President Forever 2008 + Primaries: Policy Planks

[RFayette]

Abortion: Far right
Balanced budget: Far right
Business Tax: Far right
Education: Center right
Energy: Center right
Environment: Center right
Gun control: Center right
Health Care: Center
Homeland Security: Center right
Immigration: Center-right
Iran: Center-right
Iraq: Center right (center-left before ISIS)
Outsourcing : Center (have no idea what this means)
Personal Tax: Right
Same-Sex Marriage: Center Right
Social Security: Far right
Unions: Center right
War on Terror: Center Right (formerly Center-Left)

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Abortion: Far right
Balanced budget: Left
Business Tax: Center
Education: Right
Energy: Center left
Environment: Center right
Gun control: Center left
Health Care: Left
Homeland Security: Center
Immigration: Center-left
Iran: Center-left
Iraq: Center right (center-left before ISIS)
Outsourcing : Right
Personal Tax: Left
Same-Sex Marriage: Left
Social Security: Center left I guess
Unions: Center left
War on Terror: Center Right

FL: 0 L: 4 CL: 5 C: 2 CR: 3 R: 2 FR: 1

Dunno how this scoring works, but if you take this as 1=FL, 7=FR, 4=C average, I'm a 3.82, tilt Left.

[Clark Kent]

All right, let me try:

Abortion: Right
Balanced Budget: Center Right
Business Tax: Far Right
Education: Center Left
Energy: Center Right
Environment: Center Right
Gun Control: Right
Healthcare: Center Right
Homeland Security: Center Right
Immigration: Left
Iran: Center
Iraq: Center Right
Outsourcing: Either Left or Right (don't seem mutually exclusive) - Averaging Out to Center
Personal Tax: Right
Same-Sex Marriage: Center/Center Left
Social Security: Far Right
Unions: Pass (Leave Government out of it)
War on Terror: Center Left


I'm inverting the numbers because I prefer them this way.

FL: 0; L: 1; CL: 2/3; C: 2/3; CR: 6; R: 3; FR: 2

Score: 15/16

For comparison:

Far Left: -72
Left: -36
Center Left: -18
Center: 0
Center Right: 18
Right: 36
Far Right: 72

[VPH]

Abortion: Center
Balanced Budget: Left
Business Tax: Center-Left
Education: Left
Energy: Center-Left
Environment: Left
Gun Control: Center-Left
Health Care: Far-Left
Homeland Security: Center
Immigration: Left
Iran: Left
Iraq: Center-Left
Outsourcing: Left
Personal Tax: Left
Same Sex Marriage: Far-Left
Social Security: Left
Unions: Left
War on Terror: Center

Score: -30

[Goldwater]

Abortion: Center-Left
Balanced Budget: Center
Business Tax: Right
Education: Right
Energy: Center
Environment: Center Right
Gun Control: Center Right
Healthcare: Center Left
Homeland Security: Center Right
Immigration: Center Left
Iran: Center
Iraq/ISIS: Center Right
Outsourcing: Right
Personal Tax: Right
Same-Sex Marriage: Left
Social Security: Right
Unions: Center Right
War on Terror: Center Right

[Phony Moderate]

Abortion: Left
Balanced Budget: Center
Business Tax: Left
Education: Left
Energy: Center-Left
Environment: Center-Left
Gun Control: Left
Health Care: Far-Left
Homeland Security: Centre-Left
Immigration: Centre-Left
Iran: Left
Iraq: Center-Left
Outsourcing: Centre-Left
Personal Tax: Left
Same Sex Marriage: Far-Left
Social Security: Left
Unions: Left
War on Terror: Centre-Left

Overall I probably land somewhere between the fields of True Leftism and pragmatic progressivism.

[Sumner 1868]

Abortion: Center
Balanced Budget: Left
Business Tax: Left
Education: Left
Energy: Left
Environment: Left
Gun Control: Right
Health Care: Far-Left
Homeland Security: Far-Left
Immigration: Far-Left
Iran: Far-Left
Iraq: Far-Left
Outsourcing: Left
Personal Tax: Left
Same Sex Marriage: Left
Social Security: Left
Unions: Left
War on Terror: Left

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Abortion: Center
Balanced Budget: Far-Right
Business Tax: Right
Education: Right
Energy: Center-Right
Environment: Center-Left
Gun Control: Right
Health Care: Right
Homeland Security: Left
Immigration: Center
Iran: Center-Left
Iraq: Left
Outsourcing: Center-Right
Personal Tax: Far-Right
Same-Sex Marriage: Center
Social Security: Center-Right
Unions: Right
War on Terror: Center-Left

FL: 0, L: 2, CL: 3, C: 3, CR: 3, R: 5, FR: 2

[Clark Kent]

Abortion: Center-Right
Balanced Budget: Center
Business Tax: Right
Education: Center-Right
Energy: Center-Right
Environment: Center-Right
Gun Control: Center
Health Care: Center-Left
Homeland Security: Right
Immigration: Right
Iran: Center
Iraq: Center-Right
Outsourcing: Center-Right
Personal Tax: Left
Same-Sex Marriage: Center
Social Security: Center
Unions: Center
War on Terror: Center-Right

And you're a Socialist?

[courts]

yes very much so

[Clark Kent]

yes very much so

Wow. If only all of them could be like you.

[courts]

well there's a reason china and vietnam are still chugging along

[VPH]

Abortion: Center-Right
Balanced Budget: Center
Business Tax: Right
Education: Center-Right
Energy: Center-Right
Environment: Center-Right
Gun Control: Center
Health Care: Center-Left
Homeland Security: Right
Immigration: Right
Iran: Center
Iraq: Center-Right
Outsourcing: Center-Right
Personal Tax: Left
Same-Sex Marriage: Center
Social Security: Center
Unions: Center
War on Terror: Center-Right

What figure would you say is closest to your views?

[courts]

idk, who do you think?

[VPH]

idk, who do you think?

Peron?

[ScottieF]

Abortion: Left
Balanced Budget: Left
Business Tax: Far-Left
Education: Left
Energy: Center-Left
Environment: Left
Gun Control: Center-Left
Health Care: Far-Left
Homeland Security: Center-Left
Immigration: Center-Left
Iran: Center
Iraq: Left
Outsourcing: Left
Personal Tax: Left
Same-Sex Marriage: Left
Social Security: Far-Left
Unions: Center-Left
War on Terror: Center-Left

Score: -34

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

Abortion: Centre-Right
Balanced Budget: Centre-right
Business Tax: Right
Education: Far-Right
Energy: Centre-Right
Environment: Centre
Gun Control: Far-Right
Health Care: Centre-Left
Homeland Security: Centre-Right
Immigration: Right
Iran: Centre
Iraq: Centre
Outsourcing: Far-Left
Personal Tax: Right
Same-Sex Marriage: Centre-Right
Social Security: Right
Unions: Center
War on Terror: Centre-Left

[TNF]

abortion: far-left
balanced budget: center-right¹
business taxation: far-left²
education: far-left
energy: right³
environment: center
gun control: right
health care: far-left
homeland security: left
immigration: literally none of these⁴
iran: far-left⁵
iraq: left⁶
outsourcing: none of these⁷
personal tax: left⁸
same-sex marriage: abolish marriage
social security: far-left⁹
unions: far-left
war on terror: far-left

¹the national debt is a transfer payment from the bulk of the population to a small number of extremely rich individuals.
²special snowflake position: nationalize industry, replace business and other forms of taxation with a system structured around surplus value.
³focus on natural gas, geothermal energy, and nuclear power, especially the latter. throw insane amounts of money at developing thorium-based reactors and fusion reactors, etc, etc.
⁴none of these positions come close to what I would consider workable as an immigration policy. first and foremost, assuming the continuation of a capitalist politico-economic system, I believe that immigrants should be defended against racist or xenophobic attacks and should be given full citizenship rights. I am opposed to the idea of a guest worker program and oppose entirely the concept of 'open borders' which is a utopian fantasy under capitalism and not workable in any real sense until capitalism as a world system is overthrown and replaced by socialism. likewise, in the extant deformed workers states, I would probably not favor 'open borders' in that this would likely lead to the emigration of highly-skilled persons necessary for the construction of a more advanced economic system in said countries and would in all likelihood be in favor of strict controls in order to prevent a general brain-drain.
⁵the nuclear deal was a massive -up on Iran's part, given that it will likely result in penetration of the region by American imperialism to an even greater extent without some form of opposition on the ground. nevertheless, I support the right of all powers to develop and maintain nuclear arsenals, especially the remaining deformed workers' states of china, north korea, cuba, laos, and vietnam.
⁶end all offensive operations against ISIS, remove all foreign troops from the region.
⁷see my entry on immigration. in the here and now, I am opposed to protectionism as an economic policy, as well as the so-called 'free trade' agreements like NAFTA and the TPP, which are in actuality instruments of economic domination by imperialist powers relative to their weaker competitors. ideally, I would favor free trade, and insofar as free trade expands the number of the international proletariat, I am certainly in favor of it. In a socialist context, I would obviously support a state monopoly on trade.
⁸see 'business taxation.' eliminate all forms of personal taxation in favor of the state requisitioning a portion of surplus value and/or ground rent.
⁹womb to tomb welfare state

[courts]

i agree with a lot of your conclusions here actually. in regards to social security i'd support sort of a state-capitalist type set up where the government allows for some 'choices'  (e.g. annuity) but guarantees a certain % return. essentially turning the issue on its head and using 'privatization' to transform the program into more of an explicit pension scheme.

[courts]

tnf:

balanced budget: i would obviously agree with that critique. in the long run the debt is going to be obviously written down just out of necessity. when and if interest rates go up it will become increasingly difficult to service. especially with the problems of aging population and greater numbers of jobs being lost to automation.

corporate income tax: in terms of business taxation i was thinking more along the lines of abolishing redundant 'corporate income tax' and shifting towards taxing things like land value and dividends more. in any case small businesses and/or cooperatives certainly should not be taxed like multinational corporations.

education: i'm ok with the government allowing for some charter schools and public school choice. although obviously there are issues with fundamentalism and other less savory elements that need to be brought into line by a future state.

energy: 100% agreed there, other than *maybe* fusion which has attracted a lot of cranks obviously.

outsourcing: i'm okay with it if there's some limits, like capital controls to keep foreign speculators and such from buying up our land. of course there are also issues with training and reliability among foreign workers which make it flawed even from a business owner perspective. (also this assumes that energy prices and other costs of globalization will not eventually go up and make that a less viable model...)

same sex marriage: i agree, marriage abolition would be preferable to modern divorce industry and increasingly hilarious debates over things like polygamy.

immigration: not that far off from your pov from the sound of it. do you support a general reduction of immigration levels too?

[TNF]

corporate income tax: in terms of business taxation i was thinking more along the lines of abolishing redundant 'corporate income tax' and shifting towards taxing things like land value and dividends more. in any case small businesses and/or cooperatives certainly should not be taxed like multinational corporations.

well ideally i think the economy would be mixed and would consist of large, state-owned and managed industries (the 'commanding heights' of the economy), cooperative industries specializing in consumer goods, and small businesses (for niche markets), at least during the transition period away from capitalist production. in terms of taxation, i agree with you about taxing the land, which would ideally be under common ownership and then the state could just collect ground rent on it based upon the kind of economic activity you were engaging in on it/state enterprises were using it for, etc.

also obviously one thing that would be different would be that everyone would be required to be a union member and the unions would be responsible for finding you work if you were out of a job, managing the shop floor, etc.

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I don't really have an opinion as far as present-day immigration levels are concerned. as I am opposed to the bourgeois state, I don't feel it particularly necessary to give it advice on how to administer labor markets, given that restricting propaganda and agitation to that would be an immense waste of time and effort. demanding open borders is demanding the impossible within capitalism, because the bourgeois state exists to promote capital accumulation within a given geographical territory, and anything which might potentially complicate the ability of the bourgeois state to provide stable conditions for capital accumulation (i.e. mass inflows or outflows of immigrants) is a non-starter for those at the helm of the state.

likewise, demanding immigration controls from a government that depends upon cheap labor is not going to happen anytime soon, or at least, in any effective form. and ultimately, legislation that aims at controlling immigration typically becomes 'anti-terror' legislation or is used to police labor markets by arresting striking workers, busting up unions, etc. you can't win with the bourgeoisie on immigration, so there's no point in advising them on how best to exploit the working class, be it on this side of the rio grande or the other.

[P123]

Abortion: Far-right
Balanced Budget: Center-right
Business Tax: Far-right
Education: Far-right
Energy: Right
Environment: Center-right
Gun Control: Far-right
Health Care: Center-right
Homeland Security: Center
Immigration: Far-right
Iran: Center-right
Iraq: Center-left
Outsourcing: Left
Personal Tax: Right
Same-Sex Marriage: Center-right
Social Security: Center-right
Unions: Center-left
War on Terror: Center-right

[DavidB.]

Abortion: Center-right
Balanced budget: Right
Business tax: Far-right
Education: Right
Energy: Center-right
Environment: Center-right
Gun control: Far-right
Health care: Far-left
Homeland security: Right
Immigration: Center-right
Iran: Right to far-right
Iraq: Center-right
Outsourcing: Right
Personal tax: Center-right to right
Same-sex marriage: Left
Social security: Center-left
Unions: Center to center-right
War on terror: Right


1 far-left, 1 left, 1 center-left, 0.5 center, 6.5 center-right, 5.5 right, 2.5 far-right
22 points

[Clark Kent]

Updated version:

Abortion: Right to Far-right
Balanced Budget: Center-right
Business tax: Far-right
Education: Center-right
Energy: Right
Environment: Center-right to Right
Gun control: Right to Far-right
Healthcare: Center-right
Homeland Security: Right to Far-right
Immigration: Center-left to Left
Iran: Center to Center-right
Iraq: Center-right
Outsourcing: Right
Personal tax: Right
Same-sex marriage: Center-left
Social Security: Far-right
Unions: Center-right
War on Terror: Center-right

Far-left: -3
Left: -2
Center-left: -1
Center: 0
Center-right: 1
Right: 2
Far-right: 3

My score: 25.5

[This account no longer in use.]

Abortion: Centre-left
Balanced Budget: Centre
Business Tax: Left
Education: Centre-right
Energy: Left
Environment: Left
Gun Control: Right
Healthcare: Centre-left
Homeland Security: Left
Immigration: Left
Iran: Centre-left
Iraq: Left
Outsourcing: Centre-left
Personal Tax: Centre
Same-Sex Marriage: Far-left
Social Security: Centre-right
Unions: Centre
War on Terror: Far-left