York City's approach under Mayor Giuliani, where law enforcement shifted from reactive to proactive approaches, targeting patrols on "hot spots" and treating minor crimes as precursors to more serious offenses. This "we're not going to let the little stuff slide" approach made the difference, with the murder rate at its lowest since 1967. Despite protests from community activists, the results speak for themselves: significant crime reduction across the board.
5장
America First: A Hardheaded Foreign Policy Vision
In today's complex world, American foreign policy can no longer follow the simple chess game approach of the Cold War era. With the U.S. as the only major player, we now deal with nations case by case. Trump calls for a dealmaker president who can keep many balls in the air while always putting America's interests first-someone who knows when to be tough, when to back off, and when to threaten (but only when prepared to follow through).
American foreign policy constantly shifts between starry-eyed idealism and brooding isolationism-either embarking on grand crusades or turning our backs on the world. The key is finding the right balance of idealism and practical good sense. Ronald Reagan demonstrated this balance in ending the Cold War-he didn't hesitate to call the Soviet Union an "evil empire," but also seized opportunities to strike deals when they arose.
China represents America's biggest long-term challenge. While conditions have improved since Chairman Mao's time, the Tiananmen Square massacre was only ten years ago and Chinese citizens still have few political rights. Despite having the upper hand, America is too eager to please China, seeing only a potential market while compromising our national interests. Our trade relationship is already one-sided, with China selling us four times what we're allowed to sell in their markets.
"China doesn't aspire to partnership," Trump warns. "It sees us as a rival in its ambition to dominate Asia. We should trade with China but not trade away our principles or security."
North Korea represents our biggest short-term menace, exporting nothing but trouble worldwide. Despite knowing they're making weapons of mass destruction, our policy remains weak-minded. After discovering North Korea's nuclear weapons program, we demanded inspections but ended up with the 1994 Agreed Framework-a terrible deal where we promised them two $4 billion nuclear reactors and massive fuel and food aid in exchange for halting certain nuclear activities.
Trump takes a hard line: "I'm not trigger-happy, but as president I would be prepared to order a conventional strike against North Korean nuclear targets if negotiations fail and it prevented nuclear blackmail or destruction of the U.S. population." He specifies a very targeted strike, not an extended air campaign or ground war, then returning to the bargaining table.
Regarding Israel, Trump is steadfast: "The United States must continue our special relationship with Israel as the cornerstone of our Middle East policy. This isn't charity or guilt-we support Israel because Israel supports us. It's a stable democratic ally in an unstable region, an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' for American interests and values."
On Russia, Trump notes the complexity: "Russia is like a fallen adversary who's lost everything-you want to help, but our dealings are complicated." He criticizes American policymakers' timidity, noting that during Kosovo, Russia threatened us while simultaneously holding out its hand for billions in IMF loans. "We need to tell Russia and other aid recipients that if they want our money, they must respect our security concerns. Few respect weakness."
For Cuba, Trump advocates continued pressure: "Fidel Castro has been a thorn in our side for nearly forty years, running a vicious dictatorship that causes immense suffering." He opposes normalizing relations, arguing that foreign investment in Cuba doesn't help average Cubans-investors must pay Castro directly for workers, who receive only token salaries while Castro keeps the rest to fund his brutal system.
Trump's rules for military intervention are straightforward: "Only intervene when there's a direct threat to our interests-one so obvious most Americans understand why we're involved. We're the greatest humanitarian nation, but our troops should only face danger when national survival is at stake."
On immigration, Trump is blunt: "America faces serious problems with illegal immigrants flooding across our borders-five million illegals nationwide with two million in California alone. It's scandalous that America cannot control its borders." His policy is clear: enter legally or leave. "We must take care of our own people first before extending help to outsiders."
Regarding international trade, Trump notes: "Our trade deficit proves we're being taken to the cleaners by trading partners. We need tougher negotiations, not protectionist walls." He suggests appointing himself U.S. Trade Representative to personally negotiate with Japan, France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia: "The rip-off of America would end."
Trump concludes with Theodore Roosevelt's approach: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." He criticizes the Clinton administration for talking too much-making endless threats and explanations. "When I make billion-dollar deals, I never tell competitors what I will and won't do. Telling enemies we won't invade shows weakness."
6장
The Terrorist Threat: America's Hidden Vulnerability
Terrorism represents a real and growing danger to America, despite those who want to dismiss it. Trump points to Clinton's controversial clemency for eleven Puerto Rican terrorists responsible for 130 bombings that killed six people-a decision Trump attributes to helping Hillary's Senate campaign rather than national security.
The threat has evolved dramatically-weapons have shrunk while the danger has grown enormous. Nuclear devices can now fit in suitcases, and canisters of anthrax could devastate any American city. Trump's uncle John Trump, an MIT professor, warned decades ago about lone fanatics with miniaturized weapons. A biological attack might kill thousands, halting city functions and overwhelming medical systems.
"Politicians avoid discussing this frightening scenario," Trump notes, "but experts like Ted Koppel acknowledge it's no longer a question of if, but when a biological attack will hit an American city." We must prepare not only for attacks but also for blackmail-situations where extremists might demand we abandon allies like Israel.
Many nations and fanatics are plotting to strike America. Our best defense is human intelligence-spies who infiltrate rogue nations and extremist groups. Despite our investment in high-tech surveillance, we've let our intelligence capabilities shrink. Abraham Sofaer points to critical failures: the FBI had no Arabic translators to read papers from Rabbi Kahane's murderer that might have prevented the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the mastermind Ramzi Yousef was caught with a false passport but released due to lack of detention space.
The Department of Defense warns that just five pounds of anthrax could wipe out half of Washington, D.C. We need practical defenses against such threats. The outbreak of rare West Nile encephalitis in New York-which Iraqi defector Mickhael Ramadan claimed Saddam Hussein was developing for bioterrorism-shows our vulnerability.
Trump recommends stockpiling antibiotics in major cities, training emergency workers for rapid response, deploying early warning sensors, monitoring former Soviet biotechnicians to prevent their expertise going to terrorist regimes, and preparing the public to avoid panic during an attack.
"I'm sharing these grim truths because, unlike most public figures, I can afford to be truthful," Trump writes. "Some will question my expertise on national defense, but who are the 'experts' and what have they done lately? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see we're living in dangerous times-just courage to say so."
7장
Economic Revolution: The Debt-Free America Plan
While politicians tinker with taxes and haggle over budgets, Trump proposes a bold solution: making America debt-free with a one-time 14.25% tax on individuals and trusts with net worth over $10 million. This would raise $5.7 trillion to pay off the national debt, saving $200 billion in interest payments annually. Half could cut middle-class taxes, while the other half would secure Social Security through the next century.
Dr. Allen Sinai, chief economist of Primark Decision Economics, called Trump's ideas "intriguing" as a redistribution from the superrich to middle-income Americans while eliminating inheritance tax and cutting national debt. The plan would also repeal the 55% federal inheritance tax that hurts farmers and small business owners who can't pass their life's work to their children without the IRS taking most of it.
The wealthy might protest, but paying off the national debt would free up enormous capital for investment in American companies, causing interest rates to plummet and triggering a 35-40% boost in economic activity-the greatest economic boom in American history. This would generate more business start-ups, more jobs, more taxpayers, and more revenue for education, healthcare, and Medicare.
Trump acknowledges our tax code is disastrous, collecting over $1.48 trillion-more than Britain's entire economy. Middle-class earners pay rates once reserved for millionaires, while the code's complexity requires specialists to navigate its 480 tax forms plus 280 explanation forms. The IRS distributes eight billion pages of forms annually-enough to circle Earth 28 times-yet Americans still forfeit billions in potential refunds from confusion.
The tax burden is crushing: a median-income family pays nearly $23,000 (38% of income) in combined taxes-more than they spend on food, clothing, housing, and transportation combined. Workers earning around $60,000 face a 36% rate, plus hidden costs like payroll taxes and regulatory compliance that cost employers about $6,800 per family.
High tax rates discourage achievement and savings while encouraging consumption. Our system punishes the middle class for investing by taxing money twice-when earned and when it generates capital gains. High property taxes create disincentives for property improvement, as Governor Jesse Ventura noted: "It punishes people for doing the right thing." The code even penalizes marriage, making it financially smarter for two-thirds of married couples to divorce.
Trump criticizes the IRS for operating like a paramilitary force against American citizens. Richard Gardner faced fifteen armed IRS agents and U.S. marshals who seized his client records and computers for two years. Oil company owner W.A. "Tex" Moncrief described agents storming his office "like an army landing on an enemy beachfront," shouting they were armed while local media watched. Moncrief spent $5.5 million on his defense. Even Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan called it "government violence directed against citizens."
After paying off the national debt, Trump argues we must address fundamental problems with our tax system: excessive complexity wasting billions of dollars and productive hours; rates that remain too high; hidden taxes that function as government pickpocketing; property taxes that punish improvement; discrimination against married people; government intrusion into private lives; and the code's instability threatening small business and retirement plans.
8장
Saving Social Security: Breaking the Pyramid Scheme
Trump compares Social Security to Charles Ponzi's infamous 1919 investment scheme. Ponzi promised Italian immigrants guaranteed returns of 50% in just over a month and 100% in three months. The scheme initially worked-early investors received payouts, most reinvested, and deposits reached $1 million daily. But the SEC wasn't actually investing in foreign coupons as claimed; most deposits sat earning just 1% in a local bank while Ponzi spent lavishly on mansions and cars.
"This same pattern appears in Social Security," Trump explains. "Early recipients received 36.5% annual returns on contributions, those retiring in 1956 got 12%, but workers retiring after 2015 will see below 2% returns-if they get paid at all."
Social Security currently faces a staggering $20 trillion liability-about $72,700 for every American. Despite politicians' solemn promises to protect it, little has been done to prevent the coming crisis. The truth is there is no actual Social Security Trust Fund-it's merely a bookkeeping device. As economist Milton Friedman explains, "Taxes paid by today's workers are used to pay today's retirees. If money is left over, it finances other government spending."
Four unforeseen developments created this crisis: life expectancy increasing from 61 to 76 years, retirement becoming a quarter-century lifestyle, the demographic baby boom that will strain the system by 2030, and declining birth rates (from 3.8 in 1957 to 2.0 today) undermining the pyramid scheme. When the first Boomers retire after 2013, the program will take in less than it owes, and by 2030, the trust fund will be bankrupt.
Trump finds inspiration in an unlikely source: Oseola McCarty, a 90-year-old retired laundry worker from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For seventy years, McCarty took in other people's laundry, saved diligently, and invested wisely enough to donate $150,000 for scholarships at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her wisdom was investing in something real-savings accounts, CDs, and low-risk mutual funds.
The stock market has historically outperformed all other investments since the 1840s, offering around 7% returns compared to treasury bonds' 2.5%. While cautioning about market volatility, Trump advocates allowing Americans to dedicate a portion of their payroll taxes to personal Social Security accounts they own and invest in diversified, regulated funds. These accounts could be inherited or used for other purposes, unlike the current system.
Trump warns against substitutes to true privatization. President Clinton's proposal would have federal bureaucrats invest Social Security funds on citizens' behalf, giving individuals no control while effectively putting the government in the boardroom of every major American corporation. As Alan Greenspan warned, this has "very far-reaching potential dangers for a free American economy."
Trump also advocates eliminating penalties for retirement-age seniors who continue working. Currently, poor working seniors between 65-69 face a 33.3% disincentive on top of regular taxes, creating an effective tax rate as high as 65%. He suggests raising the full retirement age to 70 for those currently under 40, reflecting our longer lifespans and work lives.
The Moynihan-Kerrey proposal to cut payroll taxes by $800 billion over ten years and shift revenue into individual wealth accounts would benefit everyone-Harvard researchers found virtually every woman would be better off under private accounts, with single women receiving 58% more than Social Security and wives 208% more.
9장
Healthcare Reform: Universal Coverage Through Competition
The American healthcare system is broken despite having the most advanced medical science on earth. Doctors no longer make house calls, and many Americans can't even get in their doctors' doors. HMOs aren't working, prescription medicine is unaffordable, and Medicare faces immense financing problems. The breakdown in doctor-patient relations stems from a bloated health insurance bureaucracy where decisions are made by people with minimal qualifications.
"The real scandal," Trump writes, "is that ten million American children and forty-two million Americans overall have no insurance coverage. We must not allow citizens to go untreated because of financial problems or bureaucratic red tape. Our people are our greatest asset, and we must take care of our own through universal healthcare."
Surprisingly, Trump advocates examining the single-payer healthcare system. "The Canadian-style system, where all payments are made to a single agency rather than numerous HMOs and insurance companies, could save billions in administrative costs." In Massachusetts alone, implementing such a system would save $5 billion, about one-seventh of medical care overhead. Administrative costs make up 25% of America's healthcare dollar-two-and-a-half times Canada's rate.
While doctors might be paid less under such a system, they could treat more patients with reduced paperwork. The Canadian plan helps Canadians live longer and healthier than Americans, with fewer lawsuits and lower costs to employers. However, implementation isn't simple, as Canada's system faces financial difficulties. "We need to improve on their prototype," Trump suggests.
While developing a single-payer system would take years, Trump recommends immediate improvements to the current system. Most Americans rely on employer healthcare coverage, creating a one-size-fits-all situation where individuals have little input. He advocates tax reform that gives groups and individuals tax breaks equivalent to those corporations receive, allowing citizens to supplement company policies or purchase their own insurance.
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program offers an excellent model for healthcare reform. It operates through a centralized agency offering considerable choice, allowing 620 private insurance companies to compete in a market-based system. Participants can choose from two dozen different plans with varying benefits and costs. The government manages with a light hand through the Office of Personnel Management, which negotiates with providers after they submit proposals.
"Medicare and a universal single-payer plan could operate similarly," Trump suggests, "creating real competition to develop attractive benefit packages." This approach would provide economic benefits through improved healthcare access, reducing missed workdays and financial losses for uncompensated care.
10장
Political Reform: Transparency Over Regulation
Money and politics form an ugly pair. Politicians seeking donations lack the dignity of street beggars, who make no pretensions about their intentions. Political pros claim donations defend noble causes when they're really seeking job security. Despite the indignities and outrageousness of political fundraising, our system generally succeeds in producing representatives responsive to public desires, weeding out cranks and electing some good public servants.
However, improvements are needed in campaign financing, which is currently too beholden to special interests, with regular citizens being drowned out by unions, corporations, lobbyists, and foreign money. Americans want a financing system reflecting bedrock values-fair, honest, and favoring individual rights.
Past campaign reform efforts have failed by trying to control money inflow through contribution limits that simply encourage finding loopholes. The solution isn't stricter regulations but transparency-ensuring donations and donors are on public record.
Our representative democracy allows people to support candidates through various means, including donations. In today's media-driven campaigns, money has become essential, with television advertising being particularly expensive. Trump's solution has two goals: first, empower individuals with unrestricted ability to support candidates as an expression of First Amendment rights; second, prevent corporations and unions from overpowering the system with unlimited "soft money" donations.
"Public funding of campaigns is wrong," Trump argues, "because it forces citizens to support candidates they reject-a form of tyranny." Similarly, forcing television stations to provide "free" airtime to candidates has a dictatorial quality that contradicts American values of freedom.
Soft money is the bane of our political system-unlimited funds given to political parties that inevitably find their way to specific candidates. This legal sham exploded from $86 million in 1992 to $260 million in 1996, with projections of $750 million by 2000. The securities industry, insurance companies, and oil companies are top Republican donors, while unions and trial lawyers dominate Democratic contributions.
"These donations aren't charitable-they're investments expecting returns," Trump explains. The pharmaceutical industry's $18.6 million in contributions helped extend drug patents, costing consumers $550 million annually. Auto industry donations froze fuel efficiency standards, and telecom companies' contributions led to higher cable costs.
Trump's solution is simple: ban soft money entirely while allowing unlimited individual contributions. Personal freedom should include the right to support candidates as passionately as one chooses, without artificial limits that merely obscure how fundraising actually works.
His reform plan requires campaigns to electronically post donors and donations at the close of each business day. This marriage of information and reform revolutions would enable immediate public scrutiny of who's funding candidates. "Imagine watching a politician speak while a ticker shows that day's donations-like Al Gore delivering a speech on movie violence while the screen reveals Hollywood money just dropped in his pocket." This transparency would force candidates to be more selective about their supporters.
11장
The Volunteer Spirit: America's Greatest Resource
America worships achievement but also reveres its saints-those who help others without seeking recognition. While we admire business leaders who create jobs, we reserve our deepest respect for those who volunteer at AIDS hospices, help the homeless, or mentor inner-city children. Many political and social programs fail because they overlook these everyday saints already doing holy work in our communities.
The American tradition of volunteering reflects our national character-nearly half of all adults (48.8%) volunteer, totaling about 100 million Americans. Remarkably, households earning under $10,000 annually give the highest percentage of income to charity. With over 740,000 community organizations (rising to nearly two million when including religious congregations and local chapters), America's charitable spirit is unmatched worldwide.
This generosity could be even greater if middle-class Americans weren't so heavily taxed-studies show people in low-tax states tend to be more charitable, as they can direct more of their own money toward causes they believe in.
The Orphan Foundation of America exemplifies effective volunteerism-with just two employees and sixty volunteers, they've provided nearly $700,000 in scholarships to foster children in forty-four states without taking public money. These efforts transform lives, like Anthony Peebles who overcame a childhood with a prostitute mother and drug-dealing relatives to achieve academic success and attend university.
As Eileen McCaffrey explains, beyond basic necessities, these kids need personal connection to learn values and feel valued. The foundation connects these children with political leaders and corporate sponsors, showing them they matter regardless of background.
America's volunteer spirit has powered movements from abolition to civil rights, and we should encourage this through policies like tax reduction. Trump's rule is simple: find just one person to help-it will transform both your lives. "Americans can be wild and pushy," he concludes, "but this is also a land of saints."
