This election year we Americans face many important challenges. Among them are the sluggish low growth economy; a dismal job picture, particularly for young people; a medical fix (ObamaCare) that makes things worse; runaway federal spending and debt; a massive increase in Social Security disability recipients (which conveniently doesn't count in unemployment statistics); a foreign policy that is always behind; Iran on the brink of having nuclear weapons, all with the end result of America in retreat!

So instead of debating the critical issues, the Obama campaign says the issues are how rich Romney is, how the GOP is going to end Medicare as we know it, Mitt Romney's and Paul Ryan's tax returns for the last 10 years, or to attack them on the social issues.

How about it, Mr. President? Let's debate the real issues or truly America's best days are past.

You know the answer; it's President Obama. Remember he pulled the rug out from under President Mubarak because the forces of democracy were on the march. But not so fast, the forces on the march that co-opted the revolution were the radical Muslim Brotherhood, who are anti-American, who give aid and comfort to terrorists and want to gut the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, while letting jihad terrorists build up in the Sinai. The new Muslim President Morsi recently sacked the pro-American military leadership. All are troubling developments.

We are on our way to another one-man one-vote one time situation. Their plan is to take over one state institution after another with the ultimate goal of creating a regional federation of Islamic states under the banner of a caliphate. Not in our interests.

Unfortunately we live in a gotcha instant media world so Rep. Todd Akin's unfortunate comments about rape have played poorly. That is no surprise. To his credit he apologized for misspeaking, but he now could be threatening the GOP's opportunity to pick up a Senate seat and Romney's chances in Missouri also.

It seems that Akin should have said he is pro-life without exceptions and ended it there, but he then went on to explain and stuck his foot in his mouth. It reminds TCR of former Texas Governor candidate Clayton Williams' comments on rape that sunk his candidacy versus Ann Richards.

Let's not repeat this mistake.

TCR Comment: Please read this sound political and personal philosophy.

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
   
   
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
   
   
3. You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
   
   
4. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
   
   
5. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
   
   
6. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
   
   
7. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
   
   
8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
   
   
9. You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
   
   
10. And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

This was authored by Rev. William J.H. Boetcker and originally published in 1916 in a pamphlet titled 'The Ten Cannots'. ('The Ten Cannots' is often ascribed to Abraham Lincoln due to a pamphlet printed in 1942.)

Texas State Senate Republicans have since 2003 done the following:

• Balanced every state budget
• Cut taxes 51 times
• De-funded Planned Parenthood
• Passed the most sweeping tort reform in the nation
• Passed strong Voter I.D. law
• Created best jobs climate in the country
• Passed Largest tax cut in Texas history
• Defined marriage between 1 man and 1 woman
• Cut spending by billions
• Defended students' right to pray in school
• Strengthened gun rights with the Castle Doctrine
• Cut taxes for 40,000 small businesses
• Passed parental consent legislation to decrease abortions
• Preserved over $6 billion in the Rainy Day Fund
• Passed Loser Pays legislation to thwart frivolous lawsuits
• Passed a bill requiring a sonogram before an abortion
• Funded Surge operations to defend our border
• Passed Jessica's law to serve justice to child predators
• Passed Woman's Right to Know Law to fight abortion

TCR thanks Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and the GOP State Senators.

TCR Comment: I bet you're wondering why you haven't heard this before about the strong conservative record of the Texas State Senate.

Your employer comes to you and tells you about how the company is going through hard times. He talks about the cutbacks that are going to have to happen around the company. He says he needs some money from you (a pay cut) to make things work and keep the company and all of your fellow employees on the team.

Understanding the situation, you agree. Then a month later the boss shows up with a new Mercedes. Wouldn't you hit the ceiling?

That is exactly what is going on in the state of California, except they are asking us to give them more money to balance the budget. The budget that has been out of balance for well over a decade will magically be balanced if we impose new higher taxes on ourselves, but the truth is that will never happen because they are just finding new ways to spend money.

You may have heard about the big choo-choo train they want to send down the middle of the state and the state money they keep finding in secret accounts, but dollars to donuts you don't know that the fine folks in Sacramento are also handing out new benefits to public employees. This not only will hit the state budget, but will impact each city and county in the state. Apparently, the news has not hit Sacramento that a couple of cities have already declared bankruptcy and others are trying to climb out of quicksand.

The Assembly passed AB 2451 by a vote of 69-4 to hand out this new benefit. It was sponsored by the Speaker, John Perez, and you can tell by the vote even Republicans (embarrassingly) voted for this boondoggle. It now sits in the State Senate. This thing smells so bad even the Los Angeles Times came out against it as irresponsible after the Sacramento Bee did, but no one except us policy wonks read the Bee's editorials.

So what is it that is so bad that this stinker does to us ordinary residents? Currently firefighters and peace officers receive a death benefit if they are killed on duty or die within four and one-half years of retirement from some ailment suffered while on duty. Not much argument there. This new bill provides a death benefit whenever these former employees die. They don't have to have made any related health claims during their employment period; they just have to die to get the benefit. And this is not $10,000 they are handing out. It is valued at between $250,000 and $300,000 per.

So Officer Krupke retires at the age of 50 (we will not even get into a discussion of that). He has had no health claims. He lives to a nice ripe age of 84 and dies from a heart attack at the time. His family, and that definition is very loose in this bill, gets a free (for them - very costly for you) insurance benefit out of the generosity of the hearts of the people of California principally because we apparently are so flush with dough. Does that seem fair?

You can't just die of anything and get this benefit. To be accurate it is limited to pneumonia, heart trouble, cancer, leukemia, tuberculosis, an infectious disease or a hernia (did not know you could die from a hernia.) That leaves out smallpox, polio, typhoid fever, the plague and a few other diseases that no one gets anymore. The way it looks, the stated diseases will cover 99.999999% of peace officers and firefighters. And nowhere does this bill say it changes any other benefits currently in existence, such as pension benefits

It has been stated by someone (Ronald Reagan) that if you give more money to the government they will just spend it. Guv Brown is running around the state telling everyone the sky will fall if we don't approve his proposition for $8.6 billion of new taxes. Let's forget the fact that if passed he will never collect that much money, but please explain exactly what he needs this for?

In the past, the scoundrels have waited until after the taxes are raised to show what schnooks we are for giving these people more money. They usually wait to go off and spend our money frivolously on some new project they never spoke of until after the election. They now think we are so stupid they are not even waiting. The Senate Committee passed this 5-0 and soon the Senate will vote on the bill.

So it is time to show them we are not stupid. Tell them we cannot afford another handout to our overpaid public employees. Call your state senator and give him an earful, and then in November tell Guv Brown your family needs the money more than the public employee unions behind this bill and vote no on his tax heist.

Red, White & Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and replaying Sundays at 12:30 p.m. on PBS Houston Channel 8 and on the web at www.houstonpbs.org.