Donald K. Allen for President

Top of the Week

June 9, 2008

Mt. Rushmore — The third “Independents’ Day” meeting, held June 7 and 8 at Mount Rushmore, was going to be a great opportunity for us, the independent candidates. Friday night we went to the Pittsburgh airport to catch our 5 p.m. flight to Denver, with a short layover before proceeding on to Rapid City, SD. The flight was delayed twice, then cancelled. United said they could get us to Denver Friday night, but couldn’t get us to Rapid City until Saturday evening by 5 p.m. We cancelled and came home, watched “North by Northwest.”

Source labeling — Remember when nearly everything that was made in a foreign country had to be labeled “Made in _______”? Our government changed the law for catalogs, so that they only had to print, “imported.” Now, our government has eased that law again and no indication of where the products are made is mentioned in many catalogs. You know these products are made in China, but this is one way to ease us all into the “global economy” without our even knowing it. You can’t complain if you let Congress get away with this. We need to insist that everything we buy is clearly labeled with the country of origin, even in catalogs.

Impact of illegals — In 2007 illegal immigrants cost this country $346 billion in all the benefits they receive for crossing the line. That includes education, medical care, SSI, legal, and a host of other items they receive for free (paid by your taxes, of course). Now consider this. Last month (May) our military lost 19 service members in Iraq. We decry this tragic loss and pressure our government to get out of Iraq. Why, then, don’t we scream our lungs out over the fact that illegal immigrants murder 12 Americans EVERY DAY!? Yet we still have Americans today that oppose the Mexican border fence.

The Border Fence — I just talked to a friend of mine who lives in Tucson. He complained about the crackdown on illegal immigrants, saying it was hurting his business. He said they have been coming across the border for decades to buy things and return to Mexico. He must not be aware of the $346 billion, and is more concerned about his own microcosm than the 4,380 murders a year.

Wire coat hangers — It was announced that the most recent small industry in the USA that has been lost to China is wire coat hanger manufacturing. Now, this may not seem like such a big deal. They are used mostly in the dry cleaning and laundry business, and China already had cornered the market in plastic and wood coat hangers, so why not this one, too? It reminds me of the last men’s shirt manufacturer in the USA, Hathaway, located in Maine. When it closed in 2002 nobody but the Hathaway factory workers gave it a second thought. We just kept buying the shirts made in Asia as we had been doing for many years.

The overall impact is that the USA, once the most productive manufacturing nation in the world, is losing its manufacturing base, and that is dangerous for our national security as well as our economy. The Fair Tax will turn this around, and I will revoke Most Favored Nation status with China. Our trade deficit with China nearly quadruples every year, and that is simply not sustainable, nor is it wise to make an enemy stronger while we grow weaker.

Global Poverty Act — This is a bill proposed by Barack Obama. The legislation, if approved, dedicates 0.7 percent of the U.S. gross national product to foreign aid, which over 13 years would amount to $845 billion. This will be in addition to what the U.S. already spends. Rather than taxing American citizens and giving our money to impoverished countries, I would privatize all foreign aid. That means taking foreign aid grants away from Congress and putting them in non-government organizations. Now, of course, Congress won’t like losing one of their means of spending money, and there will be a big stink. But since the President sets foreign policy, and foreign aid is part of that, this would call for an executive order to see it implemented, and I would ask for your support as citizens to see that Congress doesn’t override it.

Congress: Enter worth hundreds of thousands, leave with millions — Some people elected to Congress are already millionaires. They have enough money that they just need a good job to keep them occupied. All the others, however, are basically guaranteed to leave office as millionaires, too, if they just play ball and don’t rock the boat. You’ve got to go along to get along. The net worths of many members of Congress was in the hundreds of thousands on election, yet at retirement they’ve vastly improved their wealth. How? One word — earmarks. Yesterday there was an expose about a Congressman who bought land in Illinois and then added an earmark to a bill for construction of a highway that just happened to run right through that land he bought. He made a nice profit. The Ethics Committee didn’t see anything wrong with having personal business deals outside of his official duties. How nice. This is why I will require Single Issue Bills from Congress, with no unrelated items or earmarks. For that matter, no earmarks at all, ever, during my administration.

Two Books — I’ve received two books from friends to read that are very worthwhile. The first, “Executive Orders,” by Tom Clancy, is about a man who gets thrown into the Presidency by a suicidal attack on Capital Hill. I’m at page 290 and read, “The idea the Founding Fathers had was for citizen legislators, not for a permanent ruling class.” That is what we have in Congress, a “ruling class,” and it is imperative that the people of this country institute term limits one way or another. The second book was given to me by Fr. Vit Fiala, a friend of many years who’s cats I care for. “The Marketing of Evil,” by David Kupelian is truly enlightening about how Americans are deftly influenced into accepting things that we would morally and ethically normally reject. It reveals how our country is slowly, methodically being degraded and weakened from within by powerful psychological advertising and sales techniques. We no longer stand up and fight, but passively accept and ignore. Highly recommended reading.