January 20, 2021

Today Joseph R. Biden, Jr. ascended to the Presidency with a promise to work toward a renewed bipartisanship with the ultimate goal of a unified America.  We all look to his stated intentions with a hope and faith that his actions will mirror his words.

There is no doubt that Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike, are weary from the unrelenting controversies of the last four years and the inability of both sides to achieve compromise on the important issues of the day. That being said, compromise is important but not at the expense of conservative principles and values. 

In order to obtain widespread support and win over the majority of the 74 million people who voted for Donald Trump in the recent election, Biden must lead from the center…as a moderate who rejects the socialist objectives of the far left elements of his own party.  The latter include Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and other members of “The Squad” who espouse democratic socialist ideals under the banner of progressivism.

Let there be no doubt about it…progressivism is a modern day Trojan horse trying to mask its pure socialist objectives. But no one should be fooled. Progressives, as we know them today, do not want to govern the United States within the context of the framework that has made us a country that is the envy of the world. Instead they want to remake the United States and tear down the very institutions and upend the philosophies that have made American great. If successful, they will undermine the United States’ political, economic and social structures. The end result will render the very fabric of the country, divide its people even further than they are today, and destroy the republic.

Promises of free health care and free college education as well as implicit support of open borders are designed to appeal to the mass social conscience and presumably our better angels. While these objectives may have a certain amount of appeal they cannot be achieved without compromising, and possibly eliminating, the very individual initiative that this country has nurtured since its beginnings. Democratic Socialism disguised as a progressive agenda will result in an America where mediocrity will take the place of excellence and motivation will give way to lethargy.

In their march to remake America progressives will only succeed in overwhelming the financial underpinnings of the country. Those who indiscriminately support a progressive agenda are myopic in their view. They wrap themselves in a blanket of good intentions, including social justice and income equality, as they march with naivety toward the dissolution of the key elements that have made this country great.

If Biden is to be successful, he must resist being co-opted by the insidious ideas of the far left elements of his party. If implemented, those ideas will effectively destroy America from within. He must govern based on a set of enduring principles that have been adopted by multiple generations of Americans.

Biden needs to govern in a way that reflects the fact that the promise of America will never be achieved through centralized government control. History has proved that it is only through individuals who take the initiative and responsibility to improve their own lives that the lives of those around them are improved.

He needs to put America first at the same time as being a good global neighbor that contributes to the world’s well-being but he also has to assert our political and economic sovereignty.

He needs to acknowledge climate change and our responsibility as temporary custodians of the planet and work toward common sense solutions in a deliberate and economically balanced manner. He must not give in to the hyperbolic ranting of the climate change doomsayers.

He needs to promote policies that show he understands America’s first and primary obligation is to the safety and security of its own citizens which includes strong and secure borders and fair and balanced trade policies.

He needs to promote and implement policies that show he is completely on the side of the victims of crime and does not excuse or protect the perpetrators.

He needs to promote and implement a merit-based immigration system and reject birthright citizenship at the same time as granting asylum to those who legitimately seek refuge from harmful criminal or political elements in their home country. He needs to provide a pathway to citizenship for children brought here by parents who flouted the laws of the United States by entering illegally.  At the same time, he should not reward those parents with their own pathway to citizenship until everyone who is waiting legally in line is granted citizenship.

He needs to promote equal opportunity not equal outcomes.

He needs to promote policies that reflect a belief that what someone earns is theirs to give, not for the government to take and redistribute to others; that each individual should pay their fair share of taxes but in no case should the level of tax be confiscatory, i.e., everybody, regardless of their income level, should keep the majority of every dollar they earn.

He needs to promote policies where, at the same time as insuring a basic living wage, people are paid based on the demands for the skills required by the position they hold, the supply of people who have those skills, the complexity of the work performed, the education required to perform it, the bottom line accountability of the position, and the individual’s performance and productivity.

He needs to support and promote policies that reflect the basic tenet that the wealth a person accumulates is rightfully theirs and not the governments; that such wealth  can rightfully be passed down to their families without infringement and that no one should be penalized for being successful nor should future generations of that person’s family be denied the benefits of the fruits of their labor and success.

He needs to promote policies that reflect the reality that the individual is the master of his or her own destiny; that preparation, hard work, and risk taking, whether in starting a venture or in taking advantage of opportunities when they are presented, is what determines success in life.

He needs to promote policies that reflect a belief that those who created and/or invested in a business has first claim on the profits of that business at the same time as that person is obligated to pay his or her workers a fair wage based on their level of contribution to the business.

He needs to implement and support policies that are based on a principle that society is responsible for taking care of those citizens who are, through no fault of their own, less fortunate or less able by providing a social welfare net that will help them to meet their basic needs of food and shelter. He needs to be compassionate but simultaneously demand that every able citizen take personal accountability for their own health and welfare.

He needs to promote the concept of America as a melting pot, not a patchwork quilt ruled by identity politics , with a goal of establishing a unique American identity that respects the various immigrant customs and cultures of a citizen’s country of origin but only draws on, incorporates and permits those values and beliefs to be practiced in the United States that are consistent with those that promote the unique American principles found in the Constitution, as amended.

He needs to show his support for all laws not just those that he or she agrees with ideologically; and pledge that he will not, through executive order or bureaucratic regulation, repudiate laws that are passed by our elected representatives; he needs to issue executive orders only in the absence of a law that deals with the issue at hand.

He needs to espouse through the policies he supports that each individual is responsible for his or her own actions and that society should not be scapegoated for an individual’s failure any more than government should be given credit for an individual’s success.

He needs to exhibit in his daily actions a belief that government’s authority comes from the consent of the governed and that its goal should be to, as much as possible, minimize its role in the everyday lives of its citizens.

Finally, he needs to show he has faith in the American people by acknowledging each individual citizen knows what is in his or her own best interest as opposed to being dictated to by the government bureaucracy as to what those interests should be.