I would erode as much of the power a President (me) could possess, as long as it did not take away from the President’s constitutional mission of commanding the armed forces, enforcing the laws of the land, and preparing the federal budget.

“We pledge allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for which it stand.” Many people like to think we are a democracy. But we are in fact a republic. At least I believe we should be. I believe that the laws and policies of a nation should be decided by the people, and politicians should be elected to represent those people. Not to push their own agenda. I think what we have today is elections being between two people with two agenda’s and the people are left to decide which person’s agenda they are more, or less in favor of. This is not how a republic should behave.

Leaders in government should put aside their own desires and truly represent what the will of the people is. The president, should be the voice of the policies decided on by the legislature who represent the people. More power is being condensed every day to give fewer and fewer people the ability to create national policy. If I were president I would do all I could to give more representation for the people in government, and less of leaders pushing their own agenda.

Last week a bill called The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was passed by Congress. The said goal of this bill is to keep children safer from smoking and the health of our society stronger. Which sounds good. However, all this really is, is another bill which allows the federal government to dictate the lifestyle choices we are able to make.

I am in no way endorsing tobacco or smoking. It is a terrible habit. But it’s just that a habit. It’s a life choice that each human is free to make. However, with more federal laws being made to take away your choice, it’s making it far less easy to have the freedom of choosing what we wish to do in our own lives, not only with smoking. I think we have to decide what is more important to us as Americans, freedom and liberty, or safety, security, and a federal government that will take care of us. Sadly, I believe more and more Americans choose the latter of these “choices.”

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the FDA sweeping new powers to charge new user fees, raise taxes on manufacturers and importers of tobacco products and It will regulate the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. The way to combat poor health choices is not to make it more difficult for people to make that choice due to law. The solution is through education and information. Let people make informed decisions on how to live their lives, but do not punish them by charging higher taxes on both the business producer and consumer.

I am extremely passionate about ending global poverty. However, lately I’ve been realizing more and more that my great passion to end poverty, is in direct conflict with many of the principles I hold dear.

When I say “communism” I am NOT referring to the system of government in which the state operates under a one-party system and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism. All I am saying is that the only way poverty could ever truly be erased, is if the entire world became a community where every single person shared everything they had with each other.

The problem is, humans are inherently selfish, and the only way to have everyone share everything, would be to force them to. Robbing them of their freedom and liberty. If one person has the freedom to keep what they have, while everyone else is sharing, they are taking something away from the collective, making the collective have less, thus creating the path to poverty.

I understand what President Obama is trying to do. I completely believe that he truly wants what is best for the country. I believe he is passionate about helping the poor and shortening the gap between the rich and poor to create a more equal society. He wants to provide health care for every person and give every person the opportunity to lead a healthy, happy, and good life. But we have to ask ourselves what principles do we live by as a nation? Do we really stand for freedom and liberty? Or, are we only about what’s best for us?

I believe we are at a place as a nation of discovering who we are today. Are we people who believe in freedom and liberty? Or have we as a nation become happy with whatever our government gives because it may make our lives better for a short while? We have to understand that to live free, has a great cost. A cost that I don’t think my generation has ever understood. Are we willing to pay for freedom?

So, what am I to do? I am still passionate about ending poverty. But my principles are that man should be free and government should be limited in how it can intrude on the lives of the people. I believe the solution to ending poverty, and maintaining liberties is education and relationships. If each of us become givers who are generous with what we have, we can choose to come together to solve common problems. If we simply let the government run our lives to erase poverty, then we have simply become slaves to the state. Perhaps you might have a slightly higher quality of life, but without freedom, that is not a life I want to have.