A Regular Guy as President

Last night I made a decision to run for the Republican Nomination for President in 2008. Why would a regular guy like me decide to do such a radical thing? Simple, we need to keep a traditional values leader in the White House.

In a nation like ours that has emerged from our silent moral shell, we need to make that a present voice. A voice that is focused and concerned about the Core Values and Morals of the majority of our population.

So why should I be President, what can I bring the nation that someone else cannot, firm resolve. I will state for the record now what I support and what I do not:

* I am Pro-Life and proudly say it. My personal beliefs tell me that morally abortion is wrong and more importantly Murder. While this is true, as President I am charged with upholding the Constitution and the Laws of our nation. Law says that Abortion is a legal right of a woman, I will uphold the law of the land. That does not mean that I will let it stand unchallenged. Under what circumstances do I support abortion of a baby? Only one, when it is a matter of choice between the life of the mother or the child. As for cases of incest and rape I am admittedly unsure. I see the value in both sides of the issue as valid. While these are fundamental principles I am willing to work in steps which are outlined below:

1.) Create a Bill that requires parental consent for a minor to have an abortion. With a clause that if it is proven that the child is the product of parental incest, rape, or molestation by a family member. In which case prosecution must be pursued against the offender in the situation.
2.) Create a Bill that increases the benefits of adoption rather then abortion.
3.) Create Voluntary Programs that education youth and parents on sexual issues ranging from STD's to teen sexual activity.
4.) Create Hotlines that give abused youths a support network and safe houses to protect them from further abuse by parental figures.

* Social Security is a total mess to say the least. It is out-dated and not serving the best interests of our seniors. To change the system will take a conserted effort of all parties on Capitol Hill. Where do we begin the changes, well President Bush got the ball rolling with the perscriptions for senior. What else needs to be done:

1.) Send surveys to all seniors nationally giving them a voice in serving their needs. By doing this it will empower senior to address the issues that most effect them.
2.) RANDOMLY pull 50 seniors from the returned surveys to sit on a committee and draft realistic changes to better serve them and their fellow seniors.
3.) Using the information compiled from the above committee draft a Bill to be presented by the committee under the name of a Republican & Democrate representative.

* Internal Revenue Service: this agency is so buried in red tape that it has out lived any effectiveness it once had. I AM NOT suggesting a flat tax code, that does not serve our nation as a whole. What I am suggesting is elimination of all the loop holes that allow the top 1% of the nation to avoid their tax responsibilities. Below is the break down that I am suggesting as the code with ALL loop holes removed.

1.) $1,000,000.00 + taxed at 38%
2.) $500,000 - $999,999.99 at 36.5%
3.) $250,000 - 499,999.99 at 34.5%
4.) $100,000 - $249,999.99 at 32%
5.) $85,000 - $99,999.99 at 30.5%
6.) $75,000 - $84,999.99 at 29%
7.) $60,000 - $74,999.99 at 27.5%
8.) $45,000 - $59,999.99 at 25%
9.) $35,000 - $44,999.99 at 22.5%
10.) $25,000 - $34,999.99 at 20%
11.) $13,000 - $24,999.99 at 15%
12.) $12,999.99 or less at 10%
13.) $1,000 child tax credit per child up to 3 children and $250.00 for each additional child
14.) 2.5% tax discount for college students based on their personal income only.
15.) Based on my estimates this would create revenue for the Fed of $677,532,600,000.00

* Crime has not been much of an issue in the last two Presidential Elections. In the 2008 Presidential Election it will be an issue because I am going to make it one. First off, I will handle the most heated question of crime and punishment. Am I for or against the Death Penalty. The answer is against. Just as with abortion, I must base this position on my faith in Jesus Christ. While this is the case, each state is responsible for making the decision on this matter. It is not the place of the President to affirm nor deny the Death Penalty, but he/she is charged with expressing their moral / political stance on the issue.
As for the rest of the Crime classification I have a unique perspective. The current Criminal Justice System (not judicial) has several basic and fundamental flaws which are outlined below:

1.) Every state and the Federal penal system operates under the assumption of punishment foregoing effective rehabilitation methods. For example, drug offenders are given treatment as an after thought and not as a front line correction and change based philosophy.
2.) Violent offenders are placed in institutions with no means of or option to create change in their life. Given that 98% of all incarcerated people, including violent offenders, will be released at some point. Education and Faith-based programs are the only effective means of creating long term effective change. A study done by Wilmington College (located in Wilmington, Ohio) showed that the return rate of college graduates from their Lebanon Correctional Institution & Warren Correctional Institution programs with a Bachelors Degree was just over 4%. In comparison the current return rate of the general population without such education is about 75%. That is a drastic difference. As another example Faith-based programs like the Restorative Justice Ministry (of which I have had involvement) have seen even more successful rates. Of the 250+ individuals they have helped less then 5 have returned to prison in two years. That is real success. I for one would rather have those type of return rates then the ones the states themselves are generating.
3.) What of the worst class of offenders, sex offender. Every study done shows that the vast majority will re-offend in their lifetime. While this is so, it is worth pointing out that once an individual is labeled a sex offender their employment options drop drastically. Most are subjected post release to minimum wage position with no hope of increase and constant discrimination based upon their past. As a father of a 2 year old little girl I have no empathy for the individuals that are in this situation, but given the right research I am confident that a better way of dealing with such offenders can be found.
4.) As a side effect of such changes is that more of our youth graduating from social sciences will have a receptive environment for employment. In addition, it reduces one of largest budget items most states have. Just for consideration lets lock at the average cost of housing one person in a prison. This cost is averaged nationally at about $33,000 annually.
With 2.45 million poeple incarcerated the national cost annually is about 81 billion dollars. If we can nationally reduce this number of incarcerated person by 15% it will have a compounded effect of reducing overall states costs by 12.2 billion dollars and if at the lowest income bracket of $12,000 annually and factoring in 5.4% unemployment it will generate additional tax revenue of 466 million dollars annually.

Additional issue addresses will come later, but for now it is important that the basic platform I will run on is stated. Just as a note, if anyone knows Karen Hughes please have her contact me I will need a lady like her on the team.

Faith-Based Federal Funds

For several years I have been involved in Prison Ministry. The volunteer work that I do is meaningful and I will continue to do it. But, I have found as I have attempted to secure the Federal funds alloted for such 501c3 organizations, that the states are not distributing these funds to Christian based organizations.

The State of Ohio was given 2.6 million dollars to be given to faith-based organizations. To date, I have not seen a single Christian based non-profit recieve any of these funds. What I do know to be factual, is that organizations like Community Connections (based out of Columbus, Ohio) have recieved funds and have absolutely not faith-based component. Community Connections is no more then a "paper-pushing" entity that offers no real assistance.

What Community Connections claims to do is assisted recently released individuals from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. As a former inmate of the State of Ohio, I went to Community Connections upon my release and was provided with nothing but a list of other organizations that could provide assistance. Most of the organization listed on this document had been out of operation for more then three years as of September 1998.

During the Summer of 2002 I was invited to Washington DC to present at the Serious and Violent Offender Re-Entry Conference. Over the course of my two days there I came to realize that most of the organizations there did primarily research. How can we as a society expect to create effective change in the lives of the men and women coming out of our prisons by doing research alone? It is not to say that research is not vital, it is. At the same time, research for the sake of research alone does nothing to benefit a single soul coming out of a prison.

After reviewing most of the research material presented, I came to the realization that the agencies and organizations that did the research did not include any former offenders. How can effective programs be developed by people that have no understanding of what it is to re-enter society from prison. I have no illusion about my past. I put myself in prison by my actions and lack of concern for my fellow citizens. With that said, research that does not take into account the direct experiences and input of former inmates is lacking the ability to provide a true means of re-entry.

In closing, it is vital that those that should be getting the Faith-Based money get it. They take into account the perspective of those they are trying to serve. Without such insight any programs are doomed to moderate effect or out right failure.