Your Political Beliefs

[vorlon13]

Fuck the establishment. I will stand against it until I am the establishment. Then fuck me!

Pretty brave thing to post with Vorlon around . . . 

[Jenny A]

So instead of just saying you're Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Socialist etc, what are your actual political beliefs?


Death penalty should be abolished.

Getting involved in war only to protect the innocent (I don't like war, but I can't also agree with letting women and children get murdered while nothing is done to stop the atrocities)....so 95% of American conflicts should never have happened.

Universal healthcare for all citizens where even massages and chiropractic care would be covered.

Freedom of religion beyond what is being allowed now. If someone wants to have a prayer group for whatever reason at their school, I say let them. Fuck whatever religious or atheist nut has to say about it.

Taking care of the environment. Stop complaining about GW and making up horror stories to belittle the other side. Just do your part to clean up the environment and stop buying bottled water (I hate the taste anyway, so that would is easy).

On abortion, I do side with the Life group on non-medical issues (what a doctor agrees is best for a safe operation, they should do so as they have years of medical knowledge I do not possess). As I am against war and the death penalty, I feel like I would be a hypocrite to change tune for another political issue.

I don't agree with raising the minimum wage beyond 15-an-hour (which is relatively high since many college grads don't even get that much with their first job; maybe have a structured pay based on age), but instead to raise taxes for all Americans to 60% of gross income. With those taxes, the poor would be provided many services they otherwise would have to pay on their own now....subsidized housing being a major bonus.

Having able-bodied people on welfare who cannot find a job work for the state in a variety of capacities....this has been viewed as a version of slavery by some leftists. I just feel if you can work and are getting welfare from the state, you should be expected to work.

Also, I am against censorship and being spied upon.

I agree that the death penalty should be abolished.  But it's not an agreement in principle.  I think it should be abolished in the U.S. because of it's inequitable application which leads to a disproportionate number of black, male, and poor perpetrators getting the death penalty.  I also object to the absoluteness of the punishment handed out based upon eyewitness testimony.

I don't the think the U.S. should be involved in a war unless: 1) We are attacked; 2) Innocents and our national interests are both at risk.

I don't want universal healthcare for all things.  Healthcare is an expensive and far from unlimited resource. It must be allocated in some way.  I'd like that way to be based on individual choices.  I'd like to see a co-pay plan where no one gets free healthcare, but the cost of healthcare is tied to income whereby everyone pays a percentage of the actual cost up to the actual cost in the case of the wealth.  I'd also like to require providers to give the same rates to the insured and the uninsured. And I'd like to see required health savings plans which could be spent on either health insurance, health care, or assisted living.  The plans should be tax deductible and accrue tax-free interest and people could add more to their plans than they are required to do.

I believe in freedom of religion, but not government sponsored religion.   There should be no religious practice at school or governmental functions.  Not in the classroom if lead by teachers, not at the beginning of senate meetings, not on the courthouse lawn, not at the beginning of court.  Students who want to pray, may but not if they disrupt class. Religious groups should be able to use public space on the same basis as other groups, but not on a privileged basis.

I think abortion should be legal in all circumstances up until the the end of the second trimester.  I don't think that up until that point the fetus is sentient and therefore is not a person yet. After that there should be a medical reason which would endanger the life of the mother, or risk serious health injury to the mother.

Global warming is real and it is at least in part man-made.  We should limit emmissions and otherwise seek to lessen our impact. ---  I highly agree about bottled water.  It is one of the least environmentally sound ideas in ages.

Minimum wage should be kept low.  It should be sufficient to support a single person working 45 to 50 hours a week, and sharing living quarters.  More leads to high unemployment for those who need jobs the most.

60% taxes on income (including state and federal) is about 20% higher than I'd like to see.

No one capable of working and not seriously looking for a job should be given welfare of any kind ever.

I too am against spying on citizens email, snail mail, or phone calls.  Nor do I think we should be tracked using cell phone or in car navigation devices.  Nor should our internet habits be recorded.  A warrant should be required for all of those things.

Let me add stop and frisk, and auto checkpoint to the list of searches I'm against.

However, I have no problem with video cameras in public places.  

Gay marriage should be allowed as should the right of gays to adopt and raise children on the same basis as everyone else.

[Ravenshire]

Ok...

Death penalty:
Fuck that shit! Seriously. The next innocent person murdered by the state for a crime they didn't commit will not be the first, or the last.

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Mandatory sentencing:
Again, fuck that shit! Sentencing should be based on the severity of the crime, not the type. The guy who sells a little pot from his personal stash to his buddies should not have to fear the same punishment as the dealer on the corner selling smack to high-school kids.

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Abortion:

If you don't want one, don't have one. It really is that simple. Limiting/prohibiting (except in cases of mother's health) late term (third trimester) abortions would be perfectly ok. If you can't make up your mind in 6 months, one or two more probably won't help.

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Gay marriage:
No, I don't think there should be "gay marriage." I think marriage should be legally redefined to the legal union of any two (or more) legally consenting adults. I also believe that legal marriages should only be done by an officer of the court and clergy should be exempt from ever being an officer of the court. So, legal marriages, with all the legal benefits done only by the courts. Religious marriage, which have no legal standing whatsoever, done by the churches and only if you really feel the need to be consecrated before gawd. And yes, I feel that those who believe only the religious marriage should be enough should not receive any of the benefits of a legal marriage.

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Military Budget:
Cut it in half and split the money equally between education and sciences (with a big chunk going to NASA to getting us back in space). Reduce our standing military to the minimum required to defend ourselves and our allies from clear and present dangers.

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Education:
Take the billions from the the above military cuts and fix our fucking schools. "No Child Left Behind" is a lie and a money sink. Get rid of it. If the kids are too unmotivated, too bored or just plain too stupid to get passing grades, flunk them out. I understand that your special little snowflake isn't really a pot-head and a bully, he's just misunderstood. So what? If he's earning a failing grade... For some it will be a wake up call. Coddling the least common denominator is a huge part of the problem in the public school system. All that being said, I do believe in second chances. We also need to fix the GED program so that kids (being the stupid, arrogant little shits that some of them can be) who make mistakes have a viable method of fixing those mistakes.

Establish a federal level group to qualify textbooks for use in public education leaving the state boards to choose from textbooks for their curricula that are sound. Scientist to approve science books, mathematicians to approve mathematics books, historians to approve history books, etc... Not a bunch of religious morons like we've seen recently (cough... Texas Board of Education... cough...). Make Associate degree education free, as long as you meet the minimum academic entrance requirements for the school.

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Minimum wage:
Make minimum wage a livable wage. The problem is the concept of 'livable.' Minimum wage should provide a roof over your head, food on your table and transport to and from from work. That's it. You should not be able to raise a family of four comfortably on a single minimum wage job.

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Taxes:
I believe in fair and equitable taxes. Minimum wage x 2080 (40 hour week, 52 week year), per working age full time member of the household should be tax exempt for everyone. Taxes of 30-40 percent on any income above that and 40-80 percent on any wages from Min. wage x 2080 x 5 and above.
Ex. Min. wage = $10/hr. $20,800 tax exempt. If you make $70,000/yr. then you only pay taxes on $49,200 and if you make $120,000/yr. then you are taxed 30-40% on $83,200 and 40-80 only on the income above $104,000, 16,000 in this case.
I absolutely hate the sliding scale taxing you on all income that can make a pay raise a detrimental to your take home pay.

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Government intrusion into private life:
Hell no. Not without a court order. No phone tapping, GPS tracking, e-mail reading, etc... at all without a signature by a judge. Exceptions allowed for probable cause, but, if the judge decides that the probable cause was insufficient then the case is dismissed with prejudice. The presumption of innocence must be returned to our judicial system. It is severely lacking in today's courts, especially civil court. I don't even like cameras in public places, unless the video/photographic evidence will only be used to support an accusation and not to make one. A picture may be worth 1000 words, but a third of them are wrong.

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Police force (and other) abuse of state sanctioned power:
We need civilian oversight of our police and our military. There is far too much corruption covered up at both levels to continue to allow them to police themselves. Internal Affairs is a bad joke and while the JAG office isn't as bad, it's still pretty bad.

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Well, that's about it for my political hot buttons. I'm aware that I don't necessarily have the best answers (or maybe even viable answers) to the above, but it's where I stand on the issues until and unless better ideas are presented.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

-Universal health insurance.

-Graduated tax rates.

-Death penalty abolished.

-Universal access to free or minimal cost birth control

-De-criminalization of ALL drugs.

-Legislation making private ownership of firearms a privilege, not a right.

-Increased public investment in low- or no-carbon fuels.

-Elimination of all legal distinctions based on sexual orientation.

-A cap on campaign spending equal to 3x the annual salary of the office being sought.

-A fully operational Chris Nolan-style Batmobile awarded to the creator of this list, with free lifetime upgrades.

Boru

[Chad32]

I forgot we need to pass gun regulation and safety laws. You want a gun? You need to pass a background check, and get the proper training for it. The second amendment is for militias, I believe. You in a militia group?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

You in a militia group?

Who, me?  Don't be daft.
Here's what I'd like to see (but I don't expect it):

1.  Background checks, roughly the equivalent of someone applying to handle medium classified information.

2.  Six to eight weeks training (one or two hours per week) in a course taught by - at a minimum - active duty cops or retired military.

3.  Pass a comprehensive exam at the end of training.  If you score less than 85%, you can re-take the course and the exam in 12 months.

4.  Purchase, at your own expense, a gun safe approved by the appropriate authority.

5.  Be issued an annually renewable permit and submit to periodic, surprise inspections of your weapons, ammunition, and gun safe.  Failure to pass an inspection suspends your permit for six months.  Failure to pass ANY subsequent inspection results in a lifetime revocation.

Granted, the above would be expensive, but I'd rather pay for that than the funerals of little children.

Boru

[Chad32]

I don't approve of gun safes. Keep it on a rack, and understand the dangers.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Gun racks are cheaper.  My intent is to make it as difficult and as expensive as possible for people to own guns. 

Boru

[Foxaèr]

Also, I am against censorship and being spied upon.

Death penalty: no.
War: never
Universal Health Care: yes
Real separation of church and state.
Taking care of the environment: yes.
Abortion: yes, please.
Raise the minimum wage.
Welfare only for those who truly deserve it.
Screw censorship and being spied upon by a corrupt government.