Can we talk politics?

[BrandiDup]

For everyone who is in the US or who follows the politics in the US, do any of the current presidential candidates stand out to you? If so, what makes them stand out to you?

And even if you don't want to answer the above questions, you can answer this one...

Which issues are at the very top of importance to you? Taxing? Healthcare? Social Issues? Education? The War? Obviously all of the above should be of importance, but which would be the most important when it comes down to the vote?

[aeturner89]

Ron Paul stands out the most to me. The most important issues I see are the war in Iraq (and overall middle easten foreign policy), government spending, taxes, and monetary policy.

[Michael Biddle]

free healthcare

[Weapon-x]

Originally Posted by whitemike

free healthcare

We will never have that. The United States is never going to switch to free health care. Because of the fact of all the illegals would rush to the hospitals and there would be no paper work so there would be a problem there. Watch the movie Sicko. It explains it.

People who run for presidency lie more then my eyes blink...And I try very hard not to blink.


They promise us stuff they never bring because well congress never passes anything.


I would like to see America quit worrying about who has the most money, which company is paying of what people in DC. And looking at the big picture not just the small picture. America has a lot more problems then any other country.

[Michael Biddle]

I never said if it was going to happen or not, I was saying it is something I would want. DAMN U CANADA!!!

[Weapon-x]

Originally Posted by whitemike

I never said if it was going to happen or not, I was saying it is something I would want. DAMN U CANADA!!!

Sorry took your post out of wording. Yeah it would be nice to see Free Health care in America. But then again.......We will not see it for a long time. As long as we have big billion dollar companies paying off people in congress to deny such a bill we will never see it. So I take it the more money your company has the more laws you can break and the more power you can do anything with huh?

[Brad]

The War is the main issue....and I'm sure there is no one right way to approach it. The ideal situation would be anything that removes our troops from that area while also leaving a stable government behind. It'll take years to fix properly so I'm obviously going to be voting for people that are willing to stay the course and manage that problem over the long term.

On the home front I'm concerned about the following:

- Education: Anytime we can spend more money on education I'm all for it as long as it's put to good use. I do not agree with the way the education system is run (at least in my experiences with it both as a student and as a big bother seeing both my siblings deal with it).

For one thing funding should be sent where it's needed most. I'm kinda torn here because allowing federal money to be spent means every state can benefit but it's often mis-managed to the point where I can see at least my local schools begin better off without it (in other words the states would have to take care of their own).

Another thing: The teachers are still underpaid, lets raise the wages to attract good educators and get rid of the useless ones (and there are plenty of them in the system that's for sure). Also buying new equipment for a football team with everything it already needs is not a good use of funding!!! Sports come after the classroom, not before.

- The Internet, Big Media, DRM, Consumer rights: Anyone that supports further restrictions of my rights automatically gets placed on my "shit list". . I'm a firm believer in freedom on the internet and freedom to copy media/files I own and have paid for. I do not support restrictions on anything in the name of "the children" or whatever other hot-button issue comes up.

- The war on drugs: Just as bad as the war on Iraq IMHO. My opinion of the war on drugs is this: Catching violent drug dealers is good but filling up the prisons with "drug users" is bad.

If someone is sitting in prison for a drug charge and has not committed a violent crime isn't it obviously a bad idea to stick him in a system with tons of violent criminals? How can you not expect someone to come out of prison worse off in a situation like that? You know they tell "war stories" in there right?

<"So, what are you in for?>

I think we should go easier with the drug charges, fines instead of prison time would be a good start (although it varies from state to state). Prison should be a last resort after things like counseling and rehab are attempted. Drug use (especially addiction) are the result of other personal problems more often then not.

My point is these people need help and we should attempt to help them. If you can help someone that has gone astray and made a few mistakes and turn them into a working and productive member of our society then we've done the best we can do and that is obviously a better use for the money than what we spend it on now (go look up how much it costs to keep one man in prison for one year).

- Social issues: Gangs are still a huge problem everywhere and the issues go very deep (a lot of things are drawn a long the lines of race, after that comes control of resources and money). Worse yet they are even operating inside of our prisons! (I really hate prisons because it's just a hot bed of bad activity -,-).

We need more people out in the field keeping up with the gangs. Most of the large cities have "gang units" that take care of this stuff. I think we should have one in every community, and it should be there before there is already a large problem if possible. This is mostly a local issue but the federal government could help out in some respects (training begin the main one.)

- Health Care: The current way is total bullshit imho. Insurance hasn't changed since the days when it was sold from a horse and buggy. I would be willing to allow a portion of my pay to go towards a fund which would insure health care for me (and others) when needed. If I walk into an ER I shouldn't have to worry about begin turned away nor should anyone else.

Medications should not cost an arm and a leg. The producers of medications should not be allowed to profit off the illness of the people in the world.

- The Space Program: Lots of stuff going on at NASA atm, a lot of it not good. ;/

Things we need as far as the space program is concerned:

1) A reliable way to get to low-earth orbit (and beyond) after the shuttle is retired.
2) A replacement, or extending the planned de-orbit date of, the Hubble Space Telescope.
3) I'm not in full support of a "manned Mars shot". Instead I'd like to see more probes sent to more places of interest. Putting a man up there is great and all but it just drives up the cost of missions. For one manned mission we can do multiple unmanned missions.

O and NASA is always in need of more funding. -,-

- One paranoid issue to end this post: Anyone that supports anything resembling the world of the book 1984 isn't getting my vote. I'm happy I live in the boondocks where they the pine trees provide a lot of cover and they'll never be able to put up cameras (or at the very least, I can avoid them).

Signed - The man in the tin-foil hat.

O yea, did I mention it's almost impossible to find someone that I'd like to vote for? I think it's obvious that no sane person would run supporting most of the things I do! What I try to do is get an idea of who the person is behind the agenda and politics. In other words I try to vote for the one that has their head screwed on correctly.

[Freesteyelz]

Technically, there isn't such thing as free healthcare. Someone has to pay.

[Wayne Luke]

The overall issues for me are energy independence and a self-building economy relying on local workers. For this purpose the ideas put forth by Dennis Kucinich and his Green Works Program are the most sound. It would move the United States from an Oil Bank based energy policy to a Solar Bank based energy policy. Solar Bank energy includes not only solar but wind, small hydroelectric and tidal power generation. We have the technology to make the switch but it will not happen as long as Big Oil controls the government. Both Bush and Cheney come from families that made all their money off of oil and still do.

Switching would decrease the need for us to be in the Middle East and therefore the need for this war which is no longer really about terrorism but control of oil reserves. It would eliminate the need to continue converting our crop fields for corn and soy to make e85 ethanol and biodiesel. It would create decent good paying jobs instead of the largest employment sector living off minimum wage in the retail industry. It will also bring technology improvements to other sectors of our lives.

Unfortunately, I do think that Kucinich's ideas are too much for the conservatives in both parties to handle. However they would reshape this country much like Roosevelt did to work on bringing us out of the depression and through World War II. Therefore my campaign will be to get him appointed Energy Secretary of whoever does get elected. The president is only as good as his advisors.

[bigcurt]

A lot of people might think I am crazy but I am a huge supporter of John Edwards. If people would just listen to the way he speaks and what he speaks about I believe that any "Democrat", would like to see a person like him in office.

Universal Healthcare? John Edwards not only believes in that strongly he was the very first candidate to come out with a specific plan to funding it ( including cutting the billion dollar tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans that Bush imposed ). He also says, promises and explains how that is Congress refuses to pass his Universal health care bill that 1 year after he is in office all of Congress will lose their government sponsored health care. In case you were wondering, yes he can do that.

Education? He was also the first cadidate to come out with a detailed Education plan. The plan is titles college for everyone. It basically states that anyone can receive Tuition and books free of charge from the Governement if you qualify for that college and you also work up to 10 hours a week at a job of your choosing. John Edwards believes strongly in working hard in order to become a better person. He grew up in Robbins, North Carolina which is basically like a 1 way street town with dirt roads and become what he is now.

The War? He believes that all combat troops should be completely removed within the first year of his administration. He also believes STRONGLY that the all nuclear weapons should be gotten rid of. You can look more into his explanations of this on google. He voted for the way in the beginning..he will be the first to say that. However, one of the things that stands out about him is that he ADMITS to his mistakes. He has said time and time again he was just plain wrong for doing that. Have you EVER heard Bush say he was wrong? Have you really ever heard any politician say they were wrong?

The Internet? John Edwards is probably one of the biggest supporters of Net Neutrality running right now. He has not only advocated that, he has even wrote articles about that on sites like "The Huffington Post". His comparison is calling the Internet like a highway. Basically saying that we do not restrict certain highways to company sponsored transportation. So, certain parts of the Internet should damn sure not be restricted. He is a huge advocate of the Fair Use policy. He also believes that the people should be educated on the fair use policy so they do know that unless they actually have purchased the program/music it is illegal to download it from another source and that there are punishments for that. I don't know how much more you can ask from a candidate.

Anyway, sorry for turning this discussion into sort of an ad but I can honestly answer both questions you asked from just speaking about John Edwards. To the Ron Paul supporters: Ron Paul seems like an OK candidate but do not vote for him just because you like to go with the "Internet crowd". He believes in leaving pretty much EVERYTHING up to the states. My question to him is what will his decisions be when he actually has to use his brain instead of leaving everything up to the states? What about the things that states cannot decide. I have heard him enough talking about what he will leave up to the states..what will he do with the things that cannot be left up the states. Maybe you should ask that too.