Issues

    In the aftermath of the response to the pandemic countless small mom-and-pop shops where forced to close their doors permanently, in New Jersey alone 50% were lost in the first year. Meanwhile, the likes of Walmart, Costco, and Amazon saw the best years in their respective histories. The time has now come that we return our attention to the forgotten shopkeeps and restauranteurs. If the Democrats are so taken by their progressive income tax then by all means why not extend it to the world of business. After all if small businesses are the backbone of the American economy then why have we forsaken them to shack up with the likes of wall street.  They should be given reprieve to the regulations foisted upon the larger enterprises which can handle the burden.

    It has always been, in my estimation, a curious case regarding the Republican position on unions. It is only after a brief period of honest thought that it becomes apparent. Unions are perfectly in line with the conservative principle of self determination. I say, if people are willing to take charge of their own destinies in lieu of demanding of the government for reprieve, then by all means let them carry on with it.

    It must be said, however, that unions, just as the government whose stead they act in, are no less prone to corruption. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both the government and the union worker to be vigilant in placing the management of these unions under a lens of scrutiny. We must place upon their power a check, in order that we might guarantee the unions uphold their responsibilities to the workers whom they are charged with representing.

    Furthermore, an understanding ought be arrived upon as it regards to the "Right to Work". No worker ought be forced to subscribe to the services of a union he would rather have no part in. However in doing so the worker must proceed in the knowledge that the union and him will have no obligation toward each other, be it in law or in conscience, the two will remain separate in all respects. 

    It cannot be stressed enough that the election of 2020 was, by all measures, a catastrophe. There were countless irregularities and last minute rule changes that culminated in a case of extreme skepticism toward our democracy. Regardless of whether this was sufficient to sway the results, the principal must stand. A democracy can only survive on the trustworthiness of its elections. It is in this respect that actions taken under the guise of the pandemic undermined that integrity. 

    And now, we find on the coasts of this nation, the right to vote is being extended to non citizens. This does not only grave damage to our Republic, but also devalues the citizen. Our rights are backed by implicit underlying responsibilities, and no right is perhaps better backed by the duties and responsibilities of the citizen. Those who arrive in this nation may be responsible with those other rights of the constitution, but can never be responsible to the nation, and therefor cannot be entrusted with the ballot.

    I affirm that when elected, I will enact legislation aimed at the abolition of non citizen voting,. And furthermore, strive to, within the powers entrusted to the office which I seek, roll back the unconstitutional rule changes which were so wrongly enacted.

    The greatest delusion of the left is that problems of healthcare, a field comprising roughly 1/6th of the economy, can be solved by a one simple solution. This is absurd. Nothing that complex can be reduced to one thing. Healthcare has a series of problems each of which must have its own solution. What must first be done is to make a proper tally of the issues and only then can we begin to have a discussion regarding possible solutions.

    The only solution I have come across is that of Direct Primary Care, a system wherein general practitioners state their prices and charge their patients directly on a subscription basis. This has in Florida proven to be of mutual benefit to the patient and the physician, reducing cost to that of the average cell phone plan while improving accessibility, and reducing the patient load of the physician by more than half. All of this can be done by doctors choosing for themselves to reject both public and private insurance.

    The state of the boarder over the past few years has degraded at an alarming rate. We have seen unprecedented numbers of illegal migrants surge across an ever increasingly porous boarder, resulting in one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our age. Children being used by drug cayotes to traffic narcotics, or in the more heinous of occurrences, being made the victims of human trafficking.

    It is for this humanitarian cause that we must strive to reinforce the boarder, whilst reforming the immigration process.

    It should not take the decade and a half that our system besets upon the immigrant. My grandfather, having come from Northern Mexico, dedicated himself to the betterment of this nation, serving in the second world war and raising sons that would go on to fight in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. It is the immigrant that made this nation, and we should not punish those who are willing to dedicate themselves toward the prosperity of this nation's future.

    There is very little excuse for the expansion of the national debt, however the infrastructure of this nation is in such a state of disrepair that we are left with no alternative but to allocate great resources toward its resurrection. Living in Michigan we know,  perhaps better than the residents of any other state, the desperate conditions of our national roadways. However, we cannot allow our desperation to goosestep us into omnibus packages that would fix these structures, but in return demand the destruction of those institutions which have served our nation these past 245 years. For a road paved with blood will never be worth the cost.

    What is perhaps the greatest sin of our modern age, is the betrayal of our armed forces by the very nation which they have pledged themselves to serve. For the veteran, we have forgotten to pay him the debt he is owed. For the soldier lends the all of his prime to the protection of his nation. A loan underwritten by his faith in the nations cause, and his belief that the nation will care for him as he has for it. But what does he find? A nation, nay, a government that would rather sweep his service under the rug. This is the great shame of our nation. We must care for the veteran for it is he to whom we are most indebted.

    And for the soldier, we have taken their good will and squandered it on frivolous pursuits in foreign theatres for undefined goals. At every turn he is up against the culture of the Pentagon, which views him as fodder to fuel the lofty political ambitions of the General. We should only leverage the lives of our soldiers when a cause worth dying for arises, and not for some meek strategic goal.

    In order to combat these problems we must conduct a living autopsy of the Department of Veterans Affairs and root out the bureaucratic rot wherever it is to be found. In regards to our active duty soldiers we must hold the Pentagon to account as it pertains to the true scope and purpose of our conduct abroad.

    If we are to consider ours a nation of value, then we must strive to keep those promises we have made. Under the administration of FDR a promise was made to the citizens of this nation. This promise of security in old age was made as part of a bargain, that the working portion of the population would set aside a portion of their income so that it might be given to the elderly. This program, although noble in its intentions, has a distinct flaw in its initial design. It can only be sustained so long as our nations birthrate continues to stay high. 

    In the 1970s the birthrate saw a steep decline and as a result America's largest generation was immediately succeeded by its smallest. Given the Ponzi like nature of the Social Security program this poses a serious problem in the coming years. As the generation that are the Baby Boomers retires it will be primarily up to Generation X to bear the burden of maintaining the promise.

I confess to have no solution to this problem, only to be all to aware of it. I bring this up because, when one looks at the birthrates in the two younger generations, we find the same problem mirrored. It is for this reason that I would like to renegotiate the promise made to my generation, before it is too late. We cannot make the same mistake that the congresses of the 1970s did.

    This would be accomplished via the creation of generational retirement accounts, wherein every generation would collectively save for their retirement in five year blocks. So that, for example; all persons born from the years 1985-1989 would save together a portion of the riches of their lives and be able to upon retirement enjoy the spoils of a life well lived, whist lacing no burden of their children or their children's children.