by David Giza

Created on: May 04, 2008

The voters of America should access the economic views of candidates running for president because it's the most important aspect of American life. Although terrorism and national security come in a close second, the United States has to be strong economically to succeed as a nation.

However, currently, we are sliding down the slippery slope of economic morass. We have huge budget and trade deficits. Contrary to what the elite politicians and pundits are telling us, we aren't competing with the rest of the world in science, mathematics, exports or anything of value to humanity. Other than celebrities getting into trouble, we aren't leading the world in much else.

American voters must listen to the candidates' prescriptions regarding economic solutions. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain offer more of the same, tired solutions that have failed us in the past regarding domestic economic tranquility.

McCain advocates a continuation of the Bush tax cuts that have partially led us to these huge federal budget deficits. Although he is against earmarks, we have to do something about the emerging Medicare and Social Security crises. Baby boomer's are beginning to retire and everybody, irrespective of income contributions, should receive every penny and dollar that they paid into the Social Security system.

None of the candidates, except Ron Paul, want to privatize Social Security. People would have more money for their retirement. However, if people don't want to enter this system, they should be allowed to remain in the current system. Politicians of both parties shouldn't be dipping into Social Security to fund other programs. Earmarks should be completely eliminated and the president should have the power of the Line Item veto to reject extraneous spending if Congress fails to live up to complete earmark removal.

We need a trade policy that will benefit American workers by having high schools and vocational colleges promote skill-based trades for young people who don't desire or can't afford college. American companies that keep jobs in the United States should be rewarded through tax credits and punished with severe tax hikes if they choose to take jobs and companies out of the country.

Something has to be done about escalating college tuition hikes. The problem lies with the entrenched educational bureaucracy in public and private universities that continually demand salary increases. This is the primary reason why college costs are skyrocketing as well as building new classrooms and ball fields that aren't always needed. Colleges don't have to look like luxurious vacation resorts to properly educate our young people.

We need a sound, comprehensive energy policy as well that utilizes liquefied natural gas, oil, coal, solar, wind, biofuels and hydroelectricity. Republicans only focus on fossil fuels and Democrats on renewable sources of energy. We need all of them including getting nuclear power up and running too. It has to be done in an environmentally safe manner but we can't substitute strict environmentalism and completely abandon exploration. Human beings are more important than seals and caribous but every effort should be made to minimize the impact of exploration on these wondrous creatures.

The economy is the backbone of any country and I hope that the voters consider what the candidates running for president are saying regarding the aforementioned issues of this article.

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