This month I would like to turn our attention to three foci of the 2008 election year. I could probably list close to 300mm reasons to vote Republican and the same for the plethora of issues that face our country. These three components to a successful presidential election as well as any federal office for that matter are: the economy, defense, and education. I believe that these areas adequately address and incorporate much of the problems that we face today. Education first!

This month represents the quintessential, progressive nature of our country. We are graduating some of the brightest stars ever to grace commencement platforms. During their sendoffs, we are not warning nor admonishing them to not screw things up; rather we are asking them to repair our country and its institutions: Because we have created an environment of experimentation and laissez-faire educational institutions which have failed us. Unfortunately, these denizens of leftist thought and democrat controlled unions… our children are exposed to this one border concept of socialism. Our graduation rates from grammar and high schools are abysmal and not high enough to sustain our economy. Hmmm, another potential national security issue. We are in desperate need of trained American citizens. I think of my days in Silicon Valley when H-1 Visa holders abound working in our technology companies. When the bust hit, not only did we have an economic meltdown with existing capital flying to India and China, but we had a brain drain.

Hmmm, another potential national security issue. Furthermore, we see increasing poverty and perversity in our communities. Some 34 mm Americans are at or below the poverty line. Middle class wealth has actually declined by some $50,000 since the Clinton era began! The solution demands that our educational systems graduate more shining and bright stars: we must recognize that the fuel to light the beacons of our future, our children, comes from the three R’s and not some propaganda movie on global warming!

Defense matters are becoming overwhelming to our country, our democracy, and all of its flaws, is still the greatest country ever to be conceived by a group of men. Our constitution provides freedom of expression, religion, the pursuit of happiness within the boundaries of the rule of law. We can count numerous examples of improvement and the betterment of life; yet, the porosity and vulnerability of our institutions, borders and global security require us to establish and maintain a very strong defense. Our mission has changed. The founding fathers anticipated the nature of man and his institution; i.e., foreign governments and their ability to subvert and to weaken democratic ones. Our constitution is not selective in its applications; it is for “We the People”. As Americans educated in the arts of diplomacy, free but fair trade, and moral obligations to our fellow man; we must re-think our priorities and understand the three levels of defense: Global, Borders, and in country crime. Coming to the aid of a fellow citizen, ensuring their safety and well being through education and commitment toward national pride is essential to the safety. Americans want to feel safe. With crime burgeoning at home, from petty street felonies to espionage, a solution must appeal to each of our desires to be good. We can hardly protect our homes, when the borders and airports cannot keep the wolves at bay. Selective application of the rule of law does not portend well for justice. We must prioritize to protect our streets, borders, and our global commitments. Peace begins through strength at home then abroad. Our politicians must address these ills but by first to stop fighting among themselves! Hmmm, another potential national security issue.

How do we think when it comes to quell the restless masses and the fighting and divisive politicians? Many of us often wonder what is the best way to appease someone. The myopic and accepted best way to distract one from their condition, from realizing their fullest potential in a sea of distraction is to spend money. So goes the accepted wisdom. It is wrong. Spend more money than is available. Create deficits that we can procrastinate about solutions at some later date. Let those who will be dying off in the near-term through the death taxes, pay for the mistake of their generation.

Yeah right.

Our deficits may eventual cripple our ability to achieve and sustain the level of contribution to the world that America is known. At a time when America needs to stimulate its manufacturing base, reinforce its technological potential, we are regressing. We spend too much; the average American can hardly reconcile their financial conditions much less sustain their own economic advantage. Some have reported that financial literacy hovers at 30%, another national security issue. It is a common belief that the middle class is actually shrinking. Our social safety nets, not the ones that denote sublime tolerance; I am writing about the segment of society that actual needs our help, is fast becoming overwhelmed. The job growth potential of our economy is sustained through the reduction of high deficits, the predacious use of spending money, and the mitigation if not an outright reduction in the quantity and quality of the taxes we pay. Of the 34 million Americans that are known to be poor, and of the 49 million Americans that have no health care insurance, I am sure that most have jobs…but jobs that require very little education, offer little in the way of improvement, and ultimately, dispel notions of hope. The American people need leadership.  At the present time, we have no leadership heroes… someone other than fictitious television characters.