Levene has proposed a
coastal enclave of "New
Israel" in
South Texas along the
Laguna Madre, to be located south of
Baffin Bay and east of
U.S. Route 77, as an
alternative Middle East peace proposal to be granted in exchange for the evacuation of
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian
West Bank. The enclave would not reach the
Rio Grande Valley at the southernmost tip of Texas, however, and hence would leave the existing
Mexico–United States border intact. Under this arrangement, Israel would continue to exist within its
pre-1967 borders, with "New Israel" as an added overseas territory, intended to stimulate both the Israeli and Texan economies by a brisk
border trade. Levene considers the proposal feasible because of the low population density in this part of Texas (particularly,
Kenedy County has a population of only 416). Levene's platform included the elimination of U.S. federal corporate taxes to make the U.S. the world's largest tax haven. He believed that trillions of dollars of foreign investment funds would instantly flow into the United States. It would be invested in new facilities by foreign investors and corporations sparking a new economic boom, and a massive increase in employment. The millions of new jobs would substantially reduce federal and state unemployment expenditures and the new income taxes generated would substantially offset the loss of federal corporate tax revenue. He also wanted to develop a practical alternative to a Term Limits Amendment. His idea was to eliminate the congressional pensions of all incumbents who ran for office again after a maximum of twelve years in the House or Senate. He believed that the motivation to retire and take a potentially substantial lifetime pension would overcome the desire to run for office after this period. As a part of that proposal, all raised campaign funds would be given to charity after each election cycle so that all candidate started each campaign at zero, and that candidate loans to committees would be banned. Levene believed that this would create a fairer system without incumbents having vastly more money than challengers. ==See also==