American Administration 2008. (Game Thread)

[Historia Crux]

General

Character Name - Michael P. Gonzalez
Current Job/Political Position - Senator
Party Affilitation - Freedom

Background Questions:

1. Age - 54
2. Gender - Male
3. Ethnic Origin - Caucasian/Hispanic
4. Religious Affiliation - Christian Univeralism
5. Job History - Fast Food Worker, State Senator, Congressman, Senator
a. Military Service - None
b. Previous Politcal Offices - State Senator, Congressman, Senator
6. Greatest Accomplishments - Accomplished balanced cuts, reforms and extra funding changes to 2004 FY Budget.
7. Greatest Failings - Failed to pass supported foreign aid reforms in Senate.
8. Behavior and Demeanor - Usually quiet and calm mannered, but has a quirky and eccentric side.

Position Questions: Write what your candidate feels/Has DONE in regards to the following. Note that having no opinion on a topic is a “yellow” answer that may expose oneself to weakness against someone with a centrist view, and that stating a view and then taking action against it is very painful. Note also that it’s possible to anger both sides with actions, which would be at best orange.

Position on Policy, Foreign:

F1. Israel - Supportive of Israel, but believes America needs to push for greater peace between Israel and Palestine.
F2. Iraq Reconstruction - Iraq was a war shrouded in mistakes, but were there. We need to rebuild Iraq and make it suitable for it's people to prosper.
F3. Korea - Supportive of South Korea and having American forces and bases still there for years to come.
F4. Opinion of the United Nations - Strongly supportive of the UN, though the UN needs to be reformed to become an effective tool to end conflicts and intervene for the causes of human rights.
F5. Europe (what should we do about the European allies who didn't support our Iraq War?) - We shouldn't punish European allies that don't support our policies in Iraq, it's there free will to decide to support or not.
F6. Foreign Aid - Support foreign aid to places like Africa, Asia and the Third World. We need to scale back foreign aid to more unsavory and undemocratic nations, we aren't living in the age of the cold war anymore.
F7. "Axis of Villainy" - We must be against undemocratic nations, but we cannot cut off all diplomatic channels to the nations of the "Axis of Villainy".

Position on Policy, Economics:

E1. Free Trade vs. Protection from International Businesses - Supportive of basic ideal behind free trade, more so for "fair trade" between nations.
E2. Regulation of Business - Business needs to be regulated to ensure fairness in the markets.
E3. Policy towards Labor Unions - Labor unions are a needed tool in the balancing act between business and their employed.
E4. Unemployment vs. Inflation - The unemployed need federal aid to alieviate their burden and the federal government needs to support the creation of more jobs.
E5. Balancing the Budget vs. Cutting Programs - Cutting programs is a sad reality to balance the budget.
E6. Balancing the Budget vs. Raising Taxes - Raising taxes is a sad reality to able our nation to balance the budget.
E7. Intellectual Property and Copyright -

Position on Policy, Military:

M1. Reduction of Naval Size - Reduce the size of the navy, but not much, we still need them.
M2. American Miltiary "Occupation" in Iraq - Begin to turn over security to Iraqi forces and begin to drawn down American forces in Iraq overtime.
M3. Afghanistan - We need a "surge" of forces in Afghanistan to complete our mission, we also must have a decent plan to leave the nation.
M4. Pay and Benefits - The soldiers fighting for our nation need a fair and balanced pay and benefits.

Position on Policy, Social Programs

SP1. Social Security - Supportive, though needed reforms must be made to ensure social security does not collapse.
SP2. Medicare - Supportive, though needed reforms must be made to ensure medicare does not collapse.
SP3. Health Care - We must reform our health care system, allow greater health care to children, a dual pronged offensive of a "opt in" public health care system along with a private alternative to those who dislike public system.
SP4. Welfare (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) - Supportive.

Position on Policy, Crime and Justice

C1. Death Penalty - Supportive of the death penalty against violent criminals, the justice system needs to be reformed also so we can execute the right person.
C2. Drug Laws and Possession - Loosen drugs laws for small amounts of marijuana, supportive of medical uses.
C3. Rehabilitation vs. Punishment - Rehabilitate, continual punishment only cranks out more criminals out of our prison system.
C4. Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms Policy - Against smoking in public areas, stronger enforcement of existing alcohol laws to stop drunk driving and underage drinking, responsible firearm use.
C5. Cruel and Unusual Punishment - Against.
C6. Torture and Interrogation Methods - Against, until it is made known that torture could be the only measure to gain knowledge to save American lives.
C7. Antiterrorism and Civil Liberties - Strongly supportive of guarding civil liberties.

Position on Policy, Energy:

N1. Importance of Nuclear Power - Supportive of importance of nuclear power in cause for energy self-reliance.
N2. Importance of Solar Power - Strongly supportive of investment and importance of solar energy in renewable energies self-reliance.
N3. Price of Oil - We must invest more in renewable energies, while allowing selective offshore drilling.
N4. Safe Disposal of Nuclear Waste - Strongly support the need to dispose of nuclear waste properly since also supportive of nuclear power.
N5. New Sources of Energy - Strongly supportive, invest in numerous possibilities, hydrogen, solar, geo-thermal, ethanols, algae oil, etc.

Position on Policy, Science, Education, Technology

S1. Federal Testing in Schools - Supportive.
S2. Federal Investment in R&D - Supportive.
S3. NASA - Strongly supportive, the stars are the future of humanity.
S4. Importance of Religious Views in Schools - Supportive of the split of religious affairs and schooling, supportive of moments of silence in schools though.
S5. Funding of Public Education - Strongly support increase educational spending, the children are our future afterall.
S6. Stem Cell Research - Supportive in allowing the research and increasing funding
S7. "Liberal Bias" in media - Bias, shmias, liberal media bias usually balances out with conservative media bias.

Position on Policy, Social Issues

S1. Gay Rights - Gays are Americans like anyone else, support same sex marriage but you don't have to force all churches to marry them, accepting churches or the federal government can do that.
S2. Abortion vs. Right to Life - Pro-Choice, observe the moral questions though, for ban on late term abortions and against federal funding for abortions.
S3. Gun Ownership - Supportive of responsible gun ownership.
S4. Eminent Domain - Supportive.
S5. Immigration and Citizenship - Support legal immigration, we can't get rid of all the illegal's, go after the criminals and work towards a pathway to citizenship for the rest.
S6. Gambling and Lotteries - Supportive.
S7. Fringe Political Parties - Let them exist, they don't win and they don't hurt anyone usually.
S8. Child Discipline - Supportive of parents rights, unless it is violence against the child.
S9. Obscenity - Leave it to the states.
S10. Prostitution and related actions. - It's a state's issue.