Let Me try that again.
Hypothetically, if you ran in the most recent election, which party would you run as part of? Why?
I’ll take this question as a reference to the recent Presidential election since that would have the most reach to a forum like this one. No one here would be particularly interested in what I would do as a local congressman or state senator.
There is no specific party that I agree with 100% and a few that I could agree with a few items on issues. Given that the setup of today’s election process requires participation in one of the four major political parties, I would likely run as an Independent.
I would register as an Independent, but make it clear to them when I won their nomination that I would be advancing my own political platform. The reason I would not choose any of the other parties is the power structure. There are far too players in these parties whose sole interest is in maintaining their hold on power and the money that flow into these parties. If I could, I would declare the run for President without a party affiliation, but that isn’t realistic until major reformations happen.
If you had to choose a member of the forum as your running mate, who would you choose? Why?
I think that I would choose
Foxfyre. She brings a foundational level of common sense to any policy thought process and is able to articulate her reasoning on any issue well. She would also provide a solid counterweight to me as I tend to want to get something done, rather than wait until all the facts are available before acting.
If you weren't limited to a member of the forum, then who would you choose? Why?
I would likely ask Ted Cruz or Carly Fiorina as a running mate if I had to choose among the current nationally known names. Carly for the same reason I would pick
Foxfyre. She shows a practical side that stems from a solid foundation of common sense and isn’t really cowed by people who disagree with her. Ted Cruz because in the world of Washington D.C., it always pays to have a lawyer who also understands the game being played in the Congress.
Assuming you won the election, what would you do in your first 100 days, and what would your ultimate goal for your first term be? Why?
If you look at the history of the first 100 days of a President, you’ll see that it was an arbitrary milestone set on the basis of FDR and related to what he would do during a single 100-day session of the Congress.
I’m not a big believer in the milestone itself. Too much of what the President can and cannot do is outlined by the Constitution and opposition in the Congress. Which ties into what I would try to accomplish as President and the President’s role in our government. To understand what I would do in my first 100 days you’d have to understand how I view the office of the President.
My candidacy and Presidency would hinge on the philosophy that the federal government is primarily a tool of the people to represent the United States to the nations of the world. My first 100 days would be heavy on foreign policy that promotes and defends the United States ahead of all other nations. I would be the kind of President who would refer social issues to the States because that is not the role of the federal government. To that end, I would:
Provide the President's budget request with the following guidelines.
- Baseline budgeting is to be eliminated from the budget. Each department of the federal government must provide documentation on the effectiveness of their program and they are not to assume that spending 100% of their budget in the previous FY is a guarantee that they will receive their funding request. Under no circumstance should a budget start with an immediate increase.
- Money spent on other nations would as a means of diplomacy come to an end. The money would be made available to aid in times of disaster and for humanitarian relief. However, no money will be given to any nation that does not have a government that has been elected by the people and has in place, some form of legal and binding limitations on the power of that government. It does not have to be a Constitution, per se, but there must be a way that elected representatives can be removed from office after due process. I would watch carefully any and all elections in which the winner is the winner because people would be killed if they did not vote for him or her.
- I would direct the DoD to come up with a plan that allows them to maintain bases in regional sections of the world if that base would provide cover for our interests in the world. Any nation in which we held a base that does duty as a defense of that nation as well as promoting our interests, would have to provide monetary compensation for their defense. Any land used for a United States base would not be leased, but purchased from the host nation and become sovereign U.S. Soil. I would also direct the DoD to review all programs and do away with obsolete systems in favor of more modern systems that place us at an overall overwhelming advantage against any three enemies we may face.
- I would begin a four-year program of reducing the budget of every department by 15% a year for each of the first four years (with the exception of the defense department which would be required to find 15% a year in fraud, waste, and abuse cuts to their budget. If they fail to meet this requirement, they would face a review in which the difference between the FW&A cuts was not met would be debited against their overall budget for that year.
- Finally, no budget would be enacted that was more than one fiscal year in advance. I would put an end to the ten-year budget projections.
All spending cut savings would be applied to the national debt and no tax decrease would be enacted until such time as the debt was paid.
I would work with Congress on fair and balanced oversight with regard to commerce between the States (That is their function in our government) but leave social issues up to the States and make it known that the federal government’s budget is not a slush fund for social engineering projects.
I would ensure that our commitments to our vets and the promises made to them came before any benefit to the States or special interest groups would be considered.
This would be the bulk of the first term and first 100 days. As you can see, it is focused primarily on those specific duties of the President, who is first and foremost, the chief law enforcement authority and representative of our nation to the world. The duties and responsibilities would be focused on what is best for America and nothing else.
What would your response to ISIS
If ISIS had not demonstrated an ability to touch any nation on this planet with its ability to export terrorists, I would have promoted a policy to isolate Syria with support to the surrounding nations to keep them in check and let them kill each other. However, they have demonstrated that they have powerful allies in Turkey, Iran, and a few other nations willing to give them access to resources they would not normally have. I would charge the leaders of the US Military to come up with a strategy that can pen them into the confines of the geography, but barring that I would run a full sweep of the entire country with an overwhelming aerial campaign of known ISIS strongholds. I would be all for putting tactical troops on the ground in an effort to cull the ISIS members from the civilian population. However, My terms of the rules of engagement are that our troops are to engage the enemy wherever they can be found and to defend themselves at all costs without requiring permission first. In fact, the entire issue is far too complicated for a simple policy statement, but you did ask.
What’s your opinion on the current state of our education system? Why?
Again, this is a very broad topic and difficult to encapsulate in a simple policy statement. The United States spends more per pupil than any other nation on the planet, and we rank poorly for that expense. The problem with education is that it straddles two concerns with regard to the United States.
States rights.
Education is a states rights issue and with regard to problems in educating young people, often adheres to social concepts associated with regional values. The States struggle to bring timely and appropriate educational techniques and materials to the students because of resource dampening regulations forced upon them by an uncaring and distant educational overseer; The federal government. Each State should be permitted to set their educational goals for their citizens, with a minimum of educational standards that they must adhere too.
Education as a security issue for the United States.
An educated populace benefits everyone, but more importantly, and educated populace also promotes an ability by the citizens to recognize threats to the security and sovereignty of the country. Give we are a nation that governs ourselves from electing people from the population, it is in our best interests to have a population that can think critically, weight historical mistakes against current policy, promote good education in succeeding generations, and prosper in the day to day life we all have to manage. To this end, I would propose a conclave of individuals who would be representatives from each state to be commissioned to define the goals of education in America. These goals would be to determine what it is we are educating our young people to do with regard to vocation and State needs, and what the national standard for achieving success in these goals would be.
This of course, merely scratches the surface of what is at stake for this issue, but the single most important aspect of this policy is to ensure that it is not the interests of national politicians that are being met, but those of the people.
If you wish to get a more in-depth response on this or any other issue as it pertains to how I would act if I won the Presidency, may I suggest you limit the topic/issue to one or two? Many issues would require a detailed answer on current practices, personal moral choice, and vision of what should be done that could run to five or ten thousand words answers. This reply alone is over 1900 words and it touches on just surface thoughts that are condensed into summary policy.
Thanks.
