Issues where Atlas would be surprised by your stance

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Gambling- I don't think the government should regulate gambling at all.  I view it as just choosing how to spend your money and who to give it to.  Also, sports betting should be legalized immediately.

Immigration- I am not a total hardliner on immigration.  I definitely support securing the border, but I don't know that mass deportations are feasible.  I would not, under any circumstance, allow a path to citizenship or sanctuary cities, but I would only actively go after criminal illegal immigrants.

Trade- I am strongly in support of free trade deals like NAFTA and the TPP, despite where my party seems to be heading on them.

Security vs. Privacy- It probably doesn't surprise those who have been around a while, but I lean strongly to the side of security, which is the opposite of many far-right types.

[SATW]

- I'm a strong advocate of keeping the Department of Education and increasing Teacher's pay.
- I'm strongly against minimum wage increases.
- Despite being a neoconservative and very critical of Russia, I believe that we need to cooperate with them to stabilize Syria.

[Gass3268]

I am not overly bothered by fracking, as long as it becomes properly regulated. It is a great bridge to the renewable energy future, which if you just look at the plummeting costs for solar isn't that far off. Also the natural gas revolution is killing coal, which environmentally far outweighs some of the challenges presented in fracking.

[Maxwell]

I am not overly bothered by fracking, as long as it becomes properly regulated. It is a great bridge to the renewable energy future, which if you just look at the plummeting costs for solar isn't that far off. Also the natural gas revolution is killing coal, which environmentally far outweighs some of the challenges presented in fracking.

this.

I'm not really bothered by Voter ID laws if it is done in conjunction with mass availability and just about every voter reform that Democrats propose.  I'm fairly pro free-trade, recognize the limits of increased taxation, and think that illegal immigration is a problem we need to deal with (albeit I want to fight it waaaaay differently than conservatives want to fight it).

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I think there's merit to 'school choice' in some actually-existing situations, although I think the ideal still needs to be a robust, well-funded, powerful public education system.

[Maxwell]

I think there's merit to 'school choice' in some actually-existing situations, although I think the ideal still needs to be a robust, well-funded, powerful public education system.

also this. Some of those charter schools offer the kind of results that we should be looking for.

[jamestroll]

I am not overly bothered by fracking, as long as it becomes properly regulated. It is a great bridge to the renewable energy future, which if you just look at the plummeting costs for solar isn't that far off. Also the natural gas revolution is killing coal, which environmentally far outweighs some of the challenges presented in fracking.

this.

I'm not really bothered by Voter ID laws if it is done in conjunction with mass availability and just about every voter reform that Democrats propose.  I'm fairly pro free-trade, recognize the limits of increased taxation, and think that illegal immigration is a problem we need to deal with (albeit I want to fight it waaaaay differently than conservatives want to fight it).

Whoa.. Maxwell and Gass are pretty  much eye to eye with me on these issues.

With Voter ID, it is does bother me too much as long as the government makes it easy for the citizens to obtain an ID. I would accept either Photo ID or 2 forms of identification (like utility bill or birth certificate for instance).

With free trade, I do think it did damage the rust belt economy, but destroying free trade agreements will only hurt the economy in the rust belt and across the country at this point. Even Trump, the Messiah of the yokels, can not bring those high paying low skilled jobs back.  Lets keep our economy moving with those agreements and look towards the future.

In addition to the above, I am also pro-second amendment rights, uneasy of a vast minimum wage increase and against public sector unions.

[White Trash]

I consider myself a fairly dovish person, but I would've supported the Iraq War wholeheartedly (and still am kind of a defender of the folks who voted for it.) In addition, I am SUPER pro-Israel.

(This also half a joke/half not, I often entertain the idea of legalizing dueling.)

[Goldwater]

Well, to determine that, I would first need to figure out how Atlas even see me at this point in the first place.

[Leinad]

but I lean strongly to the side of security, which is the opposite of many far-right types.

hahaha

Proof that the right-left spectrum is absurd, when Ron Paul and Adolf Hitler have the same adjective ("fari-right") describing them.

[NeverAgain]

I think we should abolish both the corporate and income taxes (or drastically reduce them), in favor of a Progressive Consumption Tax, creating a Carbon Tax, and ending many unneeded and wasteful tax expenditures like the mortgage interest deduction.

[Frodo]

Despite my skepticism regarding scientific claims that human-induced global warming/climate change is now the dominant force on our climate and (if left unchecked) will lead us into a global 'Sixth Extinction' or some other cataclysmic calamity, I don't oppose expanding our use of renewable energy, or conserving forests and biodiversity in the Global South, since my backing of those policies is for reasons independent of this politicized scientific theory. 

 

[Zioneer]

Well, I'm a Mormon liberal, so a lot of my stances are surprising, but specifically, I'm fairly hawkish despite many Mormon liberals being quite dovish.

[SATW]

Another one: Despite being a foreign policy hawk, I think cooperation with Russia on Middle Eastern issues may be a net positive for the U.S.

Israel has started coordinating its interests and strikes against hostile actors in Syria with Russia's interests there and it has, so far, worked decently. The U.S. can and should do this in an attempt to 1. Contain Iran's quest for regional economic and military domination 2.* Contain Turkey's batsh** behaviors and 3. Most importantly, try to stabilize Syria and end the civil war.

* Number two is a bit complex, with Turkey's position in NATO, but they seem intent on moving towards the Shanghai bloc anyways, so it might be worth considering.  (Source on Shanghai bloc and Turkey: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-europe-erdogan-idUSKBN13F0CY)

Hillary hawks are completely wrong on how to deal with Russia and I think Democrats like Tulsi Gabbard are the only ones on their side who are speaking somewhat rationally on this topic. On my side, I've seen a mixture of good and bad positions on Russia and Syria.

I am still very much critical of Putin's anti-democratic tendencies and his expansionist fetish in Europe and believe we need to do everything we can to support the EU in its attempts to curb and prevent Russian expansion.

We have very close economic ties to China despite constantly, and publicly, objecting and opposing China's aggressive behavior at the South China Sea. We can have a dual policy with Russia as well, I think.

[Thunderbird is the word]

I despise bans on smoking in bars. It's always just struck me as an attempt to sanitize cities for tourists and drive up property values. While I can understand limiting licenses so that people who don't want to be exposed to secondhand smoke have somewhere to go, I think that the anti-smoking movement in general has long passed the point where they could legitimately be said to be concerned with direct public health and are now just engaged in social engineering. I have a similar hatred for nanny state progressivism in general which sometimes strikes me as equivalent to the religious right in general. The soda tax is something else I dispise on multiple levels. It's a cheap revenue generating scam in cities where we could easily raise taxes on the wealthy to fund services and is also classist in that it's aimed at making something enjoyable for those at the bottom cost prohibitive.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

I am not overly bothered by fracking, as long as it becomes properly regulated. It is a great bridge to the renewable energy future, which if you just look at the plummeting costs for solar isn't that far off. Also the natural gas revolution is killing coal, which environmentally far outweighs some of the challenges presented in fracking.

this.

I'm not really bothered by Voter ID laws if it is done in conjunction with mass availability and just about every voter reform that Democrats propose.  I'm fairly pro free-trade, recognize the limits of increased taxation, and think that illegal immigration is a problem we need to deal with (albeit I want to fight it waaaaay differently than conservatives want to fight it).

I think there's merit to 'school choice' in some actually-existing situations, although I think the ideal still needs to be a robust, well-funded, powerful public education system.

also this. Some of those charter schools offer the kind of results that we should be looking for.

(This also half a joke/half not, I often entertain the idea of legalizing dueling.)

[DC Al Fine]

I'm pretty libertarian on some issues for a reactionary statist

[TDAS04]

Many on this forum think I'm moderate, at least economically, but I'm more of a leftist (at least now) than they might think.  I favor a very sharp increase in income taxes for the wealthy; I think it's not unreasonable for people to pay 70% of each dollar above 1 million they make annually. 

Also, something closer to a single payer health care system in this country would be better than the current system.

I'm also pretty leftist on education.  We should fund public education in a way that aims to make it attainable for all, regardless of community or individual income, and average teacher salaries should be at least doubled.  Private and Charter schools should not be publicly funded at all. 

My economic score on the political matrix should shift leftward when I finally take it again.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I am skeptical that economic growth is by itself an inherent "good," and because of that I am extremely weary of commercialization, overconsumption, and the increase in human population as I believe these things will inevitably cause, likely in our lifetimes, an economic collapse which will be so catastrophic that we may or may not recover from it - not to mention a worsened ecosystem born out of generations of pollution and so-called 'progress' and development.  Ironically, it is technology which will have to become more efficient to decrease the resources we need in order to make a sustainable economy, but population growth will also have to be addressed at some point, either voluntarily, or when nature can no longer sustain infinite growth and human populations are no longer expanding, but brutally competing for the resources that are left.

For that, I'm very sympathetic to "preppers" or survivalists who promote self-sufficiency and rural living.  Given the fact that people are so accustomed to the comforts that modern civilization provides them, I'm not optimistic that these problems will dissipate on their own as nature will eventually force us to lower our living standards, whether we want to or not.

(Sadly, it's usually libertarian RWNJs who are most often associated with the 'prepper movement,' mainly because within it there is a segment of 'rugged individualists' who buy into racist or religion-based conspiracy theories.  And those are things which distract people from the legitimate problems that exist in a world economy that is unsustainable.)

[Cashew]

I support renewable energy on principle. While I do believe in climate change, I remain opposed to malthusian hysteria, as well as their population control schemes.

[Xing]

Not exactly sure what specific views people "expect" me to have. In case anyone thinks that, due to my username, I'm big on China, I'm a strong supporter of recognizing Taiwan as an independent country.

Also, even though I think some people use the term "anti-PC" as an excuse to say incredibly moronic and bigoted things, I'm definitely not in the PC crowd, and I'm against college campuses refusing to allow speakers whose views don't necessarily line up with the student body to speak (provided the speaker is respectful.)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Black Lives Matter and Criminal Justice Reform: I've seen first hand what drug addiction does and how little the war on drugs has done to stop it. The turning point came when someone in my life battling serious drug addiction went on a destructive rampage in our home, resulting in a visit from the police. They should have arrested him, but the cop literally just called him a "punk ass brat" and then left. Meanwhile, up the street about a quarter mile, you'd find Haitian kids being arrested for small amounts of marijuana. The entire Criminal Justice system, like so many other aspects of our country, has been engaged in a systematically racist campaign against black America. Movements like BLM have done a great deal of good despite somewhat annoying tactics in a few unimportant instances.

Medicare/Medicaid: I'm 100% in favor of keeping these programs and oppose privatizing them despite my otherwise largely libertarian beliefs. These programs are paid for by the same taxpayers who benefit from them in many cases, and while reforms are needed, should largely be retained. I'm against any program whose intent is to be redistributionary. These programs are not like that.   

Trade: Unless the world becomes purely anarcho-capitalist or something (which is impossible and undesirable anyway), I see no free market argument that extends to international trade or commerce. So long as American companies move to foreign countries to manufacture (where they often get unfair advantages such as foreign subsidies or tax breaks), they are not competing on an equal footing. In short, when governments pick winners or losers in a economy, then that economy is not free. So as long as we have goods being imported from nations like China that don't abide by our standards, then the manufacturers of those imported goods shouldn't be subjected to the same economic freedoms that American companies have. Which is why I think tariffs are justified under the rules of a free market.

[progressive85]

I consider myself a very staunch Democrat on bread and butter and quality of life issues like living wages, Medicare for all, paid sick leave, paid maternity and paternity leave, and using the excessive wealth from the rich to spread the wealth so that everyone has money.

I am also pro-life.  Babies are cute, helpless, innocent, and vulnerable, they are also gifts from God - even if they came out of a rape or incest.  I don't believe a doctor should, morally or ethnically, be anywhere near touching that baby.  Let it grow.

I think the "bleeding heart" epithet is disgusting.  Why wouldn't we all to have bleeding hearts?  Some people's heart just seems to bleed for money.  It's part of religious teaching to care for the vulnerable, giving your time to help someone less fortunate than you, washing the feet of the poor, the homeless, the hungry, sick kids-- and that extends to babies, from conception to when they come into the world.

Every baby has worth and life.  Abortion is killing and it is the product of a culture that has lost its class, its dignity, and its grace.

I view moral values as the most important issue when voting.  My strong support of gay marriage is in accordance with high values placed on family, love, and marriage: That when two people fall in love, they should be married.  Gay couples should be married, and they should adopt kids. 

The promiscuity, the rampant sex hookup culture, the media's obsession with sex, Hollywood, the porn industry -- all of this should fade away.  I don't think society should place a very high emphasis on sex at all.  I think that's one of the things wrong with us today.  Sex should be replaced by love.  and thus, love, marriage, and family are cherished values.

I can sum myself up saying that I want to turn America into Disneyland.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I consider myself fiscally conservative