Continuation of Platform #25, Sec. D

There are several ways to pay for the renewable-energy economy and each of these paths are an integral part of our issues platform. Platform Issue #1: Stop the War Now: Bring home our troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, and all corners of the world now. Troops pulled from non-combat zones like Korea and Europe will be deployed on the Mexican border to stop the invasion of the U.S. by illegal aliens, drug pushers, and terrorists. This will provide billions to invest in RenewE.

In a December 2007 article, N.Y. Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote that Nobel Prize winning
economist Joseph Stiglitz calculated that the true cost of the wars would ultimately exceed $1 trillion and maybe even $2 trillion. Various government figures suggested the long-term cost of the wars could be in the vicinity of $3.5 trillion. That's estimated to be 10 times the cost of free health care for all Americans. With many dollars left over, we could easily fund our renewable energy plan and begin to repair our crumbling infrastructures, all of which would create jobs and clean air.

Another mother lode to be tapped (Platform Issue #2) stop illegal aliens from invading the United States, deport those who are already here illegally (no amnesty ever), who are sucking-up our financial resources via free health care, education and the illegals' crime, D.U.I. escapades, and their imprisonment. Some estimate it's costing us billions and could hit a trillion over the next few years.

How about the billions we spend on Federal subsidy programs...the king of them all, $285 billion in farm subsidies for billionaire gentlemen farmers, while the family farmer struggles and sees small family farms gobbled up when they can no longer make it? How about the global political giveaway programs, e.g.: the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, whose loans often are not repaid because billions go to dictators who flee with most of the money to any country that will have them and their billions...and the continuing foreign-aid program and our UN membership.

We would like to propose another source of money that could contribute significantly to our RenewE program. Have the President direct the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute CEO's of banks, mortgage and insurance companies who are putting our economy into a recession that could turn into a full-blown depression via the sub-prime debacle. Along with fining them billions, the CEO's should be sentenced to at least one year of weekend prison time to teach them a valuable lesson about gluttony. This action would also prohibit free passes - meaning no mortgage subsidies - for real estate speculators, and home buyers who should have known they couldn't afford the homes they bought. Incidentally, perhaps we should add the U.S. Congress to our list of sub-prime enablers...a January 2008 article by perhaps the best economist around, Walter Williams reveals that Congress promoted sub-prime lending. Dr. Williams wrote: "As with most economic problems, we find the hand of government. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, whose provisions were strengthened during the Clinton Administration, is a federal law that mandates lenders to offer credit throughout their entire market and discourages them from restricting their credit services to high-income markets, a practice known as redlining. In other words, the Community Reinvestment Act encourages banks and thrifts to make loans to riskier customers.

(To be continued)