Nine days ago, Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to invade Ukraine. He kept his true intentions secret from his government, his military, and the World. He believed his army would have instant success. Instead, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was able to rally the Ukrainian People and the World against him.
In response to Putin’s aggression, the Ukrainian People have taken up arms, and the World has responded with unprecedented sanctions against the Russian economy. As the Russian army is bogged down on the ground, all elements of the Russian economy – stocks, bonds, and investments, have been downgraded to junk by the credit agencies of the World. This is the furthest the World can go without putting troops on the ground.
The Reform Party supports these unified international efforts and our NATO allies.
To drive down the price of oil, President Biden worked with businesses to release thirty million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. If we are lucky, this effort will reduce prices for a week. If we are dependent on fossil fuels, we will be dependent on rival countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia to quench our thirst for oil. If we do not have an “all of the above” energy policy, we will continue to enrich our rivals.
The price of gas will rise above four dollars nationwide. There is nothing that the government can do. Long term, we need to invest heavily in nuclear, wind, and solar power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
We have seen the Covid-19 pandemic slow. During the pandemic, we learned how fragile our international manufacturing model is. Outsourcing our manufacturing has become a security risk because we could not obtain the necessary supplies during the pandemic. Key equipment was manufactured abroad, we could not import enough because the manufacturers’ countries came first, and the world’s supply lines were disrupted.
The United States must bring back manufacturing home so our vital products are manufactured in America. We should not be dependent on foreign countries for medical supplies, products necessary for critical infrastructure and essential services.
We also saw the politicization of a health crisis. Both Democrats and Republicans were fearmongering instead of reaching pragmatic balances between public health and individual liberty.
President Biden talks about creating a record number of jobs and economic growth, but he inherited an economy that was shut down. These jobs were restored because of reduced restrictions, and would have happened under these circumstances regardless of the administration’s partisan leaning. This is like a company doubling prices, then advertising a fifty percent-off sale as a special benefit.
The Reform Party agrees that America needs to Invest in America. Educate Americans. Grow the workforce. Build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. We agree on the principles of Build Back Better, but its execution is yet to be seen.
President Biden talked about funding cancer research. This is a noble goal. The only issue the Reform Party finds with supporting cancer research is this:
For decades, private companies have used public subsidies – paid for by taxpayer dollars – to create medicine that becomes massive profit centers, but these medications are out of reach for normal Americans. The American taxpayer has nothing to show for this public investment. If a company takes public funds, it must offer its product at an affordable price.
Due to the Great Resignation, people have left their jobs to find work that pays a higher wage. In most cases, this would allow workers to have a higher standard of living. Due to recent inflation, however, people have not reaped that reward.
This inflation is partly due to the ongoing logistics issues and supply shortages. To keep long-term inflation low and stabilize the American Dollar, we must reduce the length of the supply chain and produce more products in America.
We also need to be careful about protecting our money supply. The United States Government and the Federal Reserve have taken the wrong actions. Instead of printing money to remedy short-term problems, we must invest in our future. We also need to strategically balance the budget and reduce borrowing from foreign nations.
President Biden talks about increasing taxes, but due to the current composition of the legislature, with a split Senate and a slim Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, a tax increase would be impossible to pass. Instead of a tax increase, the Reform Party proposes auditing all programs, departments, and agencies to create a blueprint for restructuring all government spending.
There is also an issue in how the United States Military acquires equipment that causes the United States to overpay. By reforming the administrative processes of military acquisitions, we can save billions of dollars without impacting combat readiness.
President Biden made a good point about pandemic fraud and how the American Taxpayers were swindled by fraudulent activity. The President should expand his anti-fraud efforts to other areas. We need to be more aggressive with companies and people that make money unfairly off the back of the American Government.
At the same time, however, President Biden spoke about cutting the deficit. Though he may cut the deficit in half, these comments are sleight of hand. Last year, hundreds of billions of dollars were spent for a one-time stimulus, and short-term relief – The American Recovery Act was a 350-billion-dollar project alone. The long-term deficit and debts, however, have grown. These deficits and debts will continue to grow.
Though stimulus was necessary, our continued deficit spending means the debts we incurred will remain and hurt our long-term fiscal solvency.
We agree with President Biden that we need to fund the police. The Defund the Police movement created one of the worst political slogans in modern history and hindered its ability to reform law enforcement. Training is important. Supplies are important. Accountability, however, is critical, and we must improve accountability across all local, state, and national agencies.
Electoral Reform is essential, but President Biden only scratched the surface of this issue. Every person should have equal access to the ballot box. No one should be shut out from casting their vote. Every viable political party should have equal access to run candidates for office.
The establishment has also gerrymandered districts to solidify their hold on political offices and reduced The People’s ability to elect a representative government. Gerrymandering must end.
Immigration Reform is necessary. A good immigration plan could bring America the necessary workers to fill jobs with worker shortages. Rebuilding our Guest Worker Program with common-sense safeguards is key to growing our economy. At the same time, we must keep our system from completely relying on low-cost, foreign workers. Finding balance is key to these programs.
Veteran issues are important, and many veterans are not getting the support they need. The national American VA Hospital system is broken. As Perot would say, “Let’s lift up the hood and fix the engine.” Every veteran should be able to get routine care within the abilities of its community and go to the nearest hospital for standard treatments. The VA Health system should be a specialty system that deals only with issues unique to veterans.
Though President Biden talked about many issues, several items were not discussed.
The United States Government is beholden to the Special Interests. In the modern era, lobbyists write bills, hand them to legislators, and then have allied PACs donate money to Congressional Representatives to vote for them. In this way, the American Government works for the largest wallet and not The People.
There was a deafening silence when it came to the issue of education. American schools are falling behind those of our European counterparts. In the American Educational System, teachers are restricted to teaching for standardized testing with a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Building critical skills to enable success as an adult is more important than teaching students to pass tests.
Though we agree with President Biden on some issues and disagree with the President on others, we agree that the State of the Union is strong, because the American People are strong. Now is the time to meet and overcome the challenges of our time. And we will as one people. One America. The United States of America.
