The Big Deal Program

"The Big Deal" program is a plan to completely develop the southern border area of the U.S. from the Pacific ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. This border stretches some 1500 miles. At the heart of the plan is the placement of military bases and outposts along the entire border.

The southern border, which is mostly undeveloped, would include the southern boundary of four states - California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It's primary goal is to provide a long term, permanent solution to the border security problem.

Because of the natural tendency of cities to quickly spring up around military bases, this project will supply tens of thousands of temporary jobs and hundreds of thousands of permanent jobs for the future of our nation. Currently "The Big Deal" program calls for a military base every 50 miles.

Each base would man 2 outposts (or mini bases) on each side of it. Each base would be responsible to cover 25 miles on either side of it. Cities that spring up around the military bases will be engineered to spread out east and west along the border as they grow (not north and south - until later).

There will be an interstate highway built from the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico approximately 2 miles north of where each base is placed. Running parallel to the super highway will be a number of train tracks to support high speed transportation for the masses, slow commercial travel and rapid movement of military troops and their supplies. A number of highways will connect the super highway to northern Mexico, all with checkpoints. [These roads will be necessary for the shipment of goods from Mexico, Central and South America to the U.S. since we will be shifting thousands of low paying jobs from Asia back to this hemisphere. See "Illegal Immigration" and "Jobs" in Index 2 for a better understanding.]

The logistics of "The Big Deal" program are mind boggling indeed. That's why it's not called "The Small Deal". Most nations could not and would not attempt such a project, but that's because they don't have big visions like Americans do. And when they do, there are pessimists a plenty who remind them that "we can't do that".

The name "The Big Deal" is a play on words with reference to The New Deal programs that President Franklin D. Roosevelt used to help bring the nation out of the Great Depression in the 1930's. Other plans with a radical nature have been proposed by other presidents since then but none have been as successful (or as visionary) as The New Deal because such a large percentage of the population was behind President Roosevelt.

One other thing needs to be factored in also. The people were depressed and were past ready for some real change. Maybe more important than that, they needed to prove to themselves that they could do great things like those who came before them. Over all they trusted President Roosevelt's instincts and worked hard to make his plans a big success. Working together they made the nation that you and I know today. They did indeed prove to themselves and to those who would come after them that they were worthy to be called great Americans.

Among their crowning achievements are the Social Security Act, the Emergency Banking Act/FDIC, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Civil Works Administration, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Works Progress Administration, and the Public Works Association which is accountable for the Grand Coulee Dam. If you question the desire of those people to accomplish something big and leave a better nation for those of us who would come later, you should tour the Grand Coulee Dam.

The "Big Deal" program is my "hair brain" scheme that has great potential if the American Taxpayers can catch the vision. If the American Taxpayers don't want to see their tax dollars used in this manner then that's how it will be. I'm not going to attempt to force this program on the taxpayers. I just think that we need to leave those who will come after us more than national bankruptcy, internet pornography, and a federal government so polarized that they can't get anything accomplished.

In reality it would do all of us a great deal of good to accomplish something big for the future of our nation. Isn't it our responsibility to leave this nation better than how we received it from those who came before us? Or have we truly turned into the selfish "me first, get all of the gusto you can" generation that has been claimed by so many these days?

This is a big vision but unlike FDR who was not totally convinced that his New Deal programs (also known as "alphabet soup") would accomplish their intended goals, I am totally convinced that my "Big Deal" will accomplish it's goals. "The Big Deal" program is a big vision. But big visions excite people when they think that they could possibly accomplish such a big thing. Visions take you away from your comfort zone and make you think of what could possibly be. Bringing a big vision to reality requires big sacrifice, lots of work and perseverance unending.

But don't big visions call for extraordinary people to prove to themselves that they are extraordinary? And don't all big visions sound crazy to the pessimists? Aren't there a thousand reasons to reject visions that sound too hard and just a couple of reasons to believe in them? Are the American Taxpayers ready to give and sacrifice like never before so that we can leave the next generation a better place? A place where the next generation can look back on the people who accomplished it all - like we do the generation of the 1930's - and say, "How did they do it?"

If the American Taxpayers decide to give "The Big Deal" program the okay, they should be prepared to finish it. There's no quitting or second guessing. It's going to cost so much money, and require so much sacrifice that we need to do all of the calculating before we start. It may require that a lot of the tax money given to other countries be rerouted to fund "The Big Deal". All of the tax money that we waste on the never ending "pork barrel projects" may have to be rerouted to fund "The Big Deal" program. Other tax money will probably have to be used for "The Big Deal" program.

Since much of the military that we bring home from around the world will be stationed in temporary quarters on the southern border (much like the military is quartered in Iraq at this writing) they will help on the project. That will lower the cost immensely. Much of the project will be paid for by private investors since government owned land around the bases will be auctioned off to the highest bidder (U.S. citizens only). This land will be quite valuable when it is developed.

Keep in mind that 100% of the tax money spent on "The Big Deal" will go back into the U.S. economy. [To optimize the good effect on the U.S. economy, all contracts will be granted only to American businesses. To optimize it further all construction workers - and workers of any type - will be legal U.S. citizens (no exceptions). To optimize it even further, all tools and all equipment on all jobsites will use only American made tools with strict financial penalties for violators. All contractors and subcontractors will play by the same rules.] When completed, "The Big Deal" will raise the tax base on a permanent basis. Eventually it will pay for itself.

Goals for the "Big Deal" program include:

Goal #1 - The most obvious goal is that it will provide the long term border security that we need. "The Big Deal" is a permanent fix for a permanent problem.

Goal #2 - The second most important goal is to leave the next generation something that tells them that we were willing to sacrifice and do what it took to strengthen America so that they would be secure after we were gone. Every generation of Americans should be willing to do what it takes to leave the country better.

My generation (the baby boomers) was the first of the "me first" generations. When I think about it, we haven't done anything special for our country like the Depression/World War II generation nor do we understand sacrifice like they do. What legacy are we leaving? Is our legacy to be that we exploited all of the freedoms that others died to give us? Or maybe our legacy will be "The generation that tried as hard as it could to forget what freedom costs". We have most of the money in this country now days and many of us know that we need to do something special for the country that gave us so much. "The Big Deal" may be that opportunity.

Goal #3 - Since I will be bringing all of the American military back to the United States (with the permission of the American Taxpayers) we will need new military bases to house them all. Goal #3 is to have a place for our military to reside. Note: The tax money that is used to pay the salaries of our military personnel will go back into the U.S. economy. Previously that tax money was going into the economies of the nations where they were stationed. This amounts to billions of dollars.

Goal #4 - Since our economy will always need stimulation, especially during all of the changes that my administration will bring, "The Big Deal" program will automatically provide hundreds of thousands of temporary and permanent jobs. [For a better understanding of how this will work, please see Index 2 and click on "Jobs" and "Economy".]

Goal #5 - Another goal of "The Big Deal" program is to make the southern border region completely livable like the rest of the nation. All of the tax money spent on the public works projects is not just for the benefit of all of the military bases. Anyone knows that when a military base opens up, a city springs up around it. The bigger the military base and the more personnel stationed there, the bigger the city.

All of these military bases are not just to be there for border security. They are there to act as magnets for American businesses. When the public works projects are designed they will be designed to accommodate the masses of Americans who will be moving to the area in the long term. The goal here is to populate the whole southern border.

Goal #6 - This goal is simply to stop our leaders before they get the chance to blow 5 billion dollars on a 700 mile fence. That tax money could be put to proper use on "The Big Deal" program since we know that "The Big Deal" is being designed to pay for itself in the long run. [Year by year the tax revenue that will come from all of the citizens who populate the border will eventually surpass the amount of tax dollars that were spent on "The Big Deal" program. That tax revenue would never have existed if our southern border had never been developed. That tax revenue will be ongoing, permanently.]

Goal #7 - This goal cannot be assessed in dollars and cents. It has to do with the psychological effect that "The Big Deal" program will have on the American Taxpayers. As things change for the better during my administration, the American Taxpayers will begin to "feel" the old America return - something they had previously resigned to never seeing again.

Along with these changes it will do the people a world of good to see their tax money used in a tangible way that will provide jobs for fellow Americans, provide border security, and help the nation for generations to come. We, as a people, have become so used to our tax money being given away to others in attempts to save the world from itself (and wasted in a thousand other ways) that it will actually be a time of healing for the taxpayers to see the money used for the benefit of the American people.

Watching it all happen and just knowing that you are a part of it will restore pride in our nation and will help the cynicism melt away. Maybe the best way to put it is that the American Taxpayers will once again see their government working together and accomplishing a great thing for the country.

Just like in the days of FDR, the American people are in a time of depression (though of a different nature) and are looking for real change. Leadership by a president who believed in the people and believed in America, and who was not willing to let the nation sink further was just what the people needed. He did what it took to motivate the people, rally them as one, and remind them who they were.

Though the sacrifices were great, and the attacks (of the pessimists) on the president endless, they used their resources to their advantage and did many great things for the future of the country. They got through it because they knew in the backs of their minds that they were Americans. And Americans have that special "it" factor that allows us, and even directs us, to do great things in this world. Now days we just need to direct that energy towards something great for our own good and let the rest of the world solve their own problems for a while.

Our nation has been through some dark times in it's short history, and the whole world has been our witness. But the common thread throughout our history has been that we always come through the hard times a better people. This time in our history will be no different because we are Americans, and Americans are just destined to laugh in the face of adversity. That's how it's always been and I guess that's how it will always be.

Besides that, even a cursory study of American history reveals to those who will see that God in heaven has been watching our whole history play out and has come to our rescue more than once. There's no denying that there is something special about the U.S.A.

These days the whole world is watching us as never before. Many are watching to see if the "bully" will fall. I think that there are many who would secretly like to see the U.S. fall or at least be humbled. Many see us as brash, pompous and too rich. And maybe we are sometimes. Others see us as a bunch of spoiled children who have too much. And maybe they have a point. But no one gave it to us. We worked for everything we have.

The Muslim world looks at us as the "Great Satan" because of the false perception that they have of us. I would guess that this is probably due to the stupid mistakes that our leaders make in the Middle East, and the Hollywood movies exported all over the world which give people everywhere a false idea of real American life. They also see the trash on the internet and conclude that this is what America is about. They don't really understand us anymore than we understand them.

Whatever the case, what foreigners don't understand is that the American people know that we're in this alone. All we have is each other, we know that. We understand that no one is going to come to our rescue for anything. We've always been the givers on the global scene - not the takers. What many don't understand is that despite what they see on American television as internal problems within the U.S., we will come out of them stronger. We always do and we always will. This time will be no different.

That's because we are Americans and Americans may bicker and squabble but we never really give up on each other. I suppose that's because we all know in the backs of our minds that when outsiders attack us we always find ourselves in the same foxhole fighting for one another. Black, white, Democrat or Republican don't seem to matter much at those times and we all know it. Maybe that's a good thing since time has proven that we just get better and stronger and always live to see another day even in the worst of times.

The 2008 election is going to be our chance to prove to the world and to ourselves that America is great because Americans are great. We've had a few setbacks here lately but this next election will be our opportunity to right the course of our great nation. During my administration we're going to have the opportunity to accomplish some great things like "The Big Deal" program. The question is, "Are you up for some real change?"

We'll have the experts figure out the logistics of "The Big Deal" and the American Taxpayers will be given the opportunity to vote on it via the "Meet and Vote" program. Then we'll know. The other question I'd like to propose is, "Do you really think that putting a Democrat or another Republican in the White House is going to be the solution to our problems in this time of our history?" It will be your decision come election time.

INDEX 1 - AGENDA

INDEX 2 - ISSUES