Today's Hot Issues

Our children are the future of this nation.  We do them and ourselves a great disservice by settling for anything less than excellence in education.  The "No Child Left Behind" legislation was well-meaning but has not lived up to expectations.  We need more control over where and how our children are educated.  A high quality education must be available to everyone - not just to those that can afford private schools.

Our public schools and teachers must get back to concentrating on reading, writing, spelling, grammar, math, and science.  Those are the basic skills necessary to become a productive member of society or to prepare for higher education.

We must find a better way to finance a campaign for public office.  People of ordinary means who would like to run for office are dissuaded because they know they will not be able to raise the millions of dollars it now costs to buy a seat in Congress.  Defeating any incumbent is practically impossible unless you have very deep pockets.

Our current system is fraught with undue influence by lobbyists and other donors that have enough money to ensure a victory by whatever candidate they believe will further their special interests.  That must change if we are to regain control of our own destiny.

The government has no inherent right to our money, although many of our politicians seem to think it is actually their money and act as if they are doing us a favor by allowing us to keep any of it.  Our personal and business taxes are much higher than they should be because government spending is out of control and it is costing us dearly both individually and collectively as a nation.

We are, literally, mortgaging our grandchildren's future on wasteful spending for unnecessary programs, programs that fail to achieve their goals, and pork barrel projects. No matter how altruistic their original intentions may have been, failed or failing programs and wasteful spending must be curtailed.

The federal government was always intended to be limited in scope and to have specific responsibilities.  It has grown well beyond its fundamental duties and it is past time to shrink it back down to it's proper size and role. 

There are between 12 and 20 million illegal aliens in this country right now that  cost us hundreds of billions of dollars in additional taxes each year to provide various services at the federal, state, and local levels.  That doesn't even include the added burden of depressed wages and criminal acts by illegals.

Improved border security, along with hefty fines and criminal penalties for any employer hiring an illegal alien, will eliminate any incentive for them to come into our country without going through the legal immigration system. 

Our government was intended to be a Republic, not an ogliarchy.  It was meant to be run by citizen legislators, not a bunch of career politicians who believe themselves to be some kind of elite ruling class.  The members of Congress were supposed to turn over frequently, bringing fresh blood and new ideas, to ensure that they actually represent us, their constituents, and not themselves or those that help them to stay in office.

Politicians will not change the status quo on their own.  We must force the adoption of a constitutional amendment implementing strict term limits for members of Congress.  That is the only way that so many of our nations problems, most of which were created or fabricated to help them stay in power, will ever be resolved.

Earmarks are an utter abomination of the legislative process and have no legitimate role whatsoever.  If some specific project is actually worthwhile, it will pass on its own merits without sneaking it into a bill before or after it has passed.

The only purpose for an earmark is to try and buy votes back in a member's home district, to influence the passage of other legislation, to solicit favors, to repay favors, to reward campaign donors, or to line your own pockets in some fashion.  Earmarks are nothing more than a quasi-legal means of corruption that must be eliminated.

English should be declared the official language of the U.S.  The vast majority of Americans support the idea and it costs us as taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars each year to pay for multi-lingual services (e.g. press 1 for English).  Immigrants are required to demonstrate the ability to read, write, and speak English before they can become naturalized citizens, so there is no logical reason for government and businesses to have to accommodate multiple languages. 

It would be much less expensive and significantly more productive to make English the official language and provide immersion and proficiency courses for limited English speaking ability students and adults.  That would ensure that they retain or gain equal access to all types of services and at the same time help them to assimilate.

The name of the federal holiday is Christmas and there is nothing wrong with saying "Merry Christmas."  We have allowed political correctness and multi-culturalism to go too far when schools start calling it the "winter holiday" instead of Christmas vacation and businesses require that their employees say "Happy Holidays" in an attempt to appease a small minority.

Our country was founded on the principle of freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.  If some anti-religionists don’t like the name of the federal holiday, they should try to change it and see what happens.