Summary of political beliefs

[Donerail]

Gay Rights: I do not want my children to be integrated into a pro-homosexual discourse (like what public education system is moving towards).

Education: Discourage colleges, both private and public. It's a bubble and parasite on society that preys on people. We should be sending less people to 4-year institutions and sending them more to vocational schools. As a result, financially support our community colleges and other vocational schools. Support school vouchers, charter schools, and everything that weakens the grip of the public school unions. Though in all fairness, my children will probably be sent to religious schools.

Labor Unions: Federal right-to-work law. Ban public unions from striking or collective bargaining. Ban unions from collecting mandatory dues. We need to destroy union power.

Have you met Krazen1211 yet?

First Amendment: Protect and defend the Citizens United decision and the right to free speech.

Or Vosem?

Environmental concerns should not be taken seriously.

Well that's interesting...
 

My foreign policy views and goals are perfectly aligned with those of the United States government.

As is this...

[Donerail]

I do not find the environmental concerns around fracking, mountain-top mining, the keystone pipeline, nuclear power, or any of these convincing.

I tend to find pumping millions of gallons of chemicals into my groundwater (not to mention oil), blowing the tops off of mountains, and being irradiated rather convincing.

[Donerail]

New here, so figure this is as good a place to start as any...

Socially: Libertarian, pro-choice, pro-drug legalization, anti-censorship, pro-gay marriage, anti-death penalty, pro-prostitution legalization, pro-wall of separation of church and state, anti-affirmative action racially (though not economically), anti-hate crime (a crime is a crime), pro-more legal immigration, anti-illegal immigration, pro-stem cell research, anti-PATRIOT Act, anti-religious currencies, anti-gun control, pro-legal physician-assisted suicide, pro-legal gambling, anti-term limits, anti-public school prayer, pro-ACLU, pro-lower voting age, pro-campaign finance reform, pro-proportional representation, pro-DC statehood, anti-gerrymandering, pro-voter ID (don't really see how showing your driver's license disenfranchises anyone),

Economically: Moderate, anti-welfare, pro-union, pro-environment, pro-privatization (though not education), anti-subsidies, anti-voucher, pro-fair tax, anti-deficit, pro-tax cuts (but equally, not just the wealthy), anti-pork, anti-embargo, pro-free trade, anti-healthcare mandate, pro-minimum wage increase, anti-ANWR drilling, anti-Keystone, anti-drilling, pro-NASA,

Foreign Policy: Non-interventionist, no wars except in self-defense, bring the troops home, pro-three state solution in Palestine, anti-draft, anti-military spending, pro-UN membership, pro-reduction (not elimination) of US nuclear arsenal,

Social Policy
Abortion: Pro-choice up to around 22-24 weeks, when brain waves are detected in the higher brain.
Drugs: Legalize most of them and tax. Some restrictions.
Censorship: Bad. Very bad.
Gay marriage: Support marriage being the sole dominion of the church and nationwide civil unions for all.
Death penalty: Fiscally irresponsible and morally wrong as well.
Prostitution: Legalize it.
Church & state: Keep them pretty far separated, including currency/the pledge and prayer in public schools.
Affirmative action: Oppose it racially-based (kinda pointless), support it economically-based.
Hate crime laws: I really don't get the point of them. People should go to prison, not because of what they thought while they were killing someone, but because they killed someone.
Immigration: Need to simultaneously make it easier for skilled immigrants to come here while cracking down on those who cut in line.
Stem cell research: Fully legal, just not government-funded (that's more a fiscal thing than social, really).
PATRIOT Act: To quote Brian Schweitzer, "I don't want to weaken the PATRIOT Act, I want to repeal it." Fully agree with the ACLU here and in most other areas.
Gun Control: Oppose. Our rights include the right to bear arms.
Assisted suicide: Legalize
Gambling: Legalize

Electoral Reform:
Term limits: I'd prefer loose term limits, maybe 20-30 years.
Statehood: Give it to Puerto Rico and DC if they want it.
Voting age: Lower to 16
Campaign Finance Reform: Support Citizens United.
Voting system: Switch to IRV, abolish the Electoral College.
Gerrymandering: Florida's Fair Districts law should be nationwide.
Voter ID: Support loose voter ID laws; you have to show something proving you're a real person, whether that's a passport or driver's license or military ID or green card or any other sort of ID, but nothing excessive.

Economic Issues:
Welfare: Put in place significant reforms to ensure it's going to where it can actually help.
Unions: I fully support unions and oppose "union-busting" type stuff.
Privatization: Support in situations where it makes sense (TSA, NASA), oppose in some others (education; education vouchers are an awful idea).
Environment: Strongly support the environment; I oppose drilling, in the Gulf and in the ANWR, and I oppose the Keystone pipeline.
Minimum wage: Should probably be steadily increasing at a rate linked to inflation.
Taxation: The Fair Tax seems, for lack of a better word, fair. Need a clear overhaul.
Healthcare: Oppose Obamacare. A better solution is to allow interstate competition among healthcare providers.
Trade: Free trade in most instances.
Embargo: End the embargoes on Cuba and any other nations we might be embargoing (excluding things like arms).
Pork: Actually can be beneficial in some cases, but needs tighter restraints.
Subsidies: End subsidies of almost everything; let the market work.
Military: Cut military spending severely.

Foreign Policy
War: No wars except in self defense or when we're clearly threatened. Bring the troops home. Non-interventionism.
Israel-Palestine: Need a swift return to pre-1967 borders, an end to settlements, etc.
Draft: Strongly oppose. 13th Amendment.
UN: The US should work with the UN but shouldn't let it dictate us into wars.
Nukes: We really don't need that many. I'm good with being able to blow up the world 2 or 3 times rather than a few dozen.

Overall: Non-interventionist, moderate capitalist, civil libertarian.

[Donerail]

Updating.

Social Policy
Abortion: Supportive of Roe v. Wade. Guess I'm pro-choice. Honestly not an issue I'm too concerned with. Oppose all abortions after viability.
Drugs: End the War on Drugs immediately, legalize all soft drugs, decriminalize hard ones. 
Censorship: Yeah no. Censorship is bad.
Gay marriage: Yeah not homophobic. Welcome to the 21st century. 
Death penalty: State really shouldn't have the power to kill its own citizenry. 
Prostitution: Legalize, regulate, whatever. 
Church & state: Pro-separation of said ones, but not a big issue for me. I'm not harmed by the lack of, say, the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, and I'm not harmed if it's there. It's when religion begins to infringe on the personal choices of the citizenry that it's a problem. Support keeping churches tax-exempt. 
Affirmative action: Oppose race-based affirmative action, never heard a good argument for it. Economic, on the other hand... 
Hate crime laws: Crime punishments should be based on what the crime actually is.
Immigration: Amnesty DREAM Act whatever liberal position. After you do that dedicate more to securing the border, in combination with making it way easier to legally immigrate and get work visas.     
Stem cell research: Support. 
PATRIOT Act: Oppose as an invasion of privacy, and oppose most other post-9/11 national security stuff too.   
Gun Control: I guess Manchin-Toomey ain't bad. Generally opposed to most gun control measures though, including AWB, restrictions on magazine size, etc.   
Assisted suicide: Okay with it.   
Gambling: Okay with it.
Organ donation: I have no issue with organ donation. Maybe opt-out would be better? Not sure. 

Electoral Reform:
Term limits: Generally opposed to term limits.   
Statehood: Statehood for DC, Puerto Rico... can't think of anywhere else. Afghanistan maybe. 
Voting age: Lower to 16. 
Campaign Finance Reform: Overturn Citizens United, full public financing maybe? Certainly a very big issue. Reading Lessig's book now. 
Voting system: Keep single-member districts but add instant runoff voting.
Gerrymandering: Drawn by an independent commission, no partisanship allowed. 
Voter ID: Stupid laws designed solely to disenfranchise voters.   

Economic Issues:
Welfare: Hmm. Not my most well-researched issue. I'd like to include a work or searching for work requirement that can be fulfilled by public service or volunteering. 
Unions: Oppose right-to-work. Support collective bargaining. 
Privatization: Can't think of anything off the top of my head.
Environment: Support? Yeah. Protect the earth and whatnot. Carbon tax and container deposit legislation and clean power and whatnot. 
Minimum wage: Replace with a basic income. 
Taxation: Keep general structure, begin shift to consumption-based taxation. I still like the FairTax.   
Healthcare: Bismarck y'all. 
Trade: Support free trade in most circumstances. 
Embargo: Embargos do nothing but harm the poor in foreign nations. Worthless.   
Pork: Needs to be reduced.   
Subsidies: Reduce subsidies to most industries, especially agriculture. 
Military: Big funding reduction, focus on national defense. Remove from foreign occupations. Invest in R&D.   

Foreign Policy
War: I am against the war. Especially given our nation's foreign policy recently, there's a very good chance that the current war is unnecessary, whatever it is, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan (now), Libya, whatever.
Israel-Palestine: Need a solution now. Probably a two-state one, though Israel making any significant concessions does not look to be in the cards.
Draft: No. 
UN: Continue US membership and support, use to focus on things like humanitarian aid and disease eradication - and the Security Council really does need to be fixed.   
Nukes: Multilateral reductions are a good thing. 
Foreign Aid: Decrease foreign aid, especially foreign military aid.   

Overall: Liberalitarian, leaning more towards liberal now. Still have conservative planks on AA, hate crime laws, maybe abortion, and taxation.

[Donerail]

Socially: I'm personally fairly conservative on social issues, but a lot of that's overridden by some sort of libertarianism. I'm not a SJW, I don't support removing religious references from currency, I support exemptions for religious organizations/charities from the contraception mandate, and I support a ban on abortions after around 20 weeks. But I'm pro-SSM, anti-death penalty, and want to legalize assisted suicide - I don't like the government getting to decide who gets to die and when and who can get married. Not a really cohesive policy here - mushy centrism. Not the stuff I like to talk about.

Domestically: A lot more liberal than my position on social issues. I oppose internet regulation, the Patriot Act, gerrymandering, drug prohibition, voter ID, and Citizens United. Probably the only ones I lean conservative on is opposition to increased gun control (especially things like an 'assault weapons' ban) and race-based affirmative action. I support term limits so long as they're not strict term limits - I think 8 years is too short for a legislator, but something longer (double that?) could work. It's about balancing legislative experience with turnover. I support most of Obamacare, but health policy isn't an area of expertise.

Economics: Raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. Condition welfare on working, looking for work, or being enrolled in job training or education programs. Stop subsidies for massive agribusinesses. Protect pension plans for government employees. The military is where we can make the most cuts without harming the average American. Reform the corporate tax system to go after companies like General Electric, and reduce our rates in relation to whatever revenues we can get from that - having the world's highest rate doesn't make sense, but neither does having major companies avoiding taxes.

Foreign Policy: Much more peaceful than we have now. Cut military spending, ground the drones, stop spying on our allies, stop giving ridiculous amounts of aid to Israel, end the embargo on Cuba, give constitutional trials to foreign terror suspects, and so on. I support engaging with the UN.

Education: I support increasing education funding. I like the concept of Common Core but believe it has been implemented extremely poorly.

Environment: My environmental policy is generally pro-science and pro-clean energy. I support taking steps to incentivize the development of green energy, I oppose expanding offshore drilling, and I believe in global warming. I'm pro-fracking, pro-nuke, pro-Keystone and pro-GMO, however, because they don't prevent anywhere near the kind of environmental threat global warming does. I support feeding the hungry and new sources of clean(er) energy.

Immigration: Give a temporary amnesty for non-violent criminals currently working in the US, give their children citizenship (and in-state tuition), and offer a path to citizenship. They should get access to the same basic services (subsidized healthcare) we give to others. I oppose forcing them to learn English or deporting them on minor charges - focus on just deporting violent criminals.