1. IMMIGRATION REFORM:
Will anyone address this issue, or will it become the wedge issue that destroys the Republican party? If Republicans don't get their act together, the fastest growing demographic in our nation will alienate them. The Hispanic population is, and will be, a power player in every future election of the United States. They are a Godly people who stand against all the social issues that conservatives stand against, yet they vote democrat because of this issue. There are a couple thoughts out there that deal with illegal immigrants, and I want to share mine:
No Amnesty, yet we need to make the process as easy as possible. Don't require them to have a full understanding of the English language, just a basic one will do. It's ok for us to have more than one language in our country... SIDE NOTE: If a person who speaks 3 languages is tri-lingual, and a person who speaks 2 languages is bilingual, what do you call someone who only speaks 1 language? AN AMERICAN...Allow them to get a work visa (not full citizenship) for a period of five years. This makes it to where they pay taxes, but don't get benefits like social security, medicaid, medicare, obamacare, etc... This gets them on the path to citizenship. It allows us to help all those who are here illegally to become contributors to our economy and our government. At the end of the five years, if they fulfill all of the requirements needed, they are given full citizenship.
The reality is we can't just round up 12 million people. They wouldn't be here if they weren't filling a need. Have you seen the pictures of the Alabama harvest when they round up all the illegal immigrants? Food was literally left on the vine because the farmers couldn't find anyone who wanted the job. We need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to educate their children, and by doing this, we will assimilate them into our society.
2. TAX REFORM:
This is HUGE. My own personal beliefs say that you'll only appreciate something if you work for it. In fact, the best things in life are the ones that you've shed blood, sweat, and tears for. That personal realization is what's driven my belief system when it comes to taxes. 46% of Americans don't pay income tax. Why would they appreciate what we have, if they're not paying for it? That's why I believe that a flat tax rate for ALL Americans is the right answer. I would love to see a 10% flat tax rate on all American's income. The advantage to this is obvious, it's simple and fair. Where the money would be made is in an implementation of a federal sales tax of 10% on all goods. This would tax those who purchase goods at a high level aka the richest Americans. It would be a fair tax rate as well, because it'll tax those who spend. Obviously I'm no economist, so I realize that it's more complex than this. I just know that this will also save our government money because it will simplify the tax code, it'll save American's money because they'll be able to understand their own taxes, and it creates buy in for all people in our nation.
3. EDUCATION REFORM:
A voucher program is the only answer in my opinion to the problem of the public school system in major metropolitan areas. I was lucky enough to grow up in small town America. CMS is a great school system, but my parents chose to put me in private Christian education. I'm so grateful for this! I was given a biblical world view from the time I was in the 4th grade. Our taxes go to fund our public school system. We're all paying for our kids' education. I think that as FREE Americans, it's our right to CHOOSE where we want our money to go to. If you want private education, then you get a voucher from the government, if you want public education, then go right ahead. This way, the very best schools in our nation will get rewarded. The worst schools will get shut down. Imagine that, the free market system at work in our education!
I understand that this will NEVER HAPPEN. Too much indoctrinization happens in our metropolitan public school system for our government to ever allow it. They don't want our kids learning about negative belief systems like intelligent design, abstinence, capitalism, freedom, or history. They would rather stick to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Yet most Americans can't put two and two together to figure out that they're really not free.
We should be better at educating our kids. We spend nearly 810 billion dollars a year (LINK) compared to the next closest nation (Japan) at 161 billion. yet we're in the middle of the pack in Math and Science scores. It's time to reward those schools that are great, and shut down the schools that are failing. No Child Left Behind failed because we didn't give kids the option to leave the schools that were failing. We defunded them, then kept those kids at the defunded schools. How could we have smart kids when we have dumb leaders? Give kids the option to go somewhere else, get out of the bad schools.
4. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE:
The classic moniker drill baby drill is an oldie and a goody. Our public lands need to be opened up for more drilling. Private lands are booming right now, yet our government is denying permits left and right to Americans. They have no problem "sharing the wealth" with uber-left wing countries, just not their own citizens. If they were serious about alternative fuel sources, they'd look at Brazil. Sugar Cane Ethanol is a viable solution to our problem. Corn ethanol is a joke and everyone, but DC, knows it. It has a negative effect on our feed prices for any industry that relies on animals, it drives up other commodities because more people are growing corn, and it has no effect on our greenhouse emissions because it releases more CO2 than gasoline in the process of conversion. Sugar cane however is 10x's better than gasoline and corn. It could be grown in our Southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, etc. where we have large swampy areas. It's not a naturally occurring plant here in the U.S. so it wouldn't influence the market for the other commodities.
The reality is this; they don't want to solve this problem either. The left wants to use this as a wedge issue for the next 10 years. They want to make the right look like the bad guys who "want dirty water and dirty air". While they're the crusaders of clean. With their leaders like Al Gore who parade around talking about Global Warming yet their houses put out 32x's the average greenhouse gas as the normal American. They fly around in jets and drive Hummers. How are we supposed to take these people serious? If they really believed what they said, they'd be more conscientious. In fact, they'd be who they want us to be. So no, just like immigration, they're playing to their audience. They're preaching the good old strategy of, "Do as I say, not as I do". You can always count on politicians to be great at politics and terrible at living up to their promises.
These are the issues of the next four years and beyond. They will plague us and generations to come if we can't get them right. What do you see as the biggest issues that need to be solved in the next four years? Leave a comment and explain why you think that issue is crucial.
Will anyone address this issue, or will it become the wedge issue that destroys the Republican party? If Republicans don't get their act together, the fastest growing demographic in our nation will alienate them. The Hispanic population is, and will be, a power player in every future election of the United States. They are a Godly people who stand against all the social issues that conservatives stand against, yet they vote democrat because of this issue. There are a couple thoughts out there that deal with illegal immigrants, and I want to share mine:
No Amnesty, yet we need to make the process as easy as possible. Don't require them to have a full understanding of the English language, just a basic one will do. It's ok for us to have more than one language in our country... SIDE NOTE: If a person who speaks 3 languages is tri-lingual, and a person who speaks 2 languages is bilingual, what do you call someone who only speaks 1 language? AN AMERICAN...Allow them to get a work visa (not full citizenship) for a period of five years. This makes it to where they pay taxes, but don't get benefits like social security, medicaid, medicare, obamacare, etc... This gets them on the path to citizenship. It allows us to help all those who are here illegally to become contributors to our economy and our government. At the end of the five years, if they fulfill all of the requirements needed, they are given full citizenship.
The reality is we can't just round up 12 million people. They wouldn't be here if they weren't filling a need. Have you seen the pictures of the Alabama harvest when they round up all the illegal immigrants? Food was literally left on the vine because the farmers couldn't find anyone who wanted the job. We need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to educate their children, and by doing this, we will assimilate them into our society.
2. TAX REFORM:
This is HUGE. My own personal beliefs say that you'll only appreciate something if you work for it. In fact, the best things in life are the ones that you've shed blood, sweat, and tears for. That personal realization is what's driven my belief system when it comes to taxes. 46% of Americans don't pay income tax. Why would they appreciate what we have, if they're not paying for it? That's why I believe that a flat tax rate for ALL Americans is the right answer. I would love to see a 10% flat tax rate on all American's income. The advantage to this is obvious, it's simple and fair. Where the money would be made is in an implementation of a federal sales tax of 10% on all goods. This would tax those who purchase goods at a high level aka the richest Americans. It would be a fair tax rate as well, because it'll tax those who spend. Obviously I'm no economist, so I realize that it's more complex than this. I just know that this will also save our government money because it will simplify the tax code, it'll save American's money because they'll be able to understand their own taxes, and it creates buy in for all people in our nation.
3. EDUCATION REFORM:
A voucher program is the only answer in my opinion to the problem of the public school system in major metropolitan areas. I was lucky enough to grow up in small town America. CMS is a great school system, but my parents chose to put me in private Christian education. I'm so grateful for this! I was given a biblical world view from the time I was in the 4th grade. Our taxes go to fund our public school system. We're all paying for our kids' education. I think that as FREE Americans, it's our right to CHOOSE where we want our money to go to. If you want private education, then you get a voucher from the government, if you want public education, then go right ahead. This way, the very best schools in our nation will get rewarded. The worst schools will get shut down. Imagine that, the free market system at work in our education!
I understand that this will NEVER HAPPEN. Too much indoctrinization happens in our metropolitan public school system for our government to ever allow it. They don't want our kids learning about negative belief systems like intelligent design, abstinence, capitalism, freedom, or history. They would rather stick to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Yet most Americans can't put two and two together to figure out that they're really not free.
We should be better at educating our kids. We spend nearly 810 billion dollars a year (LINK) compared to the next closest nation (Japan) at 161 billion. yet we're in the middle of the pack in Math and Science scores. It's time to reward those schools that are great, and shut down the schools that are failing. No Child Left Behind failed because we didn't give kids the option to leave the schools that were failing. We defunded them, then kept those kids at the defunded schools. How could we have smart kids when we have dumb leaders? Give kids the option to go somewhere else, get out of the bad schools.
4. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE:
The classic moniker drill baby drill is an oldie and a goody. Our public lands need to be opened up for more drilling. Private lands are booming right now, yet our government is denying permits left and right to Americans. They have no problem "sharing the wealth" with uber-left wing countries, just not their own citizens. If they were serious about alternative fuel sources, they'd look at Brazil. Sugar Cane Ethanol is a viable solution to our problem. Corn ethanol is a joke and everyone, but DC, knows it. It has a negative effect on our feed prices for any industry that relies on animals, it drives up other commodities because more people are growing corn, and it has no effect on our greenhouse emissions because it releases more CO2 than gasoline in the process of conversion. Sugar cane however is 10x's better than gasoline and corn. It could be grown in our Southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, etc. where we have large swampy areas. It's not a naturally occurring plant here in the U.S. so it wouldn't influence the market for the other commodities.
The reality is this; they don't want to solve this problem either. The left wants to use this as a wedge issue for the next 10 years. They want to make the right look like the bad guys who "want dirty water and dirty air". While they're the crusaders of clean. With their leaders like Al Gore who parade around talking about Global Warming yet their houses put out 32x's the average greenhouse gas as the normal American. They fly around in jets and drive Hummers. How are we supposed to take these people serious? If they really believed what they said, they'd be more conscientious. In fact, they'd be who they want us to be. So no, just like immigration, they're playing to their audience. They're preaching the good old strategy of, "Do as I say, not as I do". You can always count on politicians to be great at politics and terrible at living up to their promises.
These are the issues of the next four years and beyond. They will plague us and generations to come if we can't get them right. What do you see as the biggest issues that need to be solved in the next four years? Leave a comment and explain why you think that issue is crucial.
