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<P>Hi Baker Lions:</P>
<P>Perhaps the following will spur some discussion. These are the 11
campaign issues that Newt is recommending Republican focus on. Could not
agree with him more. Whattyathink?</P>
<P>Jackie Tillman Harty '62; Washington DC area</P>
<P>A Republican majority in the House that spent the next two months on these
eleven issues would go a long way toward clarifying the choice between the San
Francisco values of Nancy Pelosi and those of a GOP majority. This refreshing
approach would reject the "incumbentitis" of relying on pork-barrel spending for
reelection and return to the basic populist conservative values which gave us a
majority in the first place.</P>
<P>These 11 issues are all clear and all doable.</P>
<OL>
<P>
<LI><STRONG>Make English the Official Language of Government.</STRONG> The
House should pass a bill making English the official language of government,
abolishing multilingual ballots and reaffirming that new citizens should be
required to pass a test on American history in English. The Rasmussen poll
reported that support for English as the official language was 85%. The Zogby
poll had it at 84%. Why do Republican leaders find it so hard to side with
more than four out of every five Americans? How many liberal Democrats who
currently assume they are unbeatable would suddenly have a hard time
explaining a series of votes against English to their constituents? Remember,
at 85%, there are no anti-English congressional districts no matter what the
elite media says.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Control the Borders.</STRONG> The House should pass a narrowly
focused bill to ensure that the United States can control the border. The
current Senate bill is a disaster. It is impossible to pass a "comprehensive"
immigration bill in the next two months. The American people overwhelmingly
want the borders controlled and every act of terrorism reminds us that having
the borders uncontrolled makes us more vulnerable to attack. The House should
immediately pass a border-control bill and conservative Republican senators
should move every day to bring it up in the Senate. Let Democrats and elitist
Republicans block controlling the border and make that a referendum test for
Election Day.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Keep God in the Pledge.</STRONG> Congress should take two steps to
preserve the right to say "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance,
a right which is supported by 91% of all Americans. The American people feel
deeply that our Declaration of Independence is correct in saying that each of
us is endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. Beginning with the
Supreme Court's 1963 decision outlawing school prayer, the courts have waged a
43-year assault on the core values of American liberty. It is time to return
to a balanced Constitutional system. There is no Constitutional case for five
lawyers' on the court being a floating majority for a permanent Constitutional
Convention.
<P></P>
<P>The American people would rally to the elected branches' taking steps to
rebalance the Constitution. First, the House should pass a bill suspending the
recent federal district court decision in California outlawing the words "one
nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Second, the House should pass a
law blocking the Supreme Court from reviewing the constitutionality of the
Pledge of Allegiance (a power of the Congress expressly granted in the
Constitution). </P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Require a Voter ID Card.</STRONG> The American people
overwhelmingly support (85% in one poll) having a voter id card so we can be
sure only legal citizens are voting. Passing a bill to require this in all
federal elections would be a big step toward more honest elections.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Repeal the Death Tax, for Good.</STRONG> The American people have
consistently supported the total repeal of the death tax and the House should
simply pass it once a week and attach it to various Senate bills to force the
Senate to deal with it again and again. Let liberals explain why they oppose
something that more than 70% of the country favors.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Restore Property Rights.</STRONG> The American people are deeply
opposed to local politicians' being able to seize a citizen's home or
business. The Supreme Court's <EM>Kelo</EM> decision on eminent domain is one
of the most unpopular in recent years and is also one of the most dangerous.
Anyone who knows the history of local government corruption in America knows
it will not be long before some corrupt developers engage some corrupt
politicians and this power is exploited at the cost of most Americans. Members
of the Black Caucus have been among the most vocal in pointing out that it is
poor people who will be the most victimized so rich developers and greedy
politicians can make the money off their homes and businesses. The House
should pass a powerful bill returning the constitutional law to the pre-Kelo
rules and blocking the Supreme Court from reviewing it.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Achieve Sustainable Energy Independence.</STRONG> The country is
eager for a straightforward new energy strategy for national security,
environmental and economic reasons. The combination of $3 gasoline, watching
Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Russia get more of our money, and concerns
about the environment come together to require real change. The House should
meet that need. Starting with Rep. Jim Nussle's (R-Iowa) bill on renewable
fuels, adding to it clean nuclear power using new technologies that are safe
and produce little waste, developing more clean coal solutions, investing in a
conversion to a hydrogen economy, incentivizing conservation, providing tax
credits so the auto industry can invest in the new technology and new
manufacturing equipment needed to produce revolutionary new vehicles, creating
the tax incentives to build the distribution system for biofuels, hybrids, and
hydrogen, providing deeper tax incentives for radically better cars (imagine a
substantial tax credit for cars exceeding 200 miles to the gallon of petroleum
through a combination of E-85 or biodiesel, hybrid use of electricity and
hydrogen), and a bill to create state flexibility in exploring off shore with
a 50% split in revenue so state legislatures and governors would have an
incentive to develop environmentally sound methods of exploration and
production.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Control Spending and Balance the Budget.</STRONG> The House should
pass new budget legislation to control spending, leading to a balanced budget
in seven years (the length of time we gave ourselves in the Contract with
America and which led to the first four balanced budgets since the 1920s),
with special focus on programs liberals will fight to increase spending. Let
the country see who is really committed to smaller government with lower taxes
and who is committed to bigger government with higher taxes.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Tie Education Funding to Teacher Accountability.</STRONG> A major
result of the No Child Left Behind legislation has been the clear revelation
that a number of schools systems are crippling and destroying children. When
the Detroit school system only graduates 21% of entering freshman on time, it
is clear the children are being cheated. The American people strongly support
reforms designed to save the children. The first step would be to insist that
federal funds only go to school systems which require teacher competency and
accountability. A clear choice between those who want to save the children and
those who want to save the bureaucrats would mobilize the country in favor of
dramatic education reform.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Defend America From the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam.</STRONG>
Terrorism is a real threat. Congress should hold hearings on the recent
terrorist activities in Canada, the U.K. and Morocco. The House should move
bills that strengthen our security from terrorists with increased powers for
surveillance, an overruling of the disastrous <EM>Hamdan</EM> decision and a
series of other steps.
<P></P>
<P></P>
<LI><STRONG>Focus on Iran and North Korea.</STRONG> The American people are
very prepared to believe we face extraordinary threats from a nuclear North
Korea and an Iranian regime actively seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Any
actions in Iraq need to be recast in terms of their impact on Iran. A weak
America in Iraq will be unable to stop Iran. Stopping Iran is potentially
literally a matter of life and death. Congress should hold hearings on the
scale of the Iranian and North Korean threat, the statements of their key
leaders and the requirements for action to replace these dictatorships before
they succeed in killing millions of Americans. The Santorum Iranian democracy
bill should be forced out of the Senate in the context of these threats.
Everything about Iraq should be debated within this larger and much more
dangerous context.
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