Forget Dem and GOP, left and right. Below are 10 simple principles that ALL Americans can get behind, and that BOTH parties have failed miserably to uphold. I believe that any candidate or party with the guts to stand up for this platform would win in a landslide:
1. Secure America First. We need to secure our own borders and inspect cargos. We need to know who, and what, is coming into this country. This is our number one national security risk.
2. A Stronger Military, Used Wisely. No more nation-building, quagmires, or occupations. If we feel we must meddle with another country's policies, we should use dollars and diplomacy first. When all else fails--quick strikes.
3. Pay Off the Deficit. All it takes is common sense: take back those tax breaks for the rich; no more corporate welfare; no more pork; no more billion-dollar-a-day useless wars.
4. Make America Energy- and Resource-Independent. Right now we're fighting for oil; someday we could be fighting over food and water. We have the resources to be self-sufficient, but we need to be smart about it. Solar, wind, hydrogen, and limited oil and coal. And we need clean air to breathe and water to drink or we'll be importing those too.
5. Create Jobs of the Future. The day of the factory is over in this country; however, with American know-how, we can create the technologies of the future that rapidly growing regions like Asia and South America will want, and need, to buy.
6. Restore our Constitutional Rights. Property, privacy, due process, gun ownership, etc. These rights are the guts of our nation, and many have been taken away or reduced. We want them back.
7. Get the Government Out of Our Lives. We don't need the government to tell us how to raise our kids, what to eat or wear, what to say or think, who to sleep with, or any other godamm thing.
8. Stand up for States' Rights. They are our last refuge from a meddling, too-powerful government. If Kansas wants to teach creationism, let 'em. At least their kids won't be competing with yours to get into the good schools.
9. Educate Our Kids. School needs to get tougher, not easier. Kids need discipline and challenges--not constant (false) reassurance that everything they do is perfect; they need intellectual rigor--not multiple-choice tests; they need knowledge--not air-conditioned gyms and fancy computers. Right now, rich kids go to private schools to learn how to run the country while the rest of us go to public (government-run) schools to learn how to be obedient little citizens and workers. Let's turn the schools back over to the parents, the teachers, and the local communities.
10. Fair Elections. After the last two elections it's plain we can't rely on local election boards to make up the rules. We need simple, national standards and procedures for voting, counting, and recounting; and paper verifications for all ballots. No more court battles.