National Review Editors Praise Fred Thompson

From the editors at the National Review Online...

"Fred Thompson may have started his presidential campaign late, but he is the first candidate in either party to come out with solid plans to reform Social Security and immigration. And while most candidates have called for increasing the size of the military, Thompson laid out a detailed plan to achieve that end in a Tuesday speech at the Citadel Military College. On these issues, Thompson has set a standard for specificity, conservatism, and soundness that we would like to see the other Republican candidates measure up to."

There's more. Here is Fred's plan on Social Security in a nutshell.

"Thompson would borrow the best Democratic idea on Social Security, creating investment accounts outside the Social Security system. Under this plan, each worker would have the option of diverting 2 percent of his wages into a 401(k)-type account, with the government adding $2.50 to every dollar saved. These accounts would make it easier for workers, especially low-income workers, to build up assets of their own.

Thompson has announced that, to keep Social Security solvent, he would slow the growth of benefits. Social Security benefits are currently indexed to wage levels. Since wages are expected to rise, initial benefit levels are too. Thompson wouldn’t tinker with the cost-of-living adjustment (in other words, benefits would still keep up with inflation), nor would his plan affect any current or near retiree (it wouldn’t kick in right away). Instead, Thompson’s plan is to eventually decouple benefits from wage growth. This, he argues, is the most equitable way to keep Social Security from running out of money without imposing a massive tax increase. None of the other Republican candidates has put forward a plan that deals so frankly with the challenges of reforming Social Security."

As for illegal immigration...

"On immigration, Thompson rejects the notion that we must choose between deporting millions of people and granting them citizenship. The cornerstone of his proposal is a rejection of amnesty — because, as we learned following the 1986 immigration reform, granting legal status to illegal aliens before fully implementing enforcement measures encourages more illegal immigration.

But Thompson doesn’t accept the false assertion that “no amnesty” means we must initiate mass deportations. Instead, he would gradually shrink the illegal population by stepping up enforcement — ending “sanctuary cities” whose governments direct their police departments not to enforce immigration law; cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants; and completing a proposed border fence."

And Fred's plans to increase the size of the military are sound, as well.

"Thompson’s most recent proposal is a detailed plan to increase the size of the military. Thompson told his Citadel audience that he would spend more on defense, replace worn-down fighting vehicles, and build a “million-member” ground force that would increase the sizes of the Army and Marine Corps to 775,000 and 225,000, respectively. That we need a bigger military has become almost an article of faith among the candidates for president, Democrat and Republican. This is a welcome development; additional detailed proposals like Thompson’s would be even more welcome."

This is what we need, people! A man with a plan! Not just promises and statements that he's the right man...this guy has plans on the important issues that he has fleshed out in a manner that none of the other candidates have done up to this point.

The NRO editors end with this line...

"It’s obvious why conservatives see something to like in Thompson. He has offered clear, conservative ideas on fixing Social Security, policing immigration, and expanding the military. We encourage the other candidates to follow his lead."

This is the kind of man I want as President! That's why I continue to endorse Fred Thompson. Every time I begin to think "what about somebody else", I read something like this that reminds me as to why I support the man in the first place. Fred Thompson is a true leader.

Read the full article.

Giuliani and Huckabee in '08?

I missed this a few days ago, but it is interesting. Chris at Mason Conservative floats an idea of a Rudy Giuliani/Mike Huckabee ticket in 2008, mostly based upon the fact that Giuliani and Huckabee have a bit of an unspoken agreement that is based at overcoming Mitt Romney in Iowa come January 3rd.

If you think about it, that's not a bad ticket. Rudy is doing a good job of reaching out to conservatives that normally would not support him in a primary. Rudy has been my "2nd choice" for a while, just because I agree more with Fred Thompson ideologically. However, Rudy is showing more and more conservative stances on key issues with me and is starting to draw my attention.

Anyway, Rudy is the "top dog" right now in the primaries and appeals mostly to moderates. Huckabee is a steadily-rising candidate who attracts a lot of social conservatives and, as Hunter Golden put it so well, comes across more as a likeable "grandpa" kind of guy instead of a preacher in the pulpit.

If Rudy can pull the moderates/pro-defense field, and Huckabee rallies the social conservatives, you might have a pretty good ticket come November of next year.

Endorsement for the 1st Congressional District Special Election

Well, the original Podium-endorsed candidate, James Atticus Bowden, did not quite make it far enough to be nominated (although, he did make it pretty far). So, after reviewing the records of GOP nominee Rob Wittman and Dem nominee Phil Forgit, the Podium has decided to endorse Rob Wittman for the 1st Congressional District of Virginia.

Reminder to readers from the 1st Congressional District, your special election is on December 11th.

Wittman currently is making fiscal responsibility and 2nd Amendment rights some of his top issues. He also supports stronger border security and tougher stances against illegal aliens. His support of the Bush tax cuts is also a fiscal strongpoint.

Go support the next Congressman from the state of Virginia, Rob Wittman!

Brazil Moving Forward With Nuclear Sub Program to Protect Offshore Oil Reserve

Brazil is looking to build a nuclear submarine (or two) to protect the recently-discovered Tupi offshore oil reserve that has been described as "a massive find".

President Lula da Silva authorized $540 million in funding for the nuclear submarine program, which has been talked about for years, but never pushed as hard as it is now. Silva has also been trying to push forward with restarting the building of nuclear power plants as a cleaner, more efficient way of producing energy.

Nonetheless, this oil find is big news for South America's largest and strongest economy, especially considering that they are a key U.S. ally in the Western Hemisphere.

Stem Cell Revelation: Human Embryos Not Needed

Well, this bit of news certainly should kill the left-wings calls for embryonic stem cell research using human embryos, which means that the Dems lose on this one. When those who opposed it said "there have to be other ways to create stem cells, and we should pursue those ways", they weren't just blowing anti-abortion smoke.

Professor Ian Wilmut, famous for leading the team that successfully cloned sheep and gave us "Dolly" back in 1997, has decided not to pursue a license to clone human embryos.

Why? Simple, they're no longer needed.

Professor Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan has discovered a way to create human embryo stem cells without the need to create life for the purpose of eventually destroying it. They have discovered a way to revert adult cells back to embryonic form.

Wilmut believes that this is the future of stem cell research, and Wilmut has decided to support this. The greatest thing about this is that this method of creating stems cells is actually easier and more efficient than fertilizing a human egg just to get the embryo and destroying it.

It is believed that cures for many diseases, as well as methods of repairing damaged tissue from heart attacks, can be found through this stem cell research.

That is research I think we can ALL get behind.

I Hope This Is a Joke

I received a forwarded e-mail asking people not to accept this coin as legal tender.

If you can't tell, the motto "In God We Trust" is not on this coin.

Now, whether this is some kind of collectors coin, fake coin, or something else, I don't know...but I do not believe that the phrase should be taken off the coin. Should this be true (and I hope it isn't), I encourage people not to accept it as legal tender to force it out of circulation.

Kaine: "Lean Budget" in '08, State Economy Still Relatively Strong

In an interview with The New Dominion, Governor Tim Kaine discussed the next two-year budget.

“I do think at least the first year of the next two-year budget is going to be a pretty lean budget. But there’s initiatives that we need to do to improve quality of life, and we’ll find ways by economizing in other areas to do the initiatives that matter,” stated Governor Kaine.

While I'm glad that he is at least looking to trim down the fat first, I would like to see if he will prove to be more prudent and fiscally conservative than his predecessor, Mark Warner, who went so far as to raise taxes on a budget surplus. If Kaine can manage to overcome the revenue shortfall by being smart with the revenue that the state is bringing in, and not raising taxes, he will definitely win a few points with Virginia citizens.

However, relatively speaking, things aren't that bad according to Kaine.

Later in the interview, the Governor assured Virginians of the strength of the state's economy, “The Virginia economy is very strong relative to other state’s economies. We’re trying to deal right now with a $640 million revenue shortfall. Just across the Potomac in Maryland, they’re dealing with a $1.7 billion shortfall, and their budget is smaller than ours - that is a huge percentage of their budget. And many states are in that same position. So I think we’re relatively fortunate. We have an economy that’s quite strong relative to other states - but national trends affect us just like they do anyone”

I would agree with that statement, our state's economy does not seem to be in any kind of iminent danger at this point. I will be interested to see how this year's budget shapes up.

Rudy's Got 200 Reasons Why He's Better Than Any Dem...

...and on Friday, he laid them out to an audience celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Federalist Society. His reasons were the 200 federal judges he would appoint as President. He apparently drew a lot of applause and praise from this crowd, which is interesting since it is the Federalist Society.

If you don't know, the Federalist Society is a group of legal conservatives who favor judges that interpret the laws based on the constitution, and decry the appointing of activist judges that attempt to legislate from the bench. The Federalist Society, obviously, is also a supporter of stronger state's rights and general federalist viewpoints.

What makes it surprising that Giuliani did so well with this crowd is because he is widely recognized as being a bit more moderate than federalists tend to like in their candidates.

Giuliani also joked that Hillary Clinton should be inducted into the Federalist Society based on her statement that the states should choose whether or not to provide drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.

"This is the only time in her career that she has decided anything should be decided on a state-by-state basis," Giuliani quipped, "And you know something, she picked out absolutely the wrong one."

For Giuliani to gain the support from a group like this, as well as his successful attempts to court support from high-profile social conservatives, bodes well for his campaign. It also shows a willingness to reach beyond his generally moderate base.

(h/t Drudge Report)