10 important issues presidential candidates should be debating

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SALT LAKE CITY -- As I watch political debates and hear hot issues being discussed by co-workers and in the news, I can't help but anxiously await the debates that will happen between our president and whoever the Republican nominee will be. What will they discuss and debate? What will the outcomes of those discussions be? I hope that we learn from them and the debates do not simply turn into more of the same.

1. The economy

We all know someone who is out of a job and has been for some time. Hearing jobs numbers is like listening to the weather forecaster state that it is a sunny day while snowflakes are falling outside the window. The forecaster can state that it is sunny all he wants, but it does not change the fact that I can see snow piling up.

What are politicians going to do about creating jobs? We tried dumping more money and more money into creating jobs, with the results being only a handful created and truckloads more debt to show for the effort. Let's try something different. Get the politicians out of the way. Stop them from creating laws that only benefit themselves and those putting cash in their back pockets. Stop all the political favors and earmarks.

This was the main reason for the housing crash: politicians got in the way of good business while businesses tried to curry favors with lawmakers. Make politicians have to work for their jobs. Maybe it is about time they started working for us instead of us working to pay them.

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2. The economy

Small businesses are the backbone of our country and the economic climate is too difficult for them. To get started, officially, they have to file paperwork to get their name, to become a company, etc. To do anything, an endless list of paperwork must be completed so someone can put a check in a little box.

How is a guy running his own plumbing business supposed to hire someone to work with him if he is faced with this choice: spend all day figuring out tax forms and regulations instead of working and earning money or pay all his profits to someone to figure that out for him? The path we are on has stifled ingenuity and growth and crushed new jobs. Get government out of the way.

3. The economy, stupid.

4. The national debt and the debt ceiling

We, as citizens, now have more than 15 trillion dollars of debt. How can we talk about simply balancing the budget with this 800-pound gorilla panting on the back of our necks? This is a burden for which we must be held accountable and must pay off come sunshine, rain, snow, sickness, etc. The interest on that debt will not relent. Which politician will not only have a plan to have good budget policy but also work on paying off our debt instead of adding to it?

5. War

Stop putting our neighbors', friends' and heroes' lives on the line simply for a sound bite or to get an extra point in the polls. If we have to fight, then let us do it quickly, and don't tie both our hands behind our back. We have become allies with some of our most vehement enemies because we quickly won and showed mercy. It is the long, drawn-out affairs that make more enemies and prevent us from showing we can be merciful. Like removing a bandage, if it must be done do it quickly.

6. Illegal immigration

To stop illegal immigration three things will be necessary: Secure the border, enforce employment verification and let birthright citizenship be given only to those with at least one parent already a U.S. citizen. If someone cannot work here, they will either not come or they will take their family and go home of their own accord.

7. Too many forced handouts

I too often hear demands for taking money from one person so that someone else can eat or see a doctor. I am, of my own volition, all for helping those who are hungry or in need, but don't force me to do it. If forced, I will resent the receiver, and he will resent me because he may feel someone had to pry the aid from my fingers. In contrast, help freely given generates brotherly love. What happened to "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country"?

8. Foreign handouts

Why are we giving billions of dollars to countries when we are in debt? Why do we spend our money to protect European states? Why aren't they paying to protect themselves? Perhaps there is a legitimate reason now and again, but that should be the exception, not the continual rule. It should not be policy to keep dumping money on governments and countries that don't use it wisely.

9. Presidential power

Over the past couple of decades the office of the president has acquired more and more authority. There are more advisors, more cabinets and more "tsars." The president's unelected advisors and bureaucrats can create new policies, which act like laws binding us. Then some other unelected officials can enforce the new policies that were just created.

There is a separation of powers in our constitution to prevent just this very thing and the conflicts it does cause. The president must have power to lead and enforce the laws but not to create policies. And what are we, a democratic republic and symbol of freedom, doing with tsars, symbols of tyrannical oppression?

10. Honesty

Don't try to spin me. Don't tell me one thing and other people another. Just tell me straight up. Tell me from the heart what you think. Don't give me a sound bite hoping I will like your pithy saying more than that of your opponent. Make tough decisions and tell me why. I can handle the truth. Don't try to wag the dog, or it might turn around and vote you out.

These are the hot topics I want to hear argued in the presidential debates. I want to hear the person for whom I might vote state his opinions on these topics. I want to hear people everywhere talking about them too.