Policy Rankings

Mandatory health savings + catastrophic insurance + price transparency. Singapore spends 4% GDP with better outcomes than US at 17%.

Current: US spends $4.3T/yr (17% GDP) with worse outcomes than peers → Target: Hybrid model: mandatory HSAs + transparent pricing + catastrophic pool

Redirect NIH funding from basic research overhead to pragmatic real-world clinical trials with mandatory data sharing.

Current: NIH: $48B/yr, <10% on pragmatic trials, 85% of findings fail to replicate → Target: Mandate 30%+ of NIH budget for pragmatic trials with open data requirements

Decriminalize personal drug use, fund treatment and harm reduction. Based on Portugal model (2001).

Current: US spends $40B/yr on drug enforcement; 1.5M arrests annually → Target: Decriminalize personal use, redirect enforcement budget to treatment

Federally funded universal pre-K based on Perry Preschool and European models.

Current: Only 34% of US 3-year-olds enrolled; varies wildly by state → Target: Federal funding for universal enrollment by age 3

12 weeks paid family leave at 66% wage replacement. US is the only OECD country without it.

Current: US is only OECD country with 0 weeks mandated paid family leave → Target: 12 weeks at 66% wage replacement, funded by 0.4% payroll tax

Expand EITC for childless workers and increase phase-out thresholds.

Current: $63B annual cost; benefits phase out at $59K for families → Target: Double benefit for childless workers ($1,500→$3,000); raise income cap

Federal grants conditioned on local upzoning, elimination of single-family-only zoning.

Current: 75% of US residential land zoned single-family only → Target: Condition federal transportation/HUD grants on local zoning reform

Reduce unnecessary licensing requirements that affect 25% of US workers.

Current: 25% of US workers need government license; varies wildly by state → Target: Federal mutual recognition framework; sunset reviews for all licenses

Make the 2021 expanded CTC ($3,600/child) permanent and fully refundable.

Current: Reverted to $2,000/child, not fully refundable (excludes poorest families) → Target: $3,600/child under 6, $3,000 ages 6-17, fully refundable

Tax carbon emissions, return 100% of revenue as equal citizen dividend. Based on British Columbia model.

Current: No federal carbon price; 12 states have cap-and-trade or carbon tax → Target: $50/ton starting price, rising $10/yr, 100% returned as dividend

Streamline environmental review timelines from 4.5 years to 2 years for infrastructure projects.

Current: Average environmental review: 4.5 years; 40,000+ pages of regulation → Target: 2-year maximum review with categorical exclusions for clean energy

Mandatory independent audit of DoD spending; redirect savings to underfunded categories.

Current: $886B military budget; failed 6th consecutive audit → Target: Independent audit with binding recommendations; freeze until clean audit