Summary of political beliefs

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

Haven't done this for a while, and I feel like my views have shifted a tad.

SUMMARY
Social: Center left
Economic: Center right
Foreign: Rather interventionist
Party Affiliation: Republican

SOCIAL POLICY
Abortion: I support Roe v. Wade and generally fall under the umbrella of "pro-choice."  However, I have serious moral qualms with abortion, and I am incredibly turned off by a lot of "liberal" rhetoric on the issue (this issue brings out some of the worst of tribalism).  I absolutely support some type of third trimester ban (except for the big three exceptions), though I would defer to someone with some more medical knowledge than I have to determine the cutoff (which will, of course, inevitably be somewhat arbitrary).
Same-Sex Marriage: I support it, no exceptions.
Drug Laws: I think states should be able to decide RE: marijuana, but I think drug use in general should be decriminalized, with the punishment falling on the large scale dealers.  No kid should face jail time or have their job prospects shattered for being one of the many college kids who comes across drugs and trying it/being that unlucky that they get caught.
Death Penalty: In general, I support its existence ... I have a hard time articulating this view, as there is no perfect "rule" of when to use it that I can land on.  However, I do strongly believe that it is an appropriate punishment for certain cases.
Gun Control: I am generally quite skeptical.  I am sympathetic to the Second Amendment and to the arguments that defend not altering it too much.  I would support common sense measures like background checks and waiting periods, but anything else is Constitutionally dubious and won't help the problem much.
Religious Freedom: Follow the precedent of past civil rights legislation and the Interstate Commerce Clause.
Affirmative Action: I support it for SES, but I am quite skeptical of affirmative action on the basis of race, specifically for minority groups with higher-than-average SES (like Asian-Americans).
Political Correctness: Try not to offend people ... there isn't a "law" that can make a meaningful impact here, IMO.  Rational people can see where the line of common sense is.
Euthanasia: Though I have some real reservations about this morally, I have not arrived at a reason to oppose people's right to die with dignity.  My uncomfortably with the state systematically condoning the killing of innocents (even if the innocents have asked for it) is slightly outweighed by sympathy for the patients who desire that type of ending.
Prostitution: This is a "live and let live" position that I strongly disagree with.  While a prostitute should never be in legal trouble for having to resort to that, prostitution must absolutely remain illegal.  Forgetting for a second the moral decay (unironic use) that would ensue, it enables the sex trade.
Environment: I am in favor of measures to preserve and protect our environment.  While regulations to do both can and should be balanced with policies that encourage the business community and private sector to thrive, punishment for breaking environmental regulations needs to be severe, and incentives for green policies should be generous.
Immigration: It is impractical (especially financially) to deport illegal immigrants that are already here, with the exception of ones that are identified as having committed minor crimes (ones who commit major crimes should be detained here).  However, a mark of a civilized country is to have border security that at least enables you to know who and what are entering your borders.  You owe that to your citizens, period.  I would support a pathway to citizenship for those already here (and amnesty for the crime of immigrating here illegally) and an intentional effort to secure our borders.  Most of my issue with more "conservative" thinking on this issue is with unwelcoming rhetoric that phrases the desire for border security in an unfair and unsavory light ... it's common sense to monitor immigration into your country and to make sure there is security.  How that somehow got associated with any type of "backward" thinking is absurd.

ECONOMIC POLICY
Minimum Wage: Have a federal minimum wage around $10.00 and let cities or states adopt higher ones if they desire to.  Index it to inflation, of course.
Right to Work: I'm rather conflicted, but I lean toward support.
Taxation: Current rates are fine, especially the new corporate ones.
Regulation: Regulation in general targets the wrong sort of companies and fails to truly alter the practices of the companies who acted irresponsibly in the first place.  We obviously need regulations on businesses, but in general what we have now has too much red tape that only ends up passing costs to consumers and lowering wages.
Healthcare: I would support a slightly more conservative version of Obamacare.  Most of my issue with liberal healthcare proposals is that they are too "one size fits all."  It seems to be an obsession of liberals to make everything uniform and under government regulation, but subsidies and whatnot for lower income individuals are a much better idea.  My other major issue with Obamacare is that it was intentionally designed to create a demand for government-run healthcare by making the fine for not offering healthcare less than the cost of providing it to your employees ... it's literally the worst of both worlds.
Free Trade: While human rights conditions and whatnot need to be considered, free trade is the best trade.

FOREIGN POLICY
I have a meeting coming up anyway (), but I also wanted to keep this one vague since it is a vague issue.  I generally believe that, post-World War II, we have assumed a responsibility (for better or for worse) as the leader and prime example for the free world and democratic West; a critic might call this the "world's police."  We obviously can't get involved in every conflict everywhere, but it is both in our interest and in the world's interest for the Untied States to be a leader in promoting democracy and human rights across the world.  Sometimes, this is inevitably going to mean military involvement.

Not going to bother writing my own post when someone has basically done it for me.

I'm an Independent though, not a Republican.