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Home Latest from Frank McEnulty |
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BY Frank McEnulty |
Once again, I have been asked
by ProCon.org to respond to a list of questions for inclusion in their
2008 Presidential Website. China - Is China a threat to the U.S.? At this time I do not believe that China is a
military threat to the United States. Although
China has a very large army they do not have the capability of taking
any large scale military fight directly to us and there have been no
indications of any intention to do that on their part. China
should be more recognized as a potential economic threat in that they
have a huge, hard working population and graduate more engineers and
other "development type" of professionals each year than we do by a
very wide margin. Darfur - Should the US send any American forces,
with or without the UN, to the Darfur region of Sudan to stop
the genocide? As much as I would like to say yes, I find
that I must say no. Without the consent and backing
of the UN or the government of the Sudan it would not make sense for us
to go to Darfur. My reason for this is as follows.
A small force would be able to accomplish little in a
country as vast as the Sudan and the Darfur region. A
large force without an invitation or the backing of the UN would be
seen as an invasion and soon degenerate into another Iraq type of
situation. We
should be something about atrocities like Darfur and the Congo because
we are the country with the best ability at this time to do so, but we
must work first to get backing and agreement from the UN or at least a
consortium of countries. This is why it is so
important
that the next President spend a lot of time on repairing our standing
with the rest of the world community. Draft - Should the U.S. institute a military draft? No, it is not necessary at this time.
The only time I believe a draft would be necessary would
be in the case of a large scale, world war type of conflict. Economy - Should the US include mandatory regulations
for labor rights in free trade agreements? If we are giving up things to allow these
agreements to take place then we have the right to ask that they be
included. In
order to make free trade agreements fair, however, we must try and
ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules, which means
including labor rights provisions where necessary. In
the real world, though, getting these provisions included is often much
easier than actually having the foreign governments enforce those same
provisions. Election Reform - Should there be restrictions on campaign
contributions? There are lots of restrictions on campaign
contributions already. The gaping hole in the
system is when it comes to contributions to political parties and
political action committees. A
person can only contribute $2,300 to my Presidential (or anyone's
presidential campaign); however, they can contribute unlimited amounts
to the political party, a PAC or some other special interest group
whose true purpose is to support a candidate. Surely
no
one believes that someone who makes a huge contribution to the party of
a candidate doesn't hope to influence that candidate or some
legislation. Contributions to political parties and
PAC's should be limited to the same amount as those to the Presidential
candidates. I
also believe that there should be an annual overall individual and
corporate limit on total contributions to political entities regardless
of how many "different" ones a person or company wishes to contribute
to. Environment - Should the federal government mandate an
increase in fuel efficiency standards for automobiles? Yes, but it should be a phased and constant
improvement guideline. I believe an increase of 1
to 2 miles per gallon per year is not only achievable, but is also very
fair to the industry. In the long run that also
makes a very big difference. If everyone knows what
the requirement is going to be and it is firm, it will be met.
The problems with the standards just signed into law are
twofold. First, it calls for a large increase by a
date several years in the future so immediate benefits will be minimal.
Second,
when the deadline starts getting closer the auto manufacturers will
start to whine that it can't be met and, if past history is any
indication, get an extension on implementing the improved fuel
efficiency standards. Family Values - Should an affair outside of marriage
disqualify a candidate for public office? Since
a political candidate basically runs on the premise that we should
trust that person to follow through on what they promise to do if
elected, I believe that an affair should usually disqualify a candidate
for most public offices. If they cannot be trusted
in
their personal life, what makes you believe they can be trusted with
promises made to people they don't even know. Health Care - Should Americans be allowed to purchase their
prescription drugs from other countries? An American should be allowed
to purchase their prescription drugs from other countries. If
someone wishes to take the chance that the drugs they are purchasing
may not be as pure or even the same as the drugs they would purchase in
this country it is their right as an adult to take that risk.
Immigration
- Should
the U.S. build a physical barrier, such as a fence, along the
U.S.-Mexico border? Although
the
effectiveness of the fence is open to debate, the fact that Congress
and the President agreed that it should be built and signed laws to
that effect, means it should be constructed. Promises to the
electorate should always be kept, especially those that are made to get
oneself elected or reelected. However, the only true way to stop
the
current onslaught of illegal aliens into this country is to take away
the incentive for them to come here. To do that, we need to
rigorously
enforce the laws we have in place to make the hiring of illegal aliens
too costly and dangerous for employers. If there are no jobs
available
for illegal aliens then there will be little incentive for them to
continue coming here in the huge numbers we have seen in recent years. Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Should the U.S. allow Hamas to join future
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations? The only group that should be allowed into
any Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on behalf of the Palestinians should
be the recognized governing body of the Palestinian areas. Taxes - Should the 2000 Bush tax cuts be made
permanent? Yes, I believe the current
levels of taxation are fair and equitable. However,
I believe the tax code is far too complicated and twisted towards
numerous special interests and should, therefore, be moved more towards
a flat tax system of taxation. War on Terror - Should the military detention facility at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba be closed? Yes and I will go further
to say that it should never have been opened. Criminals
and prisoners of war should, almost exclusively, be kept in the country
from which they belong or where they were captured. "Anything is Possible in
America" On Sunday, January 13th, at 4 PM PST, I
will be interviewed once again by Brian Wolf on the Free World
Radio Network. The interview may be found by going
to either of the following locations. The first and
the easiest, according to Brian, is to go to www.freeworldradionetwork.net and look for Brian's show Shakedown Street. The second way is to go to the actual URL
at: www.blogtalkradio.com/-shakedow Thank-you for your
continued support and please remember to tell everyone you know about
my efforts. The election is still a long ways away and with
your help
I am continuing to make progress. Frank McEnulty Please
consider making a donation to the campaign so I can continue to get the
message out. Any donation over $30 will
receive an ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN AMERICA t-shirt and bumper sticker.
Thank you.
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