Ten policies I wish they would adopt.

I thought I would list the prime issues that I would like to see covered by candidates in this campaign. I will not discuss what I think a presidential candidate should advocate but I’m not convinced a president should propose any legislation -- he is the executive not a legislator. Nor am I going to discuss what the courts should do. The way courts interpret rights and government power is built on a long history of legal precedent and ideology and that is not something that can be addressed in a short time. So I am sticking to the work that the Congress ought to tackle -- and measures which I think a president should sign into law.

It is difficult to prioritize such measures so I won’t attempt to do so. They are not listed in any particular order. Here are the ten issues that come to my mind. What are yours?

1. The war in Iraq must end and end immediately. I would ban the stationing of U.S. troops outside U.S border without a declaration of war passed by the U.S. congress. U.S. interventionism creates endless enemies, undermines domestic freedom, does more harm than good, and robs Americans of their hard-earned income and their sons and daughters.

2. I would end all U.S. military and foreign aid to any regime in any part of the world. This aid is destructive on a global scale and does much harm. It tends to prop up bad governments, reward bad policies, and encourages war and social conflict.

3. I would abolish all subsidies to ethanol or other forms of “alternative” energy. Such corporatism hurts the economy and robs the world’s poor of food.

4. I would allow for further drilling of oil within the United States including Alaska’s north shore.

5. I would abolish the Department of Homeland Security.

6. I would like to see immediate measures taken to reform our immigration system which prevents honest, workers from coming to America and forces such people into the underground economy.

7. I would like to see the tax system reformed. By that I mean a lower level of total taxation and a system which flattens the tax rates that remain. This must be coupled with a push for balanced budgets which must be funded by spending cuts.

8. The war on drugs must be abolished immediately. It does not solve the drug problem but has created a police problem which, unlike drugs, is actually deadly to innocent people.

9. All agricultural subsidies and farm supports must be ended.

10. The United States should end the use of imposing tariffs in order to force policy changes on other nations. Unilateral free trade is still beneficial to the country and to Americans so our trading policies should not be restricted on account of the silly policies followed by others. Just because they are stupid to hurt themselves shouldn’t mean we “retaliate” by hurting ourselves.

Does this seem sleazy to you?

Does this strike you as a rather sleazy thing to do?

Dwayne Dail was sent to prison 18 years ago, convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he had never met. At the time he was in a relationship with Lori Michaels, who would give birth to his son, Chris, shortly after he was sent to prison.

Recently DNA evidence exonerated Dail. He was innocent after all. Having been cheated out of his son’s childhood I suspect Mr. Dail was quite happy when Chris, now 18, moved to Florida to be with his father. Under state law he can receive compensation of $20,000 for each year he spent in prison while innocent or around $360,000 in total.

Now Lori Michaels reenters the picture filing a law suit against Dail for back child support. And her attorney is the law partner of the man who prosecuted, and convicted, Dail for the crime he did not commit. Dail said: “To use our son as a pawn in this painful way is an attempt to blame the failures of her life on me. It is beyond my understanding and belief that someone could stoop so low.”

In this case state law says: "A child support payment or the relevant portion thereof is not past due and no arrearage accrues ... during any period when the supporting party is incarcerated, is not on work release and has no resources with which to make the payment."

The quickest way to get sued is to suddenly have a large sum of money.

The law suit, which I read, specifically says that the mother never sought support and is doing so now "based on information and belief the Defendant shall be entitled to compensation in the approximate amount of $360,000 dollars, the amount based on $20,0-00 per year, for Defendant's wrongful incarceration of in excess of 18 years." To pour salt into the wound this woman also wants additional compensation in order to pay the slimeball attorney she hired to sue Dail because she "is without sufficient means where on to subsist during the prosecution of this action..." As if the law suit itself wasn't sleazy enough Michaels managed to find an attorney, who is partners with the man that wrongly prosecuted Dail, to demand that Dail pay for the privilege of being sued for something over which he had no control. I suggest she sue her lawyer's law partner instead -- he was the one who put an innocent man into jail and made it impossible for him to care for his own son.