Where the rubber meets the road

Ok, I know that I promised a third installment of “let’s talk weapons” , but before I delve into that I would like to bring up the subject of our current dysfunctional system of national politics. I know that it’s over a year before election time, but the run for president is already in full swing.


Now, Obama’s approval rating as of 08/30/2011 is running at or around 38% (according to Gallup and Rasmussen reports presidential tracking polls). That’s pretty low for a man whose poll numbers were around 85% when he took office in January of 2009. Polls show that Obama is hemorrhaging independent and Hispanic voter support, not to mention that the white male vote left him a good while back. He does maintain an 83% approval rating among black Americans but I’m not going to delve into the complexities of why that one demographic has stuck by him. So, since we have discovered that we really can’t count on Obama for hope and change, who should we look to for leadership in 2012?

Who knows!!!!!

Let me throw a few folks out there, run them around the tree a few times, and see if they hunt.

Ron Paul- Mr. Paul is a decent enough fellow; I like a lot of things in his domestic (especially economic) policy. Mr. Paul is for a substantially smaller government, and is a strict constitutionalist. Mr. Paul is a staunch proponent of limited intrusion of the government into the citizen’s lives. He proposes to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, because he feels they are "unnecessary bureaucracies." Mr. Paul wants to eliminate the Federal income tax, opting instead for a 10% flat tax. He also wants to get rid of the Federal Reserve and return to the gold standard. Now some of these ideas have merit, some don’t. I guess everyone has to make up their own mind.

As far as Mr. Paul’s foreign policy, all I can say is “wow”. Mr. Paul is what I would consider an isolationist. He believes that all American troops should be recalled to the United States and that we should basically mind our own business. That sounds like a pretty good idea on the outset however, when you take into account some of his positions on a certain countries it turns scary in a hurry. Mr. Paul has stated that we should not support Israel. He believes that it’s wrong that the Israelis use American made weapons to fight the Palestinians and would, I believe stop all assistance to one of our strongest and longest standing allies. Mr. Paul would allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons without protest, stating what that country does is its own business (not worrying about the fact that Iran would drop a nuke on Israel or us the first chance it got). Mr. Paul would recall all troops in South Korea leaving that country’s border vulnerable its hostile neighbor to the north, and so on and so forth. I believe that Mr. Paul would love to just close his eyes and pretend that the United States is an invisible island unto itself. Unfortunately that is not reality.

So bottom line, do I think Ron Paul is a serious candidate (for now), I believe that he may be a contender through the primary season but I do not believe that he will be electable once the American people realize what how dangerous his foreign policy views are.

Mitt Romney – Mr. Romney appears to me as the classic career politician. He plays the game like a seasoned pro and everything about him is polished (from his hair to his clothing) and well-rehearsed. He knows how to take a broad stand on an issue until he sees which way the wind is blowing, then narrow down his opinion as necessary to maintain the public’s approval (just look as his statements concerning cut, cap, and balance).

If you look at Mr. Romney’s position on domestic policy however, you will see that he supports a lot of big government policies on education, technology, and health care (remember Romney care). Mr. Romney also wishes to increase our armed forces by 100,000 troops.

As far as Mr. Romney’s foreign policy, it’s still a little gray. He supports the Iraq and Afghanistan war and is against illegal immigration, but does not want to deport illegals. He supports the war on terrorism and proposes a “Special Partnership Force” made up of CIA and Special Forces operatives to arm and assist nations such as Pakistan fight insurgents.

Those are the brass tacks on Mr. Romney, basically a cardboard cutout GOP candidate that will tow the party line, says all the right things at the right time and has the politically correct opinion on all the issues. He is better than Obama but not the mechanic we need to overhaul this country in the next four years.

Michele Bachmann- The tea party candidate. I happen to love the tea party and am a proud member, but as for Ms. Bachmann, it seems that playing to the crowd has shadowed getting out her positions on the issues. Here’s what I have learned about Ms. Bachmann. She is against Obama care but does not have a solution for the over 45 million uninsured in America. She is against big government but does not have a plan for shrinking the bureaucracy. She is for phasing out Medicare and Social Security but has not come up with a system to replace it or to assist those who are already invested in the program.

Well at least we know what she’s against.

Rick Perry- If you took Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann in a blender, set it to puree’, threw in a Texas draw and a bit of John Wayne swagger, you would have Rick Perry. Mr. Perry is a career politician that has ten years of experience as the Governor of Texas. He can currently boast to having the state that has produced the largest job growth this year (over 40% of the country’s new jobs were in Texas). He is an evangelical Christian who is very vocal about his religious beliefs. In his brief time on the campaign trail he has already offended more than a few of the Washington elites by making comments about the current state of our national affairs.

Mr. Perry is a hard core conservative with small government views and an eye for state and individual rights. Mr. Perry is a proponent for the eliminating the Federal income tax, has spoken of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as “treasonous” for monetizing portions of our national debt, and supports abolishing life tenure for judges. Mr. Perry has described Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and “a crumbling monument to the New Dea”l. He also believes that health care should be left up to the individual states.

In reference to Mr. Perry’s foreign policy, he has stated emphatically that we, as a nation must maintain our friendship with Israel. Mr. Perry believes that the United States must endeavor to work with its allies and support them in military operations around the world. He also believes we must be willing to act when it is time to act. We cannot concede the moral authority of our nation to multilateral debating societies, and when our interests are threatened American soldiers should be led by American commanders." Two weeks ago, Perry stated that one of his greatest motivations to run for president was to ensure “every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of this nation respects highly the president of the United States”.

I think Perry may be the real deal, there is still more I want to know about him but he’s the new guy on the block so I will give him time to get his ideas out there.

I hope that I’ve given everyone a little insight into the candidates that have thrown their hat in the ring. As I learn more I’ll be sure to pass it along……..