Summary of political beliefs
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#CriminalizeSobriety
Dallasfan65
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #475 on: June 15, 2010, 12:34:02 AM »

Rockingham and Derek should both take the Political Matrix test. I think it would be interesting.

What would you predict their scores to be?

I'll guestimate Derek's would be something along the lines of E: 6 S: 4.5.
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Derek
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« Reply #476 on: June 15, 2010, 01:21:21 AM »

Rockingham and Derek should both take the Political Matrix test. I think it would be interesting.

What would you predict their scores to be?

How do I take it?
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Psychic Octopus
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« Reply #477 on: June 15, 2010, 01:31:55 AM »


I possess a gun. Should I get the death penalty?
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RI
realisticidealist
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« Reply #478 on: June 15, 2010, 02:39:42 AM »

Rockingham and Derek should both take the Political Matrix test. I think it would be interesting.

What would you predict their scores to be?

How do I take it?

https://uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/POLMTX/thetest.php
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Derek
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« Reply #479 on: June 15, 2010, 02:46:13 AM »

How do I post my results?

Economic Score +5.68
Social Score -3.13

Those were the most vague questions that could've been asked. That's why I'm posting my views in the individual politics section. So far I've posted education, foreign, defense, economics, and government reform.
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Derek
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« Reply #480 on: June 15, 2010, 02:47:01 AM »

 Economic score: +5.68
Social score: -3.13Note your scores and Login to your Atlas Account to Save your Scores

Your score pegs you as economically capitalist and socially moderately libertarian.

Capitalists generally support an open free market and lower taxes, but also support government restrictions on blatantly abusive industry. Capitalists also often differ from their more extreme peers in that, while they may support significantly lower taxes, they are less apt to support complete elimination of taxation or near-complete elimination of government.

Moderate social libertarians generally favor a hands-off approach to social legislation. They may believe that the government has no right to enforce morals, but may support certain controls on individual rights to avoid crime, drug use, or similar social ills.
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So rightwing that I broke the Political Compass!
Rockingham
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« Reply #481 on: June 15, 2010, 07:22:37 AM »

Rockingham and Derek should both take the Political Matrix test. I think it would be interesting.
The test sucks, it called me a moderate social libertarian... and it said that I was was libertarian(-3.3) to A GREATER EXTENT then I am economically leftist(-2.2)!!!

I'm not surprised, the test after all wasn't built to take into account fringe ideologies like progressive communitarianism.
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Rockingham
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« Reply #482 on: June 15, 2010, 07:43:08 AM »

It's not really that good either, but the 4-line political quiz is at least slightly better.

Conservative/Progressive score: 8
Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 10
Libertarian/Authoritarian:10
Pacifist/Militarist: 4


Close enough, though I'd prefer at least a fifth(and probably more) categories so that it could pick upon my communitarianism.

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Derek
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« Reply #483 on: June 15, 2010, 09:44:52 AM »

And how do you measure conservatism and liberalism? Obviously I come off as a right wing extremist in my words, but in my policies and writing I'm alot more in the middle. I try not to go by words because sometimes words are big and hard to understand.
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#CriminalizeSobriety
Dallasfan65
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« Reply #484 on: June 15, 2010, 02:33:55 PM »

Economic score: +5.68
Social score: -3.13Note your scores and Login to your Atlas Account to Save your Scores

Your score pegs you as economically capitalist and socially moderately libertarian.

Capitalists generally support an open free market and lower taxes, but also support government restrictions on blatantly abusive industry. Capitalists also often differ from their more extreme peers in that, while they may support significantly lower taxes, they are less apt to support complete elimination of taxation or near-complete elimination of government.

Moderate social libertarians generally favor a hands-off approach to social legislation. They may believe that the government has no right to enforce morals, but may support certain controls on individual rights to avoid crime, drug use, or similar social ills.

I see I wasn't too far off on the economic score. Tongue
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RIP Robert H Bork
officepark
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« Reply #485 on: June 15, 2010, 02:38:56 PM »


Well, obviously. Winston made it clear that he wants gun owners lined up and shot, what makes you think you're any different?

Tongue
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Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.
HoffmanJohn
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« Reply #486 on: June 15, 2010, 02:50:04 PM »

And how do you measure conservatism and liberalism? Obviously I come off as a right wing extremist in my words, but in my policies and writing I'm alot more in the middle. I try not to go by words because sometimes words are big and hard to understand.

depends on wether or not you wish government to enact new legislation in order to address the moral claims of society. For example conservatives normally oppose gay marriage and want government to stay out of the issue, and thus they want a social system that preserves the older moral claims.
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k-onmmunist
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« Reply #487 on: June 15, 2010, 03:08:30 PM »


Well, obviously. Winston made it clear that he wants gun owners lined up and shot, what makes you think you're any different?

Tongue

I would ban guns and compensate owners. Anyone found to be breaking the law after that would face the penalty.
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Derek
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« Reply #488 on: June 15, 2010, 03:10:19 PM »

And how do you measure conservatism and liberalism? Obviously I come off as a right wing extremist in my words, but in my policies and writing I'm alot more in the middle. I try not to go by words because sometimes words are big and hard to understand.

depends on wether or not you wish government to enact new legislation in order to address the moral claims of society. For example conservatives normally oppose gay marriage and want government to stay out of the issue, and thus they want a social system that preserves the older moral claims.

No kidding. I'm saying how do you measure how conservative or liberal someone is?
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Mechaman
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« Reply #489 on: June 15, 2010, 03:24:32 PM »


Well, obviously. Winston made it clear that he wants gun owners lined up and shot, what makes you think you're any different?

Tongue

I would ban guns and compensate owners. Anyone found to be breaking the law after that would face the penalty.

Somehow I knew you would be in the BATSH*T INSANE quadrant by this time, but this is just crazy.  Gun bans are one thing, but THE MOTHERF***ING DEATH PENALTY WINSTON!?
(bangs head against wall in shock of your totalitarianism)
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Deldem
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« Reply #490 on: June 17, 2010, 01:06:32 AM »


Well, obviously. Winston made it clear that he wants gun owners lined up and shot, what makes you think you're any different?

Tongue

I would ban guns and compensate owners. Anyone found to be breaking the law after that would face the penalty.
So you'll punish people with guns... by shooting them with guns? You don't see anything at all ironic or contradictory about that?
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Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.
HoffmanJohn
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« Reply #491 on: June 20, 2010, 05:58:03 PM »
« Edited: June 20, 2010, 06:30:55 PM by Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand. »


General philosophy: Liberal

Abortion: Supportive because it is scientifically proven that particular functions to support human life do not occur until after the 5th month.

Separation of Church and State: Political candidates should not be allowed to expressed their
religious views, but more importantly churches should be taxed.

Marriage: anyone no matter what gender or sexual preference should be allowed to mary.

Affirmative Action: Support because companies should voluntary hire quallified minorities while conducting searches done in good faith. every company has to have an ethical code of conduct, and thus every company should also wrote their own affirmative action policy as well.

Gun Control: gotta have a permit, and must meet soft standards to own a gun.

Death Penalty Immoral and violates basic modern ethical principles,but should be allowed on an international level.

Smoking can be done on your own personal property.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research support.

USA PATRIOT Act Support various provisions in the law,but I disagree with the more contraversial aspects of the bill.
[
b]Immigration[/b] open borders.

Taxes current system is too low, and I think we should enter a multilateral agreement with canada ,and mexico in order to establish a tobin-tax. re-enstate the estate tax.

Spending Spend to increase demand, and therfore bring in more tax revenues.

Health care Public option

trade Supportive of free trade, and low tariffs. Wouldn't mind the establishment of a tobin tax,but it must be done on a multilateral level in order to work.

foreign policy Seems like obama is doing pretty good, and i agree with his flexible doctrine up to now.

Economic issues: Tobin Tax system to prevent potential future bailout of third world countries like mexico, breaking up the banks isn't going to do anything unless we institute structural reforms. Strengthen anti-trust laws, and reverse many of the deregulation, and funding cuts that have been going on since the end of carter's first term.

poverty: We are the richest nation in the world, and the biggest economy....we should spend trillions on the poor. The wealthy can go cry about it after the problem is eliminated.
 
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Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.
HoffmanJohn
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« Reply #492 on: June 21, 2010, 11:01:38 AM »

Make love not war.
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Derek
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« Reply #493 on: June 21, 2010, 12:11:03 PM »


I've seen that bumper sticker too.
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Rockingham
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« Reply #494 on: July 02, 2010, 11:06:59 AM »

Changes Italicized

Constitutional Issues

Summary – Public empowerment+meritocracy


•   Campaign finance reform: $50 "patriot dollars" voucher to be distributed to all voters to allocate 6 months prior to a primary/election,  to be distributed as the voters please(can be split into chunks and given to candidate outside the voter's region). Come in two waves, pre-primary Patriot dollars and post-primary Patriot dollars. Each set of vouchers expires after the election/primary it was dedicated to.

Campaign funds from sources other then this forbidden


•   Political representation: The Tasmanian system. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Tasmania)

•   Constitution: A fairly standard set of negative and positive rights(ie. Freedom of speech, entitlement to healthcare/water/food and so on). Distinctively I advocate a greater emphasis on freedom of association then most people embrace, and “freedom of community”(as opposed to the current system of mandatory individualism). Also I see very little value in the right of privacy from the government, so long a checks and balances exist to prevent abuses. A fundamental responsobility of the government is to impose proper incentives/disincentives on externalities

•   Local government – If the citizens took local government seriously, I would support significant Swiss-style devolution. They do not, however. The obvious remedy would be mandatory turnout at elections +making local government more important, but that could backfire.

•   Meritocracy: In many countries, the judiciary has very significant de facto legislative power. Given that precedent, I think the most learned individuals should play a greater role(albeit perhaps not a direct legislative role) in the political system. It is a travesty for example that scientists have not been able to exert more pressure on the political system to act against global warming.



Societal issues

Summary – Progressive communitarianism(as opposed to progressive individualism which goes by the name of “liberalism”)


•   Civil unions: Marriage is a symbolic/religious term and the state need not define it, consensus is unnecessary. Civil unions should not discriminate based upon sexuality. Civil unions should be separated into two distinct forms, childless CU’s and CU’s responsible for children. The standard pre-nuptial agreement of each partner receiving approximately what they have earned rather then arbitrary 50-50 split should be the default settlement in cases of divorce.

•   Demographics: Structure social engineering policies upon two main goals: firstly bringing the birthrate up to something approximating 2(replacement level), and secondly balancing the class imbalance(birthrates correlating with poverty) which hinders government’s push to reduce poverty rates. This to be achieved through using tax and welfare policies as leverage, as well as maternal entitlements.


•   Abortion/contraception – Free and encouraged amongst those judged unlikely to be fit parents(ie. Teenagers/drug abusers etc). Should also be encouraged in the case of fetuses determined to suffer serious genetic disorders. If sociopathy turns out to have a genetic component, would support mandatory abortion of fetuses found to have it(probably the only case I would support mandatory abortion). 


•   Environmentalism: Passionately consider combating of global warming to be the great test of my generation’s worth, if not its raison d’être. IF it was politically viable I would support the transition of global society to Vegetarianism(with the possible exception of meats which cause the least in the way of environmental burden), on account of animal farming being so much more environmentally burdensome then agriculture and the immense strain fishing as imposed upon our oceans. Emphasis on conservation. Emphasis on urban/suburban environments being “greened” to a greater extent.   

Support a "cap and dividend" system rather then a cap and trade/carbon tax

•   Crime: Petty criminals(such as those leading to sentences of less then 1 year/6 months) should not be immersed in criminal culture, as they often leave more criminal then they entered- I’m not sure what the best alternative is. Paedophiles and rapists should be chemically castrated. I’m ambivalent about the death penalty- though I would support it being applied in severe cases of political or corporate corruption, as well as perhaps serial killers.

•   Gun control: Support ban, though would be supportive of investigation into the viability of public access to defensive tasers.

•   Civil Liberties vs Civil Securities: I come down in favour of the latter almost every single time. The idiotic objections(sorry to be blunt but its true) to keeping the DNA of innocent people on a government database strikes me as particularly ludicrous- what possible harm could come of that? Modern surveillance and ID card strategies I am currently ambivalent about not from a civil liberties standpoint but rather because the technology has not progressed enough to be particularly useful. Once ID cards can be replaced with high-tech ID chips(mandatory, ideally), security dividends will truly manifest themselves.

•   Multiculturalism/Immigration: I am ambivalent about multiculturalism for multiculturalism’s sake(the odd idea that diversity correlates with success seems disproven when one looks at homogenous societies like South Korea and Japan), sympathetic to calls for higher degree of assimilation and Western cultural assertiveness. Also, most immigration policies seem tailored to deprive developing countries of their most productive citizens. However the threat posed by demographic and skills gaps will take a generation at least to fix, therefore necessitating high rates of immigration to counterbalance them until they stabilize. Government should reject anti-refugee silliness currently pervading my country, rather than pander to it as it currently is. 

•   Government should do what it can to encourage secularism and intellectualism.



Economic issues

Summary – Democratic Socialist


•   Taxation: Land Value tax should be a core basis of tax revenue. Also carbon taxes should be implemented. Income tax should become more progressive. Sin taxes should be expanded to the least healthy foods.

•   Public ownership: Public control(or in certain cases semi-control) of national resources, infrastructure and healthcare system is vital. A public bank should be established with preferential loans to particular causes(ie. Student loans, first time home buyers and renewable energy/energy efficiency loans)

•   Renewable energy/energy efficiency: Stimulate economy primarily through investment in renewable energy technologies and public transport. There are countless ways to expand renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency, to numerous to mention. Through use of the public bank’s preferential loans, the government could increase the pace- in exchange for those loans, the government would keep half the financial gain resultant from increased energy efficiency, which could be dedicated towards financing further renewable/efficiency investment.

•   Trade: Ambivalent on free trade. A fair trade strategy to help bolster the economies of developing countries, coupled with common sense trade restrictions to counter mercantilist strategy from countries such as China, would be most desirable- coupled with an attempt to shift our economy towards less reliance on natural resource exports.

•   Education: Free university in exchange for… say 5/7 hours of public service in the community per week. Beyond that I’m not well informed enough to propose anything.

•   Institute a workfare system modeled on Denmark’s.

•   Protect pensions and extend government care for the elderly.

•   Strengthen anti-trust laws

•   Cease agricultural subsidies towards large agribuisiness.

•   Exploit the water supplies of Australia’s North and consider exploiting its agricultural capacity.

•   Oppose affirmative action based on race, favour it on a socioeconomic basis.



Foreign Policy

Summary – Standard egalatarian internationalism.


•   Military budget: As “a future fair for all” said, “CUTCUTCUT!”
•   Implement fair trade policies and expand aid to third world countries conditional on those countries taking serious action regarding their greenhouse gas emissions.
•   Iraq and Afghanistan: Withdraw from former, stay in latter until the deadline Obama proclaimed(if it drags on past that, leave).
•   Iran: Would support bombing if all else fails.
•   Play as cooperative and active a role as a nation of our minor importance can in matters requiring international cooperation for global benefit.





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USSP
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« Reply #495 on: July 07, 2010, 10:50:06 AM »

Socially: I'm a libertarian. Moral issues are not the place of the federal government to rule on. Give people their freedom to do what they please as long as it is not harmful and don't take it away.

Economically: I'm a border line socialist. I believe in a progressive tax system. I believe in a single payer health care system like medicare expanded to cover the entire US population. I believe in allowing workers to unionize. I believe public universities should be nationalized and tuition made free for US citizens. I believe in nationalizing the major utilities and natural resources of the country to bring them under public control and eliminate the for-profit nature of the pricing and selling of the necessities of life. I believe that one of the most important things we can do is eliminate lobbying in Washington so we can pass legislation that is in the interest of the people, not the special interests(the health care bill). It's also time to end "too big to fail". Break up the BIG banks or let them collapse.

Foreign Policy: I believe in self defense and the defense of allies. The war in Iraq was not a war of defense and therefor was absolutely wrong. The war in Afghanistan was justified to eliminate Al Quaeda, but has degenerated into a war of occupation. If the United States or it's allies are attacked I believe war is justified, and if not I believe that it is not.
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snowguy716
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« Reply #496 on: July 07, 2010, 10:59:23 PM »

An update on mine:

General philosophy: Liberal

Abortion: Should be available upon request during the first two trimesters.  Only to save the life of the mother thereafter.  Schools should have comprehensive sex ed. that includes education about contraceptives and alternatives to abortions.  Parents should be notified of the sex education courses and should have an opt-out option.
Separation of church and state: Just as the state has no business meddling with church affairs, the church has no business meddling in state affairs.  If a church decides to take a strong political stance and uses its capacity as a church to promote certain candidates, its tax exemption should be removed and taxes collected immediately. 
Gay Marriage: Gays should enjoy the same benefits and responsibilities of traditional marriage as recognized by the state; however, no church should be forced to marry anybody they don't want to.  Since the government basically recognizes marriage as a civil contract, there is no reason that two women or two men should be prevented from entering such a civil contract.
Affirmative Action: The best way to help lift minorities and women into all professions is by expanding their ability and opportunity to do so through education.  Various education policies need to change to help children in impoverished areas thrive like anybody else.  Direct affirmative action can be useful if discrimination is obvious, but has, for the most part, outlived its usefulness.
Age of Consent: Age of consent should be 16.
Gun rights: Generally supportive, though we should have a waiting period, licensure, and background checks.  
Death Penalty: Strongly oppose.  Life imprisonment is a more appropriate punishment for the worst crimes.
Censorship: Strongly oppose.  I do support an independent rating system that can be voluntarily applied to various media.  But it should remain that:  A voluntary rating system. 
Flag burning:  Should be legal in all cases.  Flag burning is not a form of treachery.  It is a symbolic form of protest that people use to air strong grievances with the state.  It shouldn't be taken lightly, either.
Smoking:  No smoking in public places, though we should allow for smoking rooms in private businesses (if they're separate).  
Alcohol consumption: Legal age should be lowered to 16 to purchase wine and beer and 19 to purchase liquor (to keep liquor out of high schools).  Alcohol consumption in the presence of parents should be allowed at any age.  Get rid of public intoxication laws and allow drinking in public.  Increase public programs that promote responsible drinking.  Campaigns like "stop at buzzed" are much more effective than "DON'T DRINK AT ALL OMG!"
Euthanasia: I support voluntary euthanasia in cases of terminal illness.
Drugs: I support the legalization of marijuana and other "softer" drugs.  They should be allowed for sale in licensed establishments that are subject to inspection.  They should also be regulated and taxed by the government.  The revenue should first and foremost go to addiction/recovery programs.
Gambling:  I recognize the positive benefits of allowing casinos on Indian reservations.  I also support initiatives between states and Native American tribes to place casinos on state land outside of the reservation with revenue sharing.  I think a portion of all gambling profits should be dedicated to addiction programs.
Prostitution: Leave this to the states.  The federal government shouldn't have any say one way or the other, except in cases of forced or underage prostitution.  I support legalized prostitution as long as prostitutes are regularly tested for STDs, are STD free, and the industry is regulated to remove the common "pimp/ho" relationships.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Strongly support.
Immigration:  We need to make legal immigration much easier.  We should have no quotas based on race or nationality, but we could have an expedited process for skilled or educated immigrants.
Illegal Immigration:  Secure the border by placing more border security teams along the border.  Try repeat offenders.  Allow current illegal immigrants amnesty if they agree to begin the process of legal immigration.  They should be granted a visa to remain and work in the country as long as they are in the process of becoming citizens.  Those who do not begin the process of legal immigration by a certain date should be considered criminals and deported upon arrest.


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snowguy716
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« Reply #497 on: July 07, 2010, 10:59:46 PM »

Economic Issues

General Philosophy: Liberal

Taxes: Lower corporate taxes and close loopholes.  Reduce taxes drastically for small businesses and encourage owners not to file as individuals.  Make the income tax significantly more progressive and raise them to close the majority of the deficit.  States should have progressive income taxes and should shy away from sales taxes, or should at least make necessities tax exempt.  States should provide equalization funding to schools and poorer cities and counties to keep property taxes uniformly low.
Employers and Employees: The right of employees to form a union should be aggressively protected by the local, state, and federal governments.  The punishment for union busting and union prevention should be harsh.  Intimidation by employers should also be harshly punished, and employers should only have a say in the process through an official, impartial arbiter once the process of unionization has begun.  The right of employees not to join a union should also be protected, and no union dues should be paid by non-union employees.  Employers should not be able to force potential employees into stating their preference to join the union until after they have been hired.
Free trade: I support fair trade.  We need to hold our trading partners to the same standards that we hold our own workers.  This also goes for environmental standards.
Spending:  Defense spending is out of control and needs to be curtailed.  Cut non-troop and non-war related expenditures by 10% immediately and institute growth caps on future spending to inflation for 10 years.  Ask all departments to identify 15% of potential savings.  Ask each department to find better efficiencies that reduce costs and cut up to 10% of the budget.  Stimulus funding would not be affected by this and could provide extra funding to such programs in times of economic recession.
Social Security: Lift the cap on payroll taxes.  Increase the retirement age to 70 over a period of years.  Increase benefits for the poorest while reducing them for the richest.
Space Program: Support.  The government should partner with private interests with the government focusing on research and initial training.  Allow private enterprise to take over non-close orbit space travel with government subsidies to begin.
Welfare:  Have a guaranteed minimum income for the disabled and single working parents.  Provide food and cash assistance to the poor.  Make benefits after a certain period dependent on at least part-time work or job seeking.
Healthcare: We need strong regulation of the private insurance industry.  Make a second opinion the right of every patient, and make the coverage for 2nd opinions mandatory.  Limit malpractice benefits to the potential economic loss taken by the patient plus a small amount for general pain and suffering.  The government should either expand medicare or create a single payer insurance program for all children and young adults under 26 and people over 65 as well as the poor and disabled.  The standards for this program should be standard and binding across the industry to lower administrative costs and redundancies.  Allow medical practitioners to prescribe basic non-narcotic drugs to patients for simple, common ailments to reduce costs for visits for common ailments (sprains, colds, flu, etc.).  Set up a national database and allow more drugs, in lower doses, to be available over a pharmacy counter without a prescription at the discretion of a trained pharmacist upon review of your history in the national database.
Education: At the federal level:  Uniform basic standards of learning for the entire nation.  This includes math and science standards and applicable social studies and english/grammar.  The states reserve the right to fine tune and change these standards where deemed necessary.  The federal government should provide equalization money among states as well as funding for special education.  I support an equalization system in the states funded by income taxes so that property poor school districts have the resources to give their students a world class education.  Give ultimate authority to the local school districts when it comes to how they spend money.
Minimum Wage: We need a federal minimum wage that is tied to the cost of living.  Tipped employees should earn the same minimum wage, though businesses have the right to pool tips and share them among other non-management employees.  States reserve the right to go below the national minimum for small, wholly state-bound businesses and have the right to raise the minimum wage above the national minimum and make it binding to all businesses.
Regulation:  In some markets, regulation is a must.  We need a well regulated banking industry as well as food and drug safety.  We also need strong environmental protection.  In most cases, the freer the market, the freer the people is sound... but basic necessities need to be regulated as to promote the health and wellbeing of the public.
Infrastructure: First and foremost, we need to increase public transportation in our cities and in rural areas.  Metropolitan areas should promote denser, transit-oriented growth through tax incentives.  We should focus on freeway expansion where it is necessary, but also focus on better maintenance standards and better paving standards, which, while more expensive at the outset, reduce maintenance costs and last much longer.  We also need to focus on our power grid.  It needs to be expanded to handle massive spikes in usage during heatwaves and cold waves.  Also, with the likely massive increase in home-charged electric cars, the demand will increase greatly.  While gas stations will likely become "battery exchange stations" in the future (much like propane tanks for your grill), people will still charge their cars at home if they can.  We also need to focus on making our dams safe and flood prevention infrastructure needs to be upgraded in flood prone areas like New Orleans or along flood prone rivers.
Energy Policy: We need to massively increase nuclear power.  This must be the backbone of our energy requirements while we phase out coal and natural gas and develop wind, solar, and biomass technologies.  While nuclear isn't renewable and it has its dangers, it is incredibly efficient.  Old coal stations should be replaced with nuclear and newer, cleaner coal plants should be used as peak use plants.  We can also develop geothermal electricity where it is feasible, especially in the western U.S. where temperatures at the normal range of geothermal plants is nearly 200˚C.
Environment:  We need sustainability.  We need to require sustainable forestry practices that promote healthy forests for wildlife while meeting our demands for wood products.  We also need sustainable grassland programs.  If people would eat more buffalo/bison and less beef, it would greatly improve the prairies.  This is because the diet of Bison are different than cattle and the American prairie has evolved with bison so that they coexist nicely.  Eating bison instead of beef is also healthier as bison is lower in fat and cholesterol, so it's a win-win.. while bison is still very flavorful.  We also need to strictly regulate our fisheries so they are sustainable as well.  End bottom trawling.  Government should lower subsidies on corn and soybeans and raise them on fresh fruits and vegetables so that everybody can afford healthier food choices.  Also, for every ounce of meat you forego, you could eat 10 ounces of vegetables and have the same environmental impact.  

We need to focus on having the smallest impact possible while maintaining a high quality of life.  We need to realize that quality of life isn't borne out of "bigger is always better" and "More is always better"... but that we should focus on family and community as the foundations of good quality of life.  If we can do this, the environment will greatly benefit.
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snowguy716
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« Reply #498 on: July 07, 2010, 11:00:46 PM »

Foreign Issues

General Philosophy: I don't know.

Democracy and Trade: I support both, but movements towards democracy should be home grown.  We should assist if they ask.
United Nations: The idea of an international body is important in today's world.  It should not hold any legal jurisdiction, however.
Iraq: Strongly opposed to our invasion of Iraq, though if peace and stability can remain in this fledgling democracy, I won't deny the victory there.
Israel: Support two state proposal.  No economic or military aid except for defense in extreme situations.  We were instrumental in putting them there, we should help them out when they really need it.  Palestinians and Jewish Israelis will have to learn to coexist.
Patriot Act: Strongly Oppose
Torture: Strongly Oppose.  It is inhumane and ineffective.
Military Involvement:  Oppose in most circumstances.  We need to focus more on our own defense.  Return the National Guard to being the national guard... so they can respond to domestic crises when needed.
North American Union: A union that sets up free trade and free travel amongst the nations is a good idea.  Also, legislation that affects all parties could be promoted by a stronger union, but ultimately these proposed laws would have to be approved by the legislative bodies of each respective country in order to maintain national sovereignty.
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Хahar 🤔
Xahar
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« Reply #499 on: July 08, 2010, 03:33:18 PM »

If people would eat more buffalo/bison and less beef, it would greatly improve the prairies.  This is because the diet of Bison are different than cattle and the American prairie has evolved with bison so that they coexist nicely.  Eating bison instead of beef is also healthier as bison is lower in fat and cholesterol, so it's a win-win.. while bison is still very flavorful.

It may be flavorful, but the flavor isn't good.
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