My Stances on the Major Issues

I thought that this would be a fun little exercise to lay out exactly where I stand on many of the major issues of the day. I’ve been working on this for a couple of days and it’s a pretty long list, but I’m sure that I’m missing some issues. If there are any big ones that I’ve forgotten, please let me know and I’ll work on a sequel post.

Issue: Abortion
Stance: Pro-choice
Reason: Abortions are horrible things and should be prevented, but the ultimate decision on the matter belongs to the pregnant woman (and the man potential father) and not the government. I do however support the ban on late-term abortions. If the baby is developed enough to survive outside of the womb (which is usually the case in the third trimester), and the mother no longer wants to continue the pregnancy, the baby should be born and given up for adoption.

Issue: Health Care Reform
Stance: Opposes government run health care and/or single payer systems
Reason: This issue is not my forte. What I do know is that the current system is broken and needs to be reformed. What I also know is that the government should not be the one in control of the health care system. Should the government provide better regulations? Sure. Should the government examine the insurance and malpractice laws? Absolutely. Should the government take over the system? No.

Issue: Gay Marriage
Stance: Supports gay marriage and/or civil unions
Reason: This is an equality under the law issue to me. Personally I believe that the 14th Amendment already provides legal precedent to support gay marriage. I would prefer that the government get out of the marriage business all together and just provide civil unions, leaving “marriages” to religious institutions. Since I doubt that is going to happen and the war over the word marriage is going to rage on (needlessly) I’ll settle for civil unions that provide exactly the same legal protections/responsibilities for homosexual couples that marriages provide for straight couples.

Issue: Gun Control
Stance: Believes that gun ownership is protected by the 2nd Amendment
Reason: I do not like guns but the simple fact is, gun control laws do nothing to prevent criminals from obtaining guns. I am perfectly fine with background checks and waiting periods but at this point there are more than enough laws on the books to cover gun control issues.

Issue: Separation of Church and State
Stance: Supports complete, but reasonable, separation
Reason: This issue is harder to lay out in a quick paragraph than the others to this point.
1) Prayer in school – Teachers and/or faculty should not lead prayers in class in public schools. Moments of silence are fine.
2) Religious clubs in public schools – As long as all religions have the opportunity to start clubs (like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes) then they are fine. But if any one religion is given preference, then all religious clubs must be banned.
3) Monuments to the Ten Commandments – Monuments (for lack of a better term) that have been in/on a court house, legislature building, etc. for years should be left alone. New monuments should be discouraged if not outright banned unless they include other legal historical references (like the Code of Hammurabi, English common law, etc.).
4) “In God We Trust” – The Supreme Court has ruled that “In God We Trust” does not violate the establishment clause of the Constitution since the term has been repeated to the point of being nearly meaningless. Also, “God” is a universal term that does not specify one religion over another.

Issue: Military
Stance: Supports a strong and smart military
Reason: This is a blanket issue that I will try to specify a bit more below.
1) War in Iraq – I support the war in Iraq and have since Bush was in office. At this point I think that we (the US government and military) have a moral obligation to the people of Iraq to not leave them in a worse position than we found them. Before we invaded, they lived under a authoritarian dictator, but the people knew how to play the game and survive. If we leave before things are properly secure and a viable government is in control, then we will be leaving them in chaos and for the average Iraqi on the street, that is not a better situation than it had been under Saddam.
2) War on Terror – The war on terror may need to be reevaluated. In the long run we must win over the hearts and minds on the Islamic world and our current strategy may not be the best way to do it. What the better strategy would be, I’m not sure, but it would be worth looking into.
3) Military Pay and Benefits – Our soldiers deserve the highest pay and best benefits possible. Our veterans, especially those who have seen combat, deserve health care coverage for life and a good pension. That’s the least that we can do for those who have risked their lives for us.

Issue: Environment
Stance: Supports initiatives to clean and protect our environment
Reason: This is another blanket issue.
1) Global Warming / Climate Change – We don’t know enough about the long-term weather patterns of our planet to say for certain that human activity is causing global warming/climate change. That having been said, we should and must do everything possible to keep our planet clean, cut back on and stop pollution, protect wild life and endangered species, etc.
2) Clean Energy – We need to move away from the use of fossil fuels for a multitude of reasons (the two biggest being their limited supply and our national security). There are ways to harvest the energy of the wind and the sun that would produce little to no pollution versus the current fossil fuel systems. Nuclear is also a viable, temporary, option. Until we develop better methods to fuel our vehicles (solar and wind power would work great for power grids but not cars), we must increase our own oil production and refinement to get us through the growing pains of changing to the newer, cleaner forms of energy.
3) Recycling – We should provide recycling options for the citizenry (via either curb-side or drop off locations), but recycling should not be mandated by the government.

Issue: Welfare
Stance: Supports continuing welfare programs
Reason: I believe that one of the government’s core functions is to provide a safety net for the citizenry. One way of doing that is a welfare program. This program should not be a way of life but instead a hand up to help those through the really rough times. Those in the program must be required to work (either at some kind of job or through community service) to get benefits.

Issue: Social Security
Stance: Undecided
Reason: Social Security is in trouble, that is a fact. I have heard good arguments for and against privatizing the program. In general I like the idea of privatizing some of Social Security but not all of it. How that would actually work, I have no idea…hence the undecided.

Issue: Taxes
Stance: Supports a simplified tax system
Reason: Our tax code is a mess. We need a simplified system that helps people keep more of their money. The best solutions would wither be the Fair Tax or a progressive flat tax (in which those who make under $50,000 a year pay no taxes but get no refunds and the absolute highest percentage paid by anyone would be 20-25%).

Issue: Term Limits
Stance: Supports term limits for members of the US Senate and House of Representatives
Reason: Too many fools have made life long careers in politics and Washington, DC. The have lived so long in the capital that they have completely lost touch with the American people. At the most those in office should be limited to three terms in the Senate (total of 18 years) and 8 terms in the House (total of 16 years), but I would be completely fine with limiting it to two terms in the Senate and five or six terms in the House.

Issue: Campaign Finance
Stance: Supports public financing of all elections
Reason: Not to be crass or harsh, but our elected officials are whores. They spend more time whoring themselves and their votes out to donors than they do actually doing the job that we have hired and are paying them to do. The best way that I can think to solve this is to completely take money out of the equation. TV stations would have to provide air time for candidates (paid for by the governments election funds) negating the need to buy spots (seeing as the TV stations rent the airwaves from the public anyway, this is only fitting IMHO). The tiny details would need to be hammered out, but the basics would be that candidates are provided with funds to run their campaigns. The funds would be a finite amount that they would have to manage. Other groups could still organize and run campaigns on specific issues or against specific candidates, but they could not financially support any one candidate.

Issue: Constitutional Amendment Banning Flag Burning
Stance: Opposes
Reason: It may be crass, stupid, and disrespectful but burning the flag is a form of protest and thus is protected by the 1st Amendment. Besides if someone is dumb enough to buy a flag and light it on fire, as long as it doesn’t burn or damage anyone else’s property, then more power to them.

Issue: Drugs
Stance: Supports decriminalization, if not outright legalization of drugs
Reason: Drug abuse is a medical issue and prohibition has failed miserably. It didn’t work with alcohol and it hasn’t worked with drugs. Legalize it, tax it, and treat it like the medical issue that it is. The price will go down and the crime involved will go away.