Not that you asked

The Democrats finally got around to having a debate, and as expected, it didn't get nearly as high of a rating as the Republican ones. It still turned out to be the most watched Democratic debate ever. That was expected since the Democrats don't have a circus clown like Donald Trump, whose entire campaign can be summed up in this one quote: "Vote for me because my opponents are stupid, and my ideas are terrific."

Still, the Democrats did have their share of looney tunes moments. Bernie Sanders' promise of free college sounds good, but it's nothing more than pie-in-the-sky thinking. Lincoln Chaffee's convoluted excuse for one of his Senate votes should finish his campaign, just as George Romney's claim of being brainwashed about Vietnam finished his in 1968.

Actually, no candidate is offering to do what I would like to see done. Here's a brief summary of how I think we should deal with some of our biggest issues:

Defense and Terrorism--Get our troops out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and the rest of the Middle East. Not another American soldier should die over there defending people who aren't willing to defend themselves. Sell or give Israel all of the weapons they need or want, and let them play policeman over there instead of us.

As for terrorism, the CIA should be recruiting Arab Americans to infiltrate ISIS and the Taliban to find out what they are up to and where their bases and leaders are. Once we know where they are, a small strike force can go in and kill the heck out of them, and disrupt their plans. If terrorists are suspected of being in this country, the CIA should turn over the investigation and all of their intelligence to the FBI, who would take the lead in capturing them and stopping any potential attack. Law enforcement prevents terrorist attacks, which at their root are criminal acts. The military doesn't prevent terrorism, it reacts to it.

Social Security--Remove the cap on how much income is subject to Social Security taxes, which is currently $118,500.00. Also, Social Security should be collected on all income, not just from paychecks. Raise the retirement age to 68.

The Income Tax--Get rid of all of the deductions, exemptions, tax breaks, and loopholes. There should be three tax rates if 20 percent, 10 percent, and 5 percent on all of your income from any source. That would put a lot of CPA's, tax lawyers, and IRS employees out of work, but who would miss them?

The Economy--Build a strong middle class by making a living wage for all full-time workers the law of the land. Pay women and men the same pay for the same work. Allow an exception to the living wage law for teenagers working part-time and college students working in the summer for spending money. A lot of people enjoy saying that all lives matter these days, which is okay, but I also want people to start saying that all jobs matter.

Illegal Immigration--Instead of going after people who are coming here just to find work, start putting heavy penalties on the companies who hire them to avoid paying the minimum wage or Social Security taxes. When employers stop hiring illegals, a lot of them will stop coming.

Money in Politics--The problem isn't that there is too much money in politics; the problem is that so much of it is given anonymously. Change the law that allows super PACs to keep their donor lists private. If people donate to a PAC that they know supports a candidate and will use that donation to help that candidate, then we should know it.

I haven't even gotten around to the environment or making college loans affordable, but I'm running out of space. Even worse, you and I know that none of these things will ever come to pass. That's because I'm offering common sense ideas, and common sense and politics have never had anything to do with each other.