Q: The comptroller general has said the U.S. faces a tsunami of debt that is a great threat to our national security. Do you agree our country’s financial situation creates a security risk? And why or why not?
A: Not at all. We face much larger security risks from terrorists, those nations which harbor terrorism, and tyrannical nations that either have or are pursuing nuclear weapons.
Q: What sacrifices would you ask Americans to make to lower the country’s debt?
A: None. Elected officials will have to be the ones to make sacrifices by giving up some of the power they have accumulated in creating our entitlement system. We have spent more money fighting the War on Poverty just in the last 42 years than the entire national debt. We must therefore dismantle the liberal government programs that have wasted so much of our resources while accomplishing so little.
Q: Are there programs or situations that are so important that you’d be willing to run a deficit to pay for them?
A: Yes, defending the freedom and autonomy of United States of America.
Q: Who in this country is paying more than a fair share of taxes relative to everyone else: the wealthy, the middle class, the poor or corporations?
A: Very few Americans actually pay a fair share of taxes. Most either pay a disproportionately large share of their income, or little to no share at all. This is why I support the fair tax, which is based entirely on consumption, or at least a flat tax that would ensure that everyone pays the same percentage of their income.
Q: How many of you believe global climate change is a serious threat and caused by human activity?
A: I don’t. Humans are incapable of altering the climate, and those changes that do occur are purely the result of natural cycles that would occur with or without us.
Q: What impact on the economy would be acceptable in order to reverse global warming and greenhouse gas emissions?
A: Ignorance is our most expensive “commodity.” Global warming is nothing more than an attempt by leftists to gain more control of our lives and our paychecks in the form of government regulation and higher taxes. I say that, because every solution that is advocated by global warming alarmists involves more government control and higher taxes. They have been able to advance their hokey theories only because of the ignorance and gullibility of others. Zero impact is the only acceptable impact on the economy with respect to global warming.
Q: What educational standards does the U.S. need to adopt or improve to compete in the global economy, and what will you do to move us toward those standards, and what’s your timetable?
A: None. The federal government does not belong in the business of establishing educational standards. Schools and curriculum are best controlled at the local level — not by lawmakers and bureaucrats sitting in Washington, D.C. My goal as president would be to abolish the Department of Education and cut taxes accordingly.
Q: What’s the biggest obstacle standing in the way of improving education in the United States, and how would you address it?
A: Government and teachers unions, both of which protect the status quo at the expense of effective education. The best way to improve education is to get the federal government out of education and promote school choice. I would do this by offering tax credits (or, in the very least, tax deductions) for families who send their children to private schools or homeschool. No person or entity has a greater interest in a child’s education than that child’s parents, and I trust parents to make those decisions. Competition works in the free market, and it would work in the education market if we only allowed it.
Q: Do you think it’s more important for the next president to be a fiscal conservative or a social conservative?
A: Both. President Bush’s three greatest achievements have been 1) executing the War on Terrorism, 2) cutting taxes, which have spurred economic growth, lowered the unemployment rate, and lowered federal deficits, and 3) getting two conservatives placed on the Supreme Court. All of these will yield long-lasting benefits for the United States, and these achievements reflect a blend of both fiscal and social conservatism. Conservatism, after all, works every time it’s tried.
Exactly one week after taking my ten-year-old to the Sommet Center in Nashville to take in the Memphis Tigers’ less-than-impressive 65-41 victory over MTSU, we journeyed to the FedEx Forum in downtown Memphis to watch the Tigers take on the fourth-ranked Gerogetown Hoyas earlier today. It was the first time Memphis had ever hosted a game between two top 5 teams, and the #2 Tigers hit on all cylinders, beating Georgetown convincingly, 
