By Ben Stein on 1.7.08 @ 12:07AM
The first things the next President must promise to do.
As I watched the speeches of the victors in the Iowa caucuses, I
was stunned at how vague the comments of the candidates were.
"Unity." "Change." "Hope." "Faith."
What do these words mean besides evoking vague memories of films
of Der Fuhrer screaming "Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuhrer" to wild
masses at Nuremberg? Mostly nothing, I suspect.
So, from my safe little office in Rancho Mirage, California, I
will start to offer some specifics of what government can do to
redeem these vague phrases.
A pledge that if the candidate is President, he will:
Not allow there to be one homeless veteran. No matter what it
costs, there will always be a warm bed for every veteran in every
community of this nation.
Not allow one veteran to go without mental or physical care
after combat, no matter what the cost.
Not allow one military widow or widower to lose her or his house
because the breadwinner has been lost serving his country.
Not permit for one more month after inauguration the cruel
system where one set of survivor's benefits are deducted from other
payments, leaving widows and widowers throwing up their hands in
despair at this penny pinching by a government that can allow
billionaires to escape taxation altogether;
Not allow one military orphan or widow or widower to be denied
higher education because of a lack of tuition payments.
These are just a beginning. There will be more.
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer in
Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes a Diary for every issue
of The American Spectator.
topics:
Education, Law, Military
