As it’s political season, we’re seeing all kinds of BS about who believes what and why those beliefs are important to the country.<\/p>\n
Just as an exercise in clarifying my own beliefs, I went to a website that listed the candidates positions and platforms, copied their list of important issues, and then filled in what I believe.<\/p>\n
It was an interesting exercise, and I highly recommend it. Reading it you’ll learn something about me. Doing it on your own, you might learn something about yourself. (I, for instances, learned I have absolutely no opinion about “Infrastructure.”)<\/p>\n
And if you want more of a why than I provided, feel free to ask.
\n<\/p>\n
Where I Stand on the Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n Abortion<\/strong> Energy & Oil<\/strong> Homeland Security<\/strong> Budget & Economy<\/strong> Environment<\/strong> Immigration<\/strong> Campaign Finance<\/strong> Families & Children<\/strong> Infrastructure<\/strong> Civil Rights <\/strong> Foreign Policy<\/strong> Iraq<\/strong> Corporations<\/strong> Free Trade<\/strong> Principles & Values<\/strong> Crime<\/strong> Government Reform<\/strong> Social Security<\/strong> Drugs<\/strong> Gun Control<\/strong> Tax Reform<\/strong> As it’s political season, we’re seeing all kinds of BS about who believes what and why those beliefs are important to the country. Just as an exercise in clarifying my own beliefs, I went to a website that listed the candidates positions and platforms, copied their list of important issues, and then filled in what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pefxA-Bs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI believe that killing a fetus after two weeks is murder. However, I think a greater evil is wasting time arguing about the subject instead of doing everything possible to reduce incidence of pregnancy. I think money should instead be spent upon sex education and access to contraception. Additionally, killing another being in self-defense is not murder.<\/p>\n
\nWe should have started major research into alternative energy years ago. We also should have been working on alternatives to the automobile, and what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to take to get people out of their cars and into public transportation. We need to focus on alternate energy sources, preferably ones that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pollute or damage the environment.<\/p>\n
\nIn the name of freedom, we have somehow managed to restrict freedom. There must be some way to enhance public security without making travel onerous for the average individual. Safety and security are important, but they must not come at the cost of civil liberties. <\/p>\n
\nThe government should work with a balanced budget. Borrowing against the future and passing on the debt to future generations is simply irresponsible.<\/p>\n
\nSafe-guarding the environment should be one of our primary goals. Climate change as a result of man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s activity is no longer in doubt. Much as we should not allow future generations to inherit our debt, we should also not allow our children to inherit a degraded environment. This means supporting alternate energy, non-polluting methods of transportation, and supporting individuals and companies that take steps to become carbon neutral. I would also like to see programs that discourage individuals from living in sensitive areas, including wetlands, barrier reefs, beaches, and other areas that serve to regulate water. I am also opposed to Mountaintop removal and clear cutting and others industries that cause great damage to the environment for a small harvest of natural resources.<\/p>\n
\nTwo of my grandparents were first generation Americans. A third was an immigrant. We have a big statue in New York\/New Jersey that talks about taking in the poor and downtrodden. America has no place being an elitist country that allows only \u00e2\u20ac\u0153preferred\u00e2\u20ac\u009d individuals in. Yes, there are unsavory individuals that we do not want to allow into the country because they are a threat, but keeping such individuals out should not stand in the way of allowing those who want to come here and work to do so. <\/p>\n
\nIf the campaigns didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last for FOUR YEARS campaign finance wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be as big a problem. First and foremost I think primary elections should be pushed back into the spring, and regional primaries should replace the helter skelter system we currently have. Additionally, I would like to see businesses and corporations out of the funding of political campaigns. Campaigns should be funded by individual donations, not corporate donations. <\/p>\n
\nFamilies and children need access to health care. Parents need access to affordable day care, and the ability to take time off when their children are sick. I would like to see an initiative that encourages Senior Centers to become involved in after school day care for the benefit of the seniors and the children.<\/p>\n
\nI have no idea.<\/p>\n
\nCenturies of racism and segregation cannot be undone in a handful of decades. It is nice to believe that the US has moved beyond racism and has created a world where anyone can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Unfortunately, this is not so. Combating racism is important, but to continue equality we need to wipe out the poverty endemic to so many areas that feeds upon racism and continues a vicious circle of poverty and desperation. We must put resources into the communities to clean up crime and make sure education is truly equal, for the rich and the poor. Until we can do these things we cannot say that we have truly beaten racism and that we truly have a free and equal society.<\/p>\n
\nAmerica\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arrogance in assuming that we know best in all situations has caused a shift in world opinion from the shining city upon the hill, to a bully and oppressor who believes that their way is the only way. We need to recognize that we do not always know best, and we cannot dictate the actions of foreign governments. We have an embarrassing past of attempting to topple foreign leaders when we did not agree with their economics and their politics. We need to recognize that we have made mistakes in the past, and we must take the time to learn from those mistakes. The US has much to offer the world, and much for which we should be proud. But we need to allow countries to make their own economic decisions, even if those decisions may negatively affect us.<\/p>\n
\nWe never should have invaded in the first place. Someone needs to stand up and say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We made a mistake. We never should have invaded without the same level of support we had when we invaded Afghanistan.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Then we need to suck it up and talk to the other countries in the middle east and work with them to solve the problems that we have created in the region.<\/p>\n
\nCorporations are amoral entities and should be treated as such. CEOs should be held criminally responsible for the actions of their corporation. It should be assumed that businesses will look to their bottom line first, and screw the consumer and their employees whenever they can, and regulations exist and need to exist to keep this from happening. Caveat Emptor has been the way of the world for the past couple millennia. The government needs to keep a reign on corporations to keep them from taking advantages of consumers and employees.<\/p>\n
\nWe should trade with anyone who wants to trade with us. However, if we import goods from countries that do not provide their employees with health care, a tariff should be placed upon those goods, and used to help fund health care in the United States. If a company does not pay its employees a living wage, then a tariff should be placed upon those imported goods and used to fund poverty fighting programs in the US.<\/p>\n
\nIndividuals should be trusted to make moral and ethical decisions. The government has no business legislating the morality of individuals. Religion has no place in legislation.<\/p>\n
\nWe need to recognize that placing individuals in prison serves only to entrench them deeper into crime. Although there are individuals who are a danger to society, many criminals who end up in the criminal justice system could be rehabilitated if the system could be made to work. Juvenile detention programs should be required to switch to a rehabilitation system. Although the short term costs of such systems are more expensive, their ability to reduce recidivism will save money in the long run.<\/p>\n
\nMake politicians spend time doing the work of the government rather than running for reelection. Remove the influence of corporations and special interest groups by keeping these groups out of the halls of government. This starts with campaign reform, and continues through limiting the revolving door between special interest groups and government service.<\/p>\n
\nDon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t touch it! Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look at it! You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just screw it up! Look at what was done Medicare Part D for God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sake!<\/p>\n
\nLegalize them all. Then place an exorbitant sin tax on them that will be used to fund treatment and rehabilitation programs. And that sin tax should include alcohol and tobacco. Legalizing drugs will solve multiple problems including overcrowding of prisons, the hold of gangs on many inner city neighborhoods, the danger inherent in drugs of unknown quality and unknown substances added into those drugs. <\/p>\n
\nChecks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those who have been involuntarily committed are imperative. Otherwise, people can buy whatever they want, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see a small tax placed upon those purchases to fund gun safety classes in schools throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\nLike it or not, if we want to spend money we have to pay taxes. The problem with strict sales taxes is they place a greater burden upon the poor, who spend a greater percentage of their income upon taxable goods and services. If a family is living paycheck to paycheck, placing the burden of the common welfare upon the goods they need to survive is unjust in the extreme. Those of us who aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t living hand to mouth just need to suck it up and take one for the team, so to speak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"