I am officially announcing my intent to run for the President of the United States of America in the 2020 presidential race.
I have not decided whether I will be running on a Democratic or Independent ticket but here is a brief overview of where I stand on key issues:
Education: I believe that the federal government should be supporting the public schools of this country by ensuring that every child has the education they need to learn in the best way possible available to them. There should be no facility of public education that is lacking in the funds needed to give all students the opportunity for
success. And for goodness sakes! Anybody who doesn’t think that a teacher deserves decent pay (40-60k in 2006 dollars) is a crazy person. In this day and age, teachers spend more time with these children than a lot of parents do. They are responsible for the education of the country’s most precious commodity, and they deserve to be payed in accordance with the importance they have in this society.
Health Care: Universal Health Care is an attainable goal that does not have to destroy the idea of capitalism within the health insurance industry. It does not mean a socialist medicine program. It means that somebody working 80 hour weeks at 2 or more minimum wage jobs to support themselves and their family should be able to get the medical care necessary without having to worry about going bankrupt, or not being able to eat, or loosing their home.
Foreign Policy: I want to change the globalization paradigm under which the world currently operates. The economy of a developing nation can not stabilize when “aid” organizations charge (development loans) these nations to have outside international corporations come in and take all the natural resources, making it both impossible for the nations to develop their own strong export based economy, or have a source of income with which to pay back their loans.
Taxation: There should be greater transparency in what taxes are being used for and where they are coming from. I believe that taxes are part of a civic duty. We don’t require anybody to serve in the military (except in times of an active draft) or any position of public service. Taxes are the means in which we tie ourselves to, and support the institution of government that cares for and protects us. Taxes are designed to ensure than any citizen can have the support of their governmet in securing healthcare, shelter, education, and personal safety.
Criminal Justice Prison Reform: Prisons should be an institution that actually tries to rehabilitate criminals. We should be doing everything within our power to ensure that a person found guilty of a crime be given every means of reentering society as a valuable member of the community. I also believe that our enforcement of the law needs to be changed. It is not being enforced fairly between all races and socio-economic groups in our society. This is not what should happen. If we wish to make something illegal, it should be just as illegal for an affluent white male, as it is for poor black man. The idea that it is not is despicable and Un-American.
Drug Policy Reform: Our policy towards drugs in this country is damaging the stability of this nation. Our prisons are overloaded with “criminals” that have never raised a hand in violence towards another person, nor ever stolen a thing. People that make a choice to use drugs should be encouraged by all means to do it responsibly, and in a way that does not harm themselves or others. People who have problems with drugs should be given the help they need to try and change their lives in a positive manner so as not to have to rely on them for whatever reason. Throwing them in prison only increases the likelihood that they will end up resorting to violent and damaging crimes, or crimes of theft in the future, where they never would have done such a thing before. I do not want unregulated legalization of drugs. I want to develop a responsible means with which to control the harm that drugs can cause in a society by giving support to those that find themselves having a problem.
More Touchy Subjects:
Abortion: I am personally against the idea of having an abortion. I don’t think I could do it. I will never have to as I will never be pregnant. Should my partner become pregnant, I believe that we will work together to come to a decision. The idea that I should mandate how other people deal with their pregnancy is appalling to me. I want to create a society where a person can feel that they don’t need an abortion, where they can get access to the medical attention that they need for themselves and their child, no matter what economic position they are in. That should they need to, adoption possibilities will exist that the parent can trust that the child will not be abused in foster care. I don’t want to stop people from having an abortion ever. I can not make that decision for them. I want to build a society where people don’t feel the need to have an abortion, because that is a better society to live in than one where we feel a need to dictate the lives of others based on our own personal belief structures.
Evolution/Creationism in schools: Does Christianity (I’m being a generalist in terms of the proponents of creationism and intelligent design in schools) claim to be a religion? I know that it has referred to itself in this manner(and this by know means is an attempt to say that they aren’t right, or that their view of the universe is flawed, because I’m not saying that at all). Being a strong proponent of creationism and/or intelligent design, and being a religion, I think that these are very valid things to have taught in our schools in a RELIGIONS course. This is a view held by some religions and not others. I think that it is important for schools to teach people about the world views of as many religions as possible so that we can better understand the viewpoints of other people. But in a SCIENCE class, SCIENCE should be taught. Science is about the interpretation of physical, real evidence, into a view of how the universe functions and has come to exist in its present form. Therefore, what should be taught in a science course are the commonly accepted findings of the scientific community. There is a place for all views of the universe in our diverse schools. They just don’t all have a place in the same class.
Gay Marriage/Rights: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” -Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence. I see no reason how this leaves doubt in the mind of people that anybody IN AMERICA THE FREE, should be denied the right to stand up and bond themselves in the happiness of marriage. The moral question is , how can we deny our fellow human being the happiness of this experience? The religious questions that may exist for people should not play a role in the legislation that determines this. If an individual does not believe in gay marriage, than they have every right to not get married to someone of the same gender.
