Why I Deserve Your Vote

Why I deserve your vote for the office of President.

First, let me state that I realize that by stating my position on the issues I guarantee that I am not going to win the votes of every American citizen. Just by stating a position on some issues will cause a candidate to lose votes. However I am not going to let that stand in the way. If I am going to ask for someones vote (and if you are reading this I am asking you for yours) then I think it is only fair that they (you) know where I stand so that they can make an informed decision.

I believe that my stances on issues will identify me as being the only "true centrist" (or moderate) from either party. I do not come up with this self description by always taking the compromising or centrist fence sitting position on the issues. Some of my stances are right of center and some are left of center. Sometimes my views and opinions almost shift to the extremes of one side or the other. My views are not crafted to appeal to voters or win an election. In fact, my "crazy patchwork quilt" of stances might prove to make me unelectable. So be it. What follows are brief descriptions of my positions.

Abortion: I describe myself as "pro restricted choice". I believe in women's right to choose but I am not adverse to restrictions being placed on this right. I will not go into great detail on my own ideas for what to do about this "problem" here... but let me sum it up by saying that if "both sides" of the extremes of this issue are allowed to "have their way" of zero compromise, then I am going to side with the pro choice crowd.

Gay rights - gay marriage: I am reluctantly tolerant of homosexuals in our society. I am dead set against homosexual marriage. Perhaps the gay crowd would desire to label me "homophobic" and I wouldn't have a problem with this. In fact, I might even grin when this happens, shout out "guilty as charged" and wear the label as a badge of honor. Whenever this issue comes up my argument is going to be "It just is not right. It goes against nature (or God's design if you prefer)."

Gun control: It is my viewpoint that gun control has gone far enough. I believe the reason for the Second Amendment is so that if ever a tyrannical government sprang up in Washington, the Second Amendment was put there so that we could "grab our guns" and march on Washington to throw the bum (or bums) out of office in order to restore our government to the people. I will point to how even the NRA (National Rifle Association) was more willing to compromise on this issue after the massacre at Virginia Tech then I would have been willing to be. However, I am willing to follow the leadership of the NRA on this issue. When they say it is time to compromise I am willing to listen. I do not at present personally own a gun nor does anyone in my immediate household however my right to purchase one if I should desire is one of my most cherished rights.

Global warming - Energy Independence: I believe these two issues are intertwined and thus will speak on them jointly. I will point out that I spoke of the need for America to "break her addiction to oil" before the words were ever uttered by our President, George Dubyah Bush, in his public speech. It is my opinion that the future of America depends on energy independence. At the same time we seek to develop alternative fuels to break our addiction on oil, I think we should simultaneously attempt to reduce green house gas emissions that seem to contribute to global warming. I say "seem" because I am not 100% convinced that greenhouse gas emissions are the cause, or at least the complete cause, for global warming. I do believe that global warming is obvious to anyone who attempts to look at the issue in a reasonable manner. I also bow to all the experts who say that greenhouse gas emissions are, if not the complete cause, then at least a contributing cause, of the warming that is happening. If some, or all, of the warming is due to some other cause, then we can resort to asking for God's help through prayer. However prayer is not the answer when mankind can take steps that could lessen or even alleviate the warming. How does that song go? "God helps those who help themselves."

Fiscal responsibility - Taxes: I am dismayed by those who want to make all of the George Dubyah Bush tax cuts permanent. I am horrified by those like Huckabee who want to replace any semblance of a progressive income tax with a national sales tax (one such proposal is the so called "fair tax") or a flat tax. I also firmly believe in a balanced federal budget being crucial to the long term health and solvency of the American economy. My proposals? I am open to compromise. We either get spending under control or we raise taxes. Truthfully, I am going to state that in order to get a balanced budget through Congress it probably is going to require some of both. However if I were President I would veto any Congressional budget/spending proposals that did not promise to yield a balanced budget within short order without the aid of smoke and mirrors (fancy accounting tricks). There is one area however that I might be willing to compromise because compromise might be necessary. If it could be shown that during the glut of recipients to Social Security benefits caused by the Baby Boom Generation it became necessary for the Social Security side of the budget to borrow money for a relatively short period of time, and if this time period could be shown to be of known and not ever-lasting duration, I might be willing to allow "some" borrowing for this purpose alone. If it could be shown that after this glut of retiring Baby Boomers the system would return to solvency even with accrued interest and repayment of the principal over time, I could budge or compromise. However I would count on fiscal truth tellers like Senator Kent Conrad to keep us (and me) honest.

The War in Iraq: Personally I like the position that Senator Hillary Clinton speaks of when she addresses the subject. She states that we should withdraw quickly but we must withdraw responsibly. If she were elected and delivered on her promise? She would win my eternal gratitude. However I am not sure she can lead us (and the world) in the steps necessary to deliver. Unlike her, I spoke against the War in Iraq before the invasion ever started. Unlike others who spoke in favor of the war and now want to cut and run, I think we must do as best we can to clean up the mess we made. Most worthy of condemnation is the position of Senator Joe Biden who stated he voted for the war to prevent the war. If America is unwilling to stick it out for the hopefully short time required to bring about as good a resolution as humanly possible I say to the impatient that we as a nation can no longer be trusted to wield great power in the world. That we should retreat to "Fortress America" rather then allowing our self to run helter skelter around the world creating situations that result in disaster without being willing to make the sacrifices necessary to yield positive results. Was the Iraq invasion wise? No it was not. For some of the reasons it has been so bad is amongst the reasons why I voiced opposition to the war before we started. One thing that I could promise is that if continuing involvement of American forces is required additional help from forces from other powers in the world are going to be required. Implicit in the request for additional help will be the underlying threat of America withdrawing to Fortress America if such help is not forthcoming. It is my opinion that much of the world will be scared stiff at the mere possibility of such an action and will be forced to follow American leadership on this issue.

Israel - Palestine: Unlike many other Presidential candidates, which seems to include every last one of them running for the Republican nomination, I do not condemn the efforts George Dubyah Bush is making with the talks in Annapolis. If I have any criticism of his efforts it is that "it's about damn time". Unlike others, I applaud the efforts our President is making. I think it is possible to, in a short period of time, bring about a true and lasting peace - OR - prove that one side or the other is so unreasonable in their demands as to make it painfully obvious to any "reasonable" spectator which side is at fault for failure. My only concern is that I am unsure that our President really has an understanding of the numerous issues that would need to be involved in a resolution of the conflict and whether he possesses the leadership qualities necessary to yield positive results. However I am going to cheer him on for even making this attempt. Go Dubyah Go!

Immigration issue: I am rather torn by this one. Both of the extremes on both sides speak "some truth" and I have a great deal of difficulty making up my mind on it. I do not believe that we are any where near the time for "open borders" with Mexico. However I think we could spend sums that would dwarf the amounts spent on the War on Iraq along our southern border with Mexico and not resolve the problem. I think compromise is called for. After the compromise, instead of fortifying the border with Mexico, I would call for making it brutally painful for anyone who was found guilty of willingly offering employment to an illegal immigrant. I do believe that some system of "guest workers" will, through necessity, be part of the compromise. One thing that is painfully obvious to me is that change is necessary. Without change, our nation will be swamped with illegal immigrants. However a knee jerk reaction to "throw the bums out", those bums being all of the illegals already in our society, would be disastrous as well. My own proposal? Finding a compromise solution that quickly allows those already here to stay in one manner or another; whether that be only through a guest worker program or through a path to citizenship. This would quickly be followed with increased enforcement and resulting penalties for those who continue to flaunt the law on the hiring of illegals. With no promise of a job, with no possibility of improvement of their lives, we can stem the tide of illegals into this country. Unlimited (and illegal) immigration into our nation is unsustainable. However controlled immigration of those with a strong work ethic is vital to our long term vitality. I realize this position sounds like a load of mush (or shit) to many. However I stand by my position that every dollar spent on eliminating the magnetic pull of the promise of a job to an illegal immigrant is ten times better then every dollar spent fortifying the southern border. The elimination of job opportunities for illegals rests with threatening the prospects of those who already have everything to lose and that would be those offering the employment opportunities.

Health care: I would like to think that we can come up with an "American Way" of dealing with the health care crisis that is looming on the horizon. Health care costs are spiraling out of control. I am going to attempt to point the finger of blame where the out of control costs rests. It rests with the consumer of these services. As long as consumers are willing to sacrifice their last nickel and mortgage their house for an additional few days of life, providers are going to be willing to provide the services necessary to do so because there is a buck to be made. They have no motivation to provide more economical services because all they have to do is tell you that your life is in danger and then "common sense" flies out the window driven by a fear of death. Let me make my point clear: Society is not required to pay for your expensive medical procedure when it offers minimal potential for long term increased quality of life after you have lived a life of excess. We as a society can not afford it. Many point to socialized medicine as being poor quality medicine. I say that every citizen has the right to poor quality medicine. If you want better quality then what is offered, you have the right to reach into your own pocket and pay for it. I am in favor of any path that leads towards every American citizen getting at least basic health care services provided to them no matter whether they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth or not. Poor quality health care should be the right of every American citizen. If you want additional quality, you have to be willing to pay for it. With reduced demand, with increased personal expenditure required, health care costs might be reigned in. Basic services should be provided; additional services should cost extra. Perhaps we should go down this path slowly in order to prove to the public that the resulting bureaucracy required will not more then consume the cost savings. However other societies have proven that doing some other way then our existing way yields more bang for the buck. I am hopeful that we Americans will not prove ourselves incompetent when it comes to health care.

The above is just the opening salvo in my run for the Presidency. If you like what you heard, there is more to come. If any of it infuriated you? Go find someone else; good luck in your pursuit of the perfect candidate.