My Vision for America as a Candidate for the 2012 Presidential Election

First and foremost, I want to begin by stating that America is the greatest nation on earth.   No other nation has done more to advance to cause of liberty, justice, and security than this one.  The president’s first responsibility is as  commander and chief.  This responsiblity means that my top priority is to protect the American people from any threat to this nation, to even one of its citizens, will be dealt with the utmost severity.   The United States will not tolerate threats against our allies,  and we proudly accept the fact that we do have a responsibility to stop evil around the world.  That is why I will strengthen our military’s combat capacities by 10% in the first year.  The most important part of our military ‘s combat capacity is our fighting men and women, and they will be rewarded for their unprecedented valor.  I will not sign a budget that does not include a 19%  increase in pay for enlisted   personnel and a 25% increase in pay for combat service.  Also, every member of our combat force will be given every vehicle, every vest, and bit of medical support before a single dollar will be allocated for anything else.  And any combat team in the field will be protected with the highest level of air support and tactical discretion.    And our intelligence services will be given every resource to provide us with the vital information we need to employ effective responses to threats.  There will be no prosecutions of  anyone who acting under the instructions  of this nation’s directives.  Our people are not the enemy. 

As president, my role is not to save the economy.  That is your job.  I believe that you are still the most innovative people in this world, and I believe in your ability to bring us to even greater heights than we have seen before.   I will not sign a revenue act that does not limit the maximum individual amount of total federal, state, and city liability to 32.99%. No person should ever have to pay more than a third of their income, no matter how much they make.  The time for punishing success is over.  Those who have seen the fruits of their labor and talent flourish are not a problem, they are good, descent people who should not be taken advantage of.  My goal is to have the top marginal rate down to under 25% in five years.  I will insist on a reduction for every income level, because I think that you are better at creating wealth than the government is.   I will veto any tax act that does not include a capital gains tax of  reduction to less than 15%, with the goal of eliminating the tax all together.  The revenues generated from the increase in investment will actually increase income tax revenues, even at the reduced rates.  Cooperate taxes will not rise above 25%, with a simplified code that only allows for viable deductions such as capital depreciation.

Regulation is not achieved by having more laws and more rules, it is achieved by having better performance on the part of the regulators.   I reject the notion that our financial predicament is the result of insufficient regulation.  The housing collapse that precipitated the crisis was created more by the government’s artificial propping up housing prices and by distorting Fannie and Freddie’s position with a guarantee to protect it from bad  investments.   I will veto any attempts to use your money to bail out financial institutions that did not establish sound risk management practices.  JP Morgan Chase did not need bail out money, they were coerced into participation.  I will initiate an executive order releasing any institution from obligations that were imposed by Tarp and the Recovery Act.  Giving failing companies money for their poor performance then dictating terms to them is dealing in bad faith.  It is immoral.  Instead, we will provide reasonable market structural insurance for private and small business acquisitions and purchases of companies that are no longer competitive.  This will simply give you, the hard-working American people a chance to create consortiums to replace these firms.  It’s your turn.

I will appoint justices that base their law on the Constitution.  Yes we must adjudicate from the eyes of a modern world, but without the constitutional foundation then we have no means of  providing equal legal justice.   I will back our nation’s law enforcement, the best and most credible law force in the world.  I call for a 6-9% increase in pay for law enforcement officers.  It is my job to enforce the law, and I will initiate a program to stop violent crime at the source.  The FBI will be given every resource to infiltrate, apprehend, and neutralize violent offenders.  The nation’s notorious hate groups and militias were brought down by relentless pressure and our ability to make them wonder if they had been compromised.  Violent criminals will be likewise pursued.  All crime is hate crime, I will veto any legislation that creates differential penalties for hurting a member of one group over another.  Instead the Attorney General will be advised to seek that punishments for violent crime be severe, and that the time be severed as it is sentenced.

An Unfortunate Contrast

Ronald Reagan had several goals; liberating the private sector, balancing the budget, limiting government,  and strengthening national defense.  He also represented several different political camps that were not always entirely compatible;  movement conservatives, evangelicals, secular fiscal conservatives, and “defense” Democrats.  This required Reagan to prioritize, allowing him resounding success on the great matters of the day while other goals were left less fulfilled.

Reagan unified these goals under the ultimate goal of defeating the oppressive influence of the Soviet Union.  National defense and capitalism were championed by this cause, while his moral opposition to communism endeared him to the Christian political awakening that had emerged in the mid to late 1970’s. 

Reagan was able to balance a possibly incompatible political coalition by identifying a common adversary- The USSR.

Barrack Obama, who loves to reference Ronald Reagan, has learned part of this lesson,  but a glaring difference in his application of it is making his first year in office one of the worst in American History.

Like Reagan, Obama is faced with the task of  dealing with many objectives that might not be politically compatible.  Most of these goals are burdened by the conflict between cleaning the environment, achieving “social justice”, dealing with international upheaval and improving a struggling economy.

Likewise,  Obama is the face of a ponderous liberal coalition that threatens to crumble under its own weight.  This was brought to light last November, when just as Obama was winning the presidency,  California voted in favor of traditional marriage.

Suddenly, the liberal Democratic identity political concert of blacks, Latino’s, gays, and pro-life women, along with the ideological camps of anti-war groups, unions, and secularists began to look like more of problem than an asset.

Obama needed an enemy, a frightening monster that would make these groups forget about what they were not going to get from him because he didn’t need them anymore. Ronald Reagan had the “evil empire”.  Who does Obama have?

In his campaign Obama made the “wealthy” the bad guy, which meant anyone wh made over $250,000 a year.   He also threw in a little denunciation of the rural American, but he was just getting started.

But now he has found a foe that will work for him the way the Marxist Soviet Union worked for The Gipper.  That foe is us. 

Obama’s crusade against the people is manifested primarily through his personalized combat against conservatives, small business, and Fox News.

This new president has made dozens more public references to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the Republicans than he has against Al Queda, Hamas, or the Taliban.  

In one speech he emplores the audience to “get in their face” of those who disagree with the health care bill that he seems not to have read.

Though this strategy may be working to rally his political troops, it’s not doing a lot to help our troops in the field.

There’s another problem with Obama’s emulation of the Reagan unification approach;  Reagan knew he was right.  Reagan was opposing a regime that had killed at least 60 million of its own people and was based on the injustices of a political system that its  people were constantly trying to escape.   And the Soviet economic system was an absolute failure.

Obama, on the other hand, sees “the folks” as his great enemy.  The problem is that “the folks” have been an absolute success through history. Even though we are in an economic slow down, the industriousness and ingenuity of this “average  person” is keeping this nation the leader of the free world, in spite of the endless stream of punitive policies coming out of this new progressive authoritarian government.

Fox news and conservative talk radio might not be doing what he wants them to do, but they are reflecting the freedoms that have been a cornerstone of this great nation.  And the fact they are leaders in their respective fields indicates that  they represent “the folks”, and that he best learn to get along with us if he wants to salvage this so far failed presidency.