Exclusive: It’s the Policies, Stupid!


Author: Pamela Meister

Date Published: 2008-01-17


It’s the Policies, Stupid!

Pam Meister

 

“A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.” ~ James Madison

 

This past Monday night during my guest spot on IRN’s Outside the Wire with Kevin Wall, Kevin asked me if I thought Congress and the president would get much done this year. My answer was an emphatic “no.” This being an election year, our representatives and many of our senators will be busy either campaigning or lending their support to other candidates. And President Bush, being what’s so quaintly called a “lame duck president,” will either be offering his support to the eventual Republican candidate or, if that candidate rejects said help, he’ll be busy trying to seal his legacy by “guaranteeing” peace between Palestine and Israel and belatedly sucking up to the global warming theorists.

 

Meanwhile, American citizens are left seething as many of our elected officials forget their first duty: serving the interests of the American people.

 

Washington insiders, both elected and unelected, live in their own little bubble world, much as illustrators of science fiction imagine the mythical city of Atlantis to be. Safe in their cocoon, they are able make such grand decisions as what gourmet items to serve in the House of Representatives’ cafeteria, but can’t seem to fund our troops on the battlefield or keep their promise to build a fence designed to keep illegal invaders out of our country.

 

The press corps isn’t exactly helping matters as they concentrate more on the process of the current presidential race than the substance. They glory in details about whose campaign is on the verge of collapse, what dirty tricks the candidates are engaging in, who preempted whose concession speech, and even what they’re all eating for lunch. (For example, Hillary Clinton has been spotted eating tacos, while Mitt Romney was seen noshing on pizza.)

 

Yet what about our responsibility as citizens and voters? Sure we can watch quick clips on the alphabet networks’ evening news to see what this or that candidate said on the stump as we wait for the new season of American Idol to start. We can also glance at the newspaper headlines in the convenience store while waiting in line to buy that magical lottery ticket. Don’t act surprised; this is how many people get their news and thus form opinions upon the most crucial issues of the day. Think about it: since the surge in Iraq has been so successful, its place on the front page has been replaced with news of a worsening economy. Accordingly, the economy has taken the forefront for many voters as they prepare to vote in both primaries and the general election.

 

This is not to say the economy shouldn’t be a concern. But frankly, we should be concerned about all of it: homeland security, foreign policy, the economy, and what the candidates’ policies are. In fact, many of these things can be tied together:

 

  • The financial burden of illegal aliens for education, healthcare and Social Security benefits, along with the loss of jobs for Americans, is also a homeland security issue, as the number of illegal immigrants who engage in violent crime is on the rise. There is also the constant threat of Islamic terrorists not only crossing our porous borders, but being able to slip through other ports of entry.
  • Giving more authority to the UN via treaties that will reduce our sovereignty on the high seas and drag us into the (as yet unproven) man-made climate change brouhaha will not only hand us over to the clutches of a bureaucratic behemoth with huge accountability problems, but will also hit us in the wallet in the form of higher taxes to pay for this corrupt world body to continue toward its dream of one world government.
  • While conditions in Iraq continue to improve, conditions elsewhere in the Middle East continue to deteriorate, which contributes to the high cost of oil. While we should stay engaged in the Middle East for this reason (as well as increasing threats from countries like Iran), we need to think about other ways to cut down on the money we spend on Middle Eastern oil that somehow finds its way into the bank accounts of Islamist terrorists. Ways in which we can accomplish this is drilling in ANWR, updating existing and building more oil refineries, and investing in nuclear power. (“Progressive” types enjoy looking toward France when it comes to Socialism, but are curiously quiet when it comes to the fact that France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power.)

 

There’s a lot more to the election than the possibility of electing the first black or woman president. Important social milestones they may be, but they should take a distant second to electing a president who will be mindful of not only the economy, but how the economy is intertwined with so many other critical security issues as we march into the 21st Century.

 

It behooves us, the American voters, to be sure we are up-to-date not just on the issues, but where the candidates stand on them. With the information sources available to us today, there’s simply no excuse for being uninformed.

 

And no, laziness and ennui are not excuses.

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FamilySecurityMatters.org Editorial Director Pamela Meister is a former radio broadcaster, a recovering liberal, a contributor to AmericanThinker.com and a formidable blogger at blogmeisterusa.mu.nu.

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