LIGHTNING ROUND

[Gustaf]

Abortion=torned, personally against, but think early ones should be legal

Gay Marriage=yes

Guns=split, but favour back-ground checks

Taxes=a necessary infringement on property rights that should be kept under control

The World=Some are good, others bad...

Iraq=Still support it

John Kerry=a generic Democrat, average presidential material

GW=a tad too extreme, even though I warmed to him in light of recent events

Health Care=I support it...

Social Security=let the people invest

Affirmative Action=oppose

Immigration=generally good. Government shouldn't mess with freedom of movement

Environment=I'm in favour. A good environment is...good

Death penalty: against. The government shouldn't kill its citizens in peacetime

Pre-emptive: depends

Free trade: YES!

Patriot Act: The government should be kept under strict surveillance by the citizens - not the other way around

[Gustaf]

Where I stand on:
Abortion=murder
Gay Marriage=ok, stop the parades if its given tho
Guns=yes please
Taxes=eradication is the word most appropriate
The World=I like Japan and the UK
Iraq=bad strategic decision, but noble war
John Kerry=a flip-flopper
GW=good guy
Health Care=rebellion if ever socialized medicine in US
Social Security=privatize
Affirmative Action=mend it, dont end it
Immigration=more Mexicans
Environment=compromise bt business and enviros

Couldn't remember the rubric so I just copied it.

Abortion = icky in the first trimester, murder at any other time. Stem cell research fall into this category as well.

Gay marriage = No. Marriage has nothing at all to do with homosexuals one way or the other. Leave it alone!

Guns = Eh. My penis is big enough

Taxes = I LOATHE how much the US government eats away in taxes. My own mom tells me that the gov't takes more than 20% of her own income in tax (I will pay 10% when I start grad school in Texas).  She even tells me of people who pay //seven-figure income taxes//, even in LA. ing outrageous.

The World. The World is too much with us. Read the recent P J O'Rourke article about it.

Iraq: Lost the moment it started last March. We didn't kill enough civilians.

John Kerry: Joke

G W Bush: Deeply flawed president, but the only politician who recognizes the absolute evil the Religion of Peace represents.

Health Care: Simple enough remedy--stay healthy. Otherwise, privatise SS. I'm looking forward to the day when I can borrow against my SS investments to buy a house.

AA: As a minority myself, I find it degrading. But whites are still pretty racist amongst themselves, so...

Immigration: Suspicious of both the people who come and their reasons for arrival.

Environment = Lesbian Earth Mother socialist utopia. Bring back the concept of private property instead.

 

Doesn't stem cell research involve using cells from the umbilical cord?

I live in a country with about 50-60% income tax...stop whining!

[Gustaf]

I wonder if the republicans on the board are in my generation, the younger one I mean because theres a lot supporting at least civil unions for gays, and some are even, pro-choice.

I think it's mixed. A few of the younger posters are, in fact, pretty conservative. But for Republicans on here, there are, what I can tell, three groups: a Libertarian wing as well as a wing that outside northeast GOP standards would probably be Democratic. There is also a mainstream conservative wing, but they're in the minority, it seems.

I'm not sure where you get the last wing, really...there are die-hard conservatives, socioconservatives, libertarians, lib-fascists and moderates, I'd say.

[Gustaf]

In all fairness, I tried to keep to the lightning round aspect of things, keeping my answers very general (which I thought was the idea), whereas Nym's answers are a lot more detailed. For instance, I also have several objections to Bush's handling of the Iraq war, but that doesn't change my reasons for being in favour.

[Gustaf]

Except, Jmfcst, it seems that people have been making these predictions for 2000 years now...even before the coming of Christ, one can find many quotes about how the world is getting worse and worse, and moral standards are going down (Socrates comes to mind here).

First, just because some Christian’s prediction is shown to be false doesn’t nullify the prophecies of an increase in wickedness in the run-up to the last days.

Second, it just may be that past generations like Socrates’ were testifying to a real downward trend of morals.  And it just may be that we have been on a slippery slope for a long time….none of which contradicts scripture’s prophecies of a decline in morality during the last days.

---

Personally I don't think there's an increase in wickedness, just an increase in media exposure. You hear about bad stuff a lot more than you used to, that doesn't mean there wasn't just as much (if not more) evil-doing in the so-called "good old days".

I think the increase of premarital sex, for one, is not a figment of the media’s imagination.  I think it is pretty much an established fact, regardless of how much publicity it gets.

Actually, the real reason for percieved immorality is that most people are short-sighted and unable to view things from different view-points. Therefore, adults tend to view young people from an adult viewpoint, whereas they didn't when they themselves were young. It's a matter of changing perspective, mostly.

In addition to what Nym mentioned about pre-marital sex, I would argue, and I can see that you would disagree here, that pre-marital sex as well as not marrying has become more accepted, so an increasing rate there means that, rather than people becoming more immoral. I suspect that doesn't really matter to you, though...  

[Gustaf]

Abortion- 1st, 2nd trimesters, and in cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy endangers mom or baby.
gay marriage- fully legal
guns- Make guns much harder to get, require ID check at conventions, bans on some weapons (semi-automatics, for instance) for civilians/non-police officers.
taxes- A necessary increase for the rich to fund some social programs  hopefully eventually cut taxes for the low & middle classes.
the world- Remember Teddy Roosevelt?
Iraq- Try to get UN assistance, and more involvement with Muslim countries.  Keep troops in Iraq until Iraq is stabilized.  We can't back out and leave Iraq as an anarchy!
John Kerry- Boring.
GWB- Ruining my future.
Health Insurance- Universal, Single-Payer healthcare would be nice.
Social Security- Keep it public.  Hopefully increase it, eventually/
Affirmitive Action- Switch to class based.
Immigration- Encourage legal immigration, try to crack down more on illegal.  Increase quotas to help people who believe in the American dream to come over.
Environment- More regulations (dun, dun, dunnn!).  No drilling in ANWR.  Increase minimum octane & fuel efficiency.
Death Penalty- Ban it.
Preemptive strike- Heck no.
Free Trade- Trade with countries that meet humanitarian, labor, and ecologic requirements.  All others: try to decrease trade to force them to change.
Patriot Act- Repeal it, repeal it, REPEAL IT!  Such intrusion into privacy.

And you guys forgot Education!!!!!!

Education- Increase funding the most of all services.  Kids are our future!  Repeal NCLB
Vouchers- Use money that would go to vouchers to use in inner city schools/schools that need it the most

Education? Go vouchers.

[Gustaf]

On languages, I love them.

I have studied Latin and English and I now study French and German. Especially German is great fun.

[Gustaf]

It's also worth noting that since schools get funding on a per pupil basis, any students lost to private schools due to vouchers mean that public schools get less money. So it's a way to take money away from public schools and give it to private schools instead, basically.

If vouchers were set up such that the public school still got the same amount of money that they otherwise would have gotten even if they had not lost the student, then I would be willing to give them a second look.

The effect of this is that schools get an actual incentove to be good. Also, at least in Sweden, the system doesn't allow schools to charge the students if they are to recieve voucher money. This means that the schools get less money, but the pupils don't. Vouchers give kids from low-income areas an actual chance to get into top-notch class, which they would otherwise never be able to do.

[Gustaf]

They already have incentive...school boards are elected, if the schools are not up to standard the people can vote the board members out. Rather than drain money away from schools that they need to be competitive, they need more money to lower class sizes and increase teacher pay. Give the public schools the help they need, don't tear them down.

Improve public schools in low-income areas, don't destroy them and leave people with no options.

I sort of agree with Hughento...schools should be run by professionals, primarily.

Public shools get an incentive to improve. Money is always a separate issue, I think reforming systems is usually the right way to go rather than throwing more money at a problem.