Do You Remember This?

“. . . government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

This is the end statement of what I consider to be amongst the most important speeches ever delivered by an American President, known to one and all as The Gettysburg Address, delivered by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg Pennsylvania.

So, what happened? Where did our politicians lose sight of these great words that better define who we are as a people than anything else ever said?

Of The People – By The People – For The People.

The time is long overdue for those words to once again have real meaning.

Smaller Government.

Accountable Government.

Affordable Government.

Less Regulations.

Given the opportunity for me to represent you in Congress, I will move heaven and earth to make these famous words mean something yet again.

No one votes for representatives who campaign on a platform to tell the voter how he or she should live, or how he or she should raise his or her family, or what to eat, or what to drive, or which light bulb he or she should use, or what healthcare insurance they MUST buy – But that’s exactly what our politics have come down to.

Not only is this just not right, it flies in the face of Abraham Lincoln’s iconic words. And as Americans, it is the duty of all of us to right this wrong.

HERE’S WHERE I STAND:

On Insider Trading:

Members of Congress who participate in insider trading should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  We cannot continue to have a two-tier legal system with laws that we must obey but that does not apply to the "political class".  That's called a monarchy not a democracy and we had a revolution in 1776 in order to keep that from happening here. I will support and sponsor or co-sponsor any bill that makes insider trading by members of Congress a serious crime.  The ones who participate in insider trading should be voted out, prosecuted and jailed.  They are stealing from all of us!

On Healthcare:

I believe that every American must have access to necessary healthcare, whether that person can afford it or not, because that has always been the American way, since we Americans never throw underdogs under the bus.

However, being there for the needy is not an excuse to force people to buy a government product they don’t wish to purchase. Nor is it a reason to take away freedom of choice.

I will support any law that will give freedom of healthcare choice back to the people, while maintaining a safety net for those who legitimately need help.

My path to affordable and accessible healthcare is as follows:

1 – Take away the litigation gravy train.

2 – Make the purchase of healthcare nationwide, beefing-up real competition.

3 – Create a watchdog to keep insurance companies from colluding to fix prices.

4 – Leave the responsibility for the delivery of healthcare to the Healthcare Providers and Elected State Representatives.

On Energy And Energy Independence:

America is blessed with an extraordinary abundance of natural energy resources, from oil, to gas, to nuclear . . . DEVELOP IT ALL!

In less than a decade, between the oil and gas that is available to us from Canada, and all of the resources that exist at our fingertips, we can be totally energy INDEPENDENT.

But more than that – by developing our own resources, we can knock the cost of energy down so low, that all Americans will benefit from lower prices and more jobs.

And by bringing the cost of energy way down, especially if we break the back of OPEC, we will deliver a deathblow to those countries that want to do us harm.

On Jobs:

Governments do not and cannot create jobs. The only “jobs” the government creates are liabilities by using taxpayer money to increase the size of the already much bloated civil service.

If you want real job creation, this is what the government has to do.

1 – Deregulate everything that is absolutely not necessary to the common need of the people.

2 – Don’t make hiring people an obligation where businesses must become the Big Brother of their workforce.

3 – Totally revamp the tax system as I’ve written about in my section on taxes.

In essence, job creation is as simple an endeavor as getting government out of the way.

On Taxes And The IRS:

Do away with the IRS.  Simply by doing away with the insane tax code that was and continues to be written in favor of Big Business and Big Government, against the well being of small to medium sized businesses and average wage earners.

I like the idea of a flat tax for businesses, salaries, and purchases, where everyone pays the same percentage without deductions and special accommodations that are ONLY available to the rich and powerful.

In this manner, the government can’t hide behind indescribable tax laws as they pretend to cut taxes while they do just the opposite.

On Entitlements:

If we have any hopes whatsoever to having healthcare, a pension and other necessary services for our elderly, now is the time to raise the age of entitlements for people who are under 55 years old today, while honoring the commitments made by previous politicians for all people 55 years and older.

As much as everyone wants to be generous and hand out entitlements like Santa Claus hands out Christmas gifts, the government is not Santa Claus.

We’ve allowed ourselves to build up unsustainable debts by encouraging the politicians to buy our votes with our own money. And now, as a result, we’ve run out of money. And as I see it, we have two simple choices:

1 – We face the problem today and do what has to be done to save the retirement benefits that our elderly have been promised, worked for, expect, and depend upon.

                                    OR

2 – We pretend that we can live beyond our means forever, until the whole system comes crashing down, leaving our most vulnerable citizens alone and penniless.

I opt for the first choice so we don’t have to live the nightmare of the second choice.

On Illegal Immigration:

First, we have to understand that there is no such thing as undocumented immigrants, because whether they are known or not known, documented or undocumented, if they overstayed their welcome in America, or crept across our border, they are illegal.

Undocumented is nothing else but double talk for people who should not be in America.

As much as we would all like to roll back the clock, and throw the illegal immigrants out, that is not going to happen. Whether we like it or not, we are not going to deport between TWELVE MILLION to TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE.

Americans are not going to destroy families where illegal parents will be separated from their legal children; or some illegal children separated from their legal siblings.

We cannot throw out millions of people who have in their own way made a life for themselves in our country by adding to our lives. Also, we cannot deny that millions of illegal immigrants have contributed to our labor-force by doing jobs far too many Americans refuse to do.

SO HERE’S WHAT I PROPOSE:

1 – SEAL THE BORDERS LIKE FORT KNOX.

2 – Register all illegal immigrants.

3 – Deport all felons.

4 – Give all registered illegal immigrants a special Green Card.

5 – Make the English language the ONLY official language in the USA.

6 – Make it so, that no one given the special Green Card (or their children) will ever be able to become a citizen, or ever be able to vote unless they leave the USA and properly file from abroad for a “normal” Green Card leading to eventual citizenship.

7 – No government entitlement programs will ever be available to holders of the special green cards or their children including welfare, medicaid, section 8 housing, et al. 

To make this viable, so that America will not lose its cultural identity, it is critical that all official federal documents be available ONLY in the English language. Anyone wishing to become an American citizen must pass his or her citizenship test in the English language.

Encourage states, cities and corporations to do the same in terms of using English only in greetings, signs and instructions.

By opening up a path to becoming legal in America this way, it would give the special green card immigrants the Constitutional rights enjoyed by citizens, without having any say in how “we the people” choose our governments.  Holders of the special green card can live here, work and pay taxes and that's IT.  No government assistance of any kind.

This policy will also provide America with a future generation of citizens who will be comfortable with the Secular Rule of Law that is prescribed in the Constitution based upon Judeo/Christian values.

On The Second Amendment:

Without the Second Amendment, there would be nothing with which to protect and ensure the First Amendment. Tyranny exists where the government is not afraid of the people, and where the people live in fear of the government.

On Homeland Security:

Define who the enemy is. Name the enemy. And call them TERRORISTS, instead of the touchy-feely names given to Moslem Activists who are sworn by their belief in the Koran to destroy the values that makes us who we are.

Stop punishing American travelers through invasive X-Ray machines and indecent pat-downs. If the Israelis can keep their airlines and people safe without violating the rights of people; so can America.

SEAL THE SOUTHERN BORDER - DECLARE WAR ON THE TRAFFICKERS.

On The Environment:

Not only do the LEFT not have a lock on environmental responsibility, they in their own hypocritical way are massive contributors to pollution. Just ask folk like Al Gore who lives way beyond his household needs, while flying around in his private jet.

Like any American patriot, I believe in doing what is necessary to protect our drinking water, the soil that grows our food, and the air that we breathe. But, I don’t believe that we have to destroy the America of our youth to do it.

All of this Green-Job hype, (proven to be a miserable failure: wind mills, Solyndra, solar panels, etc.) has done, is cost the average American so dearly, that it has killed jobs, made transport so expensive that it has added to inflation, and has made it more than just difficult for the most vulnerable within our society to heat their homes and put food on the table.

On Government Debt And Procedures:

Pay down the debt and make a federally balanced budget the law.

Pass no Bill, to which Members of Congress have not signed a legal document that declares they read and understand the Bill they are going to vote upon. 

Make all earmarks illegal. Give the President a Line-Item Veto.

On International Affairs:

Support our allies while staying out of bed with the enemies of our allies.

Use our financial might to rehabilitate the United Nations, or simply stop paying for the Dictators’ Social Club.

On Social Issues:

I am not in favor of government paid abortion. I also believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.