10 Things I would do if I were President: What I left out and why.

You may wonder why I left out things such as reforming immigration policy, eliminating and/or reforming Social Security, Welfare and Medicare, the war against Terrorism and perhaps even repealing the 17th Amendment to the Constitution (which is a large part of why the American Federal bureaucracy has gotten to the point is has)...I excluded immigration because, primarily, it is one of the things that makes America great. It is for good reason that the words on the Statue of Liberty say "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". America has, and always will be, the land of opportunity and home of the brave, and people from other countries immigrating here is how we became the nation we are today. Our current immigration "crisis" focuses around only one country, Mexico, and its poor masses fleeing their country in the hope of a better future here. The problem is that they came here by the millions in the later half of the 20th and early 21st century and did nothing to acclimate themselves to becoming full American citizens. #9 on my list of things that I would do if I were to become President would go a long way to helping to curb this problem, but, more importantly, as a nation of leaders we should lead and help nations like Mexico better serve their populace and end corruption in those countries whose people seek to immigrate here illegally...As for reforming Social Security Security, Welfare and Medicare the Fair Tax and my other economic ideas cover these problems and would eliminate their collective burdens on our economy...The war against Terrorism is one we are likely to be fighting for the rest of America's existence as there will always be those who hate what America stands for and #'s 6, 7, and 8 would all involve strategies for dealing with this problem...Repealing the 17th Amendment would be a very good idea, but I believe the same thing could be accomplished under my proposal to eliminate lobbying in our nations capital (#10 of my list) and would be much easier to accomplish, I believe, than repealing the 17th Amendment (which would require 2/3rd's of our 50 states to agree on)...Don't be fooled that these 10 ideas are the only 10 ideas I would run on. I have many other things that I would would attempt to accomplish if I were president, but for now, I will keep it to just the 10 things I have posted here. Feel free to comment-especially if you disagree-and, hopefully, you will enjoy what I would do IF I were to ever run for President...RR

10 Things I would do if I were President: #1 Repealing the 16th Amendment to the Constitution and instilling the Fair Tax as our new tax system

In 2006 the IRS tax code measured 44,000 pages. Some estimates say it costs $200 Billion a year for Americans to comply with our current tax codes and some 40% of all American's do not even pay taxes. Making matters worse, our current tax codes punishes the producers and money makers of our society and rewards those who live on the fringes and sponge off of society-obviously this system isn't working and needs to be fixed...Over the years several ideas have been put forth to fix our tax system: from the seemingly simple flat tax to just simplifying our current tax codes, but none have really taken root with American citizen's or our Congress-except for one: the Fair Tax. In a nutshell, the Fair tax is a consumption tax that would be levied at the point of sale for all goods and services. According to the bill submitted before Congress in 2007, the Fair tax would be assessed at 23% on all goods and services at the time of sale or receipt. There are way to many details to go into and I wouldn't be able to give this great idea justice, so for more information I strongly recommend everyone who reads this to visit www.fairtax.org. The Fair Tax would not raise the price of goods or services and would provide 100% accountability within our Federal Government as to how they spend our money. Why? Because discerning exactly how much money the Fed has to spend would be very easy for any American to do and should they over spend or misallocate funds (as they so easily can do now) it would be very easy to see where and how they did so and correct the problem before it gets out of hand. Why do we have to repeal the 16th Amendment to do this? Because the 16th Amendment is what created the IRS and allows for our current tax code, so simply replacing the IRS with the Fair Tax would not be enough to permanently install the Fair Tax as our new tax code...What would having the Fair Tax mean to individual Americans? It would mean that we would all keep 100% of our paychecks. It would mean no more Capital Gains taxes or taxes on investing or saving our money. And, it would mean not having to waste potentially thousands of dollars a year doing, and paying, your 'taxes'. If this all sounds too good to be true, again, I encourage everyone to go to www.fairtax.org. The idea is simple and revolutionary and it would permanently stabilize our economy and prevent economic disasters like the one we are facing now. Needless to say, The Fairtax would be top of any Presidential campaign platform I would run on.

10 Things I would do if I were President: #2 Fixing the Public School System

As with the War on Drugs, it is very evident that our government funded public schools are failing miserably. Every year 10's of thousands of teens drop out of high school and never go back to get their Diploma; 10's of thousands more, thanks to over zealous teachers, are falsely diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and pumped full of Ritalin or some other drug; and more and more of our teachers are becoming nothing more than glamorized baby sitters, feeding our youth with pointless propaganda and structured lesson plans which fail to teach our kids anything and whose only purpose is to "push them through the system". The system is under funded, under staffed and contributing, in large part, to America's cultural and moral decline. Overtly Liberal teachers and their unions care more about keeping their jobs than teaching our kids the proper ways to Read, Write, and do Math as well as what to be American truly means...Unfortunately, I believe our nations public schools are too far gone to be recovered. Between the teachers unions and the bureaucracy which runs them, they are little more than huge day care centers draining our tax dollars and failing our country at all levels. To change this(without getting into the cluttered bureaucracy which is the biggest problem), I would make 3 primary changes: First I would encourage all states to adopt systems by which parents can choose which schools to send their kids too. Secondly, I would invite corporate America into running our school systems. Thirdly, I would require that every child be required to take a "Life Skills" or "Life Lessons" class in which they would be required to get an A before receiving their Diploma and graduating from High School...My first point is easy for most to understand-many states offer some system by which parents can choose which school they want to send their children too, so long as they get their child to and from the school of their choice...My 2nd way to fix Public Schools is perhaps the most controversial of my plans to change the system. (This would apply only to high school age children.) If you approach it logically, education, for the most part, is preparation for people to enter into the work force and be productive citizens (and to get some basic historical perspectives and cultural and social experiences). If you accept that statement, then who better to teach (and train) potential workers than the companies themselves? With enough corporate sponsorship of schools, parents could pick and choose (based on affordability or scholarship qualifications) which high schools to send their kids too, thereby not only laying out their early futures for them, but also giving them the best chance to succeed in their chosen career paths. Imagine how much more efficient our banking and real estate systems would be if they had the ability to train their future work force from an early age? Or for those that wanted to be doctors, nurses and surgeons to begin their training and knowledge gathering from the age of 14 instead of 18? The possible benefits of such a system are mind blowing and if I were president I would encourage every state to make it as easy as possible for as many companies as possible to get involved...On the surface my 3rd idea may seem overly conservative (or liberal depending on your view) but I believe it to be the most important of the 3 ways in which I would change our educational systems. When I graduated from High School in 1991, I knew nothing about how to buy a car, buy a home, enter into a contract with an employer, choose a mate or even how to manage my check book. No where was I taught about how to manage a budget or my time if I owned a home and had a family. Today, this problem is much worse and it is no wonder why so many of our 20 something's are failing in life. In my view, this would be the single most important class that any child would attend and I would require that it be taken twice: once before entering into High School and then again at any time during High School prior to graduating. Only the High School level of this course would be required to be passed with a grade of A-anything less and the class must be retaken before the student can get their Diploma. This last change is, I believe, the most important. Our youth are entering into a rapidly changing world which presents them with situations and decisions they are unprepared for and it is their lack of ability to make the best decision at the best time that has lead to the rapid moral and cultural decline in our country. True, this should be a parents job, but given that our children spend as much time-if not more-at school between the ages of 6 and 18 as they do at home, then the School system should shoulder some of the responsibility for properly raising our children.

10 Things I would do if I were President: #3 Implementation of the ATN

It is no surprise to me if you haven't heard of the ATN (Automated Transportation Network). The ATN is something which I first conceived of in the summer of 2004. In simple terms it is a series (hundreds of thousands actually) of structure's designed to monitor, regulate and control our road system. (To accomplish this feat each vehicle would require a transponder to communicate with the network). Because each structure is designed to be above ground and stretch over the existing road network, I have designed it with solar tiles installed on it crossbeam section. The purpose of these solar tiles is not to provide power directly to the network itself but to provide supplemental power to the existing electrical grid (I designed it this way because I recognize that in each unit with capture different amounts of energy based on regional locations and weather conditions)...In the late 1980's and early 1990's there was much talk in the metro Detroit region about the inevitable fully automation of cars. The problem they saw with the cars being able to essential drive themselves was that they needed to be able to "know" where the roadway's were. By implication this meant that the roadways and cars needed to be able to communicate with each other as well as cars being able to communicate with each other. The developments they foresaw in automobiles 20 years ago are realities today. GPS systems are common place; several car makers have models which can park themselves; and many SUV's and mini vans are equipped with sensors and rear view cameras which alert the driver to any hazards or obstructions behind them. Needless to say, the technology required for automobiles to "drive themselves" is upon us. However, the problem still exists of communicating with the road itself, and this is where the ATN comes in. As designed, it will have the ability to monitor, regulate and control the speed and flow of traffic on any road network it is installed on. Until individual vehicles are fully automated, all that is needed is a transponder wired into a car that communicates with the network-sending all relevent information to the unit while recieving up to the second traffic data and the best travel route available. Any rational person can see the potential of this system: Billions saved in policing costs; Billions more saved in lost time due to traffic congestion; 10's of thousands of lives potentially saved a year are just a few of the benefits of such a system; and create millions of jobs initially, and hundreds of thousands of permanent, high paying jobs. Combined with solar tiles on the top cross beam sections of each unit, my rough estimate is that this system could provide 20-25% of our nations energy needs indefinitely. (All of the data I have accumlated for the ATN is approximate and on the low side of my estimates). I believe it would take somewhere in the area of 500,000-600,000 units to complete the ATN on the Interstate system (initially this is where the ATN belongs. Expansion to surface and state roads could come at a future date) with an aggressive build out of 10 years (20 years at the max) at an estimated cost of $4-7 Trillion dollars with a return rate of 8-14% annually-meaning the system would pay for itself in 10-15 years. Of course there is much more to the ATN than just what I have briefly mentioned here, but since our current President is handing out Trillion dollar checks like water (it seems) with no real specifications for how the money should be spent, I think my Trillion dollar idea should get some consideration and it would definitely be a large part of any Presidential campaign platform I would run on.

10 Things I would do if I were President: #4 A 100% committment to alternative energy usage and ending our dependance on foreign oil

When I was 5, my family and I moved into our 2nd home in a large western suburb of Detroit. A house in our neighborhood had 2 solar panels on each side of its roof (total of 4). I never got to know who it was that lived in that house in the late 1970's and early 1980's, but it wasn't too long there after that 3 or 4 more homes on that same street installed their own solar panels. This was my first encounter with "green technologies" and after I got inquisitive enough to ask the right questions I learned what these solar "panels" were for: capturing sunlight to convert to energy. Needless to say these homes never had a problem being sold and all of them had electric bills that were less than half of their neighbors who didn't have this equipment on their roof. When I got older and learned more about this technology I found out that original owners of these homes spent close to $20,000 to have just 4 solar panels installed on their roofs in a region that sees less than 100 days of sunny to partly sunny skies a year. It's been 10 years since I've seen those homes and I'm quite sure that those solar panels are still operational and saving their home owners thousands a year on their electric bills...In the summer of 2008 the nation cringed and changed it's habits and thoughts about electricity and power consumption as gas prices spiked to over $4 at the pump. Suddenly the nation as a whole was conscientious about its energy consumption. People began driving less and turning in their gas guzzling SUV's for more fuel efficient vehicles-particularly gas sipping Hybrids. People also began looking at other energy saving measures. Energy saver light bulbs and appliances are now "in"; people are looking at home wind mill systems and solar panels and tiles as ways to supplement their consumption of traditional fossil fuel generated electricity and as ways to save on their monthly electrical bills...What is sad is that in the nearly 30 years in which I first encountered the usage of solar panels to provide power, very few people still have yet to catch on to the technology-even despite the price spike of gasoline just a few short months ago. It is said that American's are "addicted" to oil-hence our group reluctance to adopt more renewable and "green" energy technologies. In my view this is more the fault of our Federal and State government than it is the fault of we the people...Solar and wind power has evolved in leaps and bounds over the last 30 years. Those same solar panels I first encountered 30 years ago, would capture 5 times the power today then they did when they were installed all those years ago and not cost $20,000 to install. We have no excuses anymore: there is no reason why every home in our nation should not have some sort of supplemental renewable power source, whether it be a few solar panels (or tiles) or a small wind mill generator on the top our home, every home in America should have this technology to provide power. Not only do we owe to our planets ecology and our check book, but we also owe to our nation's economy. In 2007, nearly 70% of all the oil we used in this country was imported and only 10% of our electrical grid was supplied by renewable sources of electricity (solar; wind; hydro; etc...). These are scary numbers when weighed against the fact that we are supposed to be the worlds cultural, economic and technological leader and that much of this imported oil comes from nations with questionable foreign policies and relations to our enemy's and as such provides some of these nations far to much control over our domestic economy... As with our military, our ideas about how we create and supply energy are stuck in the 19th and 20th century's and a large reason for this is our Federal Government. The Fed does not out right hinder the advancement and propagation of renewable and "green" energy sources, but it blantantly panders to the lobbyists who work for the "old tech" oil companies and monopoly energy providers in states all over the country-and there is little question that these companies fear the mass usage of green and renewable energy sources. Because of this pandering, the Fed allows only small projects to be subsidized or funded through grants to proceed and be built. We have no excuses for our blatant misuse of natural resources and the way in which we treat our planet's ecology, nor for the amount of oil we are forced to import each year. We have only one Earth and it has limited natural resources and we know that we have a finite supply of oil. As such, if I were President, it would be a standing order in my administration to put any renewable energy initiative ahead of any concerns of the old tech oil companies and state energy providers. To alieve their concerns I would encourage these same companies to get on board and invest in these technologies, to embrace them and provide them to the customers they serve. For automobiles I would force the release of long held patents by oil companies and others who have held them (assuming they still do), holding up the development, production and distribution of fuel cell vehicles in this country. I would also provide support for any state or county willing to install building codes which require a certain percentage of solar cells/tiles as part of a buildings use, and any other "green" techs which communities may see fit to utilize...We are all one nation and one community when it comes to the planet we live on. Not only is the road we are heading down-as it concerns our fossil fuel usage-a dead end one, but it is also one which provides an unacceptable amount of domestic economic influence to nations with questionable foreign ties. We are all in this thing together and the only way to get out of it is by all of us committing to the usage of renewable and green sources of energy, and it should be the responsibility of our Federal Government to lead the way-not get in the way.

10 Things I would do if I were President: #5 Ending the War on Drugs (and legalizing Marijuana).

If you consider the "War on Drugs" an actual war, then the War on Drugs has been the longest and most disappointing War in American History...Intended to reduce the supply and consumption of "illegal" drugs in the USA, the War on Drugs is a set of Federal policies and laws that was adopted during the 1960's and was first coined as such by Richard Nixon in 1971. It has become obvious in the 40 or so years that America has been "at war" against drugs, that we are losing. It is a fight being waged with weapons and covert activities instead of intelligence and intervention. I completely agree that cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, methamphetamine and pharmaceutical pain killers and tranquilizers either need be outlawed completely or regulated more stringently, but the approach currently taken has been proven to not work, and so a new tactic must be implemented if we are to ever win this "War". For starters, Marijuana and Hemp must be removed from the War on Drugs. In 2007, the DEA budget was over $2 Billion dollars, and according to their own statements, they spend 80% of their budget fighting domestic production of Marijuana and Hemp-particularly in those states that have legalized its medicinal use. In all the years that the DEA (the primary weapon in the War on Drugs) has been fighting this war, its primary focus has been towards Marijuana-the most widely used "illegal" drug in the country. Despite the constant attacks, Marijuana usage has not only proliferated, but so has the usage of other much more dangerous drugs like Cocaine and Meth. This ridiculous and ignorant stance and focus on Marijuana has allowed Meth (in particular) to ravage our nations southern and heartland regions, and for the growing proliferation of the abuse of legal pharmaceutical drugs...As of 2008, 13 states have legalized and set regulation for the growth and use of Medicinal Marijuana. If you put any stock into Federal Government statisitics roughly 40% of Americans have, or currently use, Marijuana-this is greater than the number of people who smoke cigerattes which have over 200 known toxins to the human body, while Marijuana has only 1: Carbon Dioxide. Due to it being illegal, research into the medicinal properties of Marijuana is minimal, but most doctors agree that there is much potential in Marijuana for the treatment and cure of several forms of Cancer. Additionally, Hemp-in industrial form-has over 25,000 products that can be made more cheaply and better from Hemp. While some estimates run as high as $100 Billion dollars nationwide in keeping Marijuana illegal, the potential economic windfalls from making Marijuana and Hemp legal measure in the $10's of Billions of dollars, and have the ability to create hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs. The arguments for keeping Marijuana and Hemp illegal have no basis in fact. Marijuana is not physically addictive; contains no toxins or carcinogens (when filtered properly); by its users, is not considered a "gateway drug" (according to drug users cigarettes and alcohol were the first "drugs" they ever tried); according to Federal Government statistics, 98% of all people arrested for possessing Marijuana were employed full time at their time of arrest; and no known off shoot crime is associated with Marijuana users, meaning that amongst communities and states where Marijuana usage proliferates there is no appreciable increase in violent criminal activities as there is with the usage of cocaine, heroin and crack (amongst others). Additionally, studies were conducted in Europe in the early 1990's which showed that driving while high on Marijuana has no increase in accidents or traffic violations and, in fact, showed that many drivers who used Marijuana prior to driving a personal vehicle payed more attention to their surroundings while keeping a safer distance from surrounding vehicles and obeyed traffic laws more regularly...In sum, there is no justifiable cause for the continued illegality of Marijuana and Hemp (for more information on the facts about Marijuana and Hemp see norml.org and naihc.org)...Taking Marijuana and Hemp off the War on Drugs would allow the DEA and US Customs service (also a member of the War on Drugs) to free up Billions of dollars in resources and 10's of thousands of man hours a year to pursue those drugs which are truely detrimental and destructive to our society. Further, by legalizing, and taxing Marijuana and Hemp, and then allocating those taxes to educating the populace on the use of drugs of any kind, it would further help in the battle against those drugs which have proven to destroy our social fabric and lead to a victory in a War we are obviously losing...To sum it up: Legalize Marijuana and Hemp and not only will we create new and productive industries, but then we will have a real chance to win the War on Drugs.

10 Things I would do if I were President: #6 Modernizing our military

Since the Desert Storm Operation of the early 1990's our military has been infused with technology to a point that, despite having only the 6th largest Army, we are still considered to have the strongest military-across all branches-in the world (for reference we have the worlds largest navy and air forces but are considered to have only the worlds 3rd best spy network/intelligence). Merging technological advances with our military branches is what sets us apart from nation's such as India and China who could over run us with sheer numbers if necessary, but we don't go all the way with our technology. We have the ability, today, to outfit our military personal in ways that make individual soldiers nearly invincible. The utilization of robotics and suits of armor bio engineered to respond to a soldiers thoughts and needs are realities for our military and should be the focus of upgrading and modernizing our military. Thanks to technology we could have a small, very mobile, elite force of fighters who would only need to put themselves in danger in the most extreme of situations, and yet the technology is said to be too expensive to pursue with full funding. The idea that military technology is not fully funded (even more, the pay for service personal) disturbs me greatly. Given the current terrorist threats we face today, it has never been more relevant that we have a fast, efficient and dominant military force at our disposal, and yet we don't utilize all of the technology we have at our disposal. It seems that in the last decade, the upgrading of our military has been stagnant. We still use laser or gps guided missiles and other equipment that requires the use of propellents to fire a "missile" or "bullet" and our military seems to still be stuck in warfare strategies which involve the mass deployment of force in numbers, rather than force of intelligence and strategy (see GWB's tactics in Iraq for evidence of this). There is no reason why, in the 21st century, we still rely on such 19th and 20th century technologies and war time tactics to wage warfare. If I were president not only would I fully integrate every branch of our military with the most modern of technologies, I would also encourage a complete over haul of our strategies and tactics for each branch of our military. Additionally, I would ensure proper funding of all branches of our intelligence agencies and maintain their current status of cooperation so that we go from 3rd in the world in overall intelligence gathering to 1st. This can be dont, but it takes committment and will of the politicians to keep and maintain the worlds most feared military and intelligence operations.

10 Things I would do if I were president: #7 Isolationist foreign policies for 25 years

Who are we, as a nation, to think that we have any business in helping other countries to fix their problems when we can't even fix our own? Every year we, through our Federal Government, send Billions of Dollars to "3rd" world countries in an effort to educate, feed and provide basic necessities to these countries peoples, when, every day, in our own country, millions of children go hungry, live on the streets and drop out of school before finishing their primary education. This irony isn't lost on the rest of the planet and based on my own conversation's with people from other countries who visit America, they find it humorous-to be kind about it. We, through our Federal Government, have no business attempting to show other countries "how it's done" in terms of educating and feeding people, when we, ourselves, aren't even doing so to 100% of American's right now. To me, this is akin to the Blind leading the Blind, or a career bogey golfer trying to help a scratch golfer qualify for the PGA tour. True, we don't have widespread hunger in our nation (just look around you and I'm sure it's pretty obvious by the median weight of the people nearest you), but we still have millions of people, and especially children, who go hungry every day in our country and millions more who never finish high school, and yet, we send Billions to 3rd world nations with terms that dictate how this money is to be used to feed and educate their populace, when we ourselves aren't that successful at it. Personally, I find this to be very arrogant of us...So why Isolationist foreign policy? If the world expects us or wants us to help out those countries who need it, we need to fix our own problems here first. Crime, hunger, housing, unemployment and education all need to be addressed at home and fixed to within 99.99%. Right now, as a nation (and without looking at the exact numbers) we are somewhere around 97-98% on these issues (this is probably a high number), and I realize that achieving a perfect 100% in all of these things is nearly impossible, but it's not improbable. It can be done, but to do it we have to keep all that money we send to other countries within our own borders and spend it, and the time that goes with it, on ourselves first before we have any justification for helping another society achieve the same goals. I would expect it take a full generation of dedication to accomplish these lofty goals, but it can be done...If we want to help the world, we must learn to lead by example and not with our pocket books, then and only then will we be able to properly help those nations and societies who need it.

10 Things I would do if I were president: #8 Petitioning the U.N. to make the West Bank/Gaza Strip a Global Holy Land

What exactly do I mean by this? It's simple really...Since the "creation" of organized religion in Man's history, every major religion makes some historical claim to at least part of the West Bank and/or the Gaza Strip near what is today Israel and Palestine. More ironic is that these claims are all basically the same: that this land is their religions holy land. In lay mans terms, damn near every religion on the planet considers these same lands, in some way, Holy, but it is their own ignorant, close minded, egotistical holier than thou (pun intended) perceptions that only they (respectively) have a right to this property. To me, this makes no sense...If everyone considers this land sacred in some way, then why can't we, as a planet, agree that this is holy land for all peoples and, on a global scale, dedicate it as such...So what would this mean? It would mean that the planets only global body would have to do so and manage it-the United Nations. It would mean that NO ONE would be allowed to live or conduct business on these lands-the land could used for only religious purposes (i.e. prayer, religious gatherings and marches, etc...). It would also mean, that to secure the land, it would have to be patrolled and secured by the U.N. This would be no small feat, I realize, and it would take Billions of Dollars to accomplish, but consider the benefits: no longer would this region of the planet have a reason to fight over land. As independent societies on the larger global spectrum, we cannot to anything but attempt to mediate their differences, but at the very least we can take away the biggest single thing that these cultures are in perpetual war over. Once this happens, perhaps one day, all of these religions could come to some sort of peaceful co-existence.

There is of course many other issues that would need to resolved for this to happen than just getting the U.N. to designate this region as a "Global Holy Land". Transportation for millions of potential Pilgrims, or millions making a Pilgrimage, and funding for security forces would be among the top concerns in designating this land as Holy. However, considering the price of the countless and pointless wars which have been fought over this same property over 1000's of years, I don't believe any cost is too high to make the West Bank/Gaza Strip region Global Holy Land.

10 Things I would do if I were President: #9-English as the official language

America is without question the best place to live on Earth. No other country offers the freedoms or provides the wealth of opportunities that citizens of our nation have access too. However, we do have one fundamental flaw in our nation: cultural identity. Now, it can be said that America's cultural identity is in the great "melting pot" of nationalities and ethnic groups which immigrated here by the millions at the turn of the 20th century, but no longer do we need these immigrants for economic stability and growth as we did over a century ago. As a young nation of a little over a 100 years old back then it was legitimate to say that America was still searching for it's identity. Today that problem seems to persist-despite our vast growth in population and technological advancement-and at the core of this problem, I believe, is a lack of a National language...I was unable to locate any specific data which suggests that the U.S.A. is the only country on the planet which has no official language, but I feel confident in saying that we are the only industrialized nation on Earth with no official language...Language (i.e. how we communicate with each other locally) is the first precursor we use when identifying someone to a particular culture or ethnic background because it is normally the first evidence we have which can indicate from where someone is from. Around America you can find a wide variety of accents-from the bland west coast, to the drawl of the south, all over America you can identify where we are from (in general) by how we speak the "English" language. Languages have helped defined and provide cultural identities for as long as human's have walked the earth. French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin (Basic) Chinese, Creole; the list is as long as the separate cultures on our planet and all of those just mentioned are national languages of their respective countries, but not in America. Nope, apparently we are too good for just one language-despite the fact that English (American really, English is spoken in England) is used for all of our legal documents and was adopted as the official "language of international business" sometime after WWII when America proved its military and economic dominance over the rest of the world...We have no true cultural identity as we head through the 21st century and adopting English (American) as our official language would not only go a long way towards this goal, but would also save our nation Billions of dollars as well as go a long way towards curbing the illegal immigrant problem we currently face...Is this a touchy subject? You damn sure better believe it, but it is one I would have no problem facing and one that would definitely be a part of my campaign.