I've Been Accused of being Liberal. Okay I'm laying my cards on the table (1 Viewer)

My feelings, in a perfect world....

Gun Control: A license should be required to carry a concealed weapon. Instant background checks implemented. Felons or persons currently involved in court/police or mental health proceedings should be delayed until completion of said proceedings. That is all.

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Gay Marriage: No. Shared benefits should be available to same sex or cohabiting people, and all legal rights of marriage should be allowed for anyone in a committed relationship. But marriage should be protected as a tradition.

Abortion: Limit availability to teaching hospitals. And require adoption counseling prior.

Church and State: Officially separate, but respectful displays should be allowed.

Taxes: National sales tax on everything except staple foods (potatoes, fresh veggies, low end beef and poultry, milk, etc), cars under a reasonable set price, and lower cost necessary clothing items (winter coats, etc).

Foreign Policy: Support NATO; withdraw from the UN unless reforms are enacted.

Education: School choice. Each student accounts for a certain amount of money; the money follows the child.

Trade: Free trade with economic partners that offer us the same courtesy. They issue tariffs on our exports then we issue tariffs on their imports.

Welfare: WIC, unemployment, food stamps are all fine. Limit the time frame for receiving welfare and require job training.

Campaign Finance: No limits on donations with complete transparency.

Death Penalty: In murder and rape/ molestation cases. DNA evidence must be present. Time limit on appeals process.

Social Security: Partially privatize it.

Energy: Nuclear. Only currently cost effective alternative available. Drill our oil supplies, and use more Natural gas, wind, water, and solar where applicable. Continue to use oil, but try to keep it as a part of our energy policy.

Environment: Protect our national parks and recreation areas. Encourage environmental responsibility and energy efficiency.

Immigration: Allow legal immigration. Streamline the process of getting a green card/citizenship.

Civil Liberties: Protect them at all costs.

Health Care: Competition will improve services. Universal health care is not viable. Health insurance is a scam. If we could somehow get back to a fee based service, costs would go down and the level of care would increase. Pipe dream, I know&#8230;..

Drug Policy: Decriminalize drugs, and regulate them similar to cigarettes and alcohol.<O:p></O:p>
 
Gun Control:
Totally for minimal restrictions

Gay marriage:
completely support it and believe as a point of civil rights, ought to be protected from discrimination.

Abortion:
Completely open to State’s rights. Should be no Federal mandate on this.

Church and State:
Should be kept separate, but I would go even further and eliminate the tax shelter that churches enjoy. Want the freedom to worship? Great, enjoy it. Just pay your fair share.

Health Care:
While not an inherent "right", I am a firm believer in adopting Federally sponsored single-payor option like Canada.

Drugs:
Legalize marijuana AND cocaine. See what happens. The mythical "War on drugs" will dry up like prohibition

Taxes:
Really believe the private citizen should not be shouldered with such a high percentage rate. You can eliminate the need for such high taxes by eliminating the overstretch of government and exceptionalist, nation-building endeavors abroad.

Foreign Policy:
Avoid all foreign entanglements. Pouring our efforts and resources into domestic energies contributes significantly to the “need” to dabble abroad.

Education:
Federal oversight for poorly producing states is necessary, but by in large, should be left up to State’s to determine best course of action (as this will lead to population growth). With this, I would ensure that undergraduate work would be paid for, not unlike it is done in the Scandinavian countries and even Iran

Trade:
I'm for free trade. This is where investing in domestic infrastructure (and eliminating campaign finance/lobby interests) comes into play as the trump card.

Welfare:
Set up federally for state allotment. We should be about preserving the good of the people despite their economic condition. Part of welfare should include a minimized tax burden for those not making the national income average

Campaign Finance:
Easy. Its called conflict of interest. If X manufacturing contributes to your campaign, you can serve your office, you just can’t vote for anything that is related to X manufacturing. Also, I would put a cap on campaign budgets. You get X amount and that is all you get. This could be eliminated by doing more open-ended forums with candidates (and less advertising and marketing).

Death Penalty:
All for it when there is significant proof of guilty verdict. No more sentencing for 30+ years. Anything greater deserves the death penalty.

Social Security:
A project destined to fail and even if you do hit it, it never is enough. Should be abolished.

Energy
See foreign policy

Environment
Federal Government should incentivize cleaner standards of consumption and partner with the global markets to continue pursuing this end.

Immigration:
Handle like they do in Europe. The current process doesn’t seem to be helping us.

Civil Liberties:
Protected per the Constitution. The less control government has on its citizens, the better.

Military:
I believe the current standing army is way too big and needs to be scaled down. Operate in militia fashion, similar to how the Reserves are now, specializing in ancillary support services.* The current standard Army should consist of highly specialized, elite forces with one job – be expert KILLERS. And it should be sold as such….no GI Bill carrot, you join the Army, it is to kill and destroy, don’t sugar coat it. Our ‘defense’ budget (which is an oxymoron) is more than the entire world combined…there is no need for this to be such (and scaling back the military would free up the tax burden on every citizen).

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -5.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.03
 
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Gun Control:
We have a right to arm ourselves but I would want REALLY strict rules stripping that right from convicted felons or people diagnosed with certain mental illnesses, etc.

Gay marriage:
I'm flip flopping on this. As a Catholic with strong beliefs, I feel that marriage should be between a man and a woman....however, the greatest gift God bestowed on Man was free will....so by telling two people they can't get married, am I taking away that gift? On the fence.

Abortion:
Completely against it (unless the mother's life is in question). This is probably one of the most important issues, to me.

Church and State:
Kept totally separate.

Health Care:
It would be nice if everyone could have health insurance. It would be nice if everyone could own a Lexus. Neither can be done in this day in age. Maybe in the future we can go all Star Trek and do away with money...but until, then....nope.

Drugs:
Should be illegal.

Taxes:
I'll admit. I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to economics...but I like the one where people are taxed strictly on the goods they buy. You'd have to watch for the rich people trying to exploit the system, but it seems like it would be fair (rich buying more and paying more, etc)...flat tax, right? Like I said, I admittedly am not well versed, here. That just sounds like a good idea.

Foreign Policy:
I tend to view things as "the World" or "mankind" more than just "Americans". So when there are injustices going on, I feel like we have a duty to help out the less fortunate. I would prefer diplomacy be exhausted before war is declared.

Education:
There's no good answer here. Some places need more federal involvement and others need to be left alone....what's good for one area of the country is not good for another. Maybe let states run themselves unless they underperform...and then the Fed steps in temporarily to give that area a boost.

Trade:
Free trade.

Welfare:
Drug screen for you check. Welfare is needed but it is one of the most exploited things I have ever seen. There needs to be a lot more screening to go through before you can get on it and unemployed people should be required to go to job training while on it.

Campaign Finance:
We need to clean up politics. It's just way too messy. Where to begin? I really don't know. But something needs to be done to keep politicians from being bought.

Death Penalty:
On the fence...leaning to for it if there is NO DOUBT what so ever and it is an egregious crime. I think there needs to be more rehabilitation and skills training in our prison system.

Social Security:
Honestly don't know. People need it...but it is really inefficient and does not look like it will last.

Energy
Efficiency is the key. I like the gov pushing for more efficient, cleaner fuel.

Environment
Same with energy. We should be searching for cleaner way to do things and I like the gov getting involved to persuade companies to do this...by incentive more than mandates.

Immigration:
We need to sure up the borders to crack down on illegal immigrants...however; it would be too hard to clear out the ones that are already here...so I'm for amnesty. At least then they can contribute with taxes.

Civil Liberties:
There's a thin line between the government infringing upon civil liberties and people having too much freedom. In a perfect World, I would be all for a totally free society...but I know that there are too many people who would take advantage of it and of others and so some liberties get restricted....it's a very thin line between too much and not enough.

Military:
I've seen the military give a future to too many kids that would have ended up on the streets and/or on welfare or jail too say get rid of the GI Bill. With some kids, the military is the only ladder they have out of poverty. I've seen other kids whose parents messed them up so bad you would swear would turn into deadbeats get that discipline they need and turn into fully productive and charitable people.
 
Wow... there are ALOT of banned members in this thread. #1 way to get banned in SR.com... engage into political extremist discussions.
 
Honestly, I don't know how they did it. You have to be working pretty hard to get banned from this site. I've made many comments that have skirted the edge of the TOS, but I generally avoid actually crossing the line. For all the complaints on B&G and other sites, the mods here actually let people get away with quite a bit. You have to be very stupid, very obnoxious, very bigoted, very dramatic, or just like stirring the pot too much to get banned from SR. At least, that's been my observation.
 
Gay marriage:
I'm flip flopping on this. As a Catholic with strong beliefs, I feel that marriage should be between a man and a woman....however, the greatest gift God bestowed on Man was free will....so by telling two people they can't get married, am I taking away that gift? On the fence.



Church and State:
Kept totally separate.



see, i am of the opinion that anyone who thinks that Church and State should be kept 'totally seperate' wouldn't be for marriage at all in a legal sense... i think everyone should have civil unions for legal purposes, whether you're talking about a man and a woman, a man and a man, a woman and her elderly mother, etc.. and if you want to get married, you do it in your church with no legal ramifications whatsoever...but that's just me.







Health Care:
It would be nice if everyone could have health insurance. It would be nice if everyone could own a Lexus. Neither can be done in this day in age. Maybe in the future we can go all Star Trek and do away with money...but until, then....nope.


yeah, and it would nice if everyone could have police and fire protection just by paying taxes... oh, wait, they do... I don't understand why anyone would liken basic healthcare more to a Lexus than to police and fire protection; not calling you out (you're far from the only one)-- i just don't understand it.



Taxes:
I'll admit. I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to economics...but I like the one where people are taxed strictly on the goods they buy. You'd have to watch for the rich people trying to exploit the system, but it seems like it would be fair (rich buying more and paying more, etc)...flat tax, right? Like I said, I admittedly am not well versed, here. That just sounds like a good idea.


sort of agree, but i prefer a Flat Tax, where everyone pays the same amount (say, 17%) whether you make 20k a yr or $20 million a year.



Welfare:
Drug screen for you check. Welfare is needed but it is one of the most exploited things I have ever seen. There needs to be a lot more screening to go through before you can get on it and unemployed people should be required to go to job training while on it.


you have actually *seen* welfare being exploited? again, not calling you out, but i find that most people who whine about that haven't see squat.




Energy
Efficiency is the key. I like the gov pushing for more efficient, cleaner fuel.


agree


Immigration:
We need to sure up the borders to crack down on illegal immigrants...however; it would be too hard to clear out the ones that are already here...so I'm for amnesty. At least then they can contribute with taxes.


agree
 
I consider myself politically moderate. Everything's relative I suppose. In Louisiana (Im lived here all of my life) I'd be considered slightly left, in Berkely Calf. I would certainly be considered to the right.

I don't line up with democrats on all issues and don't fall in with Republicans on all issues. I have problems with certain aspects of both platforms and Im amazed at how partisan most people are to each of these two parties.

I find myself voting for candidates rather than parties in most elections.
 
see, i am of the opinion that anyone who thinks that Church and State should be kept 'totally seperate' wouldn't be for marriage at all in a legal sense... i think everyone should have civil unions for legal purposes, whether you're talking about a man and a woman, a man and a man, a woman and her elderly mother, etc.. and if you want to get married, you do it in your church with no legal ramifications whatsoever...but that's just me.

yeah, and it would nice if everyone could have police and fire protection just by paying taxes... oh, wait, they do... I don't understand why anyone would liken basic healthcare more to a Lexus than to police and fire protection; not calling you out (you're far from the only one)-- i just don't understand it.

sort of agree, but i prefer a Flat Tax, where everyone pays the same amount (say, 17%) whether you make 20k a yr or $20 million a year.

you have actually *seen* welfare being exploited? again, not calling you out, but i find that most people who whine about that haven't see squat.

I should have said fair tax...was that what it was?

Yeah, I would prefer it if the fed would stay out of marriage...for sure. But it seems like a "would, coulda, shoulda" situation. Kind of like the people that constantly ***** about Iraq. We're there now. There's no point in complaining about it. Time to clean up the mess. I don't see the fed getting out of marriage.

Police and fire protection we can afford. We're doing it now and have been doing it for quite some time. I said above, I am far from versed in economics, so I could be totally off base. I just don't think we can't afford it. I DO like the flat tax, as you stated it, too.

I hate loop holes.

And yeah, I've seen the exploitation of welfare. A big part of the job I had while interning for my masters in psych was teaching people job related skills and finding them job placements. I successfully placed 2 out of about 100 people that I saw regularly in a job. About 30 of them legitimately had reasons to not have a job....the other 68 I could see no reason why they couldn't work. They were quite open with their hesitancy, too. Most answered (or would ask me out front) that they didn't want to lose their SSI and a job that makes a certain amount would do that. Can't say I blame them. If I were offered $100 to stay at home and $120 to work...I'd stay at home, too. It's really sad I had a 2% completion record but with assistance like it is now...people like me are set up to fail.

It was really frustrating and a little depressing. Then I worked with an adolescent population. Most of the kids would have dead beat parents who were trying to get their kids as many mental illness diagnoses as they could so that they could get a bigger check for them.

I know there are a lot of people out there who need SSI/welfare and all that...I just happened to work with the ones who have it and don't....it's made me a little jaded.

It's funny what these people tell you, too. I was told by numerous people recieving SSI that I KNOW were on drugs that they should screen for it. I was also told that people on SSI/welfare should be mandated to have their tubes tied.

(EDIT: And no offense taken. I've seen and shamefully done my fair share of hyperbole)
 
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