They're Gonna Do What?

Not long ago Democrats announced their "new" plan and ideas on national security. Most people dont know much about it, well because, there was nothing new in their plan at all that would make us stronger in fighting terrorism.

This new strategy included amazing breakthroughs in strategic thinking like...

• Catching Osama Bin Laden
• "Rebuild a state of the art military"
• Stop the spread of WMDs
• To secure all loose material that terrorist could use to make dirty bombs

Rebuilding a state of the art military??? I guess the DNC hasnt been a big fan of the JSF program, the DDX, F-22A, the FCS, the Global Hawk, Predator Drone, the B-2, B-1, the USS Ronald Reagan, and does not believe we already have the premier state of the art military in the world.

Catching Bin Laden, yeah im pretty sure thats already a goal of the United States of America, not that it would end the war or the threat since Al Qaeda is nothing compared to terror groups like Hezbullah, and Hamas which now has gained legitimacy in the eyes of some countries. If Bin Laden were to be captured or killed he would be replaced by Al Zawahiri his top lt. Its widely believed that Bin Laden is in Pakistan, very few think he could be in Iran. Are the democrats going to invade Pakistan or Iran to get Bin Laden, do they really want to put a massive troop presense in Waziristan, and risk relations with a big partner in the war on terrorism?

Stop the spread of WMDs, what do the democrats think Bush is going through the diplomatic process with Iran for. Why werent they so enthusiastic about this when Clinton helped the North Koreans in an act of blind trust. Iraq, its a fact Saddam had WMDs, he used them in Halabja along with against Iran, we had every reason to believe he had them when we invaded, the scary thing now is not knowing what he did with the weapons. Some people may get confused easily and think that WMDs are only nuclear, but they are not. WMDs includes chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. How democrats plan to stop the production of all these weapons is unknown.

To secure all loose material that terrorist could use to make dirty bombs, so now im guessing that they are going to strong arm Russia, or worse threaten to strong arm them into doing everything we want with regard to their nuclear weapons.(Sarcasm, calm down bleeding hearts) Are they forgetting about Mr. AQ Khan and his nuclear black market on demand business that has been uncovered, and found to have been helping terrorists aswell as countries like Iran, North Korea, and Libya with developing nuclear weapons.

Disrespecting Our Laws

There are very few things that can actualy make me lose my cool in this world, and nothing does it more than when people show blatant disrespect for the flag that is a symbol of all we stand for.
What makes me madder is that these ingrates at these pro-illegal immigration protests would put the flag of a corrupt and all around crappy country over the flag of the United States. In the mist of a student walkout the American flag was taken down and the Mexican flag was raised above it on American soil.

I dont ever want to hear anyone come up to me and start telling me that Mexican illegal immigrants are no different than the Irish, Italian, and Chinese immigrants that come over in large numbers. Thats total idiocy to me after seeing these images.

What I read about soon after seeing these at MichelleMalkin.com was about a high school principle at Reagan High School in Houston flying the Mexican flag outside the school with the American flag. Again this is ridiculous, that high school is an American public building, paid for by American tax dollars, and its obscene to have the flag of a foreign country flying outside the public place.

No more amnesty for these people, no more tax payer funded education and healthcare, if they want any of this they will have to come here in a respectable way. They have to respect our laws, come here legally, and respect our flag.

"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" - Ronald Reagan

Lawbreakers And Appeasers

Today about 50 students at my school who are nothing more than followers that cannot think for themselves walked out of class in first period, marched through the main hall chanting, and tried to walk out. The Deer Park Police Department had different ideas for them, and every last one of them came on back to class. I heard of most of this from my best friend, and then I realized just how ridiculous these people out condoning illegal immigration in rallies and protests are.

Not one of the students claiming to stand for something knew anything about what their supposed stand was about, and not one of them would accept the fact that they were out showing support for people breaking the law. Thats right people, illegal immigration is a crime against our great nation, hence the word illegal immigration. The people running these rallies are mentally the equivolent of the ones I debate at anti-war rallies often in that neither group knows much about the topic at hand, the history of the topic, and neither will admit its wrong-doings. Both are intellectually bankrupt, and fall apart in the face of facts or logical arguements.

Now the second part of all of this, in the Israeli elections held Tuesday an appeaser has been voted to stay in power. The party in charge is going to pull out of the West Bank with the hopes of appeasing the beast that has used terror against the Israeli people, and blindly hoping this will end in peace. Im sorry, but this sort of thing has been tried before, and the result was the largest spike in terrorist attacks against Israel in history because the murdering terrorists saw weakness as opportunity to make more gains.

Anyone remember the Oslo Treaty that was signed in 1994? Israel gave up control of 42% of the West Bank, control of 80% of Gaza. The other end of the deal was for the "palestinians" to end the terrorist attacks on innocent Israelis. Not only did Israel give them control of much of these areas, but for the first time a palestinian flag flew over Gaza and the West Bank. What happened next was a massive surge in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians in a push to get more capitulation out of the Israeli government. Never in history has a country given up so much of its Holy Land in the name of peace , inspite of the constant dishonesty from the other side, and inspite of winning all the battles. Appeasement has failed in the past, and its only going to put more lives at risk in the future.

"Now lets set the record straight, theres no argument over the choice between and peace and war, but theres only one guarantee way you can have peace and have it in the next second. Surrender" - Ronald Reagan

Biting The Hand That Feeds

Not long ago there were some members of the Christian Peace Team kidnapped in Iraq, and just days ago they were rescued from the beheaders by the American military that they verbally attack on a daily basis. What was truly comical to me was what happened next, once they were rescued, once they were back safe at home. It was just like nothing had happened when the group first issued a statement about the whole issue.

The initial statement by the group was just more of the usually left wing talking points denouncing our military, and putting the blame on the United States for the kidnapping, and not putting the blame on the terrorists who went through with the kidnapping. The greatest point they make is to call for justice and respect for terrorists being detained by American and British forces. That is funny because had it not been for intelligence operations and interrogation, suicidal murderers would still bind their ungrateful souls.

Its no surprise to anyone that they would come and say this, because its what they do. They show a complete lack of responsibility for both their own actions, and the actions of those they defend in their views as well as those who try to kill them.

How about they come out and blame the terrorists for the kidnapping, how about they talk about how ridiculous the idea is to go to Iraq as a westerner belonging to a peace group. Id like to see some responsibility, not to mention a little maturity on the part of the anti war movement in our country.

"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" - Ronald Reagan

The Economy, India, and Iran

The economic numbers for last month come in not to long ago, and like the economic numbers before them they are strong. Our economy just keeps on moving along despite the naysayers that wish to raise taxes and further broaden the powers of the federal government. Heres some of the economic news thats come out.

• Unemployment is now at 4.8% which means that 95.2% of Americans are employed and being productive members of society. Compare our good unemployment rate to the unemployment rates of the European welfare states like France that has it at around 9.2% and Germany who has it at 9.1%.
• 243,000 Jobs were created last month which puts us at almost 5 million jobs created since August 2003, and puts us at 2.1 million created in the last 12 months.
• Unemployment is lower than the average throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Also a little earlier in March President Bush made a trip to the growing nation of India to discuss with their leader, and further grow the ties between our nation and theirs. This should be no surprise to anyone because our relations with India have been gaining strength rapidly in the recent past. From offering them F-16s and F-18s to giving them support with their civilian nuclear sites, and in return India's Prime Minister has said he will make India more open to American goods, India is now separating its civilian nuclear sites from its military sites, and is beginning to step more into the arrangements of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

This is a great step foreward for American-Indian relations, and is a critical trip with regards to the future of the region. With China emerging as a major power in the region it will be greatly important to have India as a strong strategic ally, because India is right along China's borders, and has a large population. India also happens to be the worlds largest democracy.

While searching the internet I have found an amazing news site known as Iran-Focus which is completely dedicated to getting the truth out about Iran, and reporting with detail daily events that slip past the major news media. Today I have found an article from Iran Focus that talks of Former Spanish Prime Minster Aznar's latest comments about Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Kamenei. Aznar says that 5 years ago the Ayatollah told him "setting Israel on fire" was the first order of business for the Iranian agenda. This comes at a time when Iran is shuffling with Russia to buy time, lying to the United Nations, and funding terror groups that it uses as proxies to attack the innocent civilians of nations the Iranian theocracy sees as an enemy.

Dont be surprised by the air strikes against Iran because they are coming, I cannot name the date or the flag on the aircraft, but I can assure you that Iran is not giving up its program, and we the people of the free world will not allow them to attain a nuclear capability.

Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid - Ronald Reagan

The Market Solution to the Education Problem

The United States is currently facing a problem that could challenge its status as a sovereign superpower. This problem is no secret, as is evident by the many attempts to reform it. Despite the efforts of lawmakers, the public school system is failing the people who pay to support it. The free market solution to the education problem is privatization.

There is a common misconception that there has always been a system of public education in the United States. This notion is false; in fact, government schools were not established until the 1840s. The early idea of American state-run schools was drafted from Prussian models, which were

established, supported, and administered by a central authority. The state supervised the training of teachers, attendance was compulsory, parents were punished for withholding their children from school, and efforts were made to make curricula and instruction uniform. (Brouillette 1)

The movement to form a system of public schools started in the Northeast in the 1840s, and swept across the country becoming mainstream by the late 1850s. This system has been critiqued and altered since that point and has morphed into the system known today. The opponents of a centralized government education in its early days may have foreseen the system's current failure.


Hans Zeiger's research shows that only thirty-two percent of high school graduates are qualified to attend a four-year college, while the graduation rate is a low seventy percent nationally. Also, when American students are compared to those in thirty-two developed countries, fourteen scored higher in reading, thirteen scored higher in science, and seventeen scored higher in mathematics. However, American classrooms do score first in one category when compared to other industrialized nations: watching movies (Zeiger 1). In addition, when public schools' tests are compared to those of private schools, the tests taken by private school students, on average, are considerably higher. If this deleterious trend continues, other developed countries could bypass future generation of Americans entering the workforce. The solution to this problem lies in theory that is hundreds of years older than the educational system itself.


The idea of privatization is a very simple principle. Portion of this idea points to the question of who is responsible for educating a child, the parent/guardian or the government? This of course is a debatable issue without a definitive right or wrong answer. However, if one is to look at the founding tenants of the country, the government is intended to have as minimal a role as possible. Such examples are found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Federalist Papers, and even Common Sense. All of these papers, essays, and documents call for a minimalist government and propose that the only way to protect rights is by insuring a limited government. Funding education is a heavy burden on the government and thus on the taxpayers as well. One of the foremost experts on the subject of school choice is Milton Friedman. As Mr. Friedman explains, in a free private enterprise exchange economy, government's primary role is to preserve the rules of the game by enforcing contracts, preventing coercion, and keeping markets free (Role of Government).


In this fashion, the government has essentially created a monopoly over education. Even though there are private schools, public schools do not compete against them. It is through competition that innovation arises, so without schools having to compete with each other there is no incentive to be innovative. Cirricula are set to meet minimum standards instead of being used to help students with their needs -- no two students are the same, so it is unrealistic to try and teach them all the same things the same way. Private schools are better at providing a unique and varying blend of educational experiences. Because of the freedoms allowed to them in regard to their cirricula, private schools are out-performing public schools on just about every level. Not only do private schools out-perform public schools, but they are actually cheaper per pupil. The average cost of private school tuition per student is $3,116, which is less than half of the $6,857 average per public school student (Costs). In addition, the laws of supply and demand dictate that should all schools become privatized, tuition averages would decrease while teachers' salaries, on average, would increase.


It is safe to say that the majority of people in this country are opposed to privatizing public schools. There are many reasons for this, but for the most part it results from an apathetic and insouciant population concerning the state of our schools. Tragically, most people just do not care enough about improving the educational system to support any drastic changes or reforms. There are those, however, that have a stake in the outcome of this debate. Many of those whom are adamantly opposed to privatization are either in teachers' unions or those who benefit from them. Pedro A. Noguera, a professor in the graduate school of education at Harvard, points out that because unions have been

castigated by politicians and the media as stubborn defenders of the status quo, [they] have been forced into a defensive posture attempting to fight off the most radical reform measures while working to raise the salaries and benefits of their members that are widely recognized as inadequate ... While [the unions'] allies in the Democratic Party continue to express support for their interests during most electoral campaigns their influence over policy making related to reform has been barely noticeable. (N1)

While the Democrats might not be listening to the unions until campaign season, they do heavily rely on their support and financing. Thus, they jeopardize future funding from the unions by supporting any reform which would practically do away with teachers' unions altogether.


The most prudent way to revive our stagnant public school system is privatization. It can be argued both ways whether or not public schools are irreparable, but this only half the consideration. Yes, it is true that public schools are not performing and need to be reformed. However, it is equally as important to do what is right, and insure that the government not go beyond what it has the right to do. The answer to this conundrum is out there, but it will take serious debate and consideration by both sides to create a solution.

The Threats We Face And The Challenges To Come

We live in some of the most dangerous years to ever face mankind in all our existence. We are faced with countless numbers of rogue, ruthless, and barbaric regimes who seek to rule over not only their people, but the people of the free world with fear and tyranny. Our enemies cannot defeat us on the battlefield so they resort to tactics that we have not seen since the last days of World War 2 when the Japanese, as a last ditch act of desperation began sending waves of Kamikaze (Divine Wind) bombers on suicide missions against our forces in the Pacific Ocean. The enemy we now face was ignored for years and years until one Tuesday morning when they brought their ambitions to our shores, and we had a man in office who wasn't going to just take it anymore as we had throughout the 1990s.

Ronald Reagan once said "we're at war with the greatest enemy to ever face mankind in his long climb from the swamps to the stars, and its been said if we lose this war and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening". Had that same thing been said today it would still apply just as it did at the height of the Cold War, with threats coming at us from morally bankrupt nations like Iran, Syria, Venezuela, North Korea, and Cuba. Every one of these nations has many things in common other than their mutual hatred for America, their desires to rid the world of our great country, and their brutal lack of respect for human life. Each and every one of these nations is run by totalitarian dictatorships that kill anyone who disagrees with them, or just anyone that they are paranoid about just as Saddam Hussein, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, and Mullah Omar did while in power.

They preach the supremacy of the state, and for the most part they cooperate with one another in ways that many people are unaware of. Iran and Syria work together in support of Hamas, Hezbullah, Al Qaeda, and Islamic Jihad while Iran and North Korea swap information on missile deliver systems that could be used deliver the means of wiping entire civilizations off the map faster than truth from the history books taught in these nations is erased. Then there is the Cuba-Venezuela alliance which is the most obvious, these two nations work for a common goal to make central and South America a place of thriving anti-Americanism, while Iran sells Venezuela hundreds of AK-47s among other weapons, and Fidel Castro makes numerous trips to Iran to meet with the Ayatollahs to forge new relations between the two. An ally of the country whose President answers to "supreme religious leaders", calls for the destruction of the western world and Israel, and strives to attain a nuclear capability to act on those goals cannot be tolerated 95 miles off our shores, and is bad no matter whose looking at it.

This axis of evil men is far greater than the one that was talked about in the months after 9/11 by our President George W. Bush, but there is one other nation that is perhaps not an enormous threat at the moment, but it is gaining strength at a rapid pace. Just across the Strait of Taiwan sits the world's largest population, army, and fastest growing economy: China, yet another nation that oppresses its people by depriving them of the basic freedoms that we take forgranted—freedom of speech; religion; a free press; the ability to put forth an idea scoffed at by the experts and watch it prosper.

The Chinese have been growing their military with the aim to become the superpower in the Pacific Ocean by becoming a greater power than the United States. It is of great importance that we do not allow the Chinese military to overshadow our own in the region, programs like the F-22A, the JSF, Aegis Missile Defense, and plans for next generation bombers and cruise missiles must be kept around to keep us years ahead of the Chinese. One thing is clear, if the Chinese had no challenger in the region, that region would be one of terror, the people of Taiwan would be over taken, Japan would be bullied, and American cities on the west coast would be at great danger. We must stay ahead of the Chinese militarily, economically, and this requires us to invest in new technologies to keep us ahead of them. The astonishing capability of systems like the B-1, F-22A, Nimitz Class of carriers, and the Aegis Missile Cruiser are what keeps us from having to use them. Peace through strength.

The threats are clear, the road ahead is going to be a rocky one without a doubt, but it's nothing we can't handle as Americans. The solutions to these problems are much harder to figure out than the things we know for sure are not the answers. We cannot repeat the same mistakes we have repeated in the past, we must not appease, must not retreat, and cannot allow our enemies to gain anymore of the materials and know-how that could be deployed against American, European, Israeli, Korean, Japanese, and Middle Eastern cities. We can no longer wait to be hit by terrorists funded and trained by our enemies, because sitting back and waiting to be hit will only yield one result: More dead Americans, more blown up buses killing innocents, and a world where tyrants, dictators, and the most evil men on Earth have gained the upper hand as a result of our capitulation.

"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" - Ronald Reagan

The Echoes of Reason staff

James
I am a senior in high school in the great state of Texas; after I graduate im going to be shipping off to Basic Training Aug. 1st for the greatest air power the world has ever known, the United States Air Force for a job in Intelligence. I am both straight and white so the ACLU doesn't really care to hear any of my bitching.

I am not a republican, democrat, libertarian, or any other party. I am a Reagan Conservative that believes in lower taxes, a strong military, and that all men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights given to them by God and not the state. I am a firm believer in individual responsibility, economic freedom, that America is the greatest force for good in the world, and the backbone of the free world.

I intend to post here often on topics regarding foreign policy, defense, and a select few domestic topics that I hold an interest in.
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" - Ronald Reagan

Jay
I am a senior in high school and will be attending Florida State University this coming fall, where I will be studying political science.

I am a political cocktail. I identify as both a Reagan Conservative and Emersonian Classical Liberal. Might sound contradictory, but I'll use the following quotes to sum it up: "Government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem" - Ronald Wilson Reagan and "The less government we have the better." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. I, as of now, do not identify with any particular party; however, if I ever run for political office, it will most likely be (unless the political climate changes) as a Republican.

I have about two years' experience in blogging. I had a blogspot previously (Konservative Jay's Rants and Raves), a myspace, myriad xangas, and I even wrote for ConservativePundits.com for a while. Now I'm back with a group of great writers to try and put some reasoning back in the thought processes of the American public. I hope to help us be able to gather a following which will allow us to make our blog a .com affair. Among the topics on which I will be posting are: Education reform, social security, health care, illegal immigration, and a smaller government.

Josh
I am a sophomore political science student at the University of Florida. I like ice cream, pizza, and politics. I am more or less a WASP—I’m officially Catholic, but I was raised evangelical Protestant. I am not affiliated with any political party, but I do vote. I consider voting to be more of a responsibility than a privilege—in the words of my favorite uncle: “if you don’t vote, you lose your moral right to complain.” Complaining is my favorite pastime, although I try to be constructive.

I’m moderately libertarian and extremely conservative. Ideally, our government should exist primarily to secure our nation from external attacks, to maintain a semblance of internal order, and to protect the lives, liberties, and estates of U.S. citizens. If I ever run for political office, it will be because I won the lotto and bought my own island in the Caribbean—in this case, I'll elect myself governator.

I write simply for my own amusement. My favorite topics are current events, international affairs, analytical history, and modern literature, but I’ll write about the respective merits of green and red jello if more conventional topics run short. Basically, I'll discuss whatever random events seem interesting—so I apologize in advance to those of you who don't enjoy reading long rants. I promise to try to keep it semi-coherent. [updated 19 March 2006]

David
I am a sophomore at high school.

Idealogically, I am a libertarian with more conservative leanings. If you want to look at my beliefs in detail, I am an economic anarchist and a social mix. I support drug legalization and gay marriage, but I also support the death penalty and am opposed to abortion. I also support the second amendment.

I probably won't be blogging on here as often as the others, but I will be managing the blog (style, commenting, etc.). When I do blog, it will most likely be about gun legislation or economics because those are the two political topics I am most fluent in.