OFBG for Prez '08!
As a first original post on Conservative, here is something which will give all of you an idea of my political thought. I am a non-Republican conservative. I've already driven a few members of LJ a little nuts with my comments over the last two or three years, and even drove a couple of them into the ground.
And now for my grand entry-----
I, OFBG, am declaring my candidacy for the President of These United States, including California, in the year of our Lord, 2008, as an independent strict constitutionalist.
Under the cut, you will find the currently formulated planks of my platform. After reading the platform and having some cordial (lol) debate, I will trust the right (correct) thinking members of this community to form "The Committee to Elect OFBG in '08" and begin the necessary fund raising (about one gigabuck should be enough).
If you don't want to get into a big, multi subject debate, just pick the first sentence or plank with which you disagree, and raise hell.
Seriousness under the cut.
Plank 1 I promise to work for the passage of the 28th constitutional amendment that will eliminate institutional involvement in federal campaign politics by forbidding contributions or any form of support to any candidate, from any institution. "Institutions" will include but will not be limited to: business, industry, unions, PACs of any kind, and even political parties.
This plank is in response to the total corruption of the "two party system" and the obviously corrupt and self serving tolerance of lobbyists by our representatives and senators, and my personal belief in as well as the American principle as stated by Lincoln at Gettysburg, of a "government of the people, by the people and for the people". In the last few decades it's become a government of the politicians & lawyers, by the politicians & lawyers and for the politicians & lawyers . The current members of the political establishment have evolved in their priorities to put their own incumbency first, their party second, the two party system third and then comes the people and their nation and its Constitution last. It must be turned around if we are to survive with our Constitution intact! It's my strong personal belief that elections and the campaigns preceding elections, should be between the voter and the candidates, with financial and other support from only the voters, directly to the candidates without any kind of institutional involvement.
Before my 8 years in the White House are over, I expect the people , through independent candidacies, to have taken back both houses of congress, plus state governments and rendered the current political parties useless.
Plank 2 I promise, before the end of the first week of February 2009, to have begun positive and effective steps to secure our southern border and reduce to a trickle the current flood of illegal immigrants now entering the US across that border area.
This plank, it's obvious need to be addressed being clearly long overdue, will be accomplished through the application of pressure, both public and presidential, jawboning or whatever it takes to cause the 111th congress to fund the doubling of the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on our southern border, and other reforms. Also, before the first week of February, 2009, congress must complete and pass the legislation required to fully fund the 700 miles of security fence and necessary sensors for the border, already approved by the 109th congress.
If the congress fails to complete either one of the above necessary steps in the time allotted, I will, by executive order, no later than the end of the second week in February 2009, declare the 700 miles of border in need of the security fence as a military zone, then deploying as many military assets as necessary to properly secure that portion of our border. The Border Patrol agents now in those areas will be relieved for re-deployment to strengthen other areas of the border.
Plank 3. In the first year of my presidency, I promise to motivate the congress, by educating the public to the need and therefore creating public pressure to begin crash programs aimed at putting United States on the road to energy independence within 10 years. I believe this achievement is a matter of national security and is entirely doable.
The steps needed include replacing our fossil fuel electric generating plants with nuclear plants anywhere alternative power (solar, wind, tidal and methods not yet thought of) is not practicable.
Also, we must tap the hydrocarbon resources already known to exist. ANWR of course, and the deep water Gulf, plus the continental shelves off our eastern seaboard, the west coast of Florida, California Pacific and the Alaska Pacific coast. There is also oil shale, already quantified as having more oil than the proved reserves of Saudi Arabia. Also oil shale is economically competitive with deep water drilling. Many of these areas have already been explored and confirmed as oil bearing (but not quantified), and were taken "off the table" by congresses past, due to pressure from eco groups and NIMBY states like California and Florida.
The last necessary step is to return our refinery capacity to a level where we will not have to rely on foreign refined products. The refineries we do have are running at near 100% capacity and we still have to import 10%+ of our refined products. The oil companies like it that way because profits are maximized with the minimum investment. They have no incentive to expand refining capacity. Prior to 1981, there were federal subsides (in the form of tax incentives), to keep more plants online. Refineries were run at less then 80% capacity and we were exporting some finished products. I strongly believe that it is in the interest of our national and economic security to restore incentives so we will not be vulnerable to an energy crisis, caused deliberately by our obvious enemies or economic competitors in the global market.
The remaining 83 planks, including more proposed constitutional amendments, will be posted at a later time as I think 'em up.
And now for my grand entry-----
I, OFBG, am declaring my candidacy for the President of These United States, including California, in the year of our Lord, 2008, as an independent strict constitutionalist.
Under the cut, you will find the currently formulated planks of my platform. After reading the platform and having some cordial (lol) debate, I will trust the right (correct) thinking members of this community to form "The Committee to Elect OFBG in '08" and begin the necessary fund raising (about one gigabuck should be enough).
If you don't want to get into a big, multi subject debate, just pick the first sentence or plank with which you disagree, and raise hell.
Seriousness under the cut.
Plank 1 I promise to work for the passage of the 28th constitutional amendment that will eliminate institutional involvement in federal campaign politics by forbidding contributions or any form of support to any candidate, from any institution. "Institutions" will include but will not be limited to: business, industry, unions, PACs of any kind, and even political parties.
This plank is in response to the total corruption of the "two party system" and the obviously corrupt and self serving tolerance of lobbyists by our representatives and senators, and my personal belief in as well as the American principle as stated by Lincoln at Gettysburg, of a "government of the people, by the people and for the people". In the last few decades it's become a government of the politicians & lawyers, by the politicians & lawyers and for the politicians & lawyers . The current members of the political establishment have evolved in their priorities to put their own incumbency first, their party second, the two party system third and then comes the people and their nation and its Constitution last. It must be turned around if we are to survive with our Constitution intact! It's my strong personal belief that elections and the campaigns preceding elections, should be between the voter and the candidates, with financial and other support from only the voters, directly to the candidates without any kind of institutional involvement.
Before my 8 years in the White House are over, I expect the people , through independent candidacies, to have taken back both houses of congress, plus state governments and rendered the current political parties useless.
Plank 2 I promise, before the end of the first week of February 2009, to have begun positive and effective steps to secure our southern border and reduce to a trickle the current flood of illegal immigrants now entering the US across that border area.
This plank, it's obvious need to be addressed being clearly long overdue, will be accomplished through the application of pressure, both public and presidential, jawboning or whatever it takes to cause the 111th congress to fund the doubling of the number of Border Patrol agents deployed on our southern border, and other reforms. Also, before the first week of February, 2009, congress must complete and pass the legislation required to fully fund the 700 miles of security fence and necessary sensors for the border, already approved by the 109th congress.
If the congress fails to complete either one of the above necessary steps in the time allotted, I will, by executive order, no later than the end of the second week in February 2009, declare the 700 miles of border in need of the security fence as a military zone, then deploying as many military assets as necessary to properly secure that portion of our border. The Border Patrol agents now in those areas will be relieved for re-deployment to strengthen other areas of the border.
Plank 3. In the first year of my presidency, I promise to motivate the congress, by educating the public to the need and therefore creating public pressure to begin crash programs aimed at putting United States on the road to energy independence within 10 years. I believe this achievement is a matter of national security and is entirely doable.
The steps needed include replacing our fossil fuel electric generating plants with nuclear plants anywhere alternative power (solar, wind, tidal and methods not yet thought of) is not practicable.
Also, we must tap the hydrocarbon resources already known to exist. ANWR of course, and the deep water Gulf, plus the continental shelves off our eastern seaboard, the west coast of Florida, California Pacific and the Alaska Pacific coast. There is also oil shale, already quantified as having more oil than the proved reserves of Saudi Arabia. Also oil shale is economically competitive with deep water drilling. Many of these areas have already been explored and confirmed as oil bearing (but not quantified), and were taken "off the table" by congresses past, due to pressure from eco groups and NIMBY states like California and Florida.
The last necessary step is to return our refinery capacity to a level where we will not have to rely on foreign refined products. The refineries we do have are running at near 100% capacity and we still have to import 10%+ of our refined products. The oil companies like it that way because profits are maximized with the minimum investment. They have no incentive to expand refining capacity. Prior to 1981, there were federal subsides (in the form of tax incentives), to keep more plants online. Refineries were run at less then 80% capacity and we were exporting some finished products. I strongly believe that it is in the interest of our national and economic security to restore incentives so we will not be vulnerable to an energy crisis, caused deliberately by our obvious enemies or economic competitors in the global market.
The remaining 83 planks, including more proposed constitutional amendments, will be posted at a later time as I think 'em up.