Opinions on the following issues

[Wolverines34]

Put Strongly Support, Support, Oppose, or Strongly Oppose on the following issues.

Abortion is a Women's Right
Gay Marriage
Affirmative Action
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership
Capital Punishment
Prayer in Schools
Make Taxes more Progressive
Privatize Social Security
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare
School Vouchers
Legalize Marijuana
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery
Expand Drilling
Prioritize Green Energy
Animal Rights
Expand the power of Unions
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants
Protectionism in trade
Increase military spending

[Goldwater]

Okay, I'll bite:

Abortion is a Women's Right Support
Gay Marriage Strongly Support
Affirmative Action Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership Support
Capital Punishment Support
Prayer in Schools Strongly Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive Strongly Oppose
Privatize Social Security Strongly Support
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare Oppose
School Vouchers Strongly Support
Legalize Marijuana Strongly Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery Strongly Oppose
Expand Drilling Support
Prioritize Green Energy Support
Animal Rights Support
Expand the power of Unions Strongly Oppose
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants Support
Protectionism in trade Strongly Oppose
Increase military spending Support

[Wolverines34]

Abortion is a Women's Right:Strongly Support
Gay Marriage:Strongly Support
Affirmative Action:Strongly Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership:Strongly Support
Capital Punishment:Strongly Support
Prayer in Schools:Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive:Strongly Oppose
Privatize Social Security:Strongly Support
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare:Oppose
School Vouchers:Strongly Support
Legalize Marijuana:Oppose
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery:Oppose
Expand Drilling:Support
Prioritize Green Energy:Oppose
Animal Rights:Strongly Support
Expand the power of Unions:Support
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants:Strongly Oppose
Protectionism in trade:Strongly Support
Increase military spending:Support

[Oakvale]

This is a useless thread but I did it anyway since I'm avoiding studying for finals.

Abortion is a Women's Right:Strongly Support
Gay Marriage: Support
Affirmative Action: Strongly Support
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership: Strongly Oppose
Capital Punishment: Oppose
Prayer in Schools: Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive: Meaningless question.
Privatize Social Security: Depends what you mean.
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare:Support
School Vouchers: Support
Legalize Marijuana:Strongly Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery: Another meaningless false dichotomy.
Expand Drilling:Oppose
Prioritize Green Energy:Support
Animal Rights:Strongly Support
Expand the power of Unions:Strongly Oppose
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants:Strongly Support
Protectionism in trade:Strongly Oppose
Increase military spending:Oppose

[Oakvale]

Abortion is a Women's Right:Strongly Support
Gay Marriage:Strongly Support
Affirmative Action:Strongly Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership:Strongly Support
Capital Punishment:Strongly Support
Prayer in Schools:Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive:Strongly Oppose
Privatize Social Security:Strongly Support
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare:Oppose
School Vouchers:Strongly Support
Legalize Marijuana:Oppose
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery:Oppose
Expand Drilling:Support
Prioritize Green Energy:Oppose
Animal Rights:Strongly Support
Expand the power of Unions:Support
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants:Strongly Oppose
Protectionism in trade:Strongly Support
Increase military spending:Support

Do you hate brown people?

[ElectionsGuy]

Abortion is a Women's Right - Support
Gay Marriage - Strongly Support
Affirmative Action - Strongly Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Strongly Support
Capital Punishment - Oppose
Prayer in Schools - Strongly Oppose (assuming its teacher-led prayer)
Make Taxes more Progressive - Strongly Oppose
Privatize Social Security - Support
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Oppose
School Vouchers - Strongly Support
Legalize Marijuana - Strongly Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Strongly Oppose
Expand Drilling - Support
Prioritize Green Energy - Neutral, the private sector should prioritize whatever energy is most effective
Animal Rights - Like what?
Expand the power of Unions - Strongly Oppose
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Support
Protectionism in trade - Strongly Oppose
Increase military spending - Strongly Oppose

[AggregateDemand]

Abortion is a Women's Right - Hell no, but not gov's job to decide who's born
Gay Marriage - I support the concept
Affirmative Action - Only if we're working to eliminate the need for it
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Yes, in general
Capital Punishment - No
Prayer in Schools - Fine for clubs
Make Taxes more Progressive - Only if we use a flat tax system to do it
Privatize Social Security - We already have 401k, IRA. Kick the riches out of SS
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - No. Income exclusion caused mess
School Vouchers - Yes
Legalize Marijuana - Yes, but not commercial edibles
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery In theory, yes
Expand Drilling I support expanding production. If we have to drill so be it
Prioritize Green Energy Carbon neutral energy is good enough
Animal Rights Mostly nonsense
Expand the power of Unions More organized crime? No thanks.
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants Support after we fix the middle class
Protectionism in trade No, in general
Increase military spending Yes. Best entitlement

[AggregateDemand]

--

[Goldwater]

...
Make Taxes more ProgressiveOnly, if we use a flat tax system to do it
...

What on earth do you mean by that? A flat tax is the exact opposite of making taxes more progressive.

[AggregateDemand]

What on earth do you mean by that? A flat tax is the exact opposite of making taxes more progressive.

I can't do more working-class-hero outreach for today. Suffice it to say, flat statutory tax rates are not synonymous with a strictly proportional tax (what you refer to as "flat tax").

It is possible, and necessary, to have a single statutory tax rate on earned income, yet still have different effective tax rates, based upon income.

[Mr. Smith]

Abortion is a Women's Right -  No, but banning it would be far worse. I support it, but not for those reasons. Mark Udall had it correct (Oppose)
Gay Marriage - Very uncomfortable with it, but it's not mine or government's business in the end...so Yes (Support)
Affirmative Action - It has shown to do have done a lot of good, but it's built up a lot of resentment from the equally disenfranchised that are ignored and even hated by association with the majority (Oppose)
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - No, background checks necessary (Oppose)
Capital Punishment - Yes, but only for serial killers, neo-Nazis, certain war criminals, and genocide commiters (Support)
Prayer in Schools - Prayer is too private for school (Strongly Oppose)
Make Taxes more Progressive - Hell YES, Soak the rich if that's what must be done (Strongly Support)
Privatize Social Security -  NO! (Strongly Oppose)
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Hell YES, because otherwise you leave it profit-hungry hawks who don't have incentive to give a damn. (Strongly Support)
School Vouchers - NO! That's just re-segregation in the making (Strongly Oppose)
Legalize Marijuana - Yes, because like banning abortion or prohibition, keeping it illegal only makes things worse. Legalize, and you get regulation (Strongly Support)
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery- YES (Support)
Expand Drilling: NO! I like having water to drink and air to breathe thank you very much. (Strongly Oppose)
Prioritize Green Energy : YES! DEAR HEAVENS YES! (Strongly Support)
Animal Rights: Support, because I also like have healthy meat to eat less likely to give disease (Support)
Expand the power of Unions: Absolutely, given they have diddly-squat right now and people are being exploited where time and wages are concerned (Strongly Support)
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants: Yes (Support)
Protectionism in trade: This one doesn't matter that much (Neutral)
Increase military spending: F&^%& NO! (Strongly Oppose)

[Kraxner]

Abortion is a Women's Right - Strongly support
Gay Marriage - Support
Affirmative Action - Strongly oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Strongly support
Capital Punishment - Strongly support
Prayer in Schools - Support
Make Taxes more Progressive - Support
Privatize Social Security - Oppose
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Support
School Vouchers - Strongly Support
Legalize Marijuana - Strongly support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Support
Expand Drilling - Strongly support
Prioritize Green Energy - Strongly Oppose
Animal Rights - Oppose?
Expand the power of Unions - Strongly Oppose
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Strongly oppose
Protectionism in trade - Strongly Support, but only in cases of countries using their laws to prevent american exports. An eye for an eye. If they use their regulations to prevent american exports then we should do the same on their exports.
Increase military spending - Oppose

[Oakvale]

Protectionism in trade - Strongly Support, but only in cases of countries using their laws to prevent american exports. An eye for an eye. If they use their regulations to prevent american exports then we should do the same on their exports.

yea! trade wars are a great idea

[Deus Naturae]

School Vouchers - NO! That's just re-segregation in the making (Strongly Oppose)

Paying for more black people to go to private school = re-segregation?

[Deus Naturae]

Abortion is a Women's Right - Support (you have a right to have an abortion, but not a right to make someone else pay for it)
Gay Marriage - Support (preferably get rid of marriage licensing altogether)
Affirmative Action - Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Strongly Support
Capital Punishment - Oppose
Prayer in Schools - Neutral (ideally all schools would be private and allowed to decide their own policies in this regard)
Make Taxes more Progressive - Strongly Oppose
Privatize Social Security - Strongly Support
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Strongly Oppose
School Vouchers - Support (only as a replacement for public education, not as a supplement to it)
Legalize Marijuana - Strongly Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Strongly Oppose
Expand Drilling - Neutral (if there's demand for whatever is being drilled, then sure. Federal lands should be privatized rather than leased out to arbitrarily selected companies)
Prioritize Green Energy - Neutral (the government should not be involved in energy production. What types of energy gets prioritized by different producers is up to them and their customers)
Animal Rights - Oppose (I'm not against the idea that we should treat animals humanely, but I wouldn't say they have "rights")
Expand the power of Unions - Strongly Oppose (the way to raise wages is to increase labor productivity via capital investment and education, not to compel employers to pay artificially high wage rates)
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Support
Protectionism in trade - Strongly Oppose (not a fan of nationalism, nativism, etc)
Increase military spending - Strongly Oppose

[Bacon King]

STRONGLY SUPPORT
Gay Marriage
Abortion is a Women's Right
Make Taxes more Progressive
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare
Legalize Marijuana
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery
Prioritize Green Energy
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants

SUPPORT
Affirmative Action
Animal Rights
Expand the power of Unions

OPPOSE
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership
School Vouchers
Protectionism in trade
Increase military spending

STRONGLY OPPOSE
Capital Punishment
Prayer in Schools
Privatize Social Security
Expand Drilling

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Abortion is a Women's Right Strongly Support
Gay Marriage Strongly Support
Affirmative Action Support
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership Oppose
Capital Punishment Oppose
Prayer in Schools Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive Support
Privatize Social Security Strongly Oppose
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare Strongly Support
School Vouchers Strongly Oppose
Legalize Marijuana Strongly Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery Support
Expand Drilling Oppose
Prioritize Green Energy Support
Animal Rights Support
Expand the power of Unions Strongly Support
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants Support
Protectionism in trade Support
Increase military spending Oppose

[Ebowed]

All 'strongly'.

Abortion is a Women's Right - Support
Gay Marriage - Support
Affirmative Action - Support
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Oppose
Capital Punishment - Oppose
Prayer in Schools - Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive - Support
Privatize Social Security - Oppose
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Support
School Vouchers - Oppose
Legalize Marijuana - Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Support
Expand Drilling - Oppose
Prioritize Green Energy - Support
Animal Rights - Support
Expand the power of Unions - Support
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Support
Protectionism in trade - Depends.
Increase military spending - Oppose

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Put Strongly Support, Support, Oppose, or Strongly Oppose on the following issues.

Abortion is a Women's Right Oppose
Gay Marriage Oppose
Affirmative Action Strongly Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership Oppose
Capital Punishment Oppose
Prayer in Schools Oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive Strongly Support
Privatize Social Security Strongly Oppose
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare Support
School Vouchers Strongly Oppose
Legalize Marijuana Strongly Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery Support
Expand Drilling Strongly Support
Prioritize Green Energy Strongly Support
Animal Rights Support
Expand the power of Unions Oppose
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants Strongly Support
Protectionism in trade Strongly Oppose
Increase military spending Strongly Oppose

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Abortion is a Women's Right - Strongly Oppose
Gay Marriage - Oppose, although I'm not a fan of a federal ban (for example, in Australia, the ACT should have been allowed to legalise it, state and territory rights you know).
Affirmative Action - Oppose
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Strongly Support
Capital Punishment - Strongly Support
Prayer in Schools - Support, this should be left up to the individual school.
Make Taxes more Progressive - Strongly Oppose
Privatize Social Security - Strongly Support
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Strongly Oppose
School Vouchers - Strongly Support, but not for those earning above a certain income (can't stand "middle class welfare")
Legalize Marijuana - Oppose
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Strongly Oppose
Expand Drilling - Strongly Support
Prioritize Green Energy - Strongly Oppose
Animal Rights - Oppose, I think animal "rights" organisations go way too far.
Expand the power of Unions - Strongly Oppose
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Oppose
Protectionism in trade - Strongly Oppose
Increase military spending - Oppose, and scale back what I call "world policing" actions, while retaining a strong military.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Abortion is a Woman's Right - Strongly support.
Gay Marriage - Do I agree that it exists? Yes. Should it be legalized at the federal level? Yes. I'm not sure what "gay marriage" means by itself.
Affirmative Action - Support.
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Strongly oppose.
Capital Punishment - Strongly oppose.
Prayer in Schools - Strongly oppose.
Make Taxes more Progressive - Strongly support.
Privatize Social Security - Strongly oppose.
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Strongly support.
School Vouchers - Strongly oppose.
Legalize Marijuana - Strongly support.
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Strongly support.
Expand Drilling - Strongly oppose.
Prioritize Green Energy - Strongly support.
Animal Rights - Again, what are you asking? Should animals have rights? Yes, to some extent. Do animal rights exist as an issue? Yes. Be less vague.
Expand the power of Unions - Strongly support.
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Strongly support.
Protectionism in trade - Support.
Increase military spending - Strongly oppose.

I also strongly support some lessons in framing questions in political debate for OP.

[AggregateDemand]

School Vouchers - NO! That's just re-segregation in the making (Strongly Oppose)

It's the opposite. The people who "lose" are the wealthy public school districts who exclude citizens without the means to buy half-million dollar homes.

[AggregateDemand]

What on earth do you mean by that? A flat tax is the exact opposite of making taxes more progressive.

I have a minute now so I'll explain. Tax = 25%, Income exclusion = $10,000.

Income.......................Tax......................Effective Rate
10,000.......................$0........................0%
20,000.......................$2,500..................12.5%
50,000.......................$10,000................20%
100,000.....................$22,500................22.5%
200,000.....................$47,500................23.75

The flat statutory rate does not actually create a proportional effective tax rate because of the income exclusion. Unfortunately, income exclusions badly distort tax equity. Credits work better.

Tax = 35%, Non-refund credit = $6,000 per taxpayer

Income.......................Tax.....................Effective Rate
10,000........................$0......................0%
20,000........................$1,000................5%
50,000........................$11,500..............23%
100,000......................$29,000..............29%
200,000......................$64,000..............32%

Flat tax rate ≠ proportional tax. The primary purpose of the flat tax is to eliminate the complex, unequal systems of brackets that are required for married, single, head-of-household, etc. Just double the credit, and leave the rate alone. Graduated brackets cause incredible damage to our society, and balancing the various statuses is too difficult, assuming DC is even trying.

[Murica!]

Abortion is a Women's Right: Strongly support
Gay Marriage: I oppose marriage but if there is to be marriage than it should be equal for everyone. Strongly support.
Affirmative Action: The person who's more qualified should get the job but I understand the law. Neutral
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership: Neutral
Capital Punishment: Get rid of prisons and make sentencing more democratic even if that means yes to the death penalty.
Prayer in Schools: Hell No!
Make Taxes more Progressive: I like the idea of the fair tax but otherwise yes. Support
Privatize Social Security: Hell No!
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare: NHS or bust! Strongly support
School Vouchers: Democratic schools all the way. Strongly oppose
Legalize Marijuana: legalize all "natural" drugs. Strongly support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery: The market is required as a feedback mechanism but it isn't a self fixing thing. Neutral
Expand Drilling: Hell No!
Prioritize Green Energy: Hell Yes!
Animal Rights: To a point. Support
Expand the power of Unions: Unions control the means of production. strongly support
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants: Are we not all immigrants anyway(well except Native Americans that is)? Strongly support
Protectionism in trade: Neutral
Increase military spending: Hell No!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Abortion is a Women's Right - Strongly support
Gay Marriage - Strongly support
Affirmative Action - Neutral
Absolute Right to Gun Ownership - Strongly oppose
Capital Punishment - Strongly oppose
Prayer in Schools - Strongly oppose
Make Taxes more Progressive - Strongly support
Privatize Social Security - Strongly oppose
Government playing a stronger role in Healthcare - Strongly support
School Vouchers - Strongly oppose
Legalize Marijuana - Support
Stimulus Better than Market Recovery - Support
Expand Drilling - Strongly oppose
Prioritize Green Energy - Strongly support
Animal Rights - Support
Expand the power of Unions - Support
Pathway to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants - Support
Protectionism in trade - Support
Increase military spending - Strongly oppose