Posted on 01/22/2010 4:03:01 PM PST by libh8er
Fellow Republicans,
The U.S. faces serious challenges that have not been addressed by our political leaders. For a generation, elected officials on both sides found it easier to appease their parties’ fringes to win elections, and media companies have chosen to shock, amuse and divide us. In the meantime, the problems we face as a nation grow as they are passed on to future generations.
President Obama is a leader who can lay the foundations of another American Century—he can help us get past our partisan and ideological divisions, as we strengthen our standing in the world and tackle the challenges we face at home. Obama understands our differences, but also knows the importance of finding common ground. While we continue to debate and address many issues on which we all have strong opinions—abortion, gay rights, the relationship between church and state, to name a few—we will continue to support Obama's efforts to break our government’s paralysis and meet the growing challenges we face as a nation.
We need Obama to continue to unite the American majority that wants to move forward and improve the long-term economic well-being and independence of our nation.
Issues A Unified America Can and Must Address:
National Debt The federal debt matters. We cannot saddle future taxpayers with having to service the debt we create with our irresponsible fiscal policies. Cutting the deficit will additionally decrease interest rates and increase private investment.
Trade Deficit Every year, the difference between what the United States imports from other countries and what it exports grows, and is likely to reach $1 trillion a year by 2010. The U.S.’s trade imbalance with China alone grew from just $10 billion annually in 1990 to well over $200 billion a year by 2006. Despite this increasing and extreme deficit, recent American administrations have been unable or unwilling to force China to revalue its currency and take other measures to strengthen our exports overseas.
Energy Independence As the world’s energy needs grow, it is critical that the United States be able to provide for its own energy requirements. By doing so we can deflate the power of dictators who are propped up by high oil prices, more effectively insulate ourselves from the world’s most volatile regions, and stimulate economic growth at home. Even without tapping into Alaska’s oil reserves or drilling offshore, we can dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil—we have not even begun to realize the possibilities of Iowa corn, South Dakota wind or Montana coal. Even a growing number of environmentalists support increased nuclear power production.
Global Warming Even those who still believe that global warming is a natural occurrence should agree that rising sea levels and other geological changes will be expensive to adapt to and probably impossible to undo. If we are able to reverse this dangerous trend, we must. No other nation has the economic and political power to take the lead on this issue.
Social Security If current trends continue, total Social Security income will begin to fall short of total outgo in 2019. In the words of Alan Greenspan, the U.S. will face "abrupt and painful" choices if our leaders do not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits the baby boom generation has been promised. The Social Security system needs to be reformed to bring it into the 21st century and beyond with the new financial knowledge and tools available to Americans. We need a reliable, sustainable retirement plan that combines mandatory retirement savings with flexibility, choice, and security
Healthcare Reform Our healthcare system is reaching a crisis. Rising healthcare costs are crippling business and putting millions of Americans, especially children and the elderly, at great risk. American families risk having a lifetime of savings wiped out from a single hospitalization or illness. Drug companies are reaping record profits as they promote new uses of old drugs. Small hospitals and doctors are closing their doors as malpractice insurance costs increase. We must reform healthcare to make it accessible and affordable for all Americans, while maintaining the competitiveness and innovation that has made our system the envy of the world.
Included in a general reform of our healthcare system must come an overhaul of our Medicare/Medicaid system. With these programs facing insolvency within the next decade, we must re-engineer a system that is fiscally self-sustaining and does not pass today’s health problems onto future generations.
Tax Reform Our tax code is inefficient and full of loopholes. A simplified code could aid economic growth and provide for a fairer tax system, especially for small businesses and the working poor.
Immigration Reform Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants enter our country each year and will continue to enter unless much more is done. Thousands of employers hire these illegal workers, often times to the detriment of American workers, and often times exploit the illegal immigrants themselves. Despite extensive talk by both Republicans and Democrats to solve this and many other problems we face, nothing has been done.
Foreign Policy As we continue to adapt our military to meet 21st century challenges, we should also work to increase our soft power throughout the world. We cannot continue to utilize only our military strength. Our foreign policy should put an emphasis on coalition building and in working with international institutions when it serves the national interest.
Google "David Brooks"
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