My Political Bucket List
National Public Radio
recently ran a story about a man who did not get to see his dying wish, perhaps
the most recent item added to his bucket list, fulfilled. The man would die
without getting to see the Mueller report.
I have a political bucket list of my own and I have included some of the
highlights below with a little explanation on the recent progress the nation
has made in achieving each goal on my political bucket list.
In many cases, the judicial branch will not even allow states to strip funding from Planned Parenthood. However, that changed earlier this week; when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio did in fact have the right to strip funding from the nation’s largest abortion provider. The Sixth Circuit has not hesitated to clash with other appellate courts in the past. It became a lone voice in the wilderness in 2014 when it ruled that bans on same-sex marriage did not violate the Constitution, which contradicted the rulings of every other Court of Appeals that had ruled on the issue up to that point. The Sixth Circuit’s decision ultimately led the Supreme Court to rule on the issue of same-sex marriage; it had previously hoped that its laissez-faire approach of letting the individual appellate courts strike down same-sex marriage bans would lead to the legalization of it in all 50 states.
Contrary to what liberals try to tell people, the overturning of Roe v. Wade will not automatically mean the grisly procedure will become illegal in all fifty states. It will merely give states the right to ban abortion if they so choose. Many states have already passed trigger laws that will make abortion illegal if the Supreme Court ever decides to overturn Roe. On the other hand, many liberal states have passed laws making sure that abortion remains legal if the Supreme Court ever decides to revisit the completely false premise declaring abortion a “right.” Only with the next item on my bucket list would abortion become illegal in all 50 states.
In addition to all of the items on my political bucket list, I have an actual bucket list that probably looks a lot like the bucket lists of Americans on all sides of the aisle. This bucket list includes getting married, buying a house, and visiting all 50 states. I still have to work on a “restaurant bucket list” of all the restaurants, both local and chain, that I want to eat at. I feel quite confident that the items on my political bucket list will have a positive impact on American society; much more so than the release of the Mueller report. Rest assured, I will work around the clock to fulfill all of the items on all of my bucket lists.
The Repeal of Roe v. Wade: I know that I share this in
common with many other conservatives, who have this at the top of their
political bucket lists. Roe v. Wade has served as a black mark
in American history and a symbol of the cultural revolution that began sweeping
through the nation in the mid to late 1960s and had fully engulfed the country by
the time the Supreme Court made this landmark decision to legalize abortion in
1973. Even Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the case, wanted to devote the rest
of her life to undoing the law that bears her name. Unfortunately, she did not
get to see the top item on her bucket list fulfilled; she died in early 2017, before
President Trump even had a chance to replace Antonin Scalia or Anthony Kennedy,
for that matter. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions, especially Planned Parenthood v. Casey, essentially
upheld Roe but the pro-life movement
may soon experience the victory they have anxiously awaited for decades.
In the past couple of
years, several states have either looked into passing or actually passed
heartbeat bills; which would outlaw abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can
be detected, usually at around six weeks gestation. These states include the swing states of Ohio and Florida and ruby red states such as Kentucky and Missouri. Most
of the heartbeat bills that have already passed have not surprisingly faced court challenges. The courts, more often
than not, have become an indispensable ally of the pro-choice movement and
modern liberalism in general.
In many cases, the judicial branch will not even allow states to strip funding from Planned Parenthood. However, that changed earlier this week; when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio did in fact have the right to strip funding from the nation’s largest abortion provider. The Sixth Circuit has not hesitated to clash with other appellate courts in the past. It became a lone voice in the wilderness in 2014 when it ruled that bans on same-sex marriage did not violate the Constitution, which contradicted the rulings of every other Court of Appeals that had ruled on the issue up to that point. The Sixth Circuit’s decision ultimately led the Supreme Court to rule on the issue of same-sex marriage; it had previously hoped that its laissez-faire approach of letting the individual appellate courts strike down same-sex marriage bans would lead to the legalization of it in all 50 states.
In the past, lower courts
have dealt blows to heartbeat bills in Iowa and Arkansas. Both states have one
thing in common: they fall under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Circuit Court
of Appeals, which struck down a heartbeat bill in North Dakota. Ohio and
Tennessee, on the other hand, which look likely to enact heartbeat bills, fall
under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit; which has established itself as
more friendly to conservatives. Should the Sixth Circuit contradict the Eighth Circuit
or any other circuit court, that will set up a Supreme Court battle that may
ultimately decide the future of Roe v.
Wade and whether or not it will join the “ash heap of history” where it
belongs.
Contrary to what liberals try to tell people, the overturning of Roe v. Wade will not automatically mean the grisly procedure will become illegal in all fifty states. It will merely give states the right to ban abortion if they so choose. Many states have already passed trigger laws that will make abortion illegal if the Supreme Court ever decides to overturn Roe. On the other hand, many liberal states have passed laws making sure that abortion remains legal if the Supreme Court ever decides to revisit the completely false premise declaring abortion a “right.” Only with the next item on my bucket list would abortion become illegal in all 50 states.
The passage of a Human
Life Amendment: The Constitution has remained basically the same for the past
quarter-century despite liberals’ best attempts to get rid of the Electoral
College and the Second Amendment. Constitutional
amendments require the support of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-fourths
of the states. Considering the fact that
nothing has defined 21st Century American politics like political polarization,
that might explain why no Constitutional Amendments have passed in more than 25 years. I have shared some ideas on new Constitutional
amendments in the past, such as term limits and a balanced budget amendment but
nothing would make me happier than a human life amendment. In all likelihood, this item will probably
come last on my bucket lits chronologically; if it happens at all. I feel quite
confident that it will not happen in my parents’ lifetime; I just hope that my
parents get to experience a post-Roe
America. Pro-lifers got a glimmer of
hope this week when the Democratic-controlled New Mexico Senate rejected a
House-passed bill that would relax the state’s abortion laws along the lines of
the bill championed by Governor Cuomo and the Democrats in New York. Pro-life
Democrats, or at least reasonable Democrats, do apparently exist at the state
level but have become almost extinct at the national level. Hopefully, that will change. A Human Life
Amendment will probably require support from Congressional Democrats since it seems
unlikely that Republicans will control two-thirds of Congress or three-fourths
of the state legislatures anytime soon.
Witnessing a secure
border: This should probably go at the top of my political bucket list since
without a secure border and a stop to the nonstop immigration from south of the
border, none of the other items on my bucket list will become a reality since
Democrats will have an unbeatable, permanent stranglehold on American politics.
Politicians have promised but failed to secure the border for decades; at best, only making incremental progress. Where fencing or a wall has gone up, illegal immigration has gone down. Just look at Yuma
and San Diego. It looks like the Courts will become the biggest obstacle to building
the wall; they have certainly not helped at all when it comes to the asylum
laws. Congress and the Courts have effectively
created an asylum system that increasingly mirrors social work; providing
incentives for family units and unaccompanied minors to turn themselves into Border Patrol. As soon as they set foot in the country, “asylum
seekers” who pass the credible fear test, as they almost all do, have the right
to “due process” as well as taxpayer-funded shelter for a very short period of
time. Eventually, the Flores court decision requires the release
of minor asylum seekers with nothing more than a promisory note that they will
show up in front of a judge for an asylum hearing; which takes place an average
of 1,000 days later. Even though immigration judges end up denying 61.8 percent of asylum requests, about 40,000 continue to live in the country indefinitely after withdrawing their asylum requests as a result of seeing the writing on the wall. In order for a secure
border and a sovereign nation to become a reality, this has to stop. As the late Charles Krauthammer once said, “foreign
policy is not social work.” The same should apply to immigration policy.
Witnessing a balanced budget:
President Trump just released his budget proposal, which would balance the
budget within 15 years. Assuming that I do not perish from cancer or any other
tragedy that results in my untimely death, that will make me well into my 30s
by the time Congress finally balances the budget. Knowing Congress, especially
with Democrats in charge, they will likely reject President Trump’s budget
proposal. The balanced budget ties in with the other items mentioned on my
bucket list so far. Funding Planned Parenthood and funding beds, detention centers,
and social services for illegal immigrants and “asylum seekers” as opposed to
stopping them from entering the country in the first place, in addition to
funding the border security of other countries and several useless government
projects, stand in the way of a balanced budget. A balanced budget amendment to
the Constitution may help give Congress the motivation to balance the budget
but as I mentioned earlier, the fact that Congress has not passed a
Constitutional amendment in more than 25 years does not provide much hope that
America’s elected representatives have the will power to take a hard vote. Unlike the other items on my political bucket
list, Congress has managed to balance the budget in my lifetime; during the
tenure of Democratic President Bill Clinton. President Clinton only deserves
part of the credit for the balanced budget; after all, the Republican Congress
had the power of the purse. Nancy Pelosi has reminded us of this approximately
50,000 times following President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. The
era of balanced budgets quickly came to an end when the United States pursued a
variety of adventures in the Middle East while massively expanding the welfare
state at home. President Trump’s first budget proposal called for balancing the budget within ten years but Congress’s
decision to ignore it has made that task more difficult. Should Congress continue to disregard the
President’s budget proposals, it may end up taking decades for me to check this
item off my political bucket list.
In order for most of
the items on my political bucket list, the Republican Party will have to become
a lot stronger and leave the fear of sticking to its convictions behind. All the way back in 2014, Sean Hannity declared “I think the Democratic
Party is a socialist party. I think the
Republican Party is a timid party.” The
first part of that statement applies more than ever in the age of Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez while the second part of that statement also remains true, even
in the age of President Trump. On only
one issue have Republicans completely abandoned their timidity: judges.
Republicans need to approach every other issue, including repealing and
replacing Obamacare, securing the border, and balancing the budget; with the same
kind of passion that they showed with the Kavanaugh and Gorsuch
nominations. Until that happens, I will
not have the opportunity to check the aforementioned items off my political
bucket list.
In addition to all of the items on my political bucket list, I have an actual bucket list that probably looks a lot like the bucket lists of Americans on all sides of the aisle. This bucket list includes getting married, buying a house, and visiting all 50 states. I still have to work on a “restaurant bucket list” of all the restaurants, both local and chain, that I want to eat at. I feel quite confident that the items on my political bucket list will have a positive impact on American society; much more so than the release of the Mueller report. Rest assured, I will work around the clock to fulfill all of the items on all of my bucket lists.
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