What President Bush absolutely has to do in his second term, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."
First of all, congratulations to the president. I forgot to do that last night. And now he has a historic opportunity to become one of the most effective presidents of all time. But it will not be easy.
The first order of business is Iraq: The president must go on the offensive. America simply cannot allow terrorists to continue killing at will in that country.
Now it's possible the Iraqi people will not rise up and embrace democracy, even though President Bush believes all people yearn to be free. But it really doesn't matter what the Iraqi people do because the U.S. military has to protect itself. Thus, the hammer has to drop on places like Fallujah where terrorists are in control. This is no longer about Iraq. It's about protecting U.S. soldiers who are at risk.
Number two: something has to be done about the borders. The president knows the chaos occurring down there every day. Simply beefing up the border patrol is not going to cut it. With no reelection problems anymore, President Bush must protect American soil from people who would violate our immigration laws, period.
Number three: the tax cuts must become permanent. John Kerry believes the government can provide jobs. That's baloney. The private sector drives the American economy. And the easier it is for people to prosper, the more prosperity the people will have.
President Bush is right in saying that no American should pay more than 35 percent of his or her income to the feds. And all investment income should be taxed at a low rate to encourage more investment. That's called capitalism.
Four: President Bush must appoint judges who will hold the Constitution. I don't want ideological judges on either side. I want people who understand how the country was founded. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison would not remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. They were fine with references to the deity. That's just one example of understanding how the country was founded.
Activist judges who impose their view of life on everybody else are simply unacceptable.
Finally, President Bush should try to convince other nations to help the U.S. fight the war on terror. He should have a summit, as John Kerry suggested. He should forge alliances against North Korea and Iran. But if certain countries do not help us fight terrorism, the president has to expose those countries. We, the people, have a right to know who's working against our security.
So summing up, the president can stem the chaos in Iraq, stimulate the economy, tighten up homeland security, and bring the fight to the terrorists, he'll go down in history as a great president. We should all be rooting for him.
And that's "The Memo."
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