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ABOUT ME THE ISSUES I LOST! President Obama, a "Black" President? HOT TOPICS #1 Democracy versus Republic #2 Free Enterprise #3 Personal Freedom and Crime #4 Unconditional Divorce #5 Public Health #6 Universal Health Care #7 Global Warming #8 Foreign Policy #9 Crime and Punishment, The Penal System #10 The Educational System #11 Campaign Reform #12 Income Tax versus Flat Tax #13 Abortion #14 The Homeless #15 Immigration Reform #16 Social Security #17 Church and State #18 Iraq and Afganistan #19 Guantanamo and POW's #20 Oil and Gas Crisis #21 The Global Economy, NAFTA and Free Trade |
The Country Is Collapsing! TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE! Captain Joseph H. (Cass) Forrington Independent For President 2012 ![]() Official Website of The Forrington Revolution To Renew The Republic A Truly Radical Proposal For Change |
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I LOST! President Obama, a "Black" President? Well, if you are reading this site, it is too late. Apparently I lost the election to Barak Obama. What really bothers me is that everyone keeps saying he is the first "black" president of the United States. He is not. He is not "black". He is half white and half black. It is a terribly racist fact that if a person has just a smidgen of "black" blood he is considered "black". America wanted a black president to sooth its conscience, but Obama is not "black". His wife is. His children are not because he is not. Being a presidential candidate myself (tongue-in-cheek), I am embarrassed to admit I don't know if the phrase is "politcally" acceptable or not, but technically I believe Obama is a "mulatto", a person who is half white and half black. His children used to be called "quadroons" because they are one quarter white. I don't know if that is still a politically correct phrase and I apologize if I have offended anyone, but even if the terminology isn't correct, the science is. (I believe a "quadroon" also used to be a person who is a quarter black. A quarter of anything is a "quad", so a quarter black or a quarter white ought to be the same. Sorry, like I said, I think this is all technically correct even if it isn't politically correct and I mean no offense to anyone.) Barak Obama is not "black". He is a mix. If he turns out to be as good as he promises to be, it is not a "black victory": it is a black/white victory. I think I'll have to punch the next person who tells me Barak Obama is an African-American in the nose. I mean, Whoaaaa, the guy has some black blood, just look at that! Please, people, give me a break. Sorry, he's a 50/50 on the most shallow of levels and much more on the deeper levels. We all are. I congradulate President Obama. For the first time in a long time I felt the contest was between two good men. I am sorry McCain lost because I think he deserved to be president of the United States. Economically I see very little difference between the two. In foreign affairs I worry very much about Obama. I talk about this below. Let me just add here that pride precedes the fall and hubris is definitely not desirable. McCain has humility, Obama does not. Self-rightous, self-assured people, are very dangerous. Both McCain and Obama would expand the war in Afganistan, which is a terrible mistake, but Obama is more prone to do so disasterously because of his hubris and self-assurance. So, I concede (lol) here to President Obama. I pray earnestly that the Creator guides him through his new, extremely heavy, responsibilites and teaches him humility in a way that does not affect us all. The best thing to come out of this election is that black parents can no longer tell their children that a black person can not become president of the United States. The black community has a far worse problem with racism than whites or asians, and, maybe, this can help them get past this.....but not too fast, you, because he is half white, too. ;-) But the next "black" person I meet who claims he has no chance because of his race will be dismissed by me as a fool. I keep hearing on the TV how incredible it is that an "African-American" has won the election, but an "Africn-American" didn't win: Barak Obama won, and he is half white and half black. Please don't get me wrong. I think Obama is a good man. He has too much pride and hubris and, as a leader, this puts the rest of us at risk, but I think he is a good man who is mostly speaking from his heart. God Bless him now, and God bless America, by granting him good guidance from within. God bless John McCain, too, another good man who has served his country well and stands by the age-old morality of our ancestors. I thought his concession speech was the best I ever heard and he moved me to tears. God Bless a good man. I am now announcing my bid for the presidency in 2012 because I know Obama is already on the wrong path in Afganistan. I'm not predicting the economy because I believe Obama is correct on his infrastructure policy but wrong on energy development. I'd have loved to vote for Mr. Obama McCain this election, but he wasn't running. Please check back later, because I will be re-building my platform as Obama's administration unfolds. God help us all, friend and foe alike. The Creator dwells within all. HOT TOPICS THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AND "BAILOUT" Regarding the collapse of the economy, a rescue is definitely needed, but it should not be a "bailout". We should be "bailing out" the institutions that are sinking, but not the people running them. Those people should go to jail. The money has to be a loan, not a gift, no matter how long it takes to pay it off, and the interest should reflect the inflation rate. The people don't need to make money off of this debacle, but they should get their money back, even if it takes 100 years. A lot of people are opposing a corporate rescue, but without it those same people will lose everything and end up on the streets. My feeling is that most people don't realize just how much they are about to lose and how difficult it will be to find the simplist job. We already have a long way to go to recovery and as this crisis deepens we vastly increase the time it will run. As more businesses continue to go out of business the process will snowball. This is a time for action. Recrimination can come later and those responsible for this fraud punished. Right now we need to be saving our instituions. Also, the government is borrowing money, from some of the banks they are saving, to actually save them. When the national debt increases, it means the government is borrowing money. It is borrowing from banks. The government should not have to pay any interest, or a minimal inflation-based interest, on the money it is borrowing from the banks it is saving from collapse. Obviously we need more regulation of the financial markets. De-regulation was also obviously a mistake. We have a problem with the extremes represented by our two party system. The Democrats, if given the power, would over-nationalize, over-tax, and over-dictate in matters like public safety, while the Republicans just want everyone to run amock in an Adam Smith free market economy. We supposedly learned from the Great Depression and the New Deal, that government regulation is necessary. That's why we have anti-monopoly laws and a Federal Reserve system. It is these two extremes that keep us in gridlock in Washington and most of the states. We need to change our system so it is not just a two-party game. I discuss this further below. If a successful "bailout" isn't enacted, we can expect "Hoovervilles" to spring up everywhere. We already have them in the form of the places the homeless camp, and we already have the food banks and "soup kitchens" that serve the chronically homeless and those temporarily down on their luck. But the shelters are already overwhelmed and "Hoovervilles" aren't far away if we let the worldwide economy collapse. There will also be famine and increased starvation in the poorest nations and many will die not just there, but here, from hunger and exposure to the elements, both hot and cold. People who can't afford air conditioning in our desert and hot areas will move to cooler climates while those on the streets in the cold areas will also have to move to warmer areas. We are talking about the greatest worldwide financial failure in history and Congress needs to act intelligently and quickly. As I expand on below, we have been given a date of withdrawel from Iraq by the Iraqi government and that should be our goal in Iraq. In Afganistan we have to drastically lower our financial and military contributions and have the rest of the world pick up much more responsibility, or we have to get out and deal with the nests of vipers as they arise. The money saved here should be spent on public works infrastructure projects such as energy development (in all forms), bridges, roads, mass transit systems, a public health system, and CO2 scrubbers to begin cleaning the air. These projects would provide much needed employment nationwide. I discuss this further below. Just from recordings I've heard on television, I know there was a conspiracy to defraud the American consumer and rape the financial system. We need a full investigation of this mess and a lot of people should go to prison and even more should at least be doing community service. THE WARS First of all, America spends far too much time at war. Eisenhower warned us about this, but we didn't listen very well. People hear the phrase "military industrial complex" and immediately have negative feelings because of Eisenhower's warning. I put different emphasis on the words. It is the "military" industrial complex as compared to the "consumer goods" industrial complex. We need a "military" industrial complex for national security and defense, and it is not an "evil entity" unless we allow it to become one. The same is true of the "consumer goods" industrial complex, which the banks are a primary part of. Currently both entities are having evil effects because we have allowed corruption to infiltrate our political system and our politicians are literally selling us out. This is why I propose the radical fix I am suggesting below. The system itself is rotten. We spend far too much blood and treasure overseas trying to fix what can't be fixed, or isn't broken, or in trying to spread "The American Way" throughout the world. This is blatant cultural imperialism and is wrong. You can not, for example, spread feminist ideals in a country where the women have not been liberated from their traditional duties by modern technology. Life is hard for third world peoples, both men and women, and their traditional duties fill all their time. Regarding the wars, if we manage to stabilize Iraq, the focus will shift to Afganistan, as it already is. The war in Afganistan is not just a war in Afganistan, it is also a war in Pakistan. Pakistan is now the target of Al Quaeda as Pakistan has nuclear weapons and is highly unstable. Pakistan, not Afganistan, should be our main focus. We should be doing everything possible to support the Pakistani government in its combat against the terrorists and extremists, and should be doing everything we can to push them into a greater effort. I talk more about our approach in Afganistan below. We cannot carry this burden ourselves, it is a world problem. Obama talks openly about invading Pakistan, a nuclear-armed ally and this is totally unacceptable. We are already sending troops into Pakistan clandestinely, which causes hard feelings, and should be the very limit we are willing to do in a military way without the approval and cooperation of the Pakistani government. To talk about sending troops into Pakistan without the concurrance of the Pakistani government shows just how impetuous and dangerous Obama is in the foreign policy arena. Obama's ego could lead this country into nuclear war. Barak Obama will not be able to maintain the welfare and public health programs we already have if the economy collapses, much less fund universal health care, and I doubt the economy will recover enough in his time in office to fulfill this promise. Likewise, neither he nor John McCain will be able to sustain our military actions in the Middle East if the economy collapses. Even if it doesn't collapse, those wars are already too expensive considering our other needs. ABOUT ME The Arctic polar ice cap is going to completely melt in the next few years, something scientists didn't expect to happen for another 20 years. This is a major catastrophe that is going to bring very hard times worldwide over the next few years and then beyond. If elected, I will aggressively begin to build CO2 scrubbers on my first day in office and will work extremely hard to get the other industrialized and developing nations to do the same. I can't stress how big a crisis this is and how immediate action is needed. I added this comment on 7/6/2008 and put it at the top of my site because it is now our biggest issue. No other candidate realizes how big a disaster this is and how urgent action is needed. Coupled with the economic collapse, major, accelerated, climate change could be a civilization-ending event. We are in very desperate times and desperate action is needed which is why I propose the radical solution I propose below. First of all, I don't really want the job because the next president is probably going to be unpopular and disliked. This is because things are So messed up that a president who gets nothing done will be president over a time of catastrophe, and a president who gets what needs to be done done, that he will make all kinds of people upset about all kinds of different things. Sounds like a tough spot to be in. I am only doing this out of a sense of duty. And of course I know I don't stand a chance of being elected, but humor me, as this is what I would do. That being said, I have two wonderful daughters I dote on. I can guarantee you that my daughters do not agree with everything I think. They are their own individuals and have their own ideas and lives. Please don't paint my daughters with their daddy's brush. They have their own color. You will notice there is no picture of me on this site. This is because what I look like is not important compared to what I think. I will be doing a job and I would hire a one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged, hunch-backed person if he could do the job because darn few can, no matter what it is. If this should unfortunately kick off, you will get to see me sooner or later anyway. I am told I am an "impressive" man with a "presence" about him. I am considered "handsome" by some and "attractive" to many. I am also a "people person" and am thought of as an extrovert even though I feel I am an introvert. I am shy and sensitive, but know how to humanely exert authority. As for my background, I am a Cum Laude graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, Class of 1972. Bobby Kennedy nominated me for appointment. Most Americans, sadly, do not even know how many Federal military academies we have, but mine is one of five: West Point (Army), Annapolis (Navy), New London (Coast Guard), Colorado Springs (Air Force), and Kings Point (Merchant Marine with Navy commissions). Kings Point has graduated three of our astronauts, Cdr. Kelly of the Columbia probably being the best known. Just to give you a reference, I was in Kings Point while Wesley Clark was in West Point. Both Federal academies, I was Merchant Marine while he was Army. Also, for sports fans, Skip Prosser, the Wake Forest basketball coach who passed away suddenly this past year, was in my academic section in Kings Point. Unlike General Clark, I have had a lot of "broad experience" in the world. As I said above, I spent 27 years at sea, the last 14 as Master, Captain for the landlubbers. I am not going to list my sins here, they are too many, but if this kicks off and my opposition says, "He did that", they are probably telling the truth. So if you want someone who has been a saint for president, well, just forget it, you won't get it no matter who you vote for. If you want someone who knows about life and why some things are definitely right and wrong, I am your guy. If you want a current judge of my character and what I live and believe; my spiritual beliefs; please visit my Symbol of Unity site. I began that way before this little endeavor. I am union man, a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, AFL-CIO, and still pay dues though I am retired. I am a humane man. I have had up to three homeless people in my house at one time, trying to help them out. I helped a disabled woman for several years, trying to help her overcome her paranoia and drug addiction. She was dying from Hepatitis C and multiple intestinal problems when I met her. She had a miracle with her intestinal problems six weeks later, and her liver function returned to normal, but, sadly, the paranoia finally drove her to suicide several months after she left my town. One of the homeless I helped, who had head trauma from a boating accident, moved on and now has her own house. Another finally died from alcoholism a few days after we parted company. I have lost track of the third, but the last time I saw him he was drunk and panhandling again. I had to ask him to leave my home because he stole some wine from my bedroom closet. Because of my exposure to the homeless and the mentally ill, I know just how poor our Public Health and Mental Health systems are. The two people I saw die, would not have if we had properly taken care of them. This is a major pet peeve of mine and you can be sure I will fix it when I provide universal healthcare, as I discuss below. I also traveled all over this world for 27 years, visiting over 50 countries on every continent but Antarctica. I have been 600 miles from the North Pole and I have even visited with the Amazon natives, just about as far up the Amazon river as a person can go; so far I had to walk through the jungle to get a Peruvian visa from a man in the middle of the jungle in a cement room that was the size of a tollbooth. I have seen the poor eat wet, maggot infested, garbage and I have seen the excesses of the rich. I have studied all the major faiths and a lot of minor ones and understand the concerns of our planetary neighbors. I also understand how they think. This is extremely valuable experience for a president. Many of you will wonder if I am serious about this. I am. I am serious about what I think the country needs, even though I doubt I could ever be elected on such a platform. It is a radical proposal and many will wonder "Who does this guy think he is?" Really, I think I'm just another fed up guy with a great education and background for the job. Just briefly, I don't want power or fame and my main interests lay in the spiritual plane, so I really don't want this job, but feel someone has to do it. Because this is a radical proposal, I doubt I stand a chance of getting elected, you'll see why below, but I think it is important for someone who really doesn't want to be president to put forth what he thinks is really wrong with the country and some possible solutions. I served this country for 27 years at sea and could do another 4 if it would fix things substantially. Americans are disgusted and frustrated and want "change", the keyword of the campaign to date. This site, my presidency, offers real change in a dramatic way. The other candidates are all parroting the "change" word, but we all know they can change nothing because they are part of the establishment and of the broken system. They all say Washington, and "The System", are broken, but when they get to Washington, they will just be part of the broken system and will be able to change, or "fix", nothing; absolutely nothing will change and we all know it. We cannot fix the system from within the system. It is too broken. We have to take extreme corrective measures. I am proposing just that. Let's temporarily shut down the system for repairs. I know that sounds radical, but hear me out. If for no other reason, support me to show just how discontented we all are or to support some of my solutions to our problems, which I discuss below. I would like my campaign, itself, to be an example for the new America. I am accepting no money and am running a strictly Internet campaign. No more buying political office. We can make this the most important election in history to date if you join with me and spread this revolution via the Internet. Let's show the money people they can no longer buy political office. ;-) This is electronic grass roots action at its best. I know, in this day and age, that I can spend "Zero" dollars and become president of the United States without buying the job if we, the people, really do want change. If you are tired of sound bites and tailored answers, I am your man. It'll be tough, but I am the man to really change the way things are now. If you want American prosperity to move forward, and not decline, I am the man. The other folks are part of the established political system, no matter what their denials, and are already working the special interest groups behind the cameras. None of them will "change" anything. After reading this, you will see how I will and can change things, and do it using modern technology so I am in touch with all the people who care to contribute their ideas. America is in a state of emergency. Your current batch of politicians won't tell you this because they know they have to pander to too broad a range of people to get elected. I don't have to worry about that because I don't think I will be elected anyway. This is because I am proposing the very hard road. Not just the hard road, but the very hard road, and I really don't think my fellow Americans have the guts for it because I am not talking "evolution", but controlled "revolution". We face crisis in the environment, health care, social security, the economy, the family, foreign relations, and what else? You name it. Iraq was a tremendous mistake that played right into the hands of Al-Qaeda. They are breaking our treasury, economy, and military, which is just what the conservative and radical Muslims did to the Soviet Union, which no longer exists, in Afganistan. This will continue in Afganistan even if Iraq is stabilized, which is highly doubtful since the "civil war" there is not a civil war at all, but a religious conflict. (I discuss this more below.) The price of oil and gas is skyrocketing while the oil companies are making record profits. They say they need the money to carry them through "the hard times", but who can remember the oil companies ever having hard times? We are burning our food crops, primarily corn, to make fuel while we are entering a deepening recession and people are having a hard time putting food on the table. Meanwhile vast oil deposits are going untapped in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Alaska due to ecological concerns that can be easily addressed. Even if we begin to aggressively tap these reserves, which probably contain two to three times the oil in the Middle East, we have no refineries to refine the oil. At the same time, American jobs continue to be exported overseas at an alarming rate and our industrial base continues to rot away. Our infrastructure of roads, railways and bridges are collapsing due to lack of funds and our airlines are nearly all bankrupt, with reliable service a thing of the past. While other nations are investing in modern, efficient, public transportation that people actually want to use, our's is rotting away. It is these very infrastructures that allow us to prosper. America is in a deep decline that will finally become catastrophic when the frustrated begin their own campaigns of domestic terrorism, something that has already begun, which is why we have metal detectors in our courts and government buildings. We have 1 in 100 of our citizens in jail and prison at a tremendous cost, much more than any other country in the world, including China and Russia. We are no longer the land of the free. We have watched this decline begin and deepen since the 1960's and only drastic action, like I propose below, can save this nation. We talk a lot about the "separation of church and state." But what we are really doing is replacing "the church" with the state. Homosexuality, for example, is a religious issue. Yet, where I live, homosexuals are paraded into Middle School to teach the children that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. This is state imposed religion and morality. Likewise, the government allows anyone to divorce for any reason regardless of the sacred contracts the parties entered into in their religion when they got married. The state does not consider marriage sacred anymore even though all the faiths that make up the population do. This is now the state religion being forced on all of us. The state should only be involved in the dispositon of wealth after a couple has a truely legal divorce within their particular faith. Things have gotten totally out of control regarding our government and what it is supposed to do because too many vocal special interest groups are pandered to by the politicians. The very system is broken. What I am about to say will make many of you want to tear your hair out. Please remember I do not expect to be elected. The road is too hard for too many. But if elected, I would do it because I think the country needs it and this site lets me put forth some of my ideas in the public forum. So please leave your hair alone, stay calm and read through each issue, it's not a long site. You might want to influence your own party with some of my ideas. DEMOCRACY VERSUS REPUBLIC When President: #1: I will declare an official state of emergency and impose martial law, if necessary, to maintain public order and the rule of law. (See, I just lost about 99% of my readers, ;-) ) Actually, if I got elected, and there were to be civil unrest, it would probably occur before I took office, so President Bush would probably have to declare the martial law. If there were no civil unrest, martial law would not be required. I would do this because it is the only way I see to save the Republic, as Augustus Caesar saved the Roman Republic, and there is no way to enact the changes we require through Congress as it is. I don't want the job if I can't get it done, and it can't be done through Congress or the courts. If we don't do this now, and keep going downhill, we will finally have a president declare himself dictator and anarchy will soon follow. I explain this below. If we let that happen, we will end up with whatever that person thinks is best, rather than making the decisions ourselves by electing a person who will make the changes we want and then retire, yes, like me ;-). We are in the mess we are in because we are now a "democracy" instead of a "republic", which is what the founding fathers established. The difference is that in a republic, voting is a privilege which is earned, while in a democracy even people with an IQ of 70 and the totally ignorant can vote. I am sorry if this offends you because you lack intelligence or education, but I am a plain speaker and I believe far too many people have the vote. The founding fathers established a Republic and voting was restricted. This is as it should be. Toynbee, probably the world's finest historian, has noted that great civilizations begin as Republics. Republics degenerate into Democracies; Democracies degenerate into Dictatorships; and Dictatorships degenerate into Anarchy. The only society I know of to forestall the decline into anarchy was Rome because Augustus Caesar re-established the Republic at the end of his reign. By 1860, the election just before the Civil War, all men were enfranchised (allowed to vote) as self-serving politicians tried to expand the voting base so they would get elected. When women were enfranchised in 1920, everyone could vote and most people had little education, especially the women of that time. The founding fathers set a young voting age (young to us) because people died young. Life expectancy in their day, 1800, was only thirty-eight years. A man had lived more than half his life by the time he hit twenty-one. In a democracy, like we have now, self-serving politicians who pander to every special interest, instead of their consciences, rise to the top. The people vote themselves both the moral and monetary treasuries and the society goes into deep decline, like we are now, filled with discontented individuals, so our very courtrooms need metal detectors to protect the proceedings within from the outraged, and hated from without. This is the rot of Rome. In the last election, for instance, Kerry said he was a "Catholic" and against abortion, but it was fine with him if that is what the people want. This is the epitome of a pandering politician who just wants to win, no matter what his supposed personal beliefs. He acts on poll and not on conscience, or he lied about what he is and believes. This is not a leader, who inspires people to higher action and values, but a selfish, self-serving, pandering fool who will sell his conscience and faith for power and fame. I find most of our politicians to be like that these days, but that is the fault of the democracy. Because we now live so much longer, (current life expectancy for those under age fifty, in fairly good health, is now 600 years. I know this sounds outrageous, but if you look up Ray Kurzweil's work online, who was awarded several presidential medals and advises Congress and the Council of Foreign Relations on our scientific future, you will see why I believe this), and because intelligence and wisdom should lead a society, not high school dropouts and teenagers, if elected I will change the Constitution so that only married individuals at least age 25, with university degrees, can vote. I realize some individuals are intelligent and well-educated and don't have university degrees. There would also be a test to allow these people to vote. Also, widowed individuals and those who divorced for reasons meeting the new divorce critieria would maintain their votes. In other words, if you are once eligible to vote, you will probably always be allowed to vote. I might also impose a net worth requirement, but am currently thinking this is not necessary in this age of higher education. All combat veterans would also be allowed to vote. Not military clerks and support personnel, but people who have actually been combat troops. This is the hardest pill I have for you to swallow and is the primary reason I don't have to worry about having to serve. I am asking a lot of you to give up your vote. I am asking you to be humble and truthful with yourself for the sake of your country and children. If elected I will declare a state of emergency, which is very real. I will disband all state legislatures and the Federal Congress. New elections will be held in four years so we have time to adjust to the other changes I will also make and debate has a full time to flourish. In places where there is no civil disorder, martial law will be recinded and normal law restored. I also promise to poll the entire population on every major change before I make it. I will do this via polling services, like Gallup, and the Internet. On controversial issues I will open public forums and I will talk to you regularly on TV and radio. I am not saying I will always go with the majority, but it seems likely since if I actually got elected it would mean an awful lot of people out there agree with me. And of course everyone can open their own forums to discuss different issues online. In the meantime elected governors will have total authority over their states while working with me to revive and renew the republic. They will also have responsibility for cleaning up problems and making things more efficient, in areas politics made impossible before, within their own states, using the same polling methods I am using, but we can all keep it cheap with modern technology. Current members of Congress and the state legislatures will be considered to have completed their service and will not be allowed to run for the same level office they held before, only a higher one. Too many of these people have been tainted by the current system and have tasted too much lobby money. If we are going to clean house, let's do it. Term limits will be set for all politicians, the same as the president. No one will be allowed to "serve" more than two terms unless they are elected to higher office, like a House member moving on to the Senate or anyone from Congress moving on to the Presidency. Career politicians are a curse in a republic, as are "dynasty" families of politicians like the Kennedys, Bushes, and Clintons. People should be going into government to serve the people, not themselves and their families. It is public service, not a career job. I will lower and revamp all government "perks" to reflect that. Future public servants can expect a much humbler way of life in Washington. I must stress that this is the primary governmental problem in the United States. The overall primary problem is spiritual, but that can not be corrected by govermental action, only individual action. Governmentally, however, too many people are enfranchised. When buses drive around to pick up the totally ignorant and uneducated to get their vote, the system is rotten. (I do believe that the voter registration drives of the civil rights era, and the bussing to the polls that occurred then, was good and necessary, but that was the exception and should not be the rule. I believe the Rev. Martin Luther King and his contempories were great men. I cried when they killed him.) We are all created equal in the eyes of the Creator, but we are in no way equal as individuals. The best and brightest should vote and lead. That is simple common sense. There is a false sense of egalitarianism in the United States where everyone is considered "equal". We are in no way equal except in the eyes of the Creator and as regards our rights as citizens. With an IQ of 141, for instance, I am more intelligent than 99% of the population. I don't want someone with an IQ of 70 and no education telling us what we should do. On the other hand, I'd be slaughtered in a boxing ring or on a football field. I am just not their equal. My talents are not in sports. Unfortunately, because we are in a state of emergency, I see this as the only way to stop our decline. Even if you won't vote for me because of all of this, please read on because I address a lot of important issues you might want to incorporate into your own political party. FREE ENTERPRISE #2: I will restore free enterprise so our homeless and poor have a way to fulfill the American dream. I have been both homeless and poor (Yup, I've had a very full life.) and know what obstacles our government puts in the way of the poor. During the Great Depression, laws were passed to limit competition to help protect those individuals who still had stores. Because of what we have learned about economic laws since then, and how we now control the economy, these laws are now outdated. Day after day Americans see markets, free markets, being blown up in Iraq but they don't ask where their own free marketplace has gone. Some of us might even get productive at home again, instead of sitting in front of the tube, if we know there is a marketplace we can go to to sell the fruits of our labors. Some couples might not get divorced, and people might eat, drink and smoke less if they have something productive to do. I do. It used to be that an immigrant could get off the boat with a nickel in his pocket, go into a store and buy an apple, sell it on the street for a dime, go back to the store and buy two apples, etc., until he had enough money to buy a bed and meal for the night. When President Reagan proposed "free enterprise" zones in the United States, it highlighted just how un-free we have become. Every city, town and municipality should be required to have a free marketplace where any citizen can come and sell what he has to offer. Food vendors would still have to comply with public health regulations. If the municipality does not offer a free marketplace, then it must allow free street vending so the poor can provide for themselves. Anyone below the poverty level should be permitted to do whatever they can to rise above that level without the imposition of permits and the requirement to collect and pay taxes. Every dollar generated that way expands ten times in the economy and is the very basis of the free marketplace. I have been all over this world and in most places people are poor. The poorest of the poor provide for themselves by buying a bag of candy or something and selling it a piece a time on the street. To take this opportunity from someone and force them to "fly a sign" and beg instead is completely inhumane. What else has a person but the fruits of his labor, no matter how humble? Special interests, including the ecology movement, have placed severe restrictions on individual industry that are bad for the society and economy. All of these restrictions need to be reviewed and relaxed wherever possible and this overflows into other areas, especially personal freedom. Our churches are failing us. They all send missionaries overseas, often causing severe social tension, like Christians in Muslim lands, while ignoring the poor and needy at home. I would require all churches to be open 24 hours a day to maintain their tax free status. They are little more than businesses the way they operate now, with very short hours, I might add. A church or temple is a house of God and needs to be open all the time so people can seek sanctuary and solace. There is nowhere for the spouse who needs to get out of the house at midnight to go, for example. And how many homeless might find inspiration sitting there on a rainy day? They would be required to provide shelter, baths and food for the homeless and poor. If they are afraid of vandals or thieves, they will have to post a volunteer, or volunteers, to keep an eye on things. If they would rather operate as the businesses they are now, they should be taxed as businesses. Because of the decline in religious belief in the United States, it is no longer reasonable to expect the faiths to provide adequate relief for the poor. Because of this, some sort of welfare must be provided. I will leave the Welfare system in place as it is now until that can be further assessed. As the changes I will make in the marriage laws will reduce poverty as it reduces the number of single mothers, it might actually be possible to raise welfare payments for the disabled, ill, and veterans. PERSONAL FREEDOM AND CRIME #3: I believe the government has the right to require seat belts in cars, and can require ads advocating their use, but it does not have the right to ticket people who do not wear them, or even have their children wear them. These are personal decisions free people should make. This applies to motorcycle helmet laws, life preserver laws and all other laws that put a policeman looking over everyone's shoulder. We are our brother's keeper, but he has every right to live as stupidly as he wants to. That is freedom. The government is not our parent and it should not interfere in these personal decisions. It is simply NOT a governmental function. Because we are all just human, if we continue to outlaw all these things, we will eventually all be outlaws. If the deaths and injuries from these things were at a high enough level, like the STD epidemics, I would say they are true public health issues and would support them. But in my opinion they do not constitute a "public" health crisis that requires governmental action, but rather an "individual" health crisis best left to the decisions of the individual. The Supreme Court has sold out the Constitution in many ways. They have been chipping and chipping away at the rock the founding fathers built this country on. The right for the police to stop anyone, at any time, and to set up roadblocks to check for drunk drivers is the prime example. Even the Supreme Court cannot over-ride the Constitution. If people want things like this to be legal, they must get a Constitutional amendment passed. The biggest area of this country is rural and the .08 law and the police ability to violate our constitutional rights has had devastating social effects in the rural areas, including higher divorce and suicide rates. In my county, the law has not dropped DUI deaths. They have gone up because people now drive for miles on country roads to and from houses instead of frequenting restaurants and bars in the towns, which are more or less shut down by 10PM. There are no real New Year's celebrations here anymore. Nor Fourth of July, etc. We no longer feel free. I will restore our rights in rural areas in the name of freedom, while leaving large municipalities with several means of 24 hour transportation the right to maintain the .08 law. Most of the people who would want such a law are the same people who don't want to go to socialize in taverns like our founding fathers did. They just think the deaths are bad, which they are. If the .08 law had greatly reduced or eliminated DUI deaths in my county, I'd be for it. Unfortunately it has no effect at all except to make it nearly impossible for people to lead normal lives socially. Last year our District Attorney said he was going to start asking for mandatory one year sentences for all first offender DUI's because the death rate was up, not down, and "people weren't getting it." It was he who was not getting it. The law doesn't work and just causes more pain and needs to be changed. I suggest a .15 limit for males and a .12 limit for females because they metabolize alcohol differently. I grew up in New York, which was then a .15 state. As a Master of ships, I am well aquainted with the different levels of intoxication and what most people can do at those different levels. Not everyone has the same tolerance levels. Indeed I had one crewmember that drank two bottles of vodka a day and none of us, for years, even knew that he drank. That came out in a court deposition years later. Designated drivers are also a joke in rural America. With over half the population divorced, my next issue, people live lonely lives and it is not possible to find a designated driver, especially in rural America where people live tens of miles apart. On top of it all, the .08 limit was unconstituitonally forced on the states by Clinton when he included it as a requirement in the Federal Highway funds bill. The Federal government has no right, constitutionally, to demand the states have a .08 law to receive their share of the highway funds. Like most extreme liberals, the Clintons have little regard for the Constitution when it interferes with their own concept of what is "good" for people. I call these people "Liberal Nazi's" or "Safety Nazi's" and I'm fed up with them placing more and more burdens on the people, and the courts and penal system, because they are so afraid of everything. If they are so afraid, let them stay home. Of course liberal elitists like the Clintons who get driven around by chauffeurs so they can drink what they want aren't affected by the .08 law unless someone over that limit drives into their chauffeur-driven car. Breathalyse them after one of their fundraisers and you will find they are above the .08 limit. They are living loose and easy while everone else is stuck at home. These people understand nothing about the common man or what it is like to not have priviledge and money. I guarantee you that if Clinton had to drive himself to the bar so he could have a drink and screw around on Hillary there would be no .08 law. Where does that morally corrupt bugger or his wife get off telling us how to live our lives? Also, "public intoxication" is now also set at .08 where I live, so even if you are walking, you end up in jail if you dare to "celebrate" anything. Making the walking limit the same as the driving limit is simply outrageous. In the movie "The Alamo", with John Wayne, Travis, the commander of the Alamo, asks Wayne why he is there. Wayne replies, "I just like the sound of the word 'Republic'. It means a man can get as drunk as he wants and walk home with no one bothering him." Where, I ask, is my Republic and my freedom? We cannot reduce everything to the lowest common denominator in the name of public safety. Some things do reach societal proportions that need to be addressed by the government, like the STD epidemics, but we have far too many personal safety laws that have been passed on the basis of too few injuries and deaths. Just because one child hits her head on her garage door because she doesn't know how to use the brakes on her new bike, and dies because she wasn't wearing a helmet, is no reason to have seasoned marines wear bike helmets while they are peddling around a military base with no cars, such as Diego Garcia. Neither is it reason to step in and make all children wear helmets. If 20,000 children were dying every year for lack of a bike helmet, it would be a "public" safety issue. A few children, though sad, does not make it a public safety issue. That is the price of freedom. You can bet a lot of money went to politicians who listened to the helmet manufacturers. The same can be said of the recent decision to make us all get new propane tanks for our barbecues. This is why I will do away with lobby money. We can't stop the people, in any form, from talking to their representatives, but we can stop the monetary influence. UNCONDITIONAL DIVORCE #4:Unconditonal divorce is destroying American society. Pat Schroeder, who initiated no-fault divorce, was an ignorant, foolish, radical, feminist (I consider myself a conservative feminist) and we are now all paying the price of her self-serving stupidity. Marriage has been a sacred institution in every human culture. The reason behind its "sacredness" is because it is a difficult state to live in but is essential for the health of our children and wealth of our communities. "High thinkers" like Pat Schroeder thought human goodness would prevail in a no-fault divorce state. They were wrong. People tend to put themselves first which is why we have a 50% plus divorce rate. I will see to it that no-fault divorce is a thing of the past and that the government enforces every legal, spiritual, contract entered into by people of any faith. For those of no faith, the requirements shall be the same. Divorce will only be allowed in cases of adultery, insanity, imprisonment, child abuse or severe brutality. (Just as many wives physically abuse their husbands as husbands, wives. Women use weapons, while men don't. I am including this here because most people believe the popular feminist myth that men are brutes who beat their wives. What I am telling you is true, and was a front-page article in one of the major San Francisco papers, I can't remember at the moment if it was the Chronicle or the Examiner.) PUBLIC HEALTH #5: In the same vein, we are facing full blown epidemics of every sexually transmitted disease. These epidemics are a primary reason we cannot provide normal health care to all. To correct this, I would outlaw fornication again. Until the drug-driven (including birth-control) revolution of the 1960's, fornication was against the law. This was a public health law that tried to prevent the spread of deadly STD's. In the 1960's, before the advent of AIDS and Hepatitis C, people thought they had deadly STD's beat through antibiotics, and unwanted pregnancies through birth control. I did. The advent of AIDS and Hepatitis C proved this to be wrong. We have given "safe sex" long enough to work and it doesn't. If it did, we wouldn't have full blown epidemics of all these diseases. It is as simple as that. People are too careless when their hormones take over, especially if drugs or alcohol are involved. As anyone can tell from simply looking at old movies, fornication has been going on forever and such a law is hardly enforceable. However, if we teach our young that fornication is against the law for public health reasons, we will find the promiscuity rate dropping dramatically over the years and also the rate of STD transmission, especially if we put stronger restrictions on the entertainment industry so they can not glamorize the promiscuous lifestyle to seduce the young. As one of my daughters pointed out to me, anti-marijuana laws do not stop people from smoking marijuana. Nor do DUI laws stop people from drinking and driving. Anti-fornication laws cannot stop fornication, but they can reduce promiscuity and the spread of disease. Such a law does more to set a "societal ideal" than anything else, but such laws are necessary when the country is facing such a healthcare crisis as regards sexually transmitted diseases. Augustus Caesar, a pagan, banned kissing for 11 years simply because of an epidemic of herpes on people's lips. What would he have done to rid his nation of AIDS? Some people who can practice self-control still see safe sex as the answer and will not like this law. But they are forgetting about the 50% or more of the population who do not have that self-control. If it were only a few people who didn't practice safe sex and we only had a few cases of AIDS or Hep C, that would be one thing. But the clear fact is that too many people don't and we have full blown epidemics that need to be brought under control because they are now breaking the bank. And, quite frankly, I resent paying all these medical bills for people who have led what I consider to be irresponsible lives. I don't mess around and I don't see why they "have" to. They live irresponsibly, far worse than someone having a drink and driving, and I have to pay for their healthcare. That is just not right. So, the alternative solution would be to tell people that if they get an STD through promiscuity, they must pay all their own medical bills or just die. Of course that is not right, either. I believe it is quite clear that the party is over and it is time to start requiring responsible behavior from everyone sexually. The way to start doing this is to reinstate the moral law so the children being born today are raised in a different social atmosphere. What did Jesus say, "Render unto me the little children?" He knew change took time and a change in education of the newborn. Also, most people are not promiscuous. They might like to be, but really, what's the chance? Promiscuity tends to be something the young and the homosexual indulge in more than anyone else. Just look around you. How many folks are you attracted to? Not many, huh? The trouble is that enough people are so that the healthcare system is near collapse and can't provide normal care for everyone. I would impose much stricter moral codes on an entertainment industry that will pander to any filthy desire for the sake of income. I firmly believe that if we were still exporting "Leave It To Beaver" instead of "Sex In The City" we wouldn't be having our current problems with the Muslim world. The moral code in entertainment should reflect society's highest goals and family values, not its basest desires. Because homosexual people will soon be able to procreate through scientific methods, I would allow homosexual marriages, but the homosexual community, notorious for its promiscuity, would also be forbidden to engage in fornication outside of marriage. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE I don't like government mandates so I d not like Obama's plan. McCains appraoch is better, but it does not provide universal healthcare, something that should be a right in principle but not in fact. That is why I propose resurrecting the Public Health Care system as outlined below. #6: Universal healthcare is certainly possible if we get the special interest groups out of the way. We used to have universal health care in the Public Health Service, something Reagan abolished. Public Health Service hospitals used to be all around the country providing free health care to the poor. I would simply re-instate this system with some changes. Because doctors are high-income, privileged members of society, I would require all new doctors to serve in the Public Health Service for a period of at least two years after they finished their internships. These doctors would be salaried at lower middle class level during their service and at an appropriately higher rate if they decide to stay within the system when their mandatory service is done. This service could be as small town doctors, where they might develop a permanent patient base for their private practice, or in the big city hospitals. I would consult medical professionals to work this out and set it up. I would also drastically reduce what juries could award for malpractice suits, lowering doctor insurance costs and everyone's medical bills. Tort reform is essential for a rejuvenated and universal health care system. Lastly, I would work with the pharmaceutical companies to lower American drug costs, which we all know are much higher than in other countries. I understand these companies have to have money for research and the Americans have the deepest pockets. But we are making the sick pay for a very public benefit and that is not fair. Therefore I suggest the Federal government pay for this research through grants to the companies. I believe if we switch to this system that company stockholders will see to it that corporate executive income is properly set to assure the research is done and the company remain competitive. In other words, I don't think the government will be limiting profits for the stockholders. Also, all this work is easily verified and fraud is easily detected. This would be funded through the Federal sales tax (I discuss dumping the IRS below). The same amount of money will be spent in the economy because the people taking the medications will now have more to spend. The old folks can go play some miniature golf! One of the advantages of Federal and State sales taxes, in lieu of income taxes, is that we know, each time we buy something, what we are paying for our government. Maybe we will decide we can't afford everything we want. But I think, if we get our house in order in this dramatic way, that we can. And we can have it our way. At least we will all be able to see what we are actually paying for everything each time we buy a taxable item. It's like using cash instead of a credit card. It hurts a bit. Of course the states will also need to switch to a sales tax only tax system. No more tax man. No more taxing the fruits of a person's labors, which, by the way, also used to be unconstitutional except in times of crisis. This would also save a lot of money as we did away with the income tax bureaucracies and all the law enforcement that goes with them. It would also do away with tax cheats. Everyone who buys, pays. GLOBAL WARMING #7: On June 27th, 2008, our scientists announced that for the first time in human history the Arctic ice will completely melt. This is terribly catastrophic. It was thought that would not occur until 20 years from now, but it is happening this year. The effects of climate change of this total melt will be catastrophically dramatic as the cold air coming down from the north is essential to our normal weather patterns. Without that cold air, created when the the air is cooled by polar ice, normal frontal conditions cannot be formed over the continents of the northern hemisphere. Winters will become dramatically warmer and ice packs, which most of the population relies on for fresh water, will not form in the mountains. I cannot stress enough how important this all is. We are facing drought, crop failure and famine on a global scale. During the Vice Presidential debate on October 2nd, Senator Biden said Global warming is solely a man-made problem. He is wrong. Man is overheating a natural warming cycle. The only contstant is change. The climate never stays the same. It is always either getting warmer or getting colder. If it weren't getting warmer now, it would be getting colder and we'd be facing a possible Ice Age. What we really have learned is that we can influence the climate in a major way and that is a good thing, as long as we know it. Also, if one wanted to nit-pick, man is a part of nature, so our warming influence is natural. It is absolutely essential that we begin constructing CO2 scrubbers, not today, but yesterday. The technology is there, and it will only cost 1.5% of the world GNP, and we must DO IT NOW! The carbon that is scrubbed should be stored so we can re-release it when, not if, when, the climate changes too much in the cold direction. Your worries about putting gas in your tank will seem like nothing compared to the worries you will face in the next decades about putting food in your mouth. And this is if we just start building them now. We must also begin a massive reforestation of the planet as trees are great natural CO2 scrubbers. If elected, I will begin this process my very first day in office. Global warming is more complex than most people realize. There is no doubt in my mind that humanity is increasing the warming rate of the planet and that it is already a great catasrophe happening this year. However, this crisis will turn out to be a God-send in the end because what we have really learned is that we can control the overall climate of the planet, and can do it economically. The really big question no one has asked yet is, "What is the ideal climate for the planet?" The warmest period in human history was the "Holocene Maximum". It began about 7,500 years ago and lasted several thousand years. It was the end of the last Ice Age. During that period the Sahara and middle-eastern deserts were lush and green and teaming with life, and all the first, great, human civilizations emerged along the major river basins of the world from Egypt to China. Although global warming might submerge some coastal communities, the people living in what now are deserts might like some more rain, and the Norwegians and Swedes might like less snow. What I am saying here is that we now have the ability to control the world climate through greenhouse gases, but one people's idea of a perfect planetary climate might well be different from others living in different areas. Also, the next Ice Age actually began at the end of the Holocene Maximum. Although we are now warming the planet, it has been warmer in the past. Overall planetary temperatures have actually decreased since the Holocene Maximum. Indeed, we went through a mini-Ice Age from the mid 1300's until about 1880 that might have catastrophically deepened had it not been for the human warming influence. On top of that, even the global warming alarmists insist that if we allow the planet to keep warming the way it is, we will initiate another Ice Age, so, really, it is Ice Ages we have to worry about. What we really have to be very careful about is that we don't over-correct the climate and push ourselves into an Ice Age, which would be catastrophic, even if it only lasted a short time. Ice Ages are periods of drought and famine. As president, I would convene the best scientific minds to consider all of this and I would follow their recommendations, including the building of CO2 scrubbers, which are needed now. It is also true that many of our ecological actions have been wrong, like the Forest Service putting out all fires so brush has been allowed to build up and we now have mega-fires destroying whole forests that will never come back as they were, but as whole new ecosystems. The environmental movement is also to blame for many of these problems and we need to re-evaluate all such current policies. As president I would immediately begin massive reforestation wherever possible. I would also begin immediate brush clearing in our remaining forests to reduce the fuel available for massive, forest killing fires. I would do all this with volunteers. I would also just encourage people to plant a tree or two. The deforestation of all the world's rain forests, both tropical and sub-tropical, like where I live, has to make a world-wide transition to selective cutting and replacement. I would work internationally to see this done. But it is not only our forests. Our oceans are also in grave danger. We have to reach an international understanding that humanity has reached a point where it must farm the planet with reason. The era of unlimited resources is over, we must re-stock, too. The era of planned obsolescence also needs to end until nanotechnology can provide us with unlimited resources. Again I refer you to Ray Kurzweil, who says we will even be using nanotechnology to make our meat within 30 years. If we make it to the age of nanotechnology, and it is as Kurzweil predicts, we are on the verge of a wonderful world. But we have to make it there. We need to start making and buying products that can be used and re-used, as much as possible. Changes like automobile frames that will accept new bodies and upgrades, or desktop computers that accept new internals. We also need to completely get away from plastics as much as possible. They are consuming our oil and creating a lot of waste. FOREIGN POLICY #8: I would completely revamp American foreign policy. We are not, nor should we strive to be, the world's policeman. One of the most important things we can do for another culture is to respect it. We should only undertake humanitarian military action as part of a United Nations force. Preemptive military action is sometimes justified, but only if authorized by Congress. Usually we should only attack if we have been attacked. I would have the American military as strong as possible and equipped with the highest technology, so I expect no changes in policy there. I think our forces have done an extraordinary job in very difficult circumstances, and they should be as well funded, and cared for, as we can afford. We don't want vets killing themselves or ending up disabled and on the street. These are our sons and daughters. In fact, I would like to restore the old savings into the commissary system, so they get a good deal everytime they buy something. When the national conscience is pricked by conditions outside the country, I would use the military to ease that conscience. For instance, in Darfur, I would be dropping food packets from American planes on the hungry and I would protect those planes with our fighters. I would concentrate on security at home rather than taking the fight overseas on bad intelligence, as in Iraq, which should not have been disturbed, even if, God willing, America is successful there. If you are wondering, I consider "water-boarding" torture and I do not believe we should engage in torture. I would not allow such practices. There are other ways to gain cooperation. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, THE PENAL SYSTEM #9: The American penal system is a mess. "Penitentiaries", where people were supposed to do penance, are a total failure. Hardly anyone does penance and all we are really doing is caging people in an inhumane environment. Long jail sentences in our penitentiaries are cruel and inhumane treatment. If I was convicted of robbery, I would much rather lose a hand than spend ten years in our so-called "correctional facilities" which are really no more than brutal animal houses that cost a tremendous amount to maintain. Money like that would be much better spent on something like healthcare, Social Security or national security. One of the main reasons is the all the laws we pass trying to get other people to stop whatever it is they are doing, like marijuana and driving above a .08 level. Just look at the "court report" in your own town and take note of how many of the items are related to DUI's, marijuana possession, or domestic violence. Add to that the number of divorce cases the court must hear and you have one big mess. Most of these cases shouldn't even be in the courts, including most of the domestic violence cases. (Don't forget just as many wives assault their husbands) The cost of all this comes to $200 billion dollars a year. Take a minute to click on Senator Webb's Facts About The Prison System site. We have more people in prison, people we are paying a lot of money to provide for under secure conditions, than any other country in the world. More than even Russia. When someone gets put in prison for a parole violation because he got a DUI, and had no license, but had no other way to get to work but to drive, violating his parole, the economy loses a worker and the prison population, and cost, goes up. Someone with 5 grams of crack cocaine is sentenced as though he had 300 grams of regular cocaine. This obsession with putting addicts in jail is not only insane, but cruel. The thing to do is put to death those who sell deadly drugs. They are murderers, but they kill with drugs instead of guns. If a person took a needle full of heroin and injected it into some hapless soul, killing him, that person would be tried and sentenced as a murderer. The person selling the deadly drugs is that murderer. I would limit the appeals process to six months on capital crimes and create special courts to deal with this process if the regular courts cannot accommodate that schedule. However, with the other legal changes, the courts should be much less busy. The drop in domestic cases alone should free up vast amounts of time. I don't like the death penalty, but I believe it is a necessary evil because decent people should not have to foot the bill to maintain the worst of the worst for all those years. I would expand capital punishment to include dealers of deadly drugs and those who were brutal in their crimes. People committing violent crimes in prison would also be executed. The war on drugs has been a failure. Until the advent of opium based products, it was considered unconstitutional to restrict what a person could do with regards to drugs and alcohol. Opium was a prime ingredient in most patent medicines and a very large number of people were becoming addicted and were dying at an alarming rate. As funny as it may seem, when heroin was first developed it was praised as a cure for opium addiction, which had become a national crisis. It didn't take too long to realize heroin was even worse and political action was finally taken to control opium based drugs, restricting them to a doctor's prescription and management. I believe that nothing found in nature is evil unto itself. It all depends how a thing is used. I believe man is natural and what he does is natural, but I am not including man-made drugs like methamphetimines here, things created through man's manipulation, but only things found alongside man in nature. Even poisons have their uses. I see no problem with a person chewing a coca leaf, like they do in Equador, for a boost. I find it no worse than coffee. Refined cocaine, however, is deadly and a whole different story. Many pharmaceutical plants grow in every garden and meadow and if a person knows how to use them, he should be allowed to. Some, like alcohol (which also occurs naturally), need to be regulated to keep them out of the hands of the young because they hurt the growth and development process. I believe marijuana ought to be decriminalized and sold in liquor stores. Its use is already widespread and to pretend there is a "war" on it is ridiculous. This will also reduce court burdens. Also, as there are less "criminals" to catch, we need fewer police. Fewer laws means less policing and less people in jail. Indeed, the reason we have too many people in jail is because we are too lenient on the really violent and too harsh with people who are addicts or who have committed minor crimes. We also make criminals out of too many people with all our safety laws. I would, wherever possible, replace prison terms with fines and community service. THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM #10: The educational system is a mess. I will re-institute paddling in the schools and see to it that order is maintained. Most importantly, I will see to it that every student in every school has access to the same books and computers and have the same teacher-to-student ratio. I will adjust the Federal sales tax (I discuss dumping the income tax below) to see that all our children have the very best education. I will take "social education" out of the schools and put it back in the home, allowing more time for genuine education. To assure equality in funding, educational expenses would be paid through the Federal sales tax, like all governmental functions. This way all members of society are contributing in our children's education, which is our society's future. This will take the tax burden off the homeowner and distribute the cost throughout society, as it should be. CAMPAIGN REFORM #11: I will ban all lobby money. Candidates who gather enough signatures will be allotted time on an equal basis on a government owned television channel. They can do what they want on the Internet, as well, because money makes no difference there. That will be it. No ads, no buttons, no hype, no bumper stickers, no bought rallies. Issues only in a single forum so everyone gets to hear the same thing, not something custom tailored to a specific group. This will operate at all levels of government. It is time to take the bull out of the political process. We have the technology and the wealth of the candidates should not give them an edge. Political office should not be for sale as it is now. INCOME TAX VERSUS FLAT TAX #12: I will also dump the income tax and IRS and replace it with a graduated Federal sales tax. Luxury items will be taxed at a higher level so the wealthy contribute more. There will be no sales tax on food, even if it is prepared, because the poor and the elderly often rely on prepared foods. There will be no "penalty" taxes on tobacco or alcohol that pay for other things like schools and roads. Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and sweets will be taxed at a rate proportional to the health care costs for each incurred by the population for their abuse as a whole. In other words, alcohol will have a tax adequate to pay for the country's health care costs due to alcohol abuse and sweets will have a tax that covers the cost of obesity, etc. Everyone I know has a vice and it is time we stop making particular villains out of this or that group. Also, it really bothers me that increasing tobacco taxes have forced the less wealthy addicts to turn to non-filtered cigarettes, speeding their demise. Time and again I see the "well intentioned" put unfair burdens on others like this, you all have examples, and it has to stop. The common man needs his simple pleasures or he will take up the guns the founding fathers knew he might need to overthrow his own government, and do it. We don't have guns to hunt squirrels. We have guns in case our own government becomes oppressive. I will protect every citizen's right to bear arms for this very reason. I want my guns in case my government gets too oppressive. I also want them to make meat if everything goes down the tubes, but I doubt that will happen unless we really blow it or get hit with a big rock from space. Each year, on December 31st, the governmental budgets expended in the previous year should be totaled and the sales taxes for the next year should be set to cover those expenses. This way, each year, we cover our bills for the previous year and avoid national debt. Of course the legislatures could increase the tax for expected increased spending in the new year. Because each new expenditure will affect the sales tax, it will make it much harder for the politicians to push "special" projects through that cost us money we don't want to spend. It makes every spending bill much more conspicuous to the average citizen and holds the politicians to a much higher level of scrutiny and accountability. ABORTION #13: I am pro-life and pro-abortion. I know this sounds contradictory. Life does not "begin" in the womb. It is passed on like a flowing river through each generation. It makes whatever creature according to what it finds encoded in the DNA. It is the same Life in all living things and it has always been considered as sacred. This is why we strive for the most merciful of killing, and demand the humane treatment of, animals. However, China already has a one child per family rule and other countries will inevitably follow as the world population continues to explode. Also, sadly, the fact of the matter is that every society on the face of the Earth used to practice infant exposure in bad times. Many poor cultures still practice it. During the Great Depression the number of abortions skyrocketed because people could not afford another mouth to feed. My stepfather told me his own mother had 86 such abortions during the Depression, though I can't help but think he was exaggerating. Female children are victimized much more than males because poor people do not want more wombs making more babies to feed. I know all this is very cruel and inhumane, but it is sadly true. I believe in the ideals of the faiths and that sex should be for reproduction, but that is not the human reality and I am a realist. Although it would be better if every conceived child could be brought to term and raised in a good home, that is just not possible. For countless generations women who had an unwanted pregnancy had to resort to unsafe means to terminate it. I believe we have to allow this option, even though it is morally repugnant, but believe we should restrict it to very early term unless the life of the mother is in danger. It is better to terminate that without a brain, than that with, as our ancestors did. Maybe we can stop finding abandoned babies in dumpsters that way. I believe we have reached a population level where birth control is not just moral, but necessary. But we have to remember that birth control is not 100% effective and that many methods are dangerous and some women don't want to use them. We should continue, however, to encourage mothers to go full term and for those that do we should provide placement for their unwanted children. I know this stance won't be popular with many conservative religious groups, but I am a man who sees the Creator in all living things and I still think it is a necessary evil. THE HOMELESS #14: We have a large homeless problem. By providing a free marketplace and requiring the faiths to fulfill their duties here at home, we will alleviate a good deal of this. We can also not tell a person they can't be homeless and live like that. However, we have a human responsibility to those with mental defects and deadly addictions. By changing our legal system, and reducing our prison populations, we can find the money to adequately provide for these people, many of whom are in prison when they should be in care facilities. We used to do this, pretty poorly, until Reagan abolished our mental health system. We need to reinstate that system so that the mentally ill and those who cannot break their deadly addictions are properly cared for and rehabilitated whenever possible. This has to be quality care. I have had encounters with our Mental Health System and find it totally lacking in nearly every way, including basic human compassion. I will change that. IMMIGRATION #15: Illegal immigration is a real threat to the nation. However, the nation is at fault for letting things go this far. To solve this I would first build a "Great Wall" to stop the flow. I believe the "Great Wall" could be something as simple as issuing ID cards to legal, or soon to be legal, immigrants that are truely difficult to forge. The people receiving these cards would also be given an Immigrant Social Security number. If we then made it illegal to hire anyone without a Social Security number or Immigrant Social Security number, and impose heavy penalties in the way of fines for employing illegal immigrants, as Arizona just did, we could stop the reason for coming here because there would be no illegal employment opportunites. Social Security taxes collected from immigrant labor would be held in account for them, should they decide to become citizens. If not, the funds would just be additional aid for the Social Security System. If this failed to stop the flow, an actual, physical, wall will be needed to be built along our southern border. I believe the country has a moral obligation to those who it let in to do cheap work others didn't want, I would open roads to citizenship, including English proficiency, for those who have been here for a long time. I would also look at increasing immigration quotas, and temporary visas, for South Americans who want to come and work here at the low income jobs. All temporary workers would also have to have an Immigrant Social Security card that could be checked prior to employment. SOCIAL SECURITY #16: Social Security, as we all know, is in deep doo, so to speak. The problem is much more complex because of our increased life expectancy of 600 years. Although I know some of the politicians in Washington are aware of this, because Ray Kurzweil advises them, no one has yet to mention it, much less in the area of Social Security reform. If you think for just a minute, you will see how complex the problem becomes. Not only that, Kurzweil also says we will also be fit and young during these 600 years because we are on the verge of being able to rejuvenate ourselves. The 600 year expectancy is set at 600 years because of the probability of being killed in a catastrophic accident of some sort. This means people will have several "careers" over the course of their lives. Because I don't have the figures to crunch, I won't be able to come up with a final plan for Social Security until I can access the budget after all the changes I have made are put into place. I believe, however, that total savings will allow us to make up any current shortfalls with the Federal sales tax. If that is possible, then I will change Social Security to a plan where every individual has a personal "Security" plan that builds as he moves from job to job. This plan will have the same investment restrictions as normal pension plans, but each individual will be able to direct his own investments. It will also be something he can draw on should he come into a period of hard times during his long life. It will no longer be just a retirement fund. CHURCH AND STATE #17: There are those who will be concerned about me because of my spiritual beliefs. I discuss these fully on my "Symbol of Unity" site, which I put up several years ago. I claim affiliation with no particular religion or sect as I find error in all. But you will find I respect and honor all the faiths and owe them all much. You might call me a BuChrisHinJewMus, but please don't ;-) . I believe in the separation of church and state and will not force my views on anyone. I believe true enlightenment comes from within, not on the edge of a sword. However, I believe the government is supposed to uphold the primary values expressed by all the great faiths that make up the population, and that atheism is not a religion. Ninety-five percent of Americans say they believe in God. The government should reflect this. We should be one nation under God and if a community wants non-sectarian prayer in the schools it should be allowed to have it. The nation needs to stop pandering to atheists who would undermine everything decent and good for society because they personally hate the concept of God and want to be free to do anything they want. All our laws are based on the Judeo/Christian/Islamic/Hindu/Buddhist traditions of morality and to follow the atheists is to abandon the collective wisdom of our ancestors concerning what makes a happy, prosperous community and, ultimately, all our laws. IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN #18:Both McCain and Obama want to increase our military presence in Afganistan. This is a huge mistake. The surge that is winning in Iraq will not work in Afganistan/Pakistan. I address this more fully below, but neither major party candidate has a grasp on Afganistan/Pakistan, as was evident on the second debate on 10/7. Obama really scares me here with his talk of invading Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country. This stance alone has convinced me that Obama should not be president. As for Iraq, I said earlier that if the situation hadn't stabilized and the troops weren't home when I took office, I would invite all the real leaders of the Iraqi people, both tribal and religious. to Washington for a new Constitutional Convention that would establish an Islamic Republic built by them around their culture, rather than around ours. I believe even the convening of such a convention would bring about an immediate ceasefire except for Al-Qaeda. I also believe it would unite the Iraqi's against Al-Qaeda. We could then bring our troops home. But now the Iraqi government has given us a timeline for departure and that should now be our goal: not a deadline, but a goal. As big a mistake as the Iraq invasion was, it would be a shame to quit with victory in sight. Iraq should also be picking up as much of the financial burden as it can carry for the remainder of our stay, Even if we improve the moral values of our entertainment industry and lives, Al-Qaeda will still be a threat. They hate everyone else in the world. I would drop a bomb on any of them anywhere I found them. I believe we had good cause to go into Afganistan to get the Taliban and it is best to keep these people hiding in holes until we can find them. I also think we are at the point where we could literally keep the air filled with enough cameras in unmanned drones to finally locate them and hit them with a precision bomb. I believe when we leave Iraq that the focus of the radical Muslim world will shift back to Afganistan. There is no doubt in my mind that this will happen. Indeed, the Taliban is already making a major comeback there. We need to go to the United Nations and our allies and explain to them that America does not consider this to be its problem. It is a world problem and the United States will withdraw its troops unless other nations contribute enough so we can greatly reduce our presence there and be only a small part of a much larger force. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban want us there to drain our treasury, as they did to the Russians. We need to either greatly reduce our presence or get out and just keep taking out new leaders with cruise missles as they arise. GUANTANAMO AND POW's #19: During a war, as in World War II, enemy prisoners on all sides are held in "prisoner of war camps" and released when the war is over. Sometimes they are exchanged. The West did not declare war on Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda declared war on the West. Al-Qaeda slaughters all prisoners of war, contrary to all humane conventions. During World War II, many German troops were held in camps in England. Even after the war, a conditon of release was that they wipe their feet on the Nazi flag. I know this because I had one of the last fellows to be released as a Chief Engineer on one of my ships. Prisoners of war are not tried for crimes unless they have committed acts that are considered crimes even in wartime. Because the combatants being held at Guantanamo Bay declared war on us, and we would be glad to cease hostilities at any time, I see no alternative but to hold them in a prisoner of war camp until the war is over, which is really up to them. I would see no problem with such a camp even in the continental United States. We have even held German troops here and had them work our fields. If any of the prisoners of war at Guantanamo, or in any camp, have slaughtered captured allied soldiers, or given orders to slaughter them, instead of holding them, as we are holding them, I would try them as war criminals and execute them if they are convicted. Some of the people being held there should definitely be executed for crimes committed. If you do not believe this, go and look at one of the Internet beheadings. Can you imagine what we would do to a United States president who did such a thing? Imagine it even in the darkest ghetto.... Americans have a big problem with killing their enemies and criminals. This is because they have been taught that the Commandment is, "Thou Shalt Not KILL", whereas it is actually, "Thou Shalt Not MURDER." This is the literal translation. Otherwise, how could Moses, who gave the law, send the Jews into Canaan telling them to slay all. Also, why would one of Jesus' disciples have a sword with him to cut off the ear of the guard when they came to arrest Jesus? Obviously, even though Jesus taught tolerance and "turning the other cheek", his disciples were armed to protect themselves against the lawless, and were prepared to use their arms if attacked. OIL AND GAS CRISIS #20: We are facing an oil and gas crisis that will not end until we put enviornmental concerns in their proper place and aggressively pursue the development of the Bakken oil reserves in the Dakotas and Wisconsin, the Alaskan north slope, and the oil shales in Pennsylvania, at the same time reserving these oil resources for American consumption only and forbidding their sale on the international market. Each of these reserves contain more oil than in Saudi Arabia and would free us completely from foreign oil purchases. At the same time, we need to be building new refineries to refine this oil. The major reason the Saudis have refused to increase production to help keep our gas prices lower is that we do not have the refineries to refine any increased production. If the next hurricane season should damage refineries, Americans can expect to see an even sharper rise in the price of gas. Again, enviornmental concerns have greatly hindered us and are contributing greatly to the decline of the American economy. There is no reason these concerns cannot be reasonably addressed, like the construction of CO2 scrubbers at each new refinery to keep them global warming neutral. Oil development and refinement does not equal ecological disaster, but doing nothing does equal economic disaster. Of course I am also for an aggressive policy of developing alternative energy sources like wind, solar and tidal. Nuclear technology has also progressed and become much safer, and nanotechnology should provide us a safe, economical, way to deal with the waste before it becomes a problem, so we also need to be developing it. Did you know we already have a car developed that gets 300 miles per gallon? We also know how to extract hydrogen from sea water. Although it takes more conventional energy from oil or coal to make it economically feasable, using solar or wind generated energy makes it very economical to do. Our technology can solve our energy needs if we just keep investing in the companies seeking answers to our problems. THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, NAFTA AND FREE TRADE #21: Although no one could reasonably promote economic isolationism in this day and age, NAFTA and the legal "outsourcing" of jobs are having catastrophic impacts on the American economy. NAFTA has to be renegotiated and "outsourcing" has to be severely restricted if we are going to rebuild our industrial base and become a real economic force again. We have to stop the trade deficit and make it a trade surplus, or at least trade neutral, or all of our wealth will finally be siphoned off overseas, often into the pockets of American citizens who are really now "internatioanl" citizens with homes in several countries and who could care less about the welfare of the American worker. Finally: I expect I will amending and adding to this site, but I think I have covered most of the major issues here. If you agree with me, spread the word and get me elected. If you have questions, email me and I will try to answer them. |
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Please forward questions and comments: Via Email to: Capt. Cass CONTACT INFO: Mail: Capt. J. H. (Cass) Forrington P. O. Box 56 Fort Bragg, Ca 95437 Mendocino County United States of America Lat 39-26.5N Long 123-48.5W Email Me Site Map Web Author: Capt. J. H. (Cass) Forrington Copyright ©2008 This Site and Contents are Copyright Protected - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |