Social: Libertarian. I believe strongly in individual freedom, including the right for a woman to choose, the right to keep and bear arms, the right for a homosexual couple to marry, the right to practice one's religion, and the right to privacy. I also believe strongly in the separation of church and state.
Economic: I believe that small businesses and innovative fields like the "green" industry are what stimulate the economy. I believe their autonomy should be protected, and I support free trade. However, I recognize that consumers and small businesses need protection from predatory corporations seeking to create monopolies, so I advocate strong, transparent government regulation of industry.
Foreign: I am pragmatic when it comes to foreign policy. I believe in a world of shared self-interest. I also believe in spreading democracy, but through the power of votes and reformers, not through the power of bullets and bombs. I think institutions like the U.N. are good experiments but need a lot of reform in order to be effective.
Alright, my modified political views...
Social: Pretty liberal in general. I believe that freedom of religion should be protected, but I also believe strongly in the separation of church and state. I think a woman should have the right to choose, gay couples should have the right to marry, with all of the legal protections that straight couples have. I believe in the right to privacy and that the USA Patriot Act is in violation of that right. However, I believe in the right to bear arms. Drugs should be legalized, except for really dangerous drugs like methamphetamine, and the War on Drugs should be ended; nonviolent offenders should be released from prison. I think money spent on social programs for the poor could be better spent on education, and that a favorable and more egalitarian tax code for the lower and middle classes would greatly level the playing field.
Economic: As said above, a fair tax code is crucial to a healthy, thriving working and middle class society. Taxes should be steeply progressive, with 70 percent being the highest marginal rate for incomes of over $2,000,000 a year, and on incomes of less than $25,000 a year, there should be no income tax. The cap on Social Security taxes should be lifted. Taxes on capital gains, dividends, interest, estates, and gifts should also be quite high. Corporate taxes should be lowered for small businesses. On the spending side, I believe that military spending should be cut in terms of wars, foreign bases, procurements, and intelligence operations, and the move towards streamlining the military into a more effective defense force should be initiated. On the domestic discretionary spending side, more federal money should be spent on education, infrastructure, and public transportation. I believe a single-payer health care system is the best option for medical care.
Foreign policy: As said above, military spending should be streamlined into what is necessary for defense and what is effective. More money should be spent on foreign aid and on the Peace Corps. I believe in democracy, spread through an assertive but not aggressive example by the United States. I think that the United Nations should be viewed not as a necessary evil, but a necessary good that can do much good if the United States helps lead the way.
