Issues for Our Next President ( Part One)

This November, we are voting for President. One of his most important responsibilities is to nominate candidates for the Supreme Court when there is a vacancy. I am concerned about fashioning social policy through judicial decisions. A Supreme Court judge should, in my opinion try to ascertain what the response would be of the framers of the constitution. It is hard to predict the repercussions of a judicial decision, so such rulings should be delivered with intellectual honesty.
I am "pro choice" on the issue of schooling. Collecting taxes to run public schools from those who send their children to private schools amounts to a punitive tariff on private schools. Private school parents should have the same per capita access to tax dollars as do public school parents. The current system is disproportionately burdensome to the working class and to the poor. Additionally, teachers should have a choice of varied learning environments without having to take such hefty wage cuts if they choose private schools.
I am pro-life. Abortion should be legal if the mother's life is in danger. I think that a lot of big companies would prefer to pay workers who have small families. There is probably a hidden agenda behind abortion rights of keeping wages down.
There should be a tax incentive to keep jobs in the United States. Corporate tax payers who support American tax payers should pay less taxes than those who send jobs abroad. We should also invest in developing countries, improving their infrastructure and widening their consumer base. There is, for example a company in India that is producing a $2500.00 car. This would increase the number of automobile owners in India and create additional high paying jobs in that country. Additionally, Indian workers would be building their own economy instead of competing with American workers.
Europe has a negative birth rate. Their population is shrinking. This is a disaster waiting to happen as the percentage of retirees in the population reaches a point where those paying into the national retirement system become an excessive burden on shrinking numbers of workers. Let's not follow Europe in this misguided path
We have national borders. They need to be protected. twelve million illegal immigrants is 4% of our nation's population. Immigration has defined our nation's character. It should be legal. It should be controlled, for the sake of our security and our wage base.
English should be our national language. I have seen hard working immigrants stuck in low paying jobs, because despite being skilled workers, they did not speak English. Those who invested in their language skills improved their job mobility and their self confidence.
America is a world power. Those who complain about it just want to take our place. Let's choose our battles wisely and finish them. It is hard for me to imagine such a defeatist tone in the American media being tolerated during World War 2. It is clear that the Democrats dread an American victory in Iraq.
In many parts of the country, the price of housing has skyrocketed. Although you can't give every worker the keys to a house, structuring the tax laws and subsidised loans to encourage home ownership would be a good start. Perhaps a down payment on a home might be a part of an incentive to perform some sort of national service. This service could be military or a domestic Peace Corps.
Right now, any criminal who wants to can get a gun. Sane, law abiding people should have the choice as well. Let's not get infected with the insanity of America's Northeast that is gun control.
Martin Luther King articulated the great idea of judging people by their character and not their skin colour.
Affirmative action is a well intentioned but misguided idea. Aid programs and scholarships should target the economically and socially disadvantaged of every race and ethnicity.
I'd like to see these and other issues addressed by our candidates. I am not going to practice affirmative action in the voting booth on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender. I want to be able to choose the best candidate of whatever colour or gender.
Copyright 2008 Magdeburger Joe