President Forever Policy Planks

[Leinad]

Hmmm...why no marijuana decriminalization (which I without doubt support), criminal justice reform (again, big fan), or Patriot Act (hate it)? That's always been an issue (ba-dum-tiss) I've had with the game, that there's not unlimited issues.

//Abortion
[ ] Unrestricted access to abortions. (L)
[ ] Legal abortions in the first two trimesters for the mother's health. (CL)
[ ] Legal abortions in the first trimester for the mother's health. (C)
[X] No legal abortions, except to save the mother's life or rape. (CR)
[ ] No legal abortions. (R)

//Affirmative Action
[ ] Make all federal agencies follow strict quotas. (L)
[ ] Diversity is a compelling reason for affirmative action. (CL)
[ ] The benefits of diversity can justify affirmative action. (C)
[ ] Affirmative action programs only in certain cases. (CR)
[X] Abolish all federal affirmative action programs. (R)

(Maybe class-based Affirmitive Action. Maybe. Overall, I think that government can't solve problems like these. You can't legislate equality any more than you can legislate morality.)

//Balanced Budget
[ ] A deficit is fine - focus on social programs. (L)
[ ] Military spending is more important than the deficit. (CL)
[ ] Balance lowering the deficit with other priorities. (C)
[X] A Balanced Budget amendment to eliminate the deficit. (CR)
[ ] Eliminate all national debt as quickly as possible. (R)

//Business Tax
[ ] Significantly increase business taxation. (L)
[ ] Increase business taxation. (CL)
[ ] Businesses are taxed the right amount. (C)
[X] Reduce business taxation. (CR)
[ ] Significantly reduce business taxation. (R)

//Campaign Finance Reform
[ ] Elections are rigged for the two parties - we need major reform! (L)
[ ] We need to significantly reduce corporate donations. (CL)
[X] We need to put more power into smaller donors' hands. (C)
[ ] The McCain/Feingold bill is sufficient. (CR)
[ ] No campaign finance reform is needed. (R)

//Ecology
[ ] The environment must be our first national priority. (L)
[X] Good environmental policies are good economic policies. (CL)
[ ] Balance environmental policies with sound economic policies. (C)
[ ] Economic policies must come before environmental policies. (CR)
[ ] The environment is fine, we don't need to worry about it. (R)

//Education
[ ] No school vouchers, large increase to federal funding. (L)
[ ] No school vouchers, increase federal funding. (CL)
[ ] Lower-income school vouchers, increase federal funding. (C)
[X] School vouchers for lower-income students. (CR)
[ ] School vouchers for anyone. (R)

//Free Trade
[ ] We need to erect large tariff barriers to protect all our industries. (L)
[ ] Some industries need to be protected. (CL)
[ ] Open markets should be approached with caution. (C)
[X] Most markets should be open. (CR)
[ ] All markets should be open! (R)

//Gun Control (I'm somewhere in between CL and CR. "State issue" always seems like a cop-out for me, but I'm a centrist on the issue--I basically agree with both premises but not always their conclusions--so I go with that.)
[ ] Ban all guns! (L)
[ ] Ban certain guns, and require registration/background checks. (CL)
[X] Guns control is a state issue. (C)
[ ] We should be very wary of gun control. (CR)
[ ] Gun ownership is constitutionally protected - no gun control! (R)

//Same-Sex Marriage
[X] Same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. (L) (But freedom of conscience is also quite important.)
[ ] Same-sex marriage, even if not in name. (CL)
[ ] Retain marriage as it is, but explore civil unions. (C)
[ ] Marriage is between a man and a woman. (CR)
[ ] Homosexuals need to be treated for their condition. (R)

//Immigration (I'm somewhere in between CL and L. Probably CL, overall, but I kind of hate political opinions that are 4-words long and say nothing at all about policy.)
[ ] Immigration is great, illegal immigrants granted amnesty. (L)
[X] Legal immigration is great. (CL)
[ ] Legal immigration is fine, but immigration laws must be obeyed. (C)
[ ] Reduce legal immigration, crack down on illegal immigration. (CR)
[ ] Immigration is destroying the country, stop all immigration now! (R)

//Military Funding
[X] Drastically cut military funding, establish a Department of Peace. (L)
[ ] We should decrease military funding. (CL)
[ ] Keep military budget the same, look to be more efficient. (C)
[ ] Increase the military budget, but find ways to be more efficient. (CR)
[ ] We need to significantly increase military funding to meet new threats. (R)

//Military Intervention
[X] Military intervention is another way of saying 'empire building'. (L)
[ ] For humanitarian causes or if we are attacked. (CL)
[ ] Only if we are attacked. (C)
[ ] Only if our national interests are threatened. (CR)
[ ] We can and should use our military might to further our own interests. (R)

//Personal Tax
[ ] Increase income tax for everyone. (L)
[ ] Increase income tax for the rich. (CL)
[ ] Reduce income tax for lower- and middle-class tax brackets. (C)
[X] Reduce income tax across the board [by high amounts]. (CR)
[ ] Reduce income tax for the rich. (R)

//Public Health Care
[ ] We need a completely public health care system. (L)
[ ] Universal health care, whether public or private. (CL)
[X] Public health care benefits for the poor and elderly, the rest private. (C)
[ ] Only a few public health care benefits. (CR)
[ ] The health care system should be completely private. (R)

//Renewable Energy
[ ] Renewable energy all the way! (L)
[ ] We should focus on renewable energy sources. (CL)
[X] Renewable and non-renewable energy must be equally researched. (R)
[ ] Coal and oil are our main concerns right now. (CR)
[ ] We don't need to worry about renewable energy sources. (R)

//Social Security
[ ] No to any private investment, dramatically increase funding. (L)
[ ] No to private investment, increase funding. (CL)
[ ] Keep social security as it is. (C)
[X] Let workers privately invest some of their social security payments. (CR)
[ ] Let workers privately invest all social security payments. (R)

//Terrorism (these are really BS answers. "Surrender" and "don't get involved" are vastly different.)
[ ] We should surrender to the terrorists. (L)
[X] We need to fight the cause of terrorism, economic and social injustice. (CL)
[ ] Focus on better foreign policy, but use military force if we must. (C)
[ ] We should not hesitate to use military force against terrorism. (CR)
[ ] Terrorism can only be stopped one way: military force. (R)

A lot of my positions would ideally be more extreme minarchist, but I recognize that it's easier to have more moderate positions to slowly make the nation less statist and more sane. Not to mention immediately privatizing social security, eliminating tax on the lower and middle classes, practically eliminating the military budget, and drastically reforming welfare to a vastly more voluntary system would have insane ripple effects all over the economy. Slow change is best, and it makes me look like less of a wacko-bird than I really am.