My Political Manifesto

Ok, so I have decided to take a stand and lay out what I believe as a conservative. I'm treating this as if I were running for office and laying out my platform. This is by no means a complete representation of what I'd do as president but it's a start. I'm sure that there are things I'm missing or topics that I have not fully developed and I'm sure you will all let me know where I've gone wrong. That's the beauty of debate. Also, I realize that there are a lot of things that I'm going to present that I know I probably could never accomplish as president, but just go with it.

My first act as supreme tsar of the United States would be to eliminate the political parties. In my opinion political parties such as the Republicans and Democrats are a bigger threat to our democracy than terrorism. When politicians get to Washington they seem to stop thinking for themselves and start letting their party do the thinking for them. Elections would all be run as non-partisan. Anyone who could pay the fee (or just meet some simple requirements) could run in the primaries with the top four candidates advancing to the general election.

Social Security - I think the only way to save social security is to privatize it. The government has shown that they are inept at handling our money so the 12.4% of my salary that I pay to social security should be deposited into my own retirement account so that I can see what is happening to it. One of the biggest arguments against this is that most people wouldn't know how to invest their money, or would put it into risky stocks. To combat this investments would be limited to well performing mutual funds and age based portfolios. I'm willing to bet that over time the average American can get a better return on their investment this way than the government can. Privatizing social security would create a large deficit, but my other cuts should make up the short term deficit and then once money is being funneled into these private accounts we won't have to worry about a SS shortfall in the future.

Gay Marriage - As president I would eliminate the governments recognition of marriage. In my opinion marriage is a religious thing, not a government thing. I would however allow anyone to form a legal partnership just like a corporation would. This partnership would allow couples to share employer benefits, receive possible tax breaks, and afford other benefits normally reserved for married couples.

Iraq War - While I don't necessarily think that it was the right time to go into Iraq, I do think it was necessary, and regardless of whether you think it was necessary or not, we are there, and we need to finish the job. Since things seem to be winding down in Iraq I would start to wind down forces and redeploy them to Afghanistan and other regions. Before leaving Iraq for good it is important that we make sure that it is secure, but in the mean time we need to play more of a background role and let the Iraqi government do it's job.

Illegal Immigration - First and foremost I would eliminate the birthright citizenship clause that is giving so many immigrants "permission" to stay in the US. Second, we need to move our military to our border. We need to not only stop the flow if illegal immigrants to our country, but we also need to curb the amount of violence that is going on in our border towns. Once that is done I would deport all of the illegal immigrants who are currently in our country. I know a lot of people will hear this and think that our economy would collapse from this, but that is the same argument that was used to support slavery. Once all the illegal immigrants had been deported I would expand the amount of legal immigrants that are let into our country. I would also streamline the process for getting into the US. If you have a job lined up and can prove that you can support yourself and pass a background check, you're in. If you are in the US and a temporary worker you will not be eligible for welfare or any government assistance.

Term Limits - I would impose a limits of 12 years for anyone serving in the house or senate. I think that it is imperative that we get new blood into the system. What we have right now is a lot of career politicians who have been doing the same thing for 20 or 30 years. Not to say that there aren’t some good ones who would be ousted by this, but I think that it needs to be done.

Abortion - In my tsar status I would overturn Roe vs. Wade and allow individual states to decided whether the slaughter of innocent children, I mean abortion, would be legal. Personally I would like to see abortion become illegal everywhere, but I would like to leave that up to voters to decide, not those who want to legislate from the bench.

Fiscal Responsibility - I think the financial irresponsibility of our government is the single biggest threat to the United States that there is. I don't think the average person realize how bad thing really are. Our national debt is currently over 10 TRILLION dollars! Factor in unfunded Medicaid, Social Security, Medicare, and similar obligations this figure reaches over 59 trillion dollars, or $516,348 per household. We MUST reduce spending in our government. If any of us spent like the government we'd be in jail right now. I would reduce the size of the federal government by at least half. I would eliminate all non-essential spending and revert the federal government's role to what was laid out in Article 1, Section 8 of the constitution.

Tax Cuts - I would leave currently tax rates in place until the national debt is paid off and we have an emergency reserve in place. With the cuts that I would make to the federal budget I would hope that we could make a big dent in the deficit. Once the debt has been paid off I would institute the fair tax at the minimum level needed to sustain the government and no more.

Welfare - Ideally I would like to eliminate welfare completely. I would like to think that we could take care of one another and not have to rely on the government to help people out, but I know that wont always be the case. Under the Brian Welfare Rules those who can not care for themselves would be taken care of. By "those who can't care for themselves" I mean, those who legitimately can't care for themselves. This would include people who can't work, not people who can, but chose not to. Under Brian Welfare those who have caught a bad break would break and had an appropriate need would qualify for three months of support. If after three months that person is not able to get back on their feet welfare can continue on a month to month basis if and only if the person can prove that they are trying, ie. Have applied for jobs, taken up a paper route, delivered pizzas, etc. Those who abuse the system would no longer be provided for like they are today.

Monetary Policy - Now, I'm no expert on monetary policy by any means, but the one thing that I can say about it is that we can not keep "making money." Again, if I had a printing press in my basement and just decided to whip out a sheet of $100 bills every time I ran out of money I would be put in jail. Why is it ok for our government to do this?

Energy - I would prefer to use an "all of the above" method for solving our energy problems. The US can not survive is we are dependent on crazy dictators for our energy needs. Not only do we need to "Drill here, Drill Now," but we also need to be building refineries, and nuclear power plants, and the like. We also need to be working on developing other technologies to reduce our dependance on oil. If Dr. Emmit Brown can develop a car that runs on trash, why can't we?

Environment - I'm all for having a clean environment, but I think the scare tactics that the global warming nuts use are going a bit too far. Though the famed global warming "scientist," Al Gore will tell you that the science is definitive, the truth is that it is not. There are a lot of real scientists out there who don't think that global warming is caused soley by man. Unfortunately you don't hear from those people very often because they are often associated with holocaust deniers by those in the Al Gore fan club. My solution for the environment is to end all of the governemnt regulation and let the free markets take care of it. If a company is not being a good environmental steward then don't buy their products. If you don't buy their products then they will get the message and change their ways. We don't need to spend billions and billions of dollars to support treaties that will do nothing when the free market can take care of it for free.

Gun Control - It is often said that guns don't kill people, people kill people. I agree. I think that we need to spend our resources trying to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and not out of the hands of law abiding citizens.

Individual Liberties - I think that the people of the US should have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness WITHOUT government interference. I don't think that the government has the right to interfere in the lives of law abiding citizens. I think that everyone should have the right to chose if their child gets vaccinated, if they carry health insurance, what they wear, where they smoke, what they eat, and what "god" (there is only one true GOD!) they worship.

Personal Responsibility - Personally responsibility is one of the biggest things missing in our country today. Going with the individual liberties theme, I also think that if you choose to smoke, eat unhealthy food, or not have insurance then I believe that it is your responsibility to get you out of any messes you create, not the governments. Our kids are being raised to believe that they are not responsible for their actions, that everyone wins, and that no one fails. The housing crisis is the biggest example of this. Unless fraud was involved then the government has no business trying to bail out homeowners or mortgage companies. If you chose to buy a house that you can't afford that is your fault. I believe that everyone has the RIGHT to own a home, but not everyone has the MEANS to own their own home, and why are we bailing out people who may lose their home? What's wrong with renting?

What a Conservative Believes

While I can not take credit for the following post I think it does a great job and explaining what us evil conservatives really believe.

A conservative believes that our inalienable rights do not include housing, health care or Hummers.

A conservative believes that our inalienable rights DO include the pursuit of happiness. That means it is guaranteed to no one.

A conservative believes that those who pursue happiness and find it have a right to not be penalized for that success.

A conservative believes that there are no protections against the hardship and heartache of failure. We believe that the right to fail is just as important as the chance to succeed and that those who do fail learn essential lessons that will help them the next time around.

A conservative believes in personal responsibility and accepts the consequences for his or her words and actions.

A conservative believes that real compassion can't be found in any government program.

A conservative believes that each of us has a duty to take care of our neighbors. It was private individuals, companies and congregations that sent water, blankets and supplies to New Orleans far before the government ever set foot there.

A conservative believes that family is the cornerstone of our society and that people have a right to manage their family any way they see fit, so long as it's not criminal. We are far more attuned to our family's needs than some faceless, soulless government program.

A conservative believes that people have a right to worship the God of their understanding. We also believe that people do not have the right to jam their version of God (or no God) down anybody else's throat.

A conservative believes that people go to the movies to be entertained and to church to be preached to, not the other way around.

A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence.

A conservative believes that a child's education is the responsibility of the parents, not the government.

A conservative believes that every human being has a right to life, from conception to death.

A conservative believes in the smallest government you can get without anarchy. We know our history: The larger a government gets, the harder it will fall.

The preceding was written by Glenn Beck on CNN.com You can read the whole article here

Intro

My name is Brian, and I am an evil conservative, or that's what certain people would have you believe. I mean, I'm in bed with the big oil, and I only care about the wealthy right? Well, not quite. I was born and raised in the Midwest, and have "Midwest" values. I believe in the individual. I believe that government is the problem, not the answer. My reason for blogging is not to preach to people, in fact, I don't care if anyone reads this or not. It is mostly just a tool for me to use to vent my frustration about what is happening to our country.