A little over a month from now, voters in Iowa will be heading into their local caucuses to cast the first substantive votes in the process that will determine whom the major parties nominate for president. In Jan. 2017 — just over a year from now — the United States will inaugurate only its third president of the 21st Century.

If re-elected, that person could serve until Jan. 2025.

By then, America could be a profoundly different country than the one in which many of today’s voting-age citizens were born.

It could be far less secure, less wealthy and less free than the United States of the second half of the 20th Century. It could be further uprooted — perhaps irreparably — from the principles of limited government, self-reliance and traditional values that made this nation great in the first place.

Or Americans could turn back to common sense and the Constitution.

Here are some questions presidential candidates could answer to clarify where they stand on some basic issues:

—Do you agree with the principle stated in the Declaration of Independence that God endows all human beings with unalienable rights, including the rights to life and liberty, and that it is the purpose of government to secure these God-given rights?

—Do all innocent human beings have a God-given right to life from conception to natural death that it is the duty of government to protect, including from abortionists and those who would commit euthanasia?

—Is marriage the union of one man and one woman, and should it be legally defined that way throughout the United States of America?

—The First Amendment protects the “free exercise” of religion. Can any level of government ever rightfully force individuals, businesses, or non-profit institutions to act against their faith or their moral principles?

—Would you nominate to the Supreme Court anyone who believes that abortion or same-sex marriage are constitutionally protected rights or that the Constitution permits the government to tell Christians they must buy or provide insurance that covers sterilizations, contraceptives or abortion-inducing drugs or devices?

—Should federal tax laws be used for any purpose other than to raise the revenue needed to pay for the legitimate constitutional functions of the federal government?

—Will you seek to create any new federal entitlement programs or expand any existing ones?

—Will you seek to abolish any federal entitlement programs?

—Will you seek to abolish any federal cabinet departments?

—Will you balance the federal budget during your first four years in office and reform the federal government in a manner that keeps the budget in balance over the long term?

—Do you believe the federal government has the capacity to build sufficient barriers and place sufficient manpower at the southern border to seal it against illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and terrorists, and if elected, will you build the barriers and deploy the manpower needed to do so?

—Will you enforce the immigration laws of the United States within the United States and veto any legislation that permits people who entered this country illegally or who overstayed a visa to remain here as legal residents or potential citizens?

—As initially drafted, the Constitution would have given Congress the power to “make” war. In his notes on the Constitutional Convention, James Madison said that when the convention considered this provision he and Elbridge Gerry “moved to insert ‘declare,’ striking out ‘make’ war; leaving to the Executive the power to repel sudden attacks.” Do you believe the president can use military force without prior congressional authorization — such as President Obama did when he intervened in the Libyan civil war — other than when it is necessary to repel an attack on the United States or U.S. citizens?

—Do you agree that the purpose of U.S. foreign policy is to advance the liberty, security and prosperity of the American people not to change the nature of foreign governments?

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