Schiff for Senate
CentristRepublican
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Posts: 12,314
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« on: June 03, 2021, 07:56:52 PM » |
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« edited: December 29, 2022, 04:02:17 PM by CentristRepublican »
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SOCIAL ISSUES
Environment
Very progressive on this issue; probably more left-wing on this than any other issue. I think that sums my position on this issue up pretty well.
Abortion
'Safe, legal and rare' type. I support the Hyde Amendment - excluding cases involving rape, incest, or where the mother's life is in danger, no federal funding for abortion whatsoever. Abortion is necessary, but not at all desirable, and it should absolutely have some limits, especially in cases not involving rape, incest, or mother's life is in danger. I oppose the far-right legislation Republicans are pushing (and I oppose Roe's overturn), but also know that ideally, abortion should be done only whenever absolutely necessary, and it itself is nothing to celebrate or do unnecessarily. Also support 'religious liberty' exceptions to performing abortions.
'Wokeness' and Cancel Culture
To put it simply: I'm opposed to wokeness, 'cancel culture', and too much political correctness. You all know exactly what I'm talking about. Though, contrary to what the right would have you believe, there are plenty of snowflakes on the right as well.
The Second Amendment
Same as the environment: very liberal on this issue, and support any and all amounts of gun control. I wouldn't object even if we hypothetically decided to repeal the Second Amendment (which we never will).
LGBTA+ Rights
Support homosexual rights to marry, adopt, and serve in the military openly. Generally would be considered centre-right on transgenders and non-binaries (like I think trans women with excess male hormones should not participate in women's sports, period, and the like, acknowledge the difference between a trans woman pre-op and a biological woman, and oppose complete nonsense like neopronouns), except for transgenders serving in the military (no one should be denied the right to serve in their nation's military). If someone has religious objections to performing sex reassignment surgery or catering to LGBTA customers, that is within their constitutional rights.
Death Penalty
The death penalty should not be abolished. But it should be reduced. Once guilt is established beyond any argument (like multiple witnesses or a camera recording), and the crime is absolutely heinous (like committing a mass shooting, say), only then should the death penalty be implemented.
Update (late December 2022): I am reconsidering my belief on the death penalty. During my time here I've been exposed to multiple very compelling arguments for the abolition of the practice, and I've found myself sympathetic to such arguments. I've also found it more and more difficult to justify the use of the death penalty, even in cases where at first glance it appears wholly justified.
Life Support / Assisted Suicide
Once someone has all the appropriate information, and have an incurable disease, they should be allowed to decide if they want to die or not. It is a personal decision. It is not the government's place to intervene. It is ironic that the GOP favours small government otherwise but big government to regulate personal decisions someone may make. Similarly, for removal of life support, if someone has a living will stating that they do not want to be on life support, respect their decision, and again, the government should never intervene (as they did in the case of Terri Shiavo). Removal of life support, and assisted suicide, should not be politicized or dealt with by the government.
Landlord Rights
The eviction moratarium should certainly be allowed to end. It's Democrats pandering to the base. There's absolutely no reason now that landlords should have to give free room and board to people who will likely take advantage of the moratarium. Earlier in the pandemic, perhaps it made sense. Now, there are more job availabilities and in most cases, anyone who tries hard enough can find a job. Landlords are people too, and in some cases, a large percentage of their own income may be derived from collecting rent on their properties. They shouldn't be deprived of that because of this moratarium.
Affirmative Action
Strongly opposed; counterintuitive and reverse-racism.
Drugs
Decriminalize some drugs (mainly marijuana), but impose a high sales tax on them. Addicts will be forced to pay extra money to the government or (if not addicted yet) break the habit of having drugs - so the deficit, number of drug users, and number of people in jail, all fall simultaneously. To ensure that no one is having drugs from illegal sources and evading the drug tax, crack down on cartels.
Immigration
Those who are already in the US should not be deported. A border wall, as well as the family separation policy = inhumane and ineffective. Racial profiling is bad. The 2017 executive order banning immigration from 7 Muslim-majority countries was counterintuitive, racist and ineffective. Make the immigration and citizenship process easier as well, so illegal immigration is necessary for less families.
Policing
Do not defund (and definitely do not abolish) the police. All cops are NOT bas**rds - most of them are good people who try to do their job and protect us, and people who don't see that are morons who don't deserve the protection and safety the police guarantees with. However, the police should have to wear body cameras, and the likes of Derek Chauvin should be fired and imprisoned.
Surveillance
Tracking terrorists is necessary. The PATRIOT Act may be too expanisve, but it is a good idea, once surveillance is reduced. Of course, it is uncomfortable to know your phone calls may be being monitered by the government (making it surprising that this bill was supported mainly by the GOP), but it is a good way to crack down on terrorism, faulty as the method may be. After all, the government may be listening to your calls, but is not doing so for the sake of doing so. They may listen, but as long as you are not a terrorist, they will not do anything (for example if they discover you are having an affair, they aren't going to tell on you). It is faulty, of course.
Healthcare
I support Obamacare, and while socialized medicine is a good idea in theory, it cannot be implemented - it is too costly. Medicare and Medicaid are good.
COVID19 is a serious, deadly pandemic. Vaccinations are necessary, and I wouldn't favour putting a federal mask mandate out of the question. Even doubly-vaccinated people are contracting the virus, which is why masking and social distancing (preferably, stay home as much as possible) is essential. That said, I'm not the mask hawk I previously was.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
Tarrifs
I am for free trade and for low-to-medium tarrifs (unless the country against which a particular tarrif is being levied has high tarrifs on the US, in which case keep tarrifs high).
National Debt
A 'deficit hawk' who knows the deficit matters (though admittedly, this issue is of lowish to low priority). Take some action to reduce the national debt - increase taxes overall, and cut federal programs where appropriate and where spending is wasteful and/or extravagent (and that includes the military industrial-complex).
Taxes
A 'fair tax' is unrealistic. But the rich should not be punished for their success; increasing taxes on the rich to ridiculous amounts just because of their wealth is unfair. Billionaires shouldn't be illegal. The idea that people making over a billion dollars should pay 100% of their income more than a billion dollars (effectively abolishing billionaires) is terrible. Not only is it unfair it will kill the economy by sending every billionaire in America overseas. However, we need to close tax loopholes completely. And I don't oppose raising taxes on the rich per se (like I'm not sure how wise the 2017 tax cuts, which basically only helped the ultra-rich, were) - just not to crazy amounts.
Minimum wage
The minimum wage doesn't kill that many jobs. Don't support a crazily high minimum wage, but a slight increase is fine.
Unions & Right to Work Laws
Unions should have every right to fight the employers. The employers should have every right to fight back. Right-to-work laws are absolutely fine.
Welfare reform
Some people on the government payroll abuse this by spending the money on alcohol/drugs and do not bother finding a job. So the rich and middle-class pay for a poor person to have whatever drugs and alcohol they want. There is a need for welfare reform. Reduce the welfare paycheque (except for the disabled) to so little that they have to choose between food and alcohol/drugs, or even better, overhaul the system. This can be done by firstly reducing the paycheque, and also forcing all recepients to state their address so that random (and mandatory) checks can be conducted to ensure the government's money isn't being wasted on alcohol, drugs or anything of the sort. With that said, the 1996 welfare reform package was bad and some people - kids, the disabled, the sick, the mentally ill - absolutely need support and shouldn’t be denied it.
FOREIGN POLICY
Middle East
Reduce American military presence in the Middle East. Stop supporting Israel over Palestine. The Iraq War was unncessary: yes, killing Saddam was a good thing, but after that there wasn't really any need to continue military presence in Iraq. When assassinating terrorists, ensure that no one innocent is killed as much as possible.
Ukraine
I like what we're doing here right now. Don't attack Russian civilians (keep it to a minimum - they are suffering and are victims - of dictatorship and abuse and of misinformation and propaganda - too), but absolutely and overwhelmingly go after Putin and the oligarchs who control Russia.
ELECTIONS
Electoral College
Abolish the electoral college and replace it with either ranked-choice voting or just regular popular vote.
Gerrymandering
Give complete control of congressional redistricting to a nonpartisan, federal committee to end gerrymandering.
Presidential Requirements
Abolish the presidential term limit, reduce the minimum age to 18, and end the US-born requirement. Require presidential candidates to release criminal records and 5 years of tax records. Voters should be allowed to make informed decisions and should not have unnecessary or excessive limits on whom they can vote for.
Voting Requirements
Voting should be optional. Voters should have two days to vote. 13 to 18 year olds should be allowed to vote so long as they can pass a moderately difficult civic knowledge examination. Formerly incarcerated people should be allowed to vote after the completion of their full sentence, unless their crime included murder or terrorism and they were arrested only once (not multiple times).
2020 & the Big Lie
The election was absolutely not 'stolen' from Trump and there's no evidence whatsoever of large-scale voter fraud. January 6 was deplorable and terrible - it was caused by Trump and his bootlickers. Trump most certainly deserved impeachment for January 6.
Campaign Finance Reform
I support campaign finance reform. Get the money out of politics so special interests like the NRA, the coal lobby, the ultra-rich, etcetera, can't bribe legislators. Do that, and then politicians will be less beholden to them and will listen to people more. Corporations aren't people; people are people.
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