WWPD?

By any measure, our country is in a bad spot. Gas prices are up, unemployment is up, food prices are up, home foreclosures are up, the deficit is up (and climbing), and the value of the dollar is down. Our president has apologized to our enemies, literally bowed before numerous dictators, and apparently decided that our overarching foreign policy will be indecision coupled with appeals to the UN for guidance. No wonder the foreign press that once praised America’s ability to get beyond the past and elect an African American president in 2008 is, in 2011, of the opinion that we may watching the weakest presidency in U.S. history unfold before our eyes.

And in the midst of this malaise, pundits and possible Republican presidential candidates have openly criticized Obama’s bumbling and fumbling. Among those critics, a prominent voice has been that of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

And because of this, I thought it would be interesting to ask the poignant question: WWPD? What would Palin do? If given the chance, how would she place this country back on the right track?

From the moment Palin stepped onto the national stage as the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, she has been clear about her solution to high gas prices: “Drill here, drill now.” And regarding a broader energy policy, during her March 19^th speech in India she said that her vision for America includes not simply a reversal of the current administration’s efforts to limit domestic and offshore drilling, but also an expanded use of “natural gas, […] coal, [and] nuclear power.”

Palin understands that availing ourselves of such energy sources will not only lead us closer to energy independence and cut energy costs but will also create thousands upon thousands of new jobs, which in turn will reduce the nearly 10% unemployment rate we’re currently experiencing under Obama. She knows that “energy development, job creation & national security are inextricably linked.”

In addition to all these things, she also knows that taking advantage of the fossil fuels we have here at home will lower food prices by lowering fuel prices, thereby reducing transportation costs. These lower fuel prices would also leave more money in the family budget with which to pay the mortgage.

In addition to an America-first policy toward energy, Palin believes that reducing the size of government and the taxes levied on Americans is a common-sense way to make sure hard-earned dollars stay in the hands that earned them. It’s also the surest way to unleash the creative spirit of America’s best: a spirit currently shackled by the debt and myriad of regulations the Obama administration has placed on the backs of citizens of all walks of life.

Said Palin during her speech in India:

We need to stop digging the [financial] hole we’re in; cut spending; cut government back down to size; get rid of overly-burdensome regulations. And most of all, we need job growth. And that won’t come from “top-down government planning” …[but] from the “Free Market Ingenuity” of ordinary American entrepreneurs.

Obama’s current foreign policy missteps and hesitancy in using the military to crush terrorists wherever they hide would also change under Palin’s watch. She has made it clear that she would not hesitate to use the military to keep Americans safe. And as for fighting terrorists, she has expressed her strategy via a simple Cold War maxim: “We win, they lose.”
Those who have paid attention to Palin’s words and deeds as governor of Alaska, Republican vice presidential candidate, and the mother of a combat soldier (her son Track served a tour in Iraq) must have noticed that she has backbone. When she talks about national security she exhibits a decisiveness and determination far removed from the Jimmy Carter-style approach of Obama. She is far more reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher or even Ronald Reagan in this area.

Our country’s relationship with Israel is but another area in which Palin would usher in a complete reversal of the policies we’ve seen under Obama. Whereas the current administration has been markedly anti-Israel, Palin would not only support Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorist threats (like those coming from Hamas), but would encourage Israel to be unapologetic in doing so.

She’s already on record saying Israel apologizes too much.

So WWPD to address the myriad of errors and bad policies that have brought our country to a screeching halt under Obama? She’d seek energy independence through domestic production, shrink the size of government, cut taxes, and fight mindless regulation. She’d also use the military the way it’s supposed to be used: as a tool to crush our enemies and thereby keep Americans safe. And she’ll make sure our allies, like Israel, know we plan to stand with them through thick and thin, and to support them when they use their military the way it’s supposed to be used: as a tool to crush their enemies and thereby keep Israelis safe.

I can’t help but think that somewhere, somehow, Reagan is smiling.