At the bottom is a post I made a while ago on the above which includes some questions posed by Sealybobo. Good Friday feels like a good time to answer his (her?) questions as well as the broader question that my original post engenders: if I think ideologues are wrong, what do I think is right when it comes to looking at politics and political figures. Here goes.
1 --
Do no harm to America's traditional values, its citizen's ability to earn a livelihood, its national security, its future generations.
2 --
Advocate initiatives to locate and solve corruption's root causes in government and industry.
3--
Be intolerant of the Tyranny of the Few.
4 --
Be intolerant of idealogical initiatives in government policy, institutions and in education.
5 --
Do not promote or discourage religious observance.
6 --
Nominate persons to the Supreme Court and appoint justices who adhere to the principles outlined here.
7 --
Propose and endorse initiatives that are fiscally responsible.
8 --
Tell the whole, direct truth to the American people when proposing initiatives. Outline their positives and negatives to the people and measure them against the principles outlined here.
9 --
Start no war.
10 --
Do not be outspent by any country in the defense area. Prepare for the worst. Take politics out of the CIA and significantly expand our field intelligence gathering capabilities.
11 --
Initiate a multi-generational dismantling of the welfare state accompanied by the following: Increased focus on self-reliance, countering the culture of victimhood, educating for economic purpose, removing incentives to bear children out of wedlock. In parallel work with industry and national policy toward job creation in the private sector.
12 --
Promote free trade and directly reciprocate against unfair practices.
13 --
Prop no American industry up with tariffs or government funding. Allow the weak to fail.
14 --
Improve K-12 education through teaching excellence. Remove all ideology from the classroom.
15 --
Vastly simplify the tax code. Do not punish wealth. Do not redistribute income except when directly called for and then on a temporary basis.
16 --
Provide healthcare for all citizens. Focus first on the flaws of its existing structure. Afterwards, put a plan in place through private industry.
17 --
Enforce illegal immigration laws in full. Use this as the primary vehicle to stop the flow of illegal immigration. Put no illegal immigrant on government social support.
18 --
Legalize and control the sale and dispensation of selected drugs. End the war on drugs as now consitituted.
19 --
Any government initiative based on scientific invention, finding or hypothesis should first be fully exposed to normal scientific proof. Once passing proof, any government initiative thus founded should be presented to the public as outlined here.
20 --
Budget earmarking without being preceded by public exposure and debate should be outlawed.
21 --
Term-limit both houses of Congress.
22 --
Halt government funding of abortion.
23 --
Greatly expand America's use of nuclear power. Upgrade power transmission capability. Begin an immediate migration to electric cars and trucks using federal funding. In the interim explore and drill for fossil fuels anywhere in the US territory where they can be found. Fund this activity where and when necessary.
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Yesterday, 03:09 PM
sealybobo
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Quote: Originally Posted by Indiana Oracle 
We need forward progress along many economic fronts. Right now, how we do that is pretty much immaterial.
We also need to stay away from new spending amd borrowing which do not have a direct, positive impact on the economy. On this front Obama is off the rails. Even many Democrat policy thinkers are starting to become loud about it.
In the for-what-it-is-worth column, who really cares about Bush or Obama? Who cares whose fault all of this is? People exercised at this level are nothing more than foot soldiers for idealogues.
Investigate and decide these issues for yourself. Think out of your current framework.
Hi. I wanted to go back and see how you think on some old posts.
First, spending is more stimulitive than tax cuts are.
I would understand if we didn't need anything that we should not spend, but since we do need to rebuild America's infrastructure, why not? If not now, when?
And that spending will put money in people's pocket, and the government will get it back. Will it cause inflation, deflation or stagflation? I don't know. I'm sure they'll figure that out.
And I care very much who's fault it is. It will matter come the 2010 election.
So who did you vote for in 2000? 04? 96? 92? 88? 
