To be honest, I haven't aid much attention to the news because I don't watch it, so I can't honestly say which candidate I'd like to win(though to be honest, I liked Mike Huckabee as a Republican candidate better than McCain)
What I'd like to do is express what I'd have the next president do while in office:
Energy:
Drill in Alaska as a holdover and start another Ansari X-prize to develop a cheap, reliable, and economical alternative fuel source. I'd replace as many coal-fire plants as I could with nuclear ones and use the millions of dollars a year saved by not having to mine coal to build single-use rockets to blast the nasty by-products to the sun.
Space program:
I have no idea how the government handles the space program, but I'd split NASA into two or three agencies. Why? So that they'll be competitive! With three agencies the competition to create better plastics, fuels, metals, composites, and other neat stuff we depend on in our advanced age will be developed faster and with better quality than ever before. Exploration and exploitation of the solar system will also save our planet from being exhausted of all it's natural resources, and farther planets will bring in rare elements that are hard to find on Earth. Also, increase NASA budget from the measly 0.5*% of the national income to something more substantial. We spend more on the war in Iraq in an hour than NASA does in a month.
Iraq War:
First off, because I know a little bit about the culture of Iraq, I believe it was the wrong time to start a war with them. I am glad we bloodied their noses, but its simply the wrong time to try to get them to accept democracy. We should back out soon and let them solve their own problems. They need to learn to stand on their own two feet.
Illegal Immigration problem:
Building a fence both is and is not the answer. You need to have a way to force the Illegals through your gates, and the way to do that is to make them *want* to go through the legal way. Make the process to become a legal citizen shorter and easier to do than ever before, and give a care package of a few months' worth of food, shelter, and transportation before cutting all ties. I believe it's a states issue to help immigrants, not the government's, because the smaller the scale, the easier it is to manage. A state(especially one like Rhode Island) can manage it's population easier than a country.
Education:
Get rid of that stupid No Child Left Behind law. Anyone who believes that lowering the qualifications to pass exams will lead to a better education is an idiot. If they fail, hold them back until they do get it. If they have to repeat the fifth grade until they learn their material, then it's just another motivation to get the schoolwork done. There should be some immunity laws for teachers to protect them from parents who think that Johnny is smart and the 45% he got on his test was because the teacher is out to get him. Also on the other end of the spectrum, teachers should be encouraged to be engaging to their students. This will make them want to learn more than plopping a bunch of material in front of them and saying "learn this".
Economy:
I'm not going to touch this one, because I don't know enough about economics to make an informed decision on what I would like the next president to do.
One thing I'd like to do is get ride of the whole two-party system. Just have the states each pick a candidate and through process of elimination find out who the people really want.
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