My Platform for 2008 (Part 1)

(Reposted from May 1, 2007)

I know it's early, but I thought I'd put myself in the ring to get all you voters ready. I meet the Constitutional requirements for the office of President: I am over 35 years of age, I am a natural-born citizen of the United States, and have resided here for over 14 years (all my life, in fact).

Were I a typical lying politician, I'd list a whole bunch of things I promise to do, but no method of doing them. Not me. You'll always know where I stand.

Since neither Congress nor the Supreme Court is doing anything to impede the Executive branch's relentless power grabbing, I'll just cut to the chase. I will ask for a two-year period of sole authority, an Enabling Act, so to speak. Yes, that would make me a dictator of sorts, except I'll be doing it solely for the good of our people. And at the end of two years of exclusive authority, I'll ask for a vote to see if I should get another two. At the end of four years, I'll resign, because I look at public service as exactly that: service, not a career in pork-barreling and pocket-lining. And I will put into place mechanisms to return this country to its original Constitutional bearings before I'm done. Ironically, I will suspend the Constitution for a brief period in order to save the Constitution for the future.

Part I: Immigration & Citizenship Matters

The first priority for any country is secure borders. I will recall all U.S. troops from the 100+ countries we've sent them to in our misguided role as the world's policeman, and place those now in Special Forces and Military Police units along our borders, especially the now-open southern one. The border will be secured by fences, minefields, the widening of the Rio Grande, or any other means decided. Troops will be stationed in armored encampments at regular intervals, and assisted in their operations by all the technological hardware the Bush administration is now using to assault innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not a single animal larger than a squirrel will be able to cross the border outside established checkpoints without being targeted and taken out. This will be a priority, and should be accomplished within the first year. The time of us taking "your tired and your poor" is over.

Coupled with this, I will rescind the illegal amnesty of 1986 and utilize the National Guard to remove all those people who were improperly allowed to stay after illegally entering this country then as well as those now here illegally. To accomplish this, a single, full-scale mandatory national identity verification will take place. If you can not prove your legal citizenship or resident alien status, you will be deported. If you resist, you will be met with appropriate force, then deported in chains.

In total, between the current illegal aliens and the previously illegal aliens, this should reduce the U.S. population by at least 45 million people (15%) and give the remaining population and our natural resources some breathing room.

Staying within the purview of immigration and naturalization, I will also rescind a few other things. Among these are the Immigration Act of 1965, which inverted the 90% European immigrant allocation in favor of the third world. We need more scientists, engineers, machinists, farmers and so on, not a glut of landscapers and drywallers.

Also to be deleted is chain immigration, where any person coming into the U.S. as an immigrant automatically brings along their entire extended family. In addition, no person will be a natural-born citizen unless both parents are citizens first. And no person who is not a citizen, except those few allowed to be here legally, will be eligible for any publicly-funded services or assistance, including education, medical care or housing. We're not the world's daycare center.

Last on the list, but also important, will be the ending of dual-nationalities. You can be a citizen of this country or another, not both, and you must choose by age 21. No exceptions.

Naturalized citizenship will require a residency period of 10 years and approval by the State of residence.

In keeping with American norms, English will be the official language and the only one allowed to be used for any government services. No more "Press 1 for English" at the DMV. All remaining non-English speaking immigrants will be placed into intensive English classes and will not be allowed to apply for citizenship without fluency. Failure to complete classes will earn a trip back home.

Persons wishing to reside in this country will be required to have work in place and interim financial means to support themselves.

Finally, no one will be allowed to enter the country without an extensive medical examination. We have been subjected to many previously unknown diseases, such as Chaga's, as well as treatment-resistant tuberculosis and others. No one with any permanent transmissible disease will be allowed in.

These actions should solve most of the problems we face with immigration today. There will be some fine-tuning, but on the whole, this will greatly improve the liveability of our land and take a great deal of tension out of day to day life here.