Dale's Top 10 Most Important Issues

No politician has ever accomplished everything he or she set out to do. There are simply too many variables and too many unknowns. Plus, unless you are a president whose party also controls both houses of congress, you are constantly fighting the opposition and/or compromising to achieve the proverbial half-loaf that we are told is better than none (and it usually is).

That being said, a candidate should have a set of core beliefs as well as a list of goals that he wants to achieve. Otherwise, as Zig Ziglar once said, if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

And so, without further ado, here are the 10 issues that are most important to me.

1. Abortion. As an evangelical Christian, I am convinced that America is risking – if not already under – God’s judgment for murdering 63 million babies in the womb over the past 50 years. I also understand that the United States is not a theocracy, nor should it be. Therefore, I would seek to outlaw abortion, but would settle for a strict federal ban on all abortions after 18 days… which is when the fetal heart starts beating. If that timetable isn’t politically feasible just yet, then we should seek some kind of consensus (perhaps 6-weeks) and look to roll things back from there.

2. Border security. I can’t see any reason why a patriotic American with one iota of common sense would oppose the construction of a wall along our southern border. To allow unfettered immigration into our country is not only a recipe for disaster, but also for national suicide. And, although it may sound heartless, illegal immigrants should be rounded up and returned to their country of origin... with that sending nation being billed for any and all costs incurred.

3. Crime. America stands at the precipice of not only lawlessness, but also civil war. Without resorting to draconian measures, we need to restore order in our inner cities and across the rest of our fruited plain. Violent criminals need to be locked up – sometimes permanently – and murderers should be executed. As for looters, car jackers, rapists, and drug dealers… throw the book at them!

4. Uncontrolled spending. Simply put, our federal government needs to stop spending more than it brings in. No more credit cards for Uncle Sam, period! And no, the answer isn’t to increase revenues. The solution is to drastically cut spending. I don’t care what the economic doomsdayers say: we need to reduce the federal budget by at least 2% per year for the next 20 years.

5. Energy independence. The United States has existing coal reserves to serve our energy needs for the next 200 years. We also have lots of natural gas and shale oil at our disposal. It’s time to drill, baby, drill while developing alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar. And yes, we need to build some new oil refineries and nuclear power plants ASAP.

6. Moral decline. I was tempted to rank this issue higher, but I realize that not everyone is as concerned about America’s “slouching towards Gomorrah” as me… or Robert Bork when he coined that phrase. However, the need to restore the Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded and to reclaim the traditional values that have served us so well for more than 200 years has never been more urgent.

7. Education. In many ways, this issue goes hand-in-hand with #6, because without a moral foundation our public school system is doomed, and educators are fighting a losing battle. Respect for authority needs to be both taught and modeled, and school curriculums need to focus on the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic… as well as science, civics and U.S. history. I would also recommend learning a foreign language at an early age instead of waiting until middle school or later.

8. End the welfare system. How heartless, you say? On the contrary, I think that the most heartless thing our government can do (and does) is to create and foster a permanently dependent underclass. America was built on the dual concepts of equal opportunity and limitless potential, and we must return to those guiding principles. If I were “king of the world,” I would announce that we are phasing out all welfare programs over the next 10 years… end of story.

9. Strengthen our military. Ronald Reagan believed in “peace through strength” and “trust but verify” diplomacy. It worked then and it will work now. Follow the Gipper’s gameplan to ensure that the U.S. military remains the world’s most powerful fighting force, bar none.

10. Reform Social Security and Medicare. The “inconvenient truth,” as Al Gore would say, is that our current Social Security and Medicare systems are not sustainable. Simply put, people are living an average of 20 years longer today than when Social Security was introduced under FDR. There were also 16 workers for each recipient in 1936, now there are just 2. The age at which full retirement benefits are available should be increased for people under 50, giving them adequate time to prepare. Enrollees should also be able to invest a portion of their Social Security account in stocks and bonds, which historically pay higher returns than the current program.

OK, here’s one more. Abolish the IRS and institute a flat or a fair (consumption) tax. It is by far the simplest and most equitable way of collecting taxes.