Summary of political beliefs
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Small Business Owner of Any Repute
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« Reply #125 on: July 06, 2007, 02:20:59 AM »

Social Issues:

Abortion: Pro-choice: keep abortion safe, legal, and rare.  Opposed to partial birth abortion, except for the health/life of the mother.  Supportive of parental notification (with Judicial override).

Gay Rights: Support across the board.  Lukewarm on support for hate crimes legislation, however.

Separation of Church and State: Keep 'em separate, boys.

Affirmative Action: Strongly oppose quotas.  Affirmative action should be phased out, but the government should still continue periodic checks to make sure race-based discrimination is not happening in the workplace.

Gun Control: I support a ban on assault weapons.  Mandatory background checks.  Lukewarm support of the Brady Bill -- a waiting period is a good idea, but likely to be ineffective.

Death Penalty: Support only for the most heinous of crimes where guilt can be proven without a shadow of doubt.

Censorship: First Amendment supporter, though there should be common-sense controls on television (e.g., no profanity in kids programs, no graphic sex acts on network TV, etc.).

Flag burning: Protected by the First Amendment, and should stay that way.

Hate crimes: See above.  The government should not be in the business of punishing thought.

Hate speech: First Amendment, within reason, so long as said speech does not lead to actual, physical violence (as it sometimes does).

Smoking: In general, I'm fine with indoor smoking bans.

Alcohol consumption: Ultimately supportive of reducing the drinking age to 18 on principle, but certainly not a crusader: the streets are safer with alcohol being available only to those over 21.

Euthanasia: Should be legal.

Drugs: Legalize marijuana.  Hard drugs are a key contributor to violent and property crime, and should stay illegal, but punishments should be fair and equitable.

Gambling: An issue best left for towns and states to decide.  I do not support the massive Indian Casino tax breaks.

Prostitution: Legalize and heavily regulate.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support.  Public funding should indeed be made available.

Immigration: Guest worker/amnesty programs are duds.  We should severely punish employers of illegal aliens, but ultimately increase the level of legal immigraton into the country.

Environment: Create a carbon trading market.  Push increases in CAFE.  Global warming IS real, and oil WILL run out, so it is important to research alternative, low-impact energy sources now.  Fuel cell technology looks like a poor option: push hybrids in the short term, electric in the long term (powered, ultimately, by clean fuel).  Bring existing but dormant nuclear plants back online, but don't build new ones...the (essentially) permanent waste is too dangerous.

Patriot Act: Dangerous affront to our freedoms.  It should be gutted, with only the most vital of anti-terrorism aspects allowed to stand.

Economic Issues

Taxes: Keep a progressive structure, and do not allow deficit spending for the purposes of pushing a tax cut.  Work towards eliminating property taxes.  Keep sales taxes to a minimum, and exempt clothing and food.  Keep taxes as low as spending levels will allow.  Strongly supportive of Massachusetts' Proposition 2 1/2, which requires public approval of any property tax increase greater than 2.5% per year.

Unions: Supportive, though Unions are quickly losing their influence nationwide.  I oppose card check, however.

Free trade: Somewhat supportive of free trade, so long as it is FAIR trade.  That puts countries like China, who do not trade "fairly," on the hot seat.  Trade sanctions should be imposed for human rights violations.

Spending: Balanced budgets are key, and deficit spending should only be allowed in crisis and wartime situations.  Limit growth in times of surplus, and keep a rainy-day fund.

Social Security: Privatization in full is a bad idea, but minimal privatization may work.  Workers should be able to invest up to 5% of their Social Security deduction in private accounts, with the caviat that they must accept a later retirement age or a 95% benefit level for the privledge.

Space Program: Stay the course.  Humans will need the ability to seek out other planets if the continuation of the species is to be guaranteed, but this should not quite be a top priority at this point.

Welfare: More reform.  Welfare should focus on providing child care and getting parents who are able to work back to work.

Health-care: I'm starting to lean towards Universal coverage.  At the very least, the state should band together and provide benefit assistance coverage to the middle-class who are not offered insurance by their employers; these employers should be charged a penalty fee for this.
The Massachusetts system is doomed to be a costly failure, where people who can ill afford it will be forced into buying "junk" insurance coverage just to comply with a poorly-thought out state law.  It should be repealed.

Education: No Child Left Behind was well meaning, but poorly executed.  Urban schools can benefit through vouchers and charter schools, and should be given more leeway to hire and fire teachers based on performance.  The real solution to poor inner city standards remains fixing the cultural problems, where those who strive to achieve are looked down on as "acting white."

Foreign Policy Issues:

Democracy and Trade: Restore limited trade to Cuba.  Use trade sanctions to punish human rights violations, but cut off trade only in the most extreme (wartime) situations.

Anti (fill in the blank) Treaty: Work to reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide.

United Nations: It's a disasterous combination of anti-Israel interests.  The U.S. needs to stay heavily involved to minimize the impact of extremist countries.

Iraq: Giant clusterf***.  The US should begin to plan for troop withdrawls, and should work with other countries in the region to minimize the post-war fallout.

Israel: There's so much hate going on in the region, I don't know where to begin.  The Israelis have a right to exist, but so too do the Palestinians.  Israel needs to work and be more accomodating to its neighbors, and its neighbors need to do the same.  Realistically, though...not much we can do here.  We cannot up and abandon Israel.
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DownWithTheLeft
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« Reply #126 on: July 06, 2007, 08:19:06 AM »


Social Issues:

General Philosophy: Conservative Libertarian

Abortion: I'm am 100% pro-life with no exceptions.  I fail to see how the life of the mother is more important than that of the child, and times when they are both destin to die is amazingly slim and therefore we cannot have exceptions that lead to loopholes of other abortions being performed.

Gay Rights: An interesting way of phrasing it as I believe gays should have rights, however, these rights should be extended to the point of marriage or civil unions.  Well I hate the intervention of the federal government, if one state legalizes it, everyone will go there to get married and move back as appears to be happening.

Separation of Church and State: Not a federal issue but I fail to see why the state should not be able to do things like put up a Christmas or a school cannot sing Christmas carols.

Affirmative Action: I oppose in all circumstances
 
Gun Control: I oppose in all circumstances and wish to abolish any current restrictions to buying guns.  However, I am in favor of registering guns but at the state, not federal level.
 
Death Penalty: I oppose in all circumstances

Censorship: I oppose for the most part, however, it is it vital to censor some things such as classified government information from leaking

Flag burning: I oppose in all circumstances and suppport a constitutional amendment

Hate crimes: I oppose in all circumstances and will fight hard to keep sexual orientation off the list.  Something such as race cannot at least be seen by the attacker, but if the attacker does not know your gay and then they get charged with beating up a gay person that is not right.  Being gay or black should not make you more of a victim.
 
Hate speech: I support it, however, I strongly detest people speaking out against America

Smoking: I oppose smoking in public places

Alcohol consumption: I support a complete repeal of alcohol laws

Euthanasia: Oppose as part of my pro-life ideals
 
Drugs: Legalize all of them now and heavily tax them!

Gambling: Legalize everywhere
 
Prostitution: I support a policy of ignoring it but not condoning it
 
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Oppose embryonic support the proven adult stem cells research

Immigration: Heavily oppose illegal immigration and I want to require knowing English as a requirment for applying for anything that could lead to citizenship.  However, I support letting illegals already here to join the army to become citizens.
 
Environment: I flat out do not care about the environment at all and will not buy into man-made global warming unless someone proves the existence of martians
 
Patriot Act: Neutral, however, I realize it has done a lot of good like stopping the Brooklyn Bridge plot

Economic Issues

General Philosophy: Far-Right

Taxes: I support shutting down the IRS immediatley and replacing our current system with a Fair or Flat Tax system.  I would also cut massive amount of programs to account for these cuts.

Unions: I do not support a unions right to exist and hope that an employer fires any union employee who goes on strike

Free trade: I support free trade in all forms and wish to lift embargos on other countries

Spending: Massively reduce spending by eliminating programs that provide aid and other things that are not necessary for our country functioning.

Social Security: Complete privitization

Space Program: Keep at current levels

Welfare: Eliminate it all, no questions asked

Health-care: Not only stop the expansion to UHC, eliminate Medicaid and require that you must be a legal US resident to receive care at a hospital.  Also, make free hospital care for emergencies only, although I'm not really sure how to enforce that.  Also, create AHPs

Education: Cut education funding drastically and consolidate the number of schools and school positions.  For example, Moonachie, NJ has one K-8 school with a principal (they go to another town for HS) and they also have a superintendent making $120,000+.  This and many other positions are useless.  I support putting a cap on when teachers must retire to say districts money.

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Ebowed
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« Reply #127 on: July 06, 2007, 08:58:05 AM »

Social Issues:

General Philosophy: Liberal
Abortion: 100% pro-choice
Gay Rights: 100% pro-GLBT
Separation of Church and State: strongly in favor
Affirmative Action: oppose
Gun Control: oppose
Death Penalty: abolitionist
Censorship: oppose
Flag burning: support
Hate crimes: oppose (though as long as we have hate crimes, I support including sexual orientation)
Hate speech: support the right
Smoking: support the right
Alcohol consumption: support the right (drinking age at 21 is a hilarious joke)
Euthanasia: support
Drugs: support legal pot; oppose jail time for users of drugs; oppose six taxes
Gambling: support the right
Prostitution: support the right
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: support funding
Immigration: pro-amnesty and open borders
Environment: support all goals of environmentalism
Patriot Act: oppose

Economic Issues:

General Philosophy: Liberal
Taxes: support high and progressive taxes
Unions: support
Free trade: support
Spending: increase social spending; gut defense spending
Social Security: support
Space Program: support
Welfare: support & repeal 90s reform
Health-care: support universal not-for-profit single-payer
Education: repeal NCLB

Foreign Policy Issues:

General Philosophy: Liberal
Democracy and Trade: good things...
Anti (fill in the blank) Treaty: support pretty much all weapons bans
United Nations: support
Iraq: immediate withdrawal
Israel: withdraw all aid
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Verily
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« Reply #128 on: July 06, 2007, 09:04:21 AM »
« Edited: July 06, 2007, 09:45:41 AM by Verily »

Gay Rights: An interesting way of phrasing it as I believe gays should have rights, however, these rights should be extended to the point of marriage or civil unions.  Well I hate the intervention of the federal government, if one state legalizes it, everyone will go there to get married and move back as appears to be happening.

Clearly you are completely ignorant on the issue. Of all states, only Rhode Island recognizes same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts as legally binding. Therefore, no one moves to Massachusetts just to get married, then moves back. (Plus, that would be an obscene expense for basic equality.)
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NDN
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« Reply #129 on: July 06, 2007, 09:34:11 AM »
« Edited: July 06, 2007, 09:36:26 AM by NDN »

Gay Rights: An interesting way of phrasing it as I believe gays should have rights, however, these rights should be extended to the point of marriage or civil unions.  Well I hate the intervention of the federal government, if one state legalizes it, everyone will go there to get married and move back as appears to be happening.

Clearly you are completely ignorant on the issue. Of all states, only Rhode Island recognizes same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts as legally binding. Therefore, no one moves to Massachusetts just to get married, then moves back. (Plus, that would be an obscene expensive for basic equality.)
Which is unfortunate, since refusing to recognize them is clearly a violation of basic constitutional rights. It's too bad our courts are too conservative and spineless to actually strike down the DOMA. Otherwise, gay people might actually have seen some REAL gains in civil rights by now.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #130 on: July 06, 2007, 09:34:57 AM »

Unions: I do not support a unions right to exist and hope that an employer fires any union employee who goes on strike

Ah, I see that thou art still a follower of the "General Jaruzelski" approach to Unions...
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afleitch
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« Reply #131 on: July 06, 2007, 09:38:30 AM »

Thought I'd go through this in a little more detail; my views have altered somewhat
Social Issues:

Abortion: Pro-choice. Satisfied with current UK laws on abortion. Dislike abortions for 'contraceptive' purposes and would prefer comprehensive sex education and easier access to contraceptives to help cut the number of potential abortions amongst the youngest age categories.

Gay Rights: Always supportive. Believe current UK legislation is acceptable, though would like to move towards gay marriage in the forseeable future. Support the need for better anti bullying policies in schools.

Separation of Church and State: In the US, must be kept seperate. Would support the disestablishment of the CofE, but it is practically impossible.

Affirmative Action: Oppose. It is important to remamber that affirmative action is not the same as anti-racism/sexism etc policy; those should remain and be enforced, but to try to redress the balance by actively promoting 'positive' discrimination is wrong.

Gun Control: Support. I don't see why anyone needs a gun or the right to own one unless it is part of your job to carry or use one. I know it's probably political heresy as a libertarian to say so.

Death Penalty: Oppose in each and every single case put before a civil or military court.

Censorship: It is not up to the government to promote the censorship of anything unless it directly incites people to commit an illegal act or act contrary to common law.

Flag burning: You have the right to burn a flag.

Hate crimes: Tough cookie this one. It has been common in law for centuries to not treat all acts against the person as the same; motivation and circumstance have always been taken into account. For example, an act of poisoning with intent to kill, for a long time automatically received the death penalty in England and Wales because poisoning was considered to be pre-meditated. I.e you could stab a man out of immediate rage brought about by a situation which could be grounds for manslaughter not murder, but you had to plan and execute an act of poisoning. If the courts see it fit to sentence someone harshly because of his attitude towards the persons colour or sexuality etc then they are within traditional rights to do so. Whether or not there should be a law to enforce it in each case is another matter.

Hate speech: Oppose unless, as with censorship it directly incites people to commit an illegal act or act contrary to common law.

Smoking: I support smoking bans. Why we once tolerated smoke filled cinemas and aeroplanes to begin with is beyond me.

Alcohol consumption: Should be maintained at 18, but should be waived in all cases for those younger where supervised. It is important to 'wean' people onto alochol in a responsible manner.

Euthanasia: Should be legal. Legal forms should be made freely avaliable from the Post Office and signed by a witness and doctor.

Drugs: I oppose the decriminalisation of marijuana except for medicinal purposes. Over the past twenty years, marijuana has become stronger, more dangerous and addictive due to indoor farming and cultivation to ensure the strongest crop. 

Gambling: I don't oppose it, but I oppose the reasons, in the UK at least, for legalising it; to boost government revenue and then to shortlist impoverished areas as potential sites well aware of gambling and addiction problems that often blight those areas.

Prostitution: Promote legalisation, though regulation. Prostitutes should have full control over their client list and this should be enforced. Brothels should be very heavily regulated.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support.

Immigration: Support current UK levels of legal immigration and would strongly encourage migration from EU member states. Oppose illegal immigration as it does not occur though proper channels.

Environment: Support the expansion of renewble energy and nuclear power. Support tidal and wave power. Support the promotion of 'energy independence' for households.

Patriot Act: Vigourously oppose and oppose any attempts to pass similar legislation in the UK

Economic Issues

Taxes: The Income Tax threshold should be raised to an level between £10 and £12k lifting poorer, part time workers and students out of the income tax altogether. Working Tax Credits should be abolished and incapacity/unemployment benefits should be restructured.

Unions: Supportive. Though I believe all unions should be unaffiliated with any political party.

Free trade: Strongly support except in military equipment.

Spending: Levels of spending should be pinned to inflation until their internal finances and administrative structures are reviewed and waste identified. Where cuts in spending can be made they should be made.

Social Security: Move towards part privatisation of the pensions system and an immediate raising of the retirement age to 67.

Space Program: Continue to invest.

Welfare: If you want to encourage people to enter the workplace, you have to make the take home pay higher than welfare. As outlined above, income tax should be abolished for those below a certain income allowing an incentive to non workers. The disability/incapacity benefits system should be completely gutted. There is too much waste and too many workers claiming it for trivial reasons.

Health-care: I support the NHS. I believe that the state and private sector can go hand in hand.

Education: Restore the assisted places scheme, reintroduce streaming and setting by ability in primary and secondary schools and encourage the promotion of craft/volcational/apprenticeship non academic education from the age of 14

Foreign Policy Issues:

Democracy and Trade: Use trade as a political weapon. Suspend trade with Zimbabwe.

United Nations: Strongly support. We must work with other nations to 'lock out' dubious undemocratic nations from key posts.

Iraq: Establish a flexable timetable for withdrawal.

Israel: Strongly support Israel and its defence of it's people and territory. Support establishement of Palestinian State under democratic leadership. Propose that Jerusalem become a joint adminstered 'free city' under the UN.
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Verily
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« Reply #132 on: July 06, 2007, 09:45:07 AM »

And... (some quoting directly from NDN)

Social Issues:

Abortion: Pro-choice. 1st trimester abortions should be available on demand, later abortions should always be allowed for health/life saving reasons.

Gay Rights: Strongly support. Legalize Gay Marriage, Adoption, Open Military Service, etc.

Separation of Church and State: Strongly support. End "faith-based initiatives," compulsory AA attendance, vouchers for religious schools (the Supreme Court was wrong), etc.

Affirmative Action: Oppose. The most qualified person should always get the job. With that said, I recognize there are still disparities. But those should be remedied by vigorous enforcement of anti-discrimination laws -- not government sanctioned discrimination.

Gun Control: I support gun registration and licensing to screen out the mentally incompetent or criminal. I also support a modified version of the assault weapons ban that would fully encompass all semi-automatic and automatic weapons rather than select ones, weapons made for no reason other than to, well, assault others. Otherwise, I oppose further gun control.

Death Penalty: Oppose on the principle that guilt can never be 100% definitively proven, and the risk of executing an innocent person, however small, is always there. Life in prison is not a lesser sentence in any case; I have never understood the absurd need for vengeance killings.

Censorship: Strongly oppose any censorship of the entertainment mediums. Let consumers make their own viewing or listening decisions. We don't need anymore moral guardians or government officials telling us what we can or can't see.

Flag burning: It's unconstitutional to ban it on the grounds of "offensiveness".

Hate crimes: Oppose. It's redundant, just try them for assault/murder/etc. Everyone should be equal under the law, creating "special" crimes for minorities is hypocritical.

Hate speech: Support within reason. It's one thing to engage in defamation or encourage violence, it's another to just be prejudiced. The former are directly harmful, the latter isn't.

Smoking: Support public smoking bans.

Alcohol consumption: It should be legal to buy beer at 18, and the drinking age should be abolished. The current laws are unenforceable, inconsistent, and ultimately hostile to personal freedom.

Euthanasia: Should be legal.

Drugs: I support the legalization of all soft drugs, and the decriminalization of drugs in general. The current War on Drugs is an expensive, tyrannical failure just like Alcohol Prohibition was.

Gambling: It should be legal to gamble, but Casino development and the like should be left up to local areas.

Prostitution: Should be legal.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support. The opposition to this infuriates me. People, these aren't even fetuses, they're embryos. They're cells. Do you really care more about something that isn't even in the womb more than suffering Parkinson's or Alzheimer's patients?

Immigration: As a temporary solution, I support one-time full amnesty with no strings attached so as to encourage faster assimilation and avoid the costs of mass deportation. However, this is clearly not a viable long-term solution. In the long term, I would like to relax restrictions on legal immigration, allowing workers to immigrate legally into the country if they have been offered work in the United States. (Thus establishing a "guest worker" program without the "guest" part.) This will ensure that most immigrants from Mexico and Latin America generally are here legally and thus paying full taxes and encouraged to assimilate (as second-generation immigrants do anyway, but this is for first-generation).


Economic Issues

Taxes: Should be progressive. If we can not cut spending, we should raise taxes (either on the wealthy or across the board if severe enough). If we do cut spending, they should be cut unless the increased surplus is used to pay off the deficit or will clearly be needed for one-time spending some time in the near future.

Unions: They're holding a lot of this country back, such as the Rust Belt. In many respects, they have as negative of an influence in politics as Big Business. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that there is a right to organize enshrined in the Constitution (albeit not intended in the way unions use it). We should rely on companies to control unions, lifting some restrictions on firings during strikes.

Free trade: Free trade as established under the WTO is unfortunately bureaucratic and inefficient, but, as of right now, it's the best we've got. I support continued membership in the WTO, though I would like the US to surrender its stranglehold on control of the WTO leadership to the UN. Free trade is important if for no other reason than because it drives the economy to modernize, something we have been all too reluctant to do.

Spending: I believe in fiscal responsibility. Ban earmarks, and roll back current pork spending both domestically and (especially) on the military. Eliminate subsidies to defense contractors, the automobile industry, oil and natural gas producers, etc. Also eliminate government spending and subsidies for small-scale local projects.

Social Security: Privatization is a terrible idea. It would require less benefits, huge transfer costs (in the trillions) and would be riskier than the current system. Either fully fund Social Security and keep the government from raiding it, or abolish it altogether. There is no middle ground here.

Space Program: The near-monopoly NASA has had on space exploration has resulted in stagnation and little advancement. Privatization has already begun, and, for now, the government should sit back and let private companies take up the burden. Greatly reduce funding for NASA and instead contract private companies as necessary for transportation to the ISS.

Welfare: Insofar as radical changes to our other economic plans will not be realized within the next few decades, welfare is an unfortunate necessity to continued functioning of our economy. Realistically, it should only be necessary in cases where the individual cannot be held responsible for his or her own failure (else it should be a "working welfare" program). However, unequally funded public education has blurred the lines of responsibility so far that welfare is necessary far more often than it should be. The only major reform that I would support independent of reform elsewhere is to require a demonstration that the welfare recipient has applied for a job within the past two weeks in order to receive a welfare check.

Health care: Universal health care is the only efficient and effective way of providing health services for the citizenry. The United States should adopt a system modeled on Germany's in which all citizens are automatically covered for all health costs by the government but may purchase more expensive insurance from private companies if they so desire.

Education: Most importantly and above all, the use of the property tax to pay for education should be abolished. To replace it, federal income taxes should be increased slightly, with the proceeds going entirely to a "National Education Trust Fund" sealed from congressional dipping. This trust fund would distribute its value annually between school districts nationwide based solely on the number of students attending each district's schools. In addition, all money initially generated by eliminating pork programs, described above, should be diverted to a mass construction program to build at least one new school in every school district nationwide.

Foreign Policy Issues:

Democracy and trade: Don't link human rights to China. It isn't economically viable and we can't do anything about it. By the same token, end the embargo on Cuba.

Nuclear proliferation: Strongly support disarmament of all nuclear weapons and efforts to stop nuclear proliferation.

United Nations: It's corrupt, but our participation is needed.

Iraq: A disaster. Iraq was never a threat to anyone, there was no reason whatsoever to invade it. Furthermore, our presence in Iraq is just fueling the current insurgency further. The US should attempt to re-partition Iraq, then immediately leave.

Israel: Cut off economic aid to Israel (and to Palestine) and let them deal with Hezbollah et al. alone until they learn the use of diplomacy and come to a permanent agreement with the Palestinians.
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DownWithTheLeft
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« Reply #133 on: July 06, 2007, 10:05:27 AM »

Just for fun, thing we have in common:


Affirmative Action: oppose
Gun Control: oppose
Death Penalty: abolitionist
Censorship: oppose
Hate crimes: oppose
Hate speech: support the right
Alcohol consumption: support the right (drinking age at 21 is a hilarious joke)
Drugs: support legal pot; oppose jail time for users of drugs; oppose six taxes
Gambling: support the right

And of course, the big one:

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Jaggerjack
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« Reply #134 on: July 06, 2007, 10:17:37 AM »

Social Issues:

General Philosophy: Liberal
Abortion: Pro-choice
Gay Rights: Pro-GLBT
Separation of Church and State: strongly in favor
Affirmative Action: oppose
Gun Control: don't care
Death Penalty: abolitionist
Censorship: strongly oppose
Flag burning: don't care
Hate crimes: oppose
Hate speech: oppose the right
Smoking: support the right
Alcohol consumption: support the right
Euthanasia: support
Drugs: as long as its legal
Gambling: support the right
Prostitution: support the right
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: support funding
Immigration: pro-amnesty and open borders
Environment: support all goals of environmentalism
Patriot Act: strongly oppose

Economic Issues:

General Philosophy: Center-Left
Taxes: support high and progressive taxes
Unions: support
Free trade: support
Spending: increase social spending; gut defense spending
Social Security: support
Space Program: support
Welfare: support & repeal 90s reform
Health-care: support universal
Education: repeal NCLB

Foreign Policy Issues:

General Philosophy: Liberal
Democracy and Trade: Hell yeah
Anti (fill in the blank) Treaty: support pretty much all weapons bans
United Nations: support
Iraq: immediate withdrawal
Israel: They need no aid
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SPC
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« Reply #135 on: July 06, 2007, 01:03:03 PM »

I'm going to update this:

Social:
Liberal
- I am pro-choice at the state level
- I support civil-unions.
- I support decriminalization of any drug
- I am pro-prostitution.
- I am anti-censorship, within reason.
- I am pro-stem cell research.
- I am tolerant of flag burning, so long as you do it on your own property.
- I support euthanasia.
- I strongly support removing "under god" from the pledge.
- I support evolution
- I oppose school prayer
Mixed
- I am anti-smoking ban.
- I am opposed to illegal immigration, but feel that quotas should be abolished.
Conservative
- I support the death penalty if DNA evidence is provided.
- I oppose gay marriage.
- I oppose government sanctioned political correctness.
- I strongly oppose gun control.
- I strongly oppose the Fairness Doctrine.

Economic:
Liberal:
- I support a tariff on foreign oil
- I support more research into renewable energy.
Mixed
- I support cutting welfare and other programs, and using the money saved to fund job training.
Conservative
- I strongly oppose affirmative action.
- I support free trade.
- I support dismantling the IRS.
- I generally support businesses over unions.
- I oppose stronger environmental regulations.
- I support privatizing Social Security.
- I would support a balanced budget ammendment.
- I oppose campaign finance reform.
- I oppose raising the minimum wage.
- I oppose increasing funding for public education and NCLB.
- I strongly oppose more government funding for medicaid and other health programs.
- I oppose foreign aid.
- I strongly oppose the FDA.
- I strongly oppose eminent domain.
 
Foreign Policy and Homeland Security:
Liberal:
- I oppose the Patriot Act.
- I oppose NSA wire-tapping.
- I would strongly oppose a draft.
- I oppose the troop surge.
- I oppose increasing military funding.
- I support withdrawal from areas of the world where our presence is unnecesary (i.e. Europe, Afghanistan, Japan)
- I do not believe in going to war with countries that do not pose a direct threat to us.
Mixed:
- I am pro-Israel, but do not support giving them aid.
- I support partitioning Iraq.
Conservative:
- I support pulling out of the UN.
- I believe that we need to be aggresive toward Iran and North Korea to stop their nuclear programs
- I do not believe that habeus corpus applies to prisoners of war. (i.e. Gitmo)
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« Reply #136 on: July 07, 2007, 12:58:25 AM »

Some might be strongly influenced by French politics.

Social

Abortion: Pro-choice
Gay Rights: Support gay rights, although neutral on marriage.
Separation of Church and State: I'm a proud secular and oppose any and all attempt at all to give religion a role to play in politics.
Affirmative Action: Oppose
Gun Control: Support, I don't see why anybody needs a gun.
Death Penalty: Generally oppose, but would support it for serious crimes against the state.
Censorship: There should be no censorship.
Flag burning: You have the right to burn a flag, its freedom of expression.
Smoking: I support smoking bans in public areas. Outside and inside.
Alcohol consumption: Should be maintained at 18, but there needs to be some kind of regulation to avoid excessive consumption at that age.
Euthanasia: Should be legal
Drugs: I strongly oppose legalizing marijuana or any other drugs.
Gambling: With moderation!
Prostitution: Should be illegal.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support.
Immigration: Oppose legalization of illegal immigrants and support stricter rules on allowing immigration. Immigrants should speak the language of the country, should find a job within 6 months of arrival, and of course follow ALL laws (or else, expel them)
Environment: Serious issue, should take immediate action to stop it before its too late.
Patriot Act: Vigourously oppose

Economic Issues

Taxes: Current levels are fine.
Unions: Support unions, as long as it doesn't become an excuse to go on strike for everything the company does that they don't like.
Free trade: Strongly support except in military equipment.
Social Security: Support universal, public healthcare.
Space Program: Continue to invest, albeit less than right now.
Welfare: Continue attempts at reform

Foreign Policy Issues:

Democracy and Trade: Suspend trade with dictatorships.
United Nations: Strongly support, although there is an urgent need for reform.
Iraq: A complete disaster. Leave. Fast.
Israel: Strongly support Israel and its defence of it's people and territory. Support establishement of Palestinian State under democratic leadership.
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« Reply #137 on: July 07, 2007, 07:02:21 AM »


Social

Abortion: Pro-choice
Gay Rights: I fully support gay rights, up to an including full legal equality (marriage/civil union and adoption)
Separation of Church and State: I'm a proud secular and oppose any and all attempt at all to give religion a role to play in politics.
Affirmative Action: I think in certain circumstances it is needed
Gun Control: The idea of owning a gun boggles my mind.
Death Penalty: Death penalty is barbaric - the state should play games of blood lust.
Censorship: Moderate levels.
Flag burning: It's a symbol, yes. But it is a symbol that is owned by every citizen.
Smoking: I hate being around smokers - it should be as limited in public as possible.
Alcohol consumption: The legal drinking age should match the age of voting right.
Euthanasia: Support, with very strict medical guidelines.
Drugs:Drugs are dangerous - and they should not be legalised. I do support small quantities for medical reasons.
Gambling: With moderation!
Prostitution: It's never going to disappear - don't decriminalise - but don't prosecute.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support.
Immigration: All illegal arrivals must be identified within 6 months or returned to the border. Amnesty for all those illegals already in the country. Maintain refugee committment.
Environment: Aggressive action - but based on economic common sense.
Patriot Act: Vigourously oppose

Economic Issues

Taxes: The tax rate should be as low as possible for those on incomes below $40,000pa. Focus tax cuts on low and middle incomes.
Unions: Unions have a place - but they cannot control things in a liberal market economy.
Free trade: Careful supprt.
Social Security: Support universal, public healthcare.
Space Program: A very low priority.
Welfare: Continue attempts at reform

Foreign Policy Issues:

Democracy and Trade: Aim sanctions at non-democratic states - but only military sanctions as first resort.
United Nations: Strongly support, reform needed.
Iraq: A complete disaster. But mess is made by us, we have a responsibility to leave it as stable as possible.
Israel: Israel needs consistent support, however, there MUST be a viable Palestinian state by 2012.
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« Reply #138 on: July 07, 2007, 08:23:02 AM »

Social

Abortion: Pro-choice
Gay Rights: Full legal equality.
Separation of Church and State: Get religion out of politics but don't go ACLU insane and persecutre christmas
Affirmative Action: End it. We shouldn't have bothered going beyond integration/enforcing the right to vote to forced busing/AA. All AA does is divided society between the majority and the priviliged groups.
Gun Control: End gun contro
Death Penalty: Keep and expand the use. Abolish appeals for it.
Censorship: Abolish it
Flag burning: Allow it
Smoking: End all bans on smoking. If a business chooses to permit smoking its their affair.
Alcohol consumption: Abolish all alcohol related laws besides guidelines on manufacturing it.
Euthanasia: Support, with very strict medical guidelines.
Drugs: Legalize already. The war on drugs isn't working.
Gambling: Legalize now
Prostitution: Legalize and regulate but give EXTREMELY harsh punishments for sex trafficking/pimping. I'm thinking death for anyone who does those.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support.
Immigration: No more refugees or illegals being tolerated. Do a version of the 1921 immigration restriction act(the part abotu restricting locations not numbers) and ban immigration that's not from either the first world, latin america or East Asia. Also all muslim immigrants must convert to another religion within 5 years if they want to even think about citizenship/staying in the US
Environment: Aggressive action - but based on economic common sense.
Patriot Act: Support

Economic Issues

Taxes: Raise taxes to keep the budget balanced.
Unions: Unions have a place - but they cannot control things in a liberal market economy.
Free trade: Careful supprt.
Social Security: Give universal healthcare of some sort(either a NHS type deal or national health insurance. Some kind of plan) but give workers a better plan than the unemployed.
Space Program: A very high priority.
Welfare: Expand welfare for the working poor but reduce it for the urban unemployables.

Foreign Policy Issues:

Democracy and Trade: Do not factor human rights into trade.
United Nations: Strongly oppose. The UN needs to be replaced.
Iraq: Leave ASAP
Israel: Completely drop supposrt for Israel and ban charitable donations/selling weapons to it. Also deport all Americans who also have Israeli passports
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« Reply #139 on: July 07, 2007, 01:28:48 PM »
« Edited: July 07, 2007, 01:32:07 PM by useful idiot »

Social

Abortion: Generally pro-choice if done within the first 16 weeks or so
Gay Rights: Apathetic. I don't really care if gays get married or not because it doesn't affect me and most of my gay friends don't seem to care much either.
Separation of Church and State: means different things to different people; i dont mind if the pledge is kept or ten commandments at courts, but do I want an established "American Church"? Of course not
Affirmative Action: Support
Gun Control: Oppose for rifles, shotguns, and handguns
Death Penalty: Generally support
Censorship: Oppose
Flag burning: Freedom of expression.
Smoking: Smoking bans are for nazis
Alcohol consumption: 18 years of age
Euthanasia: Support legalization
Drugs: Support legalization of soft drugs
Gambling: Oppose
Prostitution: Support legalization
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support relaxing restrictions and allowing it to occur, but no federal funding.
Immigration: Support stronger border security, the fence, no amnesty, send illegals home and don't let them come back, make it easier for honest immigrants to enter legally.
Environment: Oppose Kyoto, support more restrictions than exist now with regards to wildlife protection, no federal funding to stop "Global Warming"
Patriot Act: Generally oppose

Economics

Taxes: Federal flat tax at a rate around 18%(Russia's is 13%), sales tax for the states.
Unions: Support
Free trade: Oppose
Social Security: Keep it public and federal, divert money from other places to keep it afloat.
Space Program: Ridiculous waste of money, almost sickening considering how much of that money could help the less fortunate. Thousands of kids will die of hunger so that a space shuttle can launch for no discernable reason. Private companies are starting to do it anyway, so there's no reason to continue with NASA.
Welfare: Support reforms

Foreign Policy

Democracy and Trade: Oppose trading with dictatorships
United Nations: Oppose, what a joke
Iraq: Leave immediately and take as much oil with us as we can when we go.
Israel: Support the State of Israel's right to exist and defend itself; set benchmarks for Palestinian statehood(democracy, seperation of church and state, stable military to control Islamists.)
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« Reply #140 on: July 08, 2007, 12:52:48 AM »

Social

Abortion: Generally pro-choice if done within the first 16 weeks or so
Gay Rights: Apathetic. I don't really care if gays get married or not because it doesn't affect me and most of my gay friends don't seem to care much either.
Separation of Church and State: means different things to different people; i dont mind if the pledge is kept or ten commandments at courts, but do I want an established "American Church"? Of course not
Affirmative Action: Support
Gun Control: Oppose for rifles, shotguns, and handguns
Death Penalty: Generally support
Censorship: Oppose
Flag burning: Freedom of expression.
Smoking: Smoking bans are for nazis
Alcohol consumption: 18 years of age
Euthanasia: Support legalization
Drugs: Support legalization of soft drugs
Gambling: Oppose
Prostitution: Support legalization
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support relaxing restrictions and allowing it to occur, but no federal funding.
Immigration: Support stronger border security, the fence, no amnesty, send illegals home and don't let them come back, make it easier for honest immigrants to enter legally.
Environment: Oppose Kyoto, support more restrictions than exist now with regards to wildlife protection, no federal funding to stop "Global Warming"
Patriot Act: Generally oppose

Economics

Taxes: Federal flat tax at a rate around 18%(Russia's is 13%), sales tax for the states.
Unions: Support
Free trade: Oppose
Social Security: Keep it public and federal, divert money from other places to keep it afloat.
Space Program: Ridiculous waste of money, almost sickening considering how much of that money could help the less fortunate. Thousands of kids will die of hunger so that a space shuttle can launch for no discernable reason. Private companies are starting to do it anyway, so there's no reason to continue with NASA.
Welfare: Support reforms

Foreign Policy

Democracy and Trade: Oppose trading with dictatorships
United Nations: Oppose, what a joke
Iraq: Leave immediately and take as much oil with us as we can when we go.
Israel: Support the State of Israel's right to exist and defend itself; set benchmarks for Palestinian statehood(democracy, seperation of church and state, stable military to control Islamists.)


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« Reply #141 on: July 08, 2007, 06:59:32 PM »

Social

Abortion: Generally pro-choice if done within the first 16 weeks or so
Gay Rights: Apathetic. I don't really care if gays get married or not because it doesn't affect me and most of my gay friends don't seem to care much either.
Separation of Church and State: means different things to different people; i dont mind if the pledge is kept or ten commandments at courts, but do I want an established "American Church"? Of course not
Affirmative Action: Support
Gun Control: Oppose for rifles, shotguns, and handguns
Death Penalty: Generally support
Censorship: Oppose
Flag burning: Freedom of expression.
Smoking: Smoking bans are for nazis
Alcohol consumption: 18 years of age
Euthanasia: Support legalization
Drugs: Support legalization of soft drugs
Gambling: Oppose
Prostitution: Support legalization
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support relaxing restrictions and allowing it to occur, but no federal funding.
Immigration: Support stronger border security, the fence, no amnesty, send illegals home and don't let them come back, make it easier for honest immigrants to enter legally.
Environment: Oppose Kyoto, support more restrictions than exist now with regards to wildlife protection, no federal funding to stop "Global Warming"
Patriot Act: Generally oppose

Economics

Taxes: Federal flat tax at a rate around 18%(Russia's is 13%), sales tax for the states.
Unions: Support
Free trade: Oppose
Social Security: Keep it public and federal, divert money from other places to keep it afloat.
Space Program: Ridiculous waste of money, almost sickening considering how much of that money could help the less fortunate. Thousands of kids will die of hunger so that a space shuttle can launch for no discernable reason. Private companies are starting to do it anyway, so there's no reason to continue with NASA.
Welfare: Support reforms

Foreign Policy

Democracy and Trade: Oppose trading with dictatorships
United Nations: Oppose, what a joke
Iraq: Leave immediately and take as much oil with us as we can when we go.
Israel: Support the State of Israel's right to exist and defend itself; set benchmarks for Palestinian statehood(democracy, seperation of church and state, stable military to control Islamists.)




So being pro-choice, supporting affirmative action, immediate withdrawal from Iraq, supporting unions and opposing free trade, opposing the Patriot Act, supporting the legalisation of drugs, euthenasia and prostitution, opposing censorship and attempts to ban flag burning are Republican ideals now, eh? Hmm, I might have to look into switching parties....
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« Reply #142 on: July 08, 2007, 08:10:19 PM »

This is Hashemite. Ignore him.
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« Reply #143 on: July 10, 2007, 12:11:09 AM »

After having thought about it for a few months, I think the "cut benefits" people are right on Social Security. Why are we forcing the working and middle class to pay for current retirees who can support themselves just fine? Either abolish it or make it a means-tested welfare program targeted only to the elderly poor.

Not to mention the constitutionality of the program is questionable.
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« Reply #144 on: July 10, 2007, 12:20:57 AM »

After having thought about it for a few months, I think the "cut benefits" people are right on Social Security. Why are we forcing the working and middle class to pay for current retirees who can support themselves just fine? Either abolish it or make it a means-tested welfare program targeted only to the elderly poor.

I could agree with that. The problem I see with social security, however, is that it encourages people not to be too concerned about their finances. Obviously it doesn't affect the decisions of a well-off person, but someone who could either A) save a certain amount of money over their lifespan for retirement or B) spend that money on worthless consumerist goods and get it back from the government anyway will always choose the latter, which, IMO, is not a good idea to be promoting.

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How so?
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« Reply #145 on: July 10, 2007, 12:33:29 AM »

After having thought about it for a few months, I think the "cut benefits" people are right on Social Security. Why are we forcing the working and middle class to pay for current retirees who can support themselves just fine? Either abolish it or make it a means-tested welfare program targeted only to the elderly poor.

I could agree with that. The problem I see with social security, however, is that it encourages people not to be too concerned about their finances. Obviously it doesn't affect the decisions of a well-off person, but someone who could either A) save a certain amount of money over their lifespan for retirement or B) spend that money on worthless consumerist goods and get it back from the government anyway will always choose the latter, which, IMO, is not a good idea to be promoting.

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How so?

1. I would agree with that as well. The government should be promoting private accounts through tax breaks and the like.

2. A variety of reasons. But the basic problem was that under the "reserve clause" of the Constitution (the 10th Amendment) powers not specifically granted to the federal government are reserved for the States or the people. Since the government was obviously not explicitly authorized to do that, they only had two possible justifications: the commerce clause or the broad power to levy taxes and expend funds to "provide for the general welfare," as the basis for the programs in the Act. But neither one was really convincingly argued, in fact the Supreme Court only ruled that the Social Security tax was valid.

Not to mention FDR misled Congress and the Public on the nature of the program.

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« Reply #146 on: July 10, 2007, 12:43:59 AM »

I suppose I should point out that I support universal health care, and, once it is implemented, social security becomes more or less redundant (as the vast majority of expenses incurred by the elderly are health-related anyway).
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« Reply #147 on: July 10, 2007, 03:45:48 AM »
« Edited: July 10, 2007, 03:55:49 AM by Madhur »

Liberal:

-Pro-Choice no matter what
-Allow homosexual marriage
-Time Table system to get out of Iraq
-Increase economic aid to allied nations
-Increase school spending
-Staunchly secular. No public school prayer what so ever
-Increase in veterans benefits
-Actively combat global warming
-Against drilling in ANWR
-Increase reliance on renewable energies
-Very limited censorship
-Cut tax loopholes the rich use
-Eliminate most corporate tax cuts with an exception to Green companies
-Tax Oil company windfall profits
-Universal Healthcare (voluntary government funded)
-Increase minimum wage
-Legalize euthanesia
-Legalize Marijuana

Moderate:

-Support Bush's immigration plan. Limit immigration from Mexico dramatically, build a border wall and expand out border patrol
-Support gobalization but put tarrifs to protect valuable American industries
-Cut excessive social spending but maintain some level of it
-Re write Patriot bill
-Eliminate farm subsidies for high income farmers
-Consitutional amendment outlawing the governments ability to get into debt
-Moderate gun control

Conservative:

-Avidly anti Union (workers adress their complaints to law enforcement)
-Cut pork barrel spending
-Increase military spending
-Limit funding of UN
-Independent aggressive foriegn policy
-Lower taxes all across the board and simplify our tax system
-Expand death penalty for rapists and pedophiles
-Outlaw parole and  increase sentences
-Keep prostitution illegal
-Against Affirmative Action
-Illegalize flag burning
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« Reply #148 on: July 10, 2007, 04:37:46 PM »
« Edited: August 10, 2007, 10:25:26 PM by D.R.M. »

A lot of these issues are unique to Canada, so don't be surprised if you aren't too familiar with a lot of them.


Social Policy

Same-Sex Marriage: Marriage is a civil institution with the function of legally uniting people who love each other, at least in their own eyes. Any two people who think they love one another should be allowed to get married. This means couples of the same gender should be able to get married. If theocrats really believed marriage was “sanctioned by god” this would mean atheists or followers of a different religion couldn’t get married, clearly something against human rights as civilly determined.

Abortion: I support abortion on demand up to the Third Trimester. In the Third Trimester abortion would be allowed for health issues.

De facto Secularism: The only religious reasons that ought to be considered when drafting or debating bills in the Senate or House of Commons should be that of religious liberty. End the State-funded Catholic School System in Ontario and keep Faith-Based Arbitration out of the legal system.

Intellectual Freedom: Support the right to state ideas in any medium which aren’t slanderous, defamatory, or libelous in exception to advertisements.

Drugs: Legalize “soft drugs” and treat drug abuse as a health rather than criminal matter and fine users of “hard drugs”.   

Stem Cell Research: Should be legal and supported, if not funded, by the federal government.

Immigration: Keep Canada’s current immigration laws, as is.

Euthanasia: Doctors should be able to kill somebody in unbearable pain/no chance of survival with their consent. 

Health Policy

Healthcare: Stop creeping privatization; keep Canada’s single-payer public healthcare system, and fund research & development into medical technologies. Anyone under 20 should have access to government funded dental care.

Daycare: Fund a federal daycare program for children and offer tax credits to stay at home parents.

Tobacco: Ban smoking in public places, put a 90% tax on cigarettes (on top of the GST) and keep the ban on cigarette advertisements. Use revenue from the tax to fund programs that help smokers quit.

Anthropogenic Climate Change & Pollution: Subsidize automobile industries that produce “green cars” and industries working with to develop environmentally-friendly energy sources. Extensively fund research & development into alternative energy sources and impose a progressive carbon tax.

Drugs: Continue educating school children on the dangers of drugs, use fines from hard drug users to invest in Drug Rehabilitation Centres.     

Alcohol: Keep the legal drinking age as is in Canada (18 years). Continue to teach children and the public at large about the dangers of alcohol abuse and fund rehabilitation centres. Place a 2% tax on alcohol on top of the GST. 

Trans Fat: Impose a 12% tax on anything with Trans fat on top of the GST.

Sexual Education:Teach Junior High School and High School Students about the dangers of unprotected sex and on how to use a condom. When going through birth control methods, mention abstinence.

Crime: Keep Canada free of capital punishment. Prisoners convicted of violent crimes should be forced to preform labour which will generate income for the prison. The prison should use the income for rehabilitation programs. Introduce mandatory minimum sentences for child molesters and do not let child molesters out of prison unless surgically or chemically castrated (as in California)

Government Reform

Head of State: The Monarchy is an anachronistic and aristocratic institution, decided by heritage rather than merit. It’s out of place in a country with equality rights embedded in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Monarchy discriminates on the basis of religion, baring Catholics and all non-Anglicans from the thrown. “Defender of the Faith” as part of the Canadian Monarch’s title shows how at odds with a country of multiple faiths the institution is. The Monarchy would be replaced with a Governor-General elected by Parliament, akin to the President of Ireland, with the approval of the Commonwealth of Nations, hence making Canada a Commonwealth Republic. The office of Governor-General would be mandated by the constitution to be nonreligious/secular. Canada’s horrible citizenship oath, as a result, would lack reference to the Queen.

Electoral System: Merge electoral districts of smaller population together to create multi-member constituencies. That is, districts that sends more than one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons. To be precise, there would be four MPs from each multi-member district. Candidates must have a certain quota of votes to be elected (the Droop Quota). In essence, elections to the House of Commons would be done with the single transferable vote system.

Senate Reform: Democratize the Canadian Senate, elect members to the Canadian Senate through the single transferable vote system. Increase the number of days the Senate has to sit.

De jure Secularism: Remove “God” from the Preamble to the Canadian Constitution and add on “Freedom from and of Religion” to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Amend the constitution to bar Federal, Provincial, or Municipal Governments from giving preference to one religion over another in any way.

Aboriginal Governance: Give First Nations reserve councils more autonomy and money, as the aboriginal population is booming on reserves. Also elect an additional Member of Parliament from each province to represent reverse and aboriginal interests. 

Civil Service: Make civil servants record their spending and publish records of their spending on their department’s website each month. Additionally implement U.K. style reforms, with the exception of privatization, to the civil service in order to make it more effective and efficient.

Foreign Policy

Trade: Placing tariffs on foreign products usually hurts impoverished third world producers. But trade, as currently conducted, benefits the multinational “middlemen” more so than the producers. This is why we should renegotiate trade agreements to give third world producers a more equitable share and place high tariffs on products made in sweatshops or by child labour. In summary, Fair Trade.

United Nations: Hold elections to determine Canada’s Ambassador to the UN and try to reform the Human Rights Council to get Human Rights Violators off it. Give 0.7 % of Canada’s GDP to UN humanitarian aid programs and increase the number of Peacekeepers supplied by Canada by a third and follow up on Canada’s peacekeeping dues.     
 
Israel/Palestine: Condemn human rights abuses by Israel in the Occupied Territories. Condemn terrorism of Hamas. Officially support absorbing the “Occupied Territories” into Israel and giving all Palestinian residents citizenship in a secular/multicultural Israeli democracy (One State Solution). 

Fiscal and Economic Policy

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Require everyone with a television to get a Television license, as to fund the CBC.

Labour Unions: Encourage labour unions and pass anti-Strikebreaking legislation to protect workers on strike.

Taxes: Keep the GST at 6%. Increase corporate income tax, both domestic and foreign. Introduce taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, Trans fatty foods, and a carbon tax (as stated above). Keep most personal income taxes as are, except increase taxes on those making 3 million dollars a year and above to 40% of their income taxed. Eliminate tax shelters in the Upper Income Brackets (those earning 126,000 - 3 million [my new tax scheme introduced the 3 million and over bracket] and those earning 3 millon and over).

Corporations: Aside from increasing their taxes, try and limit the number of corporations chartered and encourage sole proprietorships over corporations.

Telecommunications: Create “Canada Telephone Service”, a nationalized crown corporation dealing with telephone services.

Pensions: Make regulations to prevent employers from under-funding pensions.

Minimum Wage: Let collective bargaining decide that. 

Work Week: Introduce a 35 hour work week.

Tuition: Give out Australian-style tuition rebates to students who stay in Canada after finishing university.   

Universities: Increase funding for Universities by 12%.

ATM Fees: Ban ATM fees.

Cooperatives and Credit Unions: Issue statements of moral support for these organizations.

Science

Canadian Space Agency: Mandate the agency to cooperate more with privately-run space organizations, such as Canadian Arrow, to put Canada on the “space exploration map”, so to speak.

Evolution: Encourage Provincial governments to make evolution crucial in high school biology curriculum.
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« Reply #149 on: July 11, 2007, 06:07:07 PM »
« Edited: July 12, 2007, 12:57:46 PM by Angry_Weasel »

Political Typology: Western Democrat  Examples: Jon Tester, Ed Pearlmutter, Brian  Scwitzer, Dave Freudenthal


Social : Microcratic Liberal

Education: Keep status-quo on evolution
Abortion: Pro-Choice, support the originial ruling in Roe v. Wade, no funding though. No restrictions on funding or practice of stem cell research or health care delivery.  Full prosecution for murder for 3rd trimester abortions unless in self-defense. 2nd degree abortions outside of rape, insest, self-defense and unforeseen defect can be civilly liable on the federal level and criminally liable at the state level. End the Mexico City policy and reconsider cloning. Fully fund birth control clinics and comphrehensive sex ed.
Homosexuality: I support legal recognition of homosexuals or an end to the state recognition of sectarian marraige.
Church/State: I support the status quo on the issue.
Drugs: Continue combating meth, end prohibition on marijuana. Defer the drug war to the states.
Affirmative Action: Nuetral on issue and its a states' rights issue.
Immigration: I support the current status quo on the issue and favor enforcing current laws
2nd Amendment: Legalize assault weapons and conceal carry. Support "Make My Day".
Euthanasia: Support Oregon's Law
Death Penalty: Oppose with exception to terrorism or in war time.
Prostitution: Legalize it, still prosecute if STDS are transferred.
Freedom of Speech and Pornography: So long as children are not involved and no other crime is committed, pornography should be legal and indecent exposure should only be enforced around children. All other speech should only be restricted around children as well and violent video games should be a matter for the states only. I am really hung up on campaign and ethics reform.
Tort Reform: The 7th and 8th amendments are suitable for this need.
Gambling: Laws against this seem unreasonable given that when one invests, one is gambling.
Patriot Act: Strongly Oppose. We all must understand that 9/11 was a once in a lifetime event.
Hate Laws: I oppose hate speech(I would consider flag burning hate speech) rerstrictions, but a violent crime done clearly done in the name of hate should be aggrevated. However, it should be a complete defense  in any legal subsequent legal proceding if someone "lashes out" because of the hateful speech of another...
Rapists/Pedophiles: Perhaps we should try physical, not chemical, castration and use them as eunuchs




Economic Issues: Moderate Liberal

Taxes: Restore the Clinton Tax code, redistribute tax cuts to 35K to 90K income bracket and remove payroll taxes for paychecks that are for less than 400 dollars a week.

Unions: Supportive. As companies buy labor, there should be companies that sell it by selling themselves.  Repeal Labor Laws and give that power to unions.

Free trade: Strongly support except for funding the development of new infrastructure and industries.

Spending: Levels of spending should be pinned to inflation until their internal finances and administrative structures are reviewed and waste identified. Where cuts in spending can be made they should be made.

Social Security: Move towards part privatisation of the pensions system and an immediate raising of the retirement age to 67. It should also be raised to 70 when life expectancy is raised to 87 (probably by 2045) and should be privatized completely when average life expancy rises to 100 (by 2085).

Space Program: Increase Funding, privatize all sub-orbital and orbital space infrastructure, services, research and transportation. National should focus on making sure that the ORION system matures and establishes Moon Stations and Martian Expeditions.

Welfare: If you want to encourage people to enter the workplace, you have to make the take home pay higher than welfare. As outlined above, income tax should be abolished for those below a certain income allowing an incentive to non workers. Also, there should be an earn income tax credit program to allow those who work at least 40 hours(or 35 for a single parent with more than 2 children so long as they see a social worker) a week to supplement their income so that they are above the poverty line.

Health-care: I support the Massachuettes plan. We need to allow people to work by what is good by them, but allow them to be able to afford the plan they need. However, for one to be eligible for MediAssist(insurance subsidies for middle income individuals), MedicAid or MediCare, they must be able to show that they are taking preventative steps in order to lower their costs. Also, medical programs should make it easier to buy vocational prosthesis such as cybernetic implants and gene therapies as they become available.

Education: Use an alternative voucher system and raise overall funding.

Environment and Subsidies:Transfer subsidies from oil to uranium, solar energy and hydrogen production. Create new industries to buy off all of the excess corm produced by subsidies, cut subsidies of farmers once agriculture becomes more profitable from new industries. We should allow states to manage the wolf populations per the designs so long as the continental wolf population stays above 50% of its current level.

Foreign Policy Issues: Centrist

Democracy and Trade: Don't punish the citizens of a country because its government is destructive to the common good or its people.

Afghanistan: Send an extra division to Afghanistan.

United Nations: Strongly support. We must work with other nations to 'lock out' dubious undemocratic nations from key posts. The UN can be used as an insturment to secure America's leadership.

Iraq: I initially supported the war, but began opposition in April 2004, Leave by the election, except for 4 brigades near the Syria Border and 4 brigades in Kurdistan.

Israel: Strongly support Israel and its defence of it's people and territory. Support establishement of Palestinian State under democratic leadership. Propose that East Jerusalem become a joint adminstered 'free city' under the UN. Allow Israel to deal with Gaza in whatever way it sees fit.
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