My Political Manifesto

Abortion

Abortion is a tragedy every time it occurs.  It is never a good thing.  On this I agree with republicans.  Where I differ is in what to do about it.  It has been illegal before and the results were even more tragic.  The truth is we must do everything we can to make it unusual, unheard of.  We must reach the point where no woman wants one.  Not through lack of access or any kind of intimidation, but just because there is no good reason to have one.  Making it illegal will not get us to that point.  It will only make matters worse.

No Child left behind

This program should have been called underperformers get left behind, because that is the result.  Children are held back until they give up, because they underachieve.  Schools, in order to keep their funding, are creating the uneducated underclass of the future.  There is no replacement system for them that would give them certification in usable job skills.   These students are simply being made to eventually drop out so the school looks better.  The program has failed to do what it was supposed to do:  Improve the public school systems of this country.

Health Care reform

I can only stand in awe of the vilification of the Health care plan that was passed by President Obama and the Democrats.  I’ve done a lot of research on this subject.  Most people who are opposed to it seem to believe all of the mis-information that was disseminated by its opponents.  Things like death panels, huge raises in premiums and long lines for services.  This subject calls for much more space then I am going to give it here.  After exhaustive research, I became convinced that socialized medicine as practiced in Canada and much of Europe reflects the system we must eventually adopt.  No one when threatened with a serious illness should stand to lose his home and property because of the cost of their treatment and medications.  Making this cost a common cost on society in general is not going to break anyone.

The Patriot act and Homeland Security

In light of the 9/11 attacks it is clear that a number of things must be done to keep us secure from the global terrorist threat.  The challenge is to implement things that make sense in light of the risk without sacrificing personal liberties.  The patriot act has failed this challenge miserably.  Creation of secret warrants and searches are not the way to combating criminal behavior of any kind in an open society.

Enforcement of US Immigration laws

US immigration laws should be totally enforced.  The northern and southern borders should be made impassable by every logical method that is feasible.  There is a need for guest workers for agriculture, and a strict program should be set up to allow everyone that is already here the chance to prove they are contributing to our society and obtain guest visa’s.  Once that limited time program is completed, all others should enter only by legal means.  We do need to make sure that legal means of entry are available, but carefully regulated.  People that are already here though need to be treated humanely and given an opportunity to redeem themselves on a case by case basis.  An otherwise law abiding hard working honest person whose only crime was running to America for a better life should be given an opportunity for redemption.

Free Trade

The most important thing we need to take care of in any trade agreement is ourselves.  I would like the standard of living to increase in third world countries, but not at the expense of my house, car and job.  Trade agreements must not cost American manufacturing jobs, or cause widening of the trade deficit.  Free trade should be fair trade, but on this we need to serve our self-interest.  The fairness should be to us.

Gay Marriage

The conservative right tells us that marriage should be between a man and a woman.  The majority of the American people once shared this view, but recent polls show they no longer do.  The need here is to give gay and lesbian couples the rights the rest of us have with their life-long partners.  These are the rights as next of kin for medical decisions, inheritance etc.  They simply should be treated no differently than anyone else.