Election 2024

A Personal Note - 01.10.2025

This page was originally created in October 2024 for the 2024 Presidential election. I wrestled with whether I should remove it after the election and decided to leave it for my Christmas show viewers just to see if anyone would mention having read it. It turns out that a lot of people did read it and wanted to share their thoughts when they came to the Christmas show. With the exception of one lady, all who shared their opinion said that they were in 100% agreement with my thoughts and appreciated my taking the time to share. I had a very pleasant conversation with the lady who was the exception. She said that "She disagreed with every point I made." but agreed that we are blessed to live in a country where we can express our opinions even if we disagree. I thanked her for sharing and left her to enjoy the show. If you choose to read below this point, I want to say that I appreciate you whether we agree or not. The content below this point remains unchanged from the original publication.

Level Setting

As I create this page I hear a little voice in my head saying "Don't go there, you're just going to make some people mad." And I know that the message of the voice is probably true but I just cannot listen. My gut tells me that it's important to say the words because there just might be someone who needs to hear them. And, to be honest it just feels wrong not to say the words.

All that said, let me make sure that it's clear that everything said on this page is just my opinion and you don't have to agree with any of it. We are blessed to live in a country where the constitution gives every citizen the right to share their opinion as long as they do it peaceably. My objective is to do just exactly that.

The Vote | A Right and a Responsibility

Let me start with a foundational principle, the fact that is is a right of every citizen of this country to vote in elections. It is also a responsibility to do so if we want the democratic part of our government to work. My father told me one time "Those who don't vote have absolutely no right to complain about anything the government does." I wonder how much quieter it would be if folks followed that rule.

A Vote For, Not a Vote Against.

Another thing that I learned when I was young was that the vote should not be used as a "weapon." When it comes to the final election, there are really only two candidates that could possibly win the election. I know there are often candidates on the ballot other than the Democrat and the republican but reality is that none of them really have a chance to win. So, when you go to the poll for the presidential election and see several names on the ballot and you hate the Republican candidate but don't want to vote for the Democratic candidate what can you do? let's say you decide to vote against both of them and choose one of the other options. You just wasted your vote. In the end no one will pay any attention to your vote. You didn't really vote "for" anyone so you might as well have stayed home.

So, in that scenario, how do I suggest you should have chosen the candidate to receive your vote? Keep reading and I'll answer that excellent question.

Vote Policies, Not Personalities

Here's another thing that I learned from my father, "Politicians aren't necessarily the people with the best character." he explained that people with character would likely not do well in politics and if they did then the odds are that they would never make it to a Presidential election. He taught me to focus on what the candidate stood for - their policies - because in the end I wanted to choose the candidate who best represented what I stood for. If the candidate is a self-absorbed egotist who believes in everything I believe is important, then they are a better candidate for me than the well-mannered humble candidate who stands for everything I'm against. In the end, I'm not going to spend a single minute of my life with either candidate so their personality should not make my decision. But I do have to live in the country governed by the winner, so it makes sense for me to do my part in getting the person who shares my values elected.

The Issues, Their Policies

This section is where I'm guaranteed to upset some people. Let me remind you that the information in this section is my perspective on what is true about the issues I will present. Before I go any further, I should probably mention that I am a Bible believing Christian and I consider myself very Conservative. Understanding that should give you a hint what you will hear in the remaining sections. Keep in mind, as much as I disagree with perspectives that differ from mine, I will support to the death the right of people to hold those perspectives.

Life or Choice

I thought that I'd start with the most divisive topic. Oddly, my opinion is that it should be the easiest to understand because there is an absolute truth to use as guidance. According to the Bible, all life is created by the One True God and its existence or termination is up to Him. The Bible also states clearly that murder (premediated termination of life by other than the government according to law) is NOT acceptable. The term "Pro Life" is used to describe this truth. The other perspective, referred to as "Pro Choice", really boils down to "the choice to obey or disobey the truth of the Creator." There are those who profess to be Christians and Pro Choice - I suggest they cannot truly be both. Abortion kills an unborn life - that's wrong according to God. History shows that the end of every great civilization was preceded by child sacrifice.

I pray that your vote will reflect the sanctity of life.

Guns Don't Act Without People

The right to possess a gun is given by the US Constitution. I do not own, or desire to own, a gun but I know many people who do. The issue here is whether "guns kill people or not. I'm pretty sure that no gun ever loaded itself, took aim, and killed a person. In 100% of the cases where a person was killed by a gun, another person was involved in the use of the gun. The issue is not about the guns but about the question of "Why are people killing people?" and wouldn't they find another way if there were no guns. I've heard many times that a significant percentage of the guns used in killings were obtained illegally, if that's true how does it help to take the guns away from legally registered owners.

Capitalism vs. Socialism

I have heard, from sources that I consider credible, that no instance of a socialist government has ever survived without tyranny to force it to continue. That said, we live under what has historically been considered the most free form of government ever to exist - the government every other country wants to emulate. Why then would anyone want to replace our government with a "socialist state"? Why would it seem that one half of our country, and one of our two major political parties, want to do this? The answer is a combination of "greed" and "laziness." We have powerful political forces who are greedy for more power at any cost. We have a significant percentage of the population who want everything to be given to them without working for it. The greedy power seekers promise the lazy masses they will "take care of them" and they accept it blindly.

This country was founded on a capitalist system. The principle says that anyone who is willing to work for what they want can be prosperous and achieve the American Dream. The problem is that the system doesn't work if more people join the "take care of me" group and place a burden on those who choose to work for the dream only to have to support the others.

Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes

I'm a fan of the "Flat Tax" idea because it gets rid of taxes on income and puts the taxes on purchases. That makes it even for everyone. But, since that's not likely to happen, let's talk about income taxes.

The real difference in perspectives on taxes is targeted at those called "rich" based on wealth. The Democrats want to tax them more than everyone and the Republicans are accused of giving them too many tax breaks. Because we live in a capitalist society, it's usually the "richer" people who invest in companies that provide jobs for the "less rich" people. It seems easy to identify someone "richer" than "me", so it makes sense that it is easy to decide who should pay those higher taxes. Any dollar amount used to determine who is "rich" is arbitrary. Did Robin Hood have the right idea with his "take from the rich and give to the poor" solution? The socialists think he had it right, but he was a criminal.

My last thought on this subject is in reference to the accusation that "Trump has paid no taxes in years." The IRS seems to be a well-oiled machine, and they review his taxes annually, if he has accomplished this legally then kudos to him. I suspect jealousy on the part of those who complain about the situation. On a related subject, Trump took ZERO pay during his time as President. I don't see any of the Democrats following his example. Have you Googled their financial status? Many of them could personally finance some of the programs they propose without a dent in their bank account.

I say less taxes for EVERYONE and kudos to those who can legally keep from paying them.

I appreciate my job at a Fortune 5 company, I’ll vote for the candidate whose plan will likely support more jobs for people who want to work for a living.

Immigration vs. Illegal Residents

We are a country created by people coming from elsewhere with the goal of creating a better life. We have always been a country that supported new people coming to experience that better life.

People used to come here to be an "American" and the term "melting pot" was used to describe us. It seems that a vast number of people who come today don't plan to "melt." We used to be a country with one language - english (an Americanized version of it). People quickly learned the language because that was a part of being "American." A huge percentage of people speak a different language in their home. There are a significant number of adults who cannot function in society without their children translating for them. I got a new roof on my house recently and not one of the five people on my roof spoke english. Fortunately, they brought a boy (about 10 years old) with them who could translate my questions. I get that they might not be able engage in a conversation about the weather, but is it too much to expect at least one of them to be able to answer a roofing question?

All that said, the issue is whether the person residing in our country arrived legally or illegally. This one seems simple to me, anything considered "illegal" should carry a consequence and anything resulting from that action should be affected by that consequence. If you are determined to have arrived via illegal means, you should be assisted in leaving the country (deported).

The hot button on that perspective seems to be birth of children while the parents were here illegally. I am personally confused about how two "illegal" parents can produce a "legal" child. In this specific scenario, I don't understand why being born here make you a legal citizen? But it does, and I'm a big boy, so I'll accept it as fact. So, the big question, "What is to be done with the citizen child if the illegal parents are to be deported?" has to be answered. I suggest the answer is entirely up to the parents - understanding that they ARE being deported - as parents they have two choices (1) take their child with them, or (2) abandon their child to the U.S. government to be fostered/available for adoption. Going through the process to return legally, they could be rejoined with their child. I know that my perspective seems harsh, but the entire situation was created by an illegal act. If you don't want the consequences of an illegal act, don't perform one.

Whether your role is "parent" or "government" the act of enabling bad behavior isn't a good thing. That said, the old saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." seems to apply to this situation. An enforced border policy would seem to go a long way to solving this problem.

As for me, I’ll vote for the candidate with the plan for prevention of the problem.

The Bottom Line

Please remember, that everything I have said is entirely my opinion. We live in a country where the Constitution gives us the right to express our opinion. The purpose of my sharing was to make you think about the issues with the outcome being one of the following for each of the issues:

You totally disagree with my perspective and can stand stronger in your convictions.
My words have made you reconsider your perspective and will vote your new convictions.
You already agree with my perspective and will vote your convictions.

My only objective in sharing is to encourage you to vote your convictions because that's the only way our government really works.

Want to look at a comparison of the platforms for the two parties? Check out this site. ivotergiuide.com/insights/platform-compare

In the end, I believe that the one true and living God is sovereign over all things and His will is what will be accomplished.

Blessings,

Stuart Pierce-Jr.

10.17.2024