Lee is also decidedly against illegal immigration, and has pressed the federal government to crack down on the problem. He has said that the children of illegal immigrants should not receive citizenship rights. He wants to pass legislation to "clarify the original intent of the citizenship clause" in the Constitution.

Constitutional Issues

Like his former boss, now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Lee extolls the importance of the "original intent" of the founders of the Constitution, a document that has become a prominent feature in tea party rhetoric. Yet he has also proposed significant changes such as a balanced budget amendment, and the imposition of congressional term limits.

When asked whether these proposed changes run counter to his reverance for the Constitution, Lee responded, "Not at all. The Constitution was made to be amended from time to time. Sometimes we have to change it to make it more true to the American dream."

Perhaps most ironically, Lee has spoken out in favor of repealing the 17th Amendment, which mandates the popular election of U.S. senators. Lee believes in returning to the practice of having senators appointed by state legislatures, though he admits this is unlikely to happen any time soon.

Fiscal Reform

Lee wants to end deficit spending in order to enforce a balanced federal budget. To this end he wrote and sponsored in February 2011 S J Res 5 - a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution o requiring that the federal budget be balanced.

At the same time, he favors radical tax reforms: the end of the progressive income tax and the imposition of a flat tax "to give all Americans a stake in their government."

He objects to the fact that the poorest 50 percent of Americans pay little to no income tax, and thus do not object to new government spending that is being funded by "the real taxpayers."

Social Security

Lee favors major reform of Social Security, while acknowledging that proposing restrictions on this entitlement program is extremely unpopular politically. In March 2010 he said, "It's a really unpopular thing to ... say, 'We have to roll that back, we have to phase it out.'" He has also called for a "systemic overhaul" of Medicare and Medicaid, lest these programs "bankrupt the country."

"Those retiring in, say, the next ten to twenty years need to be told right now we're gonna have to start making some difficult adjustments," he said. "Including raising the retirement age, including reindexing the payout of benefits based on inflation rather than cost of living."

Show less