All too often we seem to get caught up in things that are nothing but distractions. It’s like being on a deer or elk hunt, and focusing the cross hairs on the antlers. Sure, those are what will get you into the book and hang on the wall. Perhaps even on the cover of a magazine. But they don’t get to the heart of the matter, pun intended.
Let’s go over a few such things, in no particular order of importance.
Illegal immigration is a deal breaker for many Americans. Put a clamp on it, or you don’t get the vote from a pretty large number of Americans, including one heck of a lot of Americans of Mexican extraction. Hold your nose and vote appears to be what we are once again headed for on that one…
Taxes… Americans pay one heck of a lot in taxes. Add all the state and local taxes, often camouflaged as user fees and we are well above many other nations. An awful lot of that can be laid directly at the feet of the various unions. But certainly not all. Various special interests groups also play a big role. Examples might be moralists that seek to force their beliefs upon us all under the guise of public health or expense. Think “sin” taxes. Then there are those that take environmentalism to an absurd extreme. These things all have a monetary cost, and guess where the money comes from?
Constitutional Rights, including The Bill of Rights. Often, these are treated like statistics. As in being twisted to fit whatever this or that person or groups agenda is. Free speech and Second Amendment rights seem to fall into that category most often. However let’s not forget what the Supreme Court has done these past few years concerning private property rights or search and seizure just to name two. The “Patriot Act” seems to have been crafted to fit that famous quotation having to do with trading security for liberty.
The economy as always, or at least every time I turn around is always way up there and right now is probably at the very top of the list for many. As it should be… It is also tied by the neck to just about every other issue. Here’s the thing though. Government cannot “create” jobs. What it can do though is create a climate that either stifles job growth and hinders that, or encourages job creation. How to go about that has been the great debate for many years and, I suspect will continue to do so for many years after I am long gone.
The “Drug War” continues on unabated. Again, this issue is intertwined with many others, and no. I do not advocate the use of drugs, other than as needed for the medical issues of the individual. The fact that drugs being contraband though creates an enormous market with corresponding profits. Profits that allow the purchase of very powerful weaponry that is in turn used to secure and bolster the business of those engaged in such enterprises. End the drug war, and you put a knife to the throat of the profits of murdering thugs and terrorists around the world. No, it will not stop them from their nefarious ways completely, but will go a long way toward that end.
Special Interests legislation. A real black eye for America to be sure. Whether it is one sided sexist laws that destroy our families or pure cronyism in the name of social or monetary profits these things need to be done away with.
Military and Veteran’s issues. These are things that simply are far to wide ranging to list. We must have a strong and powerful military. We have more than a few enemies around the world, and the group of home grown “Hate America First” types certainly don’t help matters. The way that we treat our Veterans can be summed up in a single word. That word being “shameful.”
The United States of America, still a work in progress, and still, the best place on this earth in which to be alive.
Tags: Americans, Constitutional right, Drug War, election 2012, Law, News, Patriot Act, Politics, Supreme Court, United States, United States Supreme Court, USA PATRIOT Act, Veteran
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 
November 3, 2011 at 06:42
So many good points, Patrick. Well done.
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November 9, 2011 at 13:08
In a nutshell you covered a lot of ground in the post. … Makes it extra difficult for whomever will be trying to unseat the president next year because some of the points, like immigration, are so loaded with controversy and can be exploited by supporters of same.
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November 10, 2011 at 06:50
Well stated Pan Am, and that, I suppose, is part and parcel of the American dynamic when it comes to politics.
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