Red White and Blue Platform

I want to share with you how we can truly change America. There is an organization that if you have not heard of yet, then you really need to become familiar with it.  It's called American Solutions, and just like it's name implies it is all about solutions.  The following is a  platform that I believe every (or at least most) American can agree with.   Please give me feed back on what you think about them, then make sure that you visit: www.americansolutions.com

At American Solutions, we spent six months conducting nationwide workshops, telephone town halls, and six national surveys to understand the key concerns of the American People. From this extensive research, we developed the Platform of the American People – a unique political document that serves as a blueprint for real change the American people are demanding.

The Platform of the American People is a solutions-oriented agenda that has overwhelming support of a majority of Americans, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

The structure is now in place to advance a core set of “tri-partisan” (i.e. majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents), principles and solutions that will unite a majority of Americans and effect real change now and beyond the 2008 elections.

That blueprint for real change is codified in the “Platform of the American People” - a solutions-oriented agenda that represents a fundamental break from the red-versus-blue status quo. This unique political document validates our belief that the scale of change required is so large that a new approach (e.g. a Red, White and Blue Platform) to public policy is necessary and should be implemented across all levels of government, in all 513,000 elected offices.

Top 10 Reasons YOU Should Support the Platform

1. English should be the official language of government. (87 to 11)
2. The option of a single rate system should give taxpayers the convenience of filing their taxes with just a single sheet of paper. (82 to 15)
3. Every worker should continue to have the right to a federally supervised secret ballot election when deciding whether to organize a union. (79 to 12)
4. Keeping the reference to “One Nation Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is very important. (88 to 11)
5. We favor the option of a single employer tax rate of 17% that would lower taxes for some businesses that pay up to 38%, while also closing loopholes that some corporations use to pay less in taxes. (74 to 22)
6. Congress should make it a crime to advocate acts of terrorism, violent conduct, or the killing of innocent people in the United States. (83 to 12)
7. We should dramatically increase our investment in math and science education. (91 to 8)
8. The United States should only grant citizenship to those who want to embrace American values and culture. (68 to 29)
9. Illegal immigrants who commit felonies should be deported. (88 to 10)
10. We support giving a large financial prize to the first company or individual who invents a new, safer way to dispose of nuclear waste products. (79 to 16)

If you support these ten ideas then we need your help.

Please visit 
www.AmericanSolutions.com/Platform, and learn how you can join and support the movement!

Differences between Bush and Reagan?

Where do I start with that one!! Let me start by saying that I like President Bush and support him on many, many issues. That being said your questions was what are the differences between Reagan and Bush, that’s like asking what’s the difference between the Redwoods in CA and the trees at Minooka Park, they are both amazing but the Redwoods take your breath away.

Reagan was truly the great communicator; he conveyed his ideas and beliefs to the American people in a way that was understandable and with such sincerity that you knew he believed in what he was saying. President Bush’s communication with the American people has been at best mediocre.

President Bush has not taken his case directly to the people nearly often enough. Reagan was a master at that, on many occasions he would skip congress and take his case right to the people. There was hardly any thing that he could not get through Congress.

Reagan was a man who stuck to his principles and never wavered. There are many issues that Bush has not wavered on, but on issues of spending and holding congress accountable he has been weak.

Reagan was elected after the Carter-Obama disaster (oops I mean Carter-Mondale); there was double digit inflation, double digit interest rates, double digit unemployment, and the Iranian’s were holding 53 Americans hostage. Reagan believed that in order to turn around the economy there needed to be tax cuts, restraint on government spending, and to abolish many of the government regulations. During his two terms (he could have easily won a third if it would have been allowed), he did all of those things, despite the liberals crying that the sky would fall and that the debt would crush us. Of course none of that happened; as a matter of fact we experienced an economic boom that lasted well over a decade. Bush has cut taxes but has been spending with no sense of control; government has not shrunk but has grown under Bush.

When it came to foreign policy Reagan had a “trust but verify” policy. That was how he dealt with the Russian in dismantling nuclear weapons. He said that we would never negotiate with terrorist, and a short time later the Iranians’ released the hostages. He called the communist “the evil empire” and told them that we would develop a missile defense system that would render nukes ineffective, a short time later the U.S.S.R collapsed. Bushes foreign policy has achieved some good things but aside from Iraq, there are no real history making things that have happened.

I believe that President Bush has been overall a good President and I think that history will show that the Iraq war was the right thing to do and that he showed a keen insight and true leadership. Bush has served with honor and integrity and is a trustworthy person with a high moral character, but comparing President Ronald Reagan to any president of the last 100 years will always leave that person looking inadequate.

I hope this answers your question and I invite any other questions that you or others might have. I won’t have all of the answers but I will give it my best shot.

“True Conservatives” and John McCain

What is it with the far right wing republican party? I hear day after day on talk radio about how these self proclaimed “true conservatives” are going to stay at home and not vote, because John McCain is not “conservative” enough. Where was all of the outrage during the last 5 years when President Bush and the Republicans in the house and senate have been spending money like a bunch of drunken sailors? If I am not mistaken fiscal restraint has always been a core belief of the conservative movement. On the issue of fiscal restraint McCain has been more conservative than the President or Congress. On a side note; where have all those self proclaimed conservatives been when good conservatives are trying to get elected? The problem is that many of those people are spending too much time listening to talk radio and too little time working to get conservatives elected in local and state races!

Ok, I get that McCain does not line up in the “true conservative” template, but honestly at this point in history that is a good thing. The Republican’s have done such a bag up job over the last six years that we have totally destroyed all of the good works that Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich did in the 80’s. Now the country, rightfully so, has less confidence in the Republican Party than they have in the Democratic Party. That is truly a sad state of affairs. Senator McCain will be able to rise above the republican label and win over independences and the Reagan Democrats.

So I say to you “true conservatives”, for your own good, GET OVER IT! We need to get behind Senator John McCain, hit the streets, send in our money, and totally defeat Obama and the liberal establishment! We can not fool ourselves and think that we can just ride this out until the next election. Time does not stop; judges will be appointed, laws will be enacted, and Iraq will need to be handled… with or without your support.

It's A Start

I'm finally doing it! 

I've been sitting on the sidelines for way to long, watching and listening to our politicians give double speak, excuses and nonsensical reasons for the problems and concerns that we are facing in our community. What I am not hearing are common sense solutions that can work.

Personal Information

My name is Dean Culver. I have lived in the city of Waukesha for over 18 years. I'm married to a beautiful woman named Julie (for almost 19 years), we have four boys ages 17, 14, 12, and 10, and we have a beautiful daughter who is married to a fine young man serving in the Air Force, and they have four great children. We have been attending Fox River Christian Church for 15 years. I am a Reagan Conservative who believes that government is not the solution but, in most cases, it's the problem. I served three years in the military, U.S. Army, and believe that the United States needs to maintain a strong military because we have a moral duty to protect and defend against those who would seek to destroy our (and our allies) freedoms.

Why Am Writing A Blog?

I am a strong believer in citizen activism; our country was founded by activist who personally sacrificed their lives in order to give the world the greatest social experiment of all time. As evidence of my commitment to this principle, my family and I sacrificed for six years to open and run a teen center in Waukesha. It served (and continues to serve) as a safe place for teenagers to go, have fun, and connect with people who care about them.

In 2002 I ran for State Assembly. I did not win but going door to door during the campaign showed me that there are a large number of people out there who believe that it is the person, and their message that matters and not a blind loyalty to a political party. Which if I can digress for a moment to say, our country is losing ground on every front in the world; education, productivity, and technology. This lose is happening because we are a country divided into red states and blue states. We need to come together under the Red, White and Blue states, unified under our common goals. We need to have Real Change, but it needs to be the right change. Raising taxes, growing government, and punishing those who are successful is not the change that Americans should be looking for.

What Next?

In the future I would like to write about local and national issues. I don't consider myself an "expert" on these issues but I believe that my perspective will be that of the average person in our community. Some of the items coming in the future blog; The city of Waukesha's budget short fall, Mayor Larry Nelson's support of Obama, and did conservative talk radio shoot the republican party in the foot?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to connecting with you in the future.