Paxety Pages

The Republicans haven't gotten any traction, either. They tried to get traditional candidates to run. Tom Gallagher and Charlie Crist chose to run for governor instead. Congresswoman Kathleen Harris announced her candidacy, but has done little if any campaigning. She's always been questionable in my mind. In 2000, she was serving as Florida's Secretary of State while also running George W. Bush's presidential campaign in the state. That was always a rather clear potential conflict of interest in my mind, and it leads me to question her judgment.

So, with no candidate I can support running, over the weekend, I had a brush with insanity. I thought about running - for about 10-seconds. I did, though, think about what issues I would address:

1. Pass the Fair Tax. It would get rid of the IRS and get rid of the income tax. You take home your entire paycheck, bank the full value of your investments, and leave money to your children without taxation. The government would collect a sales tax on new goods sold just as states such as Florida do. That means everyone would be paying their share of taxes - employed folks, unemployed folks, illegal aliens, former tax cheats (drug dealers, criminals) and multimillionaires like Ted Kennedy whose money comes not from taxable income but from a family fortune acquired before there was an income tax.
2. Secure the border in a practical way. What's the use of a fence or a brick wall? Instead, build Interstate 1 along the border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Interstate highways come with walls and fences and have a practical use, too. Build Interstate 101 along the Canadian border while we're at it.  
3. Eliminate the law that makes it illegal to assassinate foreign leaders, then go after you know who. Yeah, and him, too.
4. Repeal the drug laws. These laws, enacted in many cases for racist rather than health reasons, have done nothing to stem the flow of harmful drugs to the streets of the U.S. Instead, by interfering with free market controls, drug laws have impoverished the very people they were supposed to help, all the while enriching our enemies. Particularly harmful have been the drug forfeiture laws that have allowed government agents to seize the property of innocent people without due process, placing the burden of proving innocence on those less able to afford the legal assistance necessary to do so. In addition, the forfeiture laws have worked to corrupt our law enforcement agencies.
5. Oppose the gay marriage amendment and all other marriage laws. The federal government, indeed no government, has any business in anything to do with marriage. Marriage is a contract between the individuals involved and God.
6. Eliminate federal departments. I'd begin with the Department of Education. Reagan promised to get rid of it and didn't. We desperately need separation of education and state. For The Children.
7. Just as it is illegal for a citizen to lie to a federal law enforcement officer, it should be illegal, punished by jail time, for a federal official or candidate for office to lie to the American people. Since the government couldn't be trusted to enforce the bill, there would be a provision allowing the trial lawyers to go after the liars, too.
8. Have an open season on people who drive while talking on cell phones. All self-help measures would be allowed.

That's just a beginning, but I think a beginning to a better country.