Summary of political beliefs

[InsaneTrollLogic]

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.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

Wow, you are so liberal, you make me, an active tow-the-line democrat blush.

[Former Moderate]

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).

Uh, no.  Social Security won't be redundant, and the VAST majority of seniors' out of pocket expenses are not health related.

Seniors already have universal health care.  It's called Medicare.

[Former Moderate]

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.

I have no idea why anyone would want to support the Massachusetts plan.  Do you think most HMOs do a good job now?  Do you think everyone should be forced to be on them under penalty of law?

Are you familiar with the idea of "junk coverage"?  Essentially, that's what you're getting with the Massachusetts plan: astronomically high deductables that make the health insurance virtually useless for all but the most extended of hospital stays.  And even for that, you'll be paying at least $150 a month.

There's no reason to force 25-year-olds to buy HMO coverage.  Over the past year, I've had one emergency room visit, five doctors visits (specialist and primary care), one elective surgical operation, and a number of different non-refilled prescriptions.

Total cost of all my health care without any insurance?  Approximately $5,000.   Total cost with one of the Massachusetts "junk plans"?  Approximately $4,000, plus another $1,800 in yearly premiums.  The high deductable makes these HMO plans absolutely useless for 98% of common problems 25-year-olds face.  (They do cover simple doctor visits, but you'd need a lot of visits to your PC physician to make up the $1,800 in premiums.)

That's how sh**tty these Massachusetts plans are.  And the income cutoffs for free/subsidized care aren't as high as you think: somewhere around $30,000.

It's a disasterous program that I completely resent being forced into under penalty of law.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

Then again, it could just be elective....have a cutoff at the 60th pencentile and work with HMOs for custom packages that are worth about about 1000 a year in general expenses plus CHIP and dental.

Upon further thought, I oppose the fairness doctrine anywhere, at anytime. Nuetrality is a fundamental right to the media.

[© Tweed the Younger]

Social Issues

General philosophy: atheist

Abortion: oppose making it illegal

Separation of Church and State: drive religion underground

Marriage: abolish state-recognized marraige

Affirmative Action: oppose

Gun Control: guns allowed ONLY if purchased with the intent to forcibly overthrow the government of the united state of america

Death Penalty: oppose

Censorship: against

Flag burning: legal and encouraged

Hate crimes: oppose hate crime legislation

Hate speech: oppose hate speech legislation

Smoking: ban effective Jul 30 2008 except for pre-existing smokers.  tobacco companies nationalized and subsequently dissolved

Alcohol consumption: abolish drinking age

Euthanasia: legal

Drugs: legal

Gambling: legal

Prostitution: legal

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support government funding

Immigration: goddamned mexicans dragging down my property balues

Economic Issues

General Philosophy: 21st century socialism

Taxes: steeply progressive

Unions: union workers should be protected from being fired during strikes.  right to work laws should be repealed.

Free trade: protectionist

Spending: gut military spending (have soldiers shovel snow like they did in Canada back in '99 or whatever it was), increase social welfare

Social Security: support

Workers' Rights: slit the throats of the owners

Space Program: must get cracking on that sh**t since earth will be cooked by 2200

Welfare: increase

Healthcare: one-tier nationalized single-payer healthcare    private sector disbanded

Education: Oppose vouchers, increase public education spending

Foreign Issues

General Philosophy: overthrow Israel

Democracy and Trade: whatever

Anti (fill in the blank) Treaty: those usually are good

United Nations: has right to exist, although the USA's permanent seat should be replaced with Venezuela

Iraq: leave

Israel: fund Hamas

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

A simplified versions of my views(can provide detailed on request).

Socially: Hands off social permissive. Do whatever you want with your body. Its not my problem. Legalize vices and get the state out of being society's moral arbiter.

Economically: Hamiltonian/Dengist state capitalist. This is mainly to ensure that we don't have things like megacorps running rampant and to be able to do programs like a MASSIVE space program, infrastructure building and a MASSIVE funding of tech/science.

National Security: National Security state now and a militant isolationist police; you don't mess with us and we won't attack you but if you mess with us your nation's ethnic group will only be a footnote in history books and your language only spoken in hell(this is if your language is only spoken in your nation). Reward America's friends and death to America's enemies.

[Josh/Devilman88]

Social Issues

General philosophy: Lean Conservative

Separation of church and state: Oppose

Freedom of speech: Strongly Support.

Right to an abortion: I only support it in cases of rape and life and death cases.

Affirmative action: Strongly Oppose.

Gun rights: We should have background checks on everyone buying a gun. 

Civil unions or gay marriage: Leave it up to the state

Euthanasia: Support

Prostitution: Oppose.

Capital punishment: Strongly Support. 

Economic Issues

General philosophy: Leftist

Employers and Employees: Private employers should not discriminate based on race, gender, or other factors.

Taxation: Cut taxes across the boarder, there to make a flat tax rate.

Spending: Increase spending in education and social programs

Free trade: Support only with countries that have labor laws up to par with our own. (Has human rights laws)

Funding of the space program: Keep the same.

Foreign policy

General philosophy: Central

Iraq: Stay in as long as need, but decrease the amount of soliders there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy- Start look for other sources then oil.

Health Care- The Government should only help those who can't afford it.

Immigration-Sharply decrease the number immigration. They are taking our jobs and living off our tax payers.

[Frodo]

Social/Cultural Hot-Button issues

Affirmative Action: Strongly oppose affirmative action based on gender, race, and/or ethnic background.  Would support affirmative action on a socio-economic basis, however.

Abortion: I support the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and Casey vs. Planned Parenthood, and returning the issue back to the states where it rightfully belongs.  Accordingly, I favor the nomination of those justices to create the majority required to overturn the 1973 decision.

Stem-Cell Research: Strongly support using federal tax-dollars to fund embryonic stem-cell research, and lifting the ban on letting laboratories create new lines of embryonic stem-cells.

Gay Rights: Favor letting the states determine where they stand on the gay marriage issue as opposed to the Supreme Court.  Would support extending to gay and lesbian couples rights normally restricted to heterosexual married couples, such as hospital visitation, inheritance of estates and other property, among others.  Also support hate crime legislation, as well as overturning 'Don't Ask; Don't Tell', and allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, and without harassment for their sexual orientation.  In fact I would go further, and advocate creating an elite unit in the U.S. military composed entirely of gay male couples (w/ a corresponding one for lesbian couples) based on the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Sex and Prostitution: Favor comprehensive sex education programs, including accurate and up-to-date information regarding safe sex (condoms, contraceptives, etc.), sexually transmitted diseases like HIV-AIDS, as well as abstinence.  Also favor the legalization of brothels.

Second Amendment: The Second Amendment was intended to be seen as protecting an individual right as with all the other original ten amendments that comprised the Bill of Rights when it was added to the Constitution -given this context it makes little sense to interpret it otherwise.  When it was originally written, 'militia' connoted the entirety of the citizenry, not just a government-created body. 

Accordingly, I support concealed-carry, 'castle-doctrine' laws, and other liberalizing measures.  Needless to say, I strongly oppose gun-bans at any governmental level, be it municipal, state, or national in scope.  However, as with every other amendment, there are limits that must be recognized, and criminals and those deemed certifiably insane by the medical profession should not have access to firearms, and I support measures (e.g. background checks) to that effect so long as the definitions regarding these groups are narrowly construed.   

Drug War: Given the results of the past forty years since the 'war on drugs' was first inaugurated by President Nixon, most dramatically seen in Mexico's increasing likelihood of disintegration as it battles drug lords, I now support ending the 'war on drugs', and instead direct our attention and funding towards prevention and treatment of addicts. 

Election Reform: I support replacing the First-Past-The-Post system with proportional representation with regard to Congress and state legislatures. For presidential elections, I favor having each state assign electoral votes to each presidential nominee based on vote totals they win within each congressional district (similar to Maine and Nebraska), with the precondition that such congressional districts are redrawn not by political parties but by judges within the state they are redistricting.

I also favor replacing our current front-loaded primary/caucus schedule with a Rotating Regional Primary System.

llegal Immigration: I would support full amnesty of the 12 million or so illegal aliens in the United States if we focus first on ensuring that our borders would be secured so as to prevent future hordes of Mexicans and other Latin Americans from coming across the border. I also support significant increases in funding for ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) programs, as well as shifting the emphasis of our immigration policy away from family reunification towards those immigrants who have skills, and are well educated.

Economic issues

Minimum Wage: Support raising it and having it pegged to inflation, provided there are provisions made for small businesses who can less afford the higher costs involved than a multinational corporation.

Labor Unions: Strongly support the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to strengthen labor unions.

Energy Independence and the Environment: To build a more ecologically sustainable society over the long-haul, I favor research into nuclear fusion and hydrogen fuel-cell technologies; increasing investments into alternative renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass among others; promoting energy efficiency in government as well as in private industry, using the LEED Green Building Rating System as a model; tax credits for hybrid vehicles; increasing the fuel economy standards for newer vehicles; as well as the expansion of new nuclear power plants, and updating those already in existence (particularly in areas east of the Mississippi, where the only other viable alternatives to power eastern urban metropolises are coal and oil).  The federal government should also increase investments into mass transit programs in urban areas so as to concentrate population growth in those areas.

Am also open to imposing mandatory CO2 emissions limits as well as a carbon tax to combat (anthropocentric) global warming.

NASA -Space Exploration: Strongly support President Bush's initiative to refocus the space agency away from the International Space Station (instead letting private companies and international space agencies fund the ISS upon its completion) and towards the exploration (and hopeful colonization) of the Moon and Mars.  I also support replacing our ageing space shuttle fleet with newer rockets built as part of the Constellation program, and distributing funding accordingly.  I do not support extending the use of our current space shuttles beyond 2010.   

Foreign Policy

The United States is not likely to retain its status as the 'sole, remaining superpower' as this century progresses, and our power will decline relative to the continued rise of new great powers like China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Iran.  It is therefore to our long-term benefit to strengthen international law and institutions to brace the liberal international order that we heralded into existence after the end of the Second World War, and to make more likely that such rising powers assimilate to the existing order rather than create a parallel system that is not so conducive to the spread of free markets, democracy, and liberal norms.   

[wdecker1]

Abortion:
-I support Roe v. Wade, but I do not encourage women to get abortions.
 
Budget and the Economy:
-I believe in a balanced budget.

Civil Rights:
-I support equal opportunity for all, however, I do not support affirmative action or qoutas.  I believe that race should not be an issue when hiring people for jobs, or enrolling students into universities.
-I belive government wire-tapping is a violation of people's rights, thus I am against wire-tapping or any kind of monitoring.
-I believe that the display of religious symbols on public land should regulated at the state level, not the national level, unless these symbols prohibit others from freely practicing their religion.  Then federal interference may be necessary.

Crime:
-I am against the death penalty because it is not an effective measure in reducing crimes.
-I believe in the three strikes your out policy.

Drugs:
-I believe in fighting the War on Drugs.

Education:
-I believe that prayer in schools should not be enforced, but if individual students want to pray, they can.
-I am against the use of school vouchers.  I believe we need to put more money into our public schools.
-I believe that we need to provide more federal funding for college students.

Energy and Oil:
-We need to reduce our dependence on foriegn oil, and promote the use of ethanol.

Environment:
-The U.S. needs to sign the Kyoto Protocol and force businesses to reduce there energy consumption.
-I believe we need a carbon tax on industry.
-We need to put more pressure on China, to lower their energy use.

Foriegn Policy:
-America and the United Nations need to provide more aid for the people in Darfur.
-The United Nations needs to put more pressure on China to protect human rights.
-I believe it is time to pull out of Iraq.  I support the Joe Biden plan of dividing Iraq into three different sections.  We need to support Afghanistan more, and put more pressure on Pakistan to give up Bin Laden.
-We need to work diplomatically with Iran to resolve our issues with them, and not go to war with them.

Free Trade:
-I believe in withdrawing from NAFTA, and abolishing the WTO.
-I think workers should have more of a say in trade agreements.

Gun Control:
-I believe the 2nd Amendment should be protected.

Health Care:
-I support universal health care.

Immigration:
-We cannot deport the illegal immigrants in the US.  We need to have a path to citizenship for them.  However, we need to put more security on the border to prevent more illegal immigrants from coming in.

Infrastructure/Technology:
-We need to have no censorship on the internet.
-We need to proivde more money to repair our bridges and roads.

Jobs:
-I believe that the government needs to provide more support for the small farmers.
-I believe in a higher minimum wage.
-I believe in a stronger OSHA, and that all of the union busting lawyers need to be expelled from the department of labor.
-We need to stop outsourcing jobs, and keep the good industrial jobs in America.
-We need to enforce antitrust laws and give the labor unions support in negotiations.

Social Security:
-S. Security should not be privatized.

Tax Reform:
-We should repeal the Bush tax cuts and maintain the progressive tax system.

Welfare and Poverty:
-We need to encourage people to get off of welfare and get into the workforce, however, welfare should not be abolished.
-I believe faith-based charities can have access to government funds.

[etnavibes]

Social Issues:

Abortion: Pro-life
Gay Rights: Pro-civil unions, but government should stay out of marriage since it is a religious issue. 
Separation of Church and State: Support
Affirmative Action: Oppose, it is reverse discrimination
Gun Control: Less regulations
Death Penalty: Oppose
Censorship: Oppose, but keep laws against libel, slander and defamation against individuals
Flag burning: Oppose
Hate crimes: Oppose legislating special rights to victims of a crime
Hate speech: Dialogue is healthy, violence is not
Smoking: What an individual does to his/her body is their choice
Alcohol consumption: See above
Euthanasia: Oppose- killing is the exception to the rule above
Drugs: Marijuana for medical purposes
Gambling: Support
Prostitution: Support
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support, on the condition that the cells do not come from the un-born
Immigration: Strengthen our borders
Environment: We must conserve open and forested land, reduce our pollution, give incentives to alternative energy, and encourage individuals and private groups to preserve land
Patriot Act: Oppose, we must protect the citizens' right to privacy

Economic Issues:

Taxes: Lower taxes, abolish the IRS
Unions: Support company-based unions rather than trade-based unions
Free trade: Free trade is good in principle, abolish such agreements like NAFTA
Spending: Streamline government programs to ensure efficiency
Social Security: Let people in their 40s and younger get out of the system- privatize and do not raid the social security fund
Space Program: Support- a lot of great technology comes from this program that later finds itself in the consumer market
Welfare: Support right-to-work programs
Health-care: Make sure the children are covered, and focus on healthy living. Find market-based solutions to get adults insured
Education: Focus on results and let parents decide where to send their kids

Foreign Policy Issues:

United Nations: Oppose
Iraq: It was a diversion from the real objective of the War on Terror- capturing Osama. Find solutions to get out safely.
Israel: Do not fund them

[Χahar]

Social

Social issues are generally cold-button for me. Economics is much more important.

Abortion: Mildly pro-choice. First trimester, yes. Second trimester, sometimes. Third trimester, almost never. Oppose partial-birth abortions.

Gay rights: I couldn't care less. I have no problems with civil unions.

Gun control: Strongly pro-gun control. It's a lot harder to kill somebody with a knife than with a gun.

Death penalty: Not against the idea, but if you sentence somebody to life without parole by accident, you can release them and give them a s**tload of money. If you fry someone by accident, they're still fried.

School prayer: No organized prayer. Casual references are okay.

Affirmative Action: No. Just no.

Patriot Act: A clearly unconstitutional document.

3 Strikes Laws: There can always be extenuating circumstances. Hard and fast rules are dumb. If the acccused has committed three serious crimes, then the judge will realize that.

Prostitution: Legal, but restricted and regulated.

Gambling: Casino revenue isn't worth the crime it generates.

Drugs: Legal, but restricted and regulated.

Economic

Education: It should be the state's #1 priority. If you don't like what the state gives, go to a private school, but you won't get money from the state for it.

Free Trade: Permissible, if and only if the country in question has equal or greater protection for workers.

Income Tax: The "Fair Tax" has the most Orwellian name I've ever heard. Progressive taxation is key. Let those who can pay pay.

Universal Health Care: Badly needed in this country. I fully support it.

Foreign Policy

Israel: It's here. It's not leaving. But it has a hugely bloated ego, due to the United States. I support a two-state solution.

Iran: Let them be.

Iraq: It is not up to us to determine what sort of political system another country wants.

Military Spending: Slash it.

[NDN]

Summary: Personal Liberty, States Rights, Fiscal Conservatism and a Humble Foreign Policy.

Cultural Issues:

Abortion: Pro-choice but okay with late-term restrictions and not for using this as a litmus test.

Gay Marriage: I support gay marriage for obvious reasons. However, this issue should be left to the states and courts for the time being.

Affirmative Action: I oppose it, government racial preferences are unconstitutional and this policy often has unintended consequences. I would not oppose class based preferences however.

Gun Control:  No federal gun control! This is a state issue at most. Respect Heller Verdict.

Death Penalty: I support it although it needs reforms such as mandatory DNA testing and videotaping of police interrogations. The costs associated with it aren't that great when you factor in plea bargaining or the severity of the crimes involved as well.

Censorship: Oppose it, unless it directly harms an individual (e.g. libel). FCC regulations and obscenity laws need to be abolished.

Flag Burning: Do not support efforts to ban it, although fire ordinances should be observed.

Hate Crimes/Speech: Generally oppose, especially in cases of free speech. However, in cases of group intimidation or decades old 'civil rights' violations they can be appropriate.

Smoking: I support public smoking bans because second hand smoke is a public health hazard, which often harms people against their consent.

Alcohol consumption: I oppose the current drinking age (partially on the grounds of states rights), but support far tougher penalties for DUI.

Euthanasia: Support. If someone is of sound mind and in extreme pain, they should be allowed to end their suffering in a humane way.

Gambling: I oppose it but this is a state issue.

Prostitution: I support legalization but again, this is a state issue.

Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: I support federal Stem Cell Research.

Sex Education: I support it. Teenagers should be informed on STDs, birth control, etc. to prevent the spread of disease and teenage pregnancy.

Drug War & Marijuana: End the federal war on drugs, it is an tyrannical and expensive failure. Let states make their own laws.

Voting access: Aggressively prosecute 'caging.' Require a paper trail for all electronic ballots.

Illegal Immigration: No 'Amnesty' or Guest Workers! Increase border security, fines, etc. while streamlining process for qualified applicants.

Patriot Act: Oppose, it threatens constitutional rights such as due process, protection from search and seizure, etc. Replace it with the Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act.

Economic issues

Social Security: We should phase out benefits for the well off and establish tax-free personal retirement/savings accounts for everyone. Congress should be banned from raiding the Trust Fund.

Healthcare: Implement Universal Healthcare similar to the Healthy Americans Act; provide automatic coverage for the unemployed and a choice between private or public coverage for the employed. Allow importation of drugs and buying health insurance over state lines.

Welfare: Focus more on grants and encouraging private charities, including religious ones.

Education: The federal government is ruining education. Abolish the Department of Education and repeal No Child Left Behind. Move towards Charter School system and provide regulated Vouchers. Support Head-start, Student Loans, and After School Programs because they all have proven success records.

Taxes: Raise taxes for wealthy, cut taxes for business and the poor instead. Simplify the tax code overall, there are too many deductions and loop holes.

Spending: Implement a Balanced Budget Amendment to control spending and require more transparency. Enough is enough.

Farm Subsidies: Protect small farms through crop insurance, loans, etc. End subsidies to Megafarms and their predatory practices (incidentally, the public agrees).

Minimum Wage: Abolish the Federal Minimum Wage, leave wage 'rates' to the states. Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and support for charities or similar relief instead. This has been shown to be more efficient (e.g. Congressional Budget Office study).

Eminent Domain: This is extremely disturbing and yet another example of how big government and big business are colluding against us. We must stop special interests from violating property rights and literally driving families from their homes, farms and ranches.

Regulation: Simplify and enforce, because Big Business is evading the law while Smaller Business is generally bearing the brunt of it. Some areas such as food safety need drastic improvements, others are overly complicated (e.g. acquisition).

Infrastructure: Build smarter not larger. Stop funding so many massive highways, subsidized suburban sprawl, etc. New Urbanism and sustainability should be the new model.

Energy Independence and the Environment: Invest massively in alternative energy including Nuclear Power over the long term. Drill for oil offshore and in ANWR but divert a portion of profits to fund research. Move more towards mass public transportation. Enforce existing regulations, don't add new ones (e.g. Kyoto).

Currency: The dollar is being devalued, restore the 'Gold Window' and cap spending to combat it.

Trade Policy: Reform NAFTA and other agreements. Trade should both lower tariffs and aim to promote basic environmental and labor standards. Massively subsidize steel and alternative energy companies.

Foreign Policy

Military Involvement: Our commitments are excessive, we need to focus more on our own problems. Cut funds and involvement in areas such as West Europe, East Asia, Latin America, etc.

Iraq: We were lied into an unconstitutional war, and we are not seeing real progress. Begin phased withdrawal and talks to repartition the country.

Cuba: End the embargo, it is not working and there is no real need anymore.

Israel: The US needs to move towards neutrality.

Iran: Carrot and Stick diplomacy. Offer trade liberalization if they comply more with us. No military action!

China: Maintain relations with China and Taiwan. No MFN; sell arms to Taiwan.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Unintentionally one year later, let's see what's changed:
 
Prostitution: I support a policy of ignoring it but not condoning it turning into a legitimate business and collecting taxing off it

Patriot Act: Neutral, however, I realize it has done a lot of good like stopping the Brooklyn Bridge plotOppose, it has vastly overstayed its welcome and strayed from its intended purpose

Taxes: I support shutting down the IRS immediatley and replacing our current system with a Fair orFlat Tax system.  I would also cut massive amount of programs to account for these cuts.  (Fair Tax=bad idea)

Space Program: Keep at current levelsScale back heavily to the point of almost elimination

Not as much as I thought, although my stance on gay marriage is a tad different too, but the idea stays the same

[NDN]

Separation of church and state: An endorsement of atheism is just as bad as an endorsement of Christianity.

Huh?

Keep income on par with spending. Eliminate income tax.

I'm not sure how you'd do that and still have a mandate for state-administered health insurance plans. Even with the massive spending cuts you're proposing, which let's be honest are not going to happen short of a financial meltdown.

Social Security: Privatize.

That would just make Social Security even less solvent. Logically that would entail less revenue for the program in addition to benefits cuts and the costs incurred from setting up 'transfer accounts.' At least that's assuming you favor something along the lines of the 'partial privatization' the GOP has been touting lately.

Welfare: Extreme overhaul. Subsidize working.

Details please.

Other than that most of what you posted looks pretty logical and straight forward for the most part.

[Ebowed]

An endorsement of atheism is just as bad as an endorsement of Christianity.

Who is proposing a government endorsement of atheism?

[Χahar]

An endorsement of atheism is just as bad as an endorsement of Christianity.

Who is proposing a government endorsement of atheism?

The Turks.

[MSUfan]

Social Issues:

Abortion: Pro-life; full ban with exceptions of rape, incest or danger of mothers life. More funding for single-mother programs and make adoption easier.
Gay Rights: Support hate-crime legislation. Support gay marriage with full rights and privileges.
Separation of Church and State: Support faith-based initiatives and religious symbols in public buildings
Affirmative Action: Oppose
Gun Control: Support 2nd amendment rights. Safety locks, waiting periods and back-ground checks are good, however. Oppose ban on assault weapons.
Death Penalty: Oppose in all cases.
Censorship: Oppose
Flag burning: Support the right.
Hate crimes: Support hate crime legislation. Steeper penalties.
Hate speech: Support as long as it's not a public safety issue.
Smoking: Public Ban on smoking.
Alcohol consumption: Current laws suffice.
Euthanasia: Oppose
Drugs: Oppose legalization. Medical Marijuana is an exception.
Gambling: Support with higher taxes
Prostitution: Oppose
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support (Castle-Degette Bill) Left over embryos from in vitro clinics should be used instead of thrown out.
Immigration: Support easier path to citizenship. Guest-worker program
Environment: Sign Kyoto treaty. Level penalties against companies that violate environmental statutes and give incentives to companies that protect the enviroment.
Patriot Act: Oppose/Repeal

Economic Issues:

Taxes: Reform the Tax Code. Cut loop-holes out for the rich and repeal Bush tax cuts. Increase taxes on rich while giving tax cuts to poor/middle class.
Unions: Support Unions right to organize. Protect striking union members and laws against company's interfering with union votes.
Free trade: Abolish hurtful trade agreements like NAFTA and level tariffs on foreign goods.
Spending: Streamline government programs to ensure efficiency
Social Security: Raise the age requirement. Cut benefits for rich.
Space Program: Support more funding for NASA.
Welfare: Increase. Enforce requirements.
Health-care: Universal coverage
Education: Repeal NCLB. More funding for failing schools and less emphasis on test scores.

Foreign Policy Issues:

United Nations: Support. Abide by most resolutions.
Iraq: Time-table for withdrawal
Israel: Support in current capacity.

[Hashemite]

Abortion: Pro-choice of course, but a non-issue for me.

Death Penalty: I support it for the most heinous crimes such as high treason in wartime, recidivist rapists and serial murderers

School prayer: Strongly oppose

Separation of church and state: Strongly, strongly, very strongly support.

Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: Strongly support

Gay Marriage: I oppose gay marriage (but I oppose an amendment in the constitution) but support civil unions. Also, I'm all for letting the states decide.

Sex Education: Teach the children what they need to know.

Gun Control:  I support tougher gun controls to prevent former criminals etc. for getting guns.

Drug War & Marijuana: Legalize medicinal marijuana, and that's it.

Voting access: Uhm, what? I don't see any reason to change current laws. But I'm skeptic about electronic thingees.

Illegal Immigration: I support a path to citizenship, or regularization of status, if that immigrant has learned English, found a job, and has no past criminal record.

Economic issues

Social Security and other Entitlement programs:  No opinion

Medicare:  No opinion

Medicaid: No opinion

Welfare: Increase a bit, but encourage other options

Education: Provide free, good quality, public education to all.

Taxes: Lower taxes a bit for the lowest classes, and increase a bit for those higher up.

Minimum Wage: Increase, but no need for a timetable or stuff for increasing it

Energy Independence and the Environment: Oppose ethanol fuel, support Kyoto, support renewable energies for cars and so forth. Oppose ANWR drilling and support more public and railway transportation.

Foreign Policy

Iraq: Phase, timelined withdrawal of troops

Afghanistan: Focus the fight on terrorism in Afghanistan. The problem is there.

United Nations: Support, o/c. But also support reform

Iran: Tough stance with Iran, but war as an absolute last resort.


Region-specific issues for France:

35-hours workweek: Strongly oppose. Either scrap it, or depenalize companies with employees working more than 35 hours.

Institutional reform: Support all parts of it, but also support looking into a directly elected Senate (elected Senate in both France and Canada)

EU: Support it. But oppose bureaucratic tendencies and bureaucratic rules and regulations. Oppose Turkish entry into the EU.

Environment: see above, and support all recommendations of the Grenelle. And apply them too.

Immigration: Oppose mass regularization of all illegals, but support a strict case-by-case system and implement a system to allow only the needed legal immigrants.

and Canada:

Afghanistan: see above

Senate: Support triple-E Senate. A Senate elected with MMP or PR would be perfect.

Electoral reform: Support referendums on electoral reform modes such as STV or MMP (prefer MMP)

Liberal carbon tax: support

Stephane Dion: No charisma.

Environment: see above

[Iosif is a COTHO]

Social Issues:

Abortion: Debate has been overrun by extremists. Have to find a middle-way option. Perhaps legal up to 20 weeks, with no abortion-on-demand.

Death Penalty: Strongly oppose in all cases. The state and the courts should not have the power to kill people.

School prayer: Public schools? Oppose.

Separation of church and state: Strongly support.

Embryonic Stem-Cell Research:  Support

Gay Marriage: Gay couples should have the same legal rights heterosexual couples have. I have no real problem with it being called 'marriage'. Churches should have the right to refuse to marry gay couples though, that's their prerogative.

Sex Education: Support compulsory sex ed from the age of say, 13. Teaching should cover all types of sexuality.  Kids have to know what's what to avoid STD's and unplanned pregnancies. 'Abstinence-only education' is just naive and reckless.

Gun Control:  A state's issue. What's good for New York may not be good for Wyoming. Our main priority should be stopping gun crime in the cities. Perhaps some kind of buy-back program in major cities is a good idea.

Drug War & Marijuana: Marijuana should be legal. For harder drugs, there should be no penalties for use, but rehabilitation.

Voting access: Pen and paper voting. Only those currently in jail for serious offences should be prohibited from voting. Though even then I'm not convinced by the reasoning.

Illegal Immigration: Make legal immigration easier. Illegal immigrants currently in the U.S who have caused no problems should be given a path to citizenship. The worst thing about illegal immigration is the exploitation of the immigrants by criminal employers.

I don't know enough about the exact features of the U.S health systems and welfare systems to make an informed comment on them. Suffice to say that I think universal public health care and a fair welfare system are vital to a moral and just society.

Education:  Free, good quality, public education should be available to everyone. No government funding of private schools (I don't know how that is in the U.S, but it certainly happens a lot in Australia.)

Taxes: Low for those with little, high for those with a lot. Though I would favor a general lowering of tax rates if it meant severely cutting deductions and other loopholes.

Minimum Wage: Pegged to the inflation rate.


Energy Independence and the Environment: Renewable energies! Do everything possible to reduce our dependence on oil.

Iraq: Only withdraw troops when the Iraqi Government and security forces believe it is okay to do so. To drop everything and leave would be a disastrous and cowardly betrayal , almost as bad as the betrayal when Bush Sr. left the Iraqis.

[SPC]

Let's see where I've changed:

Social:
Liberal
- I am pro-choice neutral at the state level
- I support civil-unions seperation of marriage and state
- I support decriminalization of any drug
- I am pro-prostitution.
- I am anti-censorship, within reason.
- I am pro-stem cell research. but against funding it with tax dollaws
- 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 public schools prayer
Mixed
- I am anti-smoking ban.
- I am opposed to illegal immigration restrictions, but and feel that quotas should be abolished.
Conservative
- I support the death penalty if DNA evidence is provided. the jury is competent and paid voluntarily
- I oppose gay government licensing of marriage.
- I oppose government sanctioned political correctness.
- I strongly oppose gun control.
- I strongly oppose the Fairness Doctrine.

Economic:
Liberal:
- I support strongly oppose a tariff on foreign oil
- I support oppose government 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 eliminating 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. pro-non-intervention
- I support partitioning immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
Conservative:
- I support pulling out of the UN.
- I believe that we need to be aggresive toward completely stay out of Iran and North Korea's affairs to stop their nuclear programs
- I do not believe that habeus corpus applies to prisoners of war. (i.e. Gitmo)

[??????????]

So Fezzy, outside of foreign policy, where do we disagree?

[SPC]

So Fezzy, outside of foreign policy, where do we disagree?

The War of Northern Agression.

[Ebowed]

The Pledge of Allegiance is an interesting issue indeed.  The 'under God' nonsense is a complete political albatross for anyone who dares oppose it, not that anyone in federal office would.

The better question is why we ought to have any pledge in the first place.  Regardless of any religious references it might contain.

[SPC]

The Pledge of Allegiance is an interesting issue indeed.  The 'under God' nonsense is a complete political albatross for anyone who dares oppose it, not that anyone in federal office would.

The better question is why we ought to have any pledge in the first place.  Regardless of any religious references it might contain.

Five stars!