I don't like putting labels on myself But I do like the forum for everyone to state their positions. All I know is that I stand for Limited Government.

To me some of the key determining issues are (in no order of significance):

 

1. Death penalty; For, but with reservations.

 

2. Steeply progressive income taxes and the belief that the rich should be forced to give back more to share with the poor; Silly notion, strongly against

 

3. Estate taxes; Strongly against.

 

4. Abortion; I believe it is an individual choice and should be legal.

 

5. Welfare programs (including increased govt provided/paid health insurance); Totally against.

 

6. Privatized social security; I'm against SS in general, but if we are to have it, it should be privatized.

 

7. Degree of Govt regulation of business; Very minimal to none.

 

8. Minimum wage; Don't need it.

 

9. Gay marriage; and I'm cool with it and believe it should be allowed.

 

10. Gun ownership rights. Own whatever you want.

 

 

I agree on almost all accounts. :thumb:

1. Death penalty; Pro ... although I feel it should be used for only the most heinous crimes. There is nothing wrong with life imprisonment ... we're still taking away the freedoms of our worst offenders.

 

2. Steeply progressive income taxes and the belief that the rich should be forced to give back more to share with the poor; I'm not advocating a specific tax rate, but I have no problem with the concept in moderation

 

3. Estate taxes; See answer to #2

 

4. Abortion; Stridently pro-choice in the first trimester

 

5. Welfare programs (including increased govt provided/paid health insurance); I have no problem with welfare as a safety net, but not as a lifestyle choice. I also have no problem with some sort of community service requirement.

 

6. Privatized social security; Most likely against it

 

7. Degree of Govt regulation of business; I think some is necessary, but not to an oppressive extent

 

8. Minimum wage; For it ... not sure about an exact rate, however

 

9. Gay marriage; I'm not in favor of it, but have no problem with civil unions, etc., for purposes of medical insurance and the right to choose what is best for one's partner in a medical situation.

 

10. Gun ownership rights. I grew up in a gun-ownership household and own one myself. I am for very strict regulation on assault weapons and don't mind the institution of a waiting period and background check for prospective gun buyers.

 

Where does all this put me? I think I'm somewhere slightly to the left of moderate, but I guess others can make their assessment, too.

For all those in favor of the minimum wage: why? Raising the minimum wage hardly helps the poor- all it does is A) increase unemployment and B) lets teens make a bit more money.

 

See this study.

In 1939, nearly one-third (31%) of all low-wage employees were the heads of a poor household. By 2003, only 9 percent of low-wage employees were heading a poor household.

The authors calculate that, absent any employment loss, the cost to employers of the proposed increase in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour will be $18.26 billion. Only 12.7 percent ($2.3 billion) of this cost will actually go to poor families, with only 3.7 percent going to poor African-American families. The ability of the minimum wage to target poor families is weaker and decreasing over time.

For all those in favor of the minimum wage: why? Raising the minimum wage hardly helps the poor- all it does is A) increase unemployment and B) lets teens make a bit more money.

 

See this study.

 

cch5432, if you don't mind, let's not debate folks positions on the issues in this thread. Again if you don't mind, start separate threads for each issue that you want to discuss. I'd rather the thread not get bogged down on the issues as I'm more interested in seeing how people stand on the issues and later compare it with how the posters view themselves on the political spectrum. So far, I've found it very interesting how some people that a lot of people consider as far left or far right, actually have some very different and broad positions on issues . I'm beginning to think we have a bunch of "rifterates" on here (or would that be "leghterates"?). Hope you don't mind. Thx.

My thoughts above.

 

 

I will save a lot of time by agreeing with you on every point, except that the death penalty seems an appropriate sanction for the clown who threw the baby out of the car in Florida.

1. Death penalty; Pro, when the crime is particularly egregious and there is no doubt of guilt. MODERATE

 

2. Steeply progressive income taxes and the belief that the rich should be forced to give back more to share with the poor; Pro. Not a big fan of supply-side economics. LEFT

 

3. Estate taxes; Not really on my radar screen. I'll never have enough for this to be a personal issue. MODERATE

 

4. Abortion; Strongly pro-choice. LEFT

 

5. Welfare programs (including increased govt provided/paid health insurance); Pro, with the proviso that able-bodied persons should eventually join the workforce. Providing that there is work to be had. LEFT

 

6. Privatized social security; Against. Where would millions of retirees be today if this had been implemented a couple of years ago? Probably dumpster diving. LEFT

 

7. Degree of Govt regulation of business; MODERATE to LEFT

 

8. Minimum wage; Pro, but with reasonable adjustments tied to inflation. Not simply, "It's too low, let's raise it a buck." LEFT

 

9. Gay marriage; I have never understood (well, I understand it in terms of a "lightning-rod issue" to galvanize conservative support) the government's fascination with the bedroom. I really like listening to Lewis Black talk about this. I know this is a tired argument, but it seems like we heterosexuals as a group are doing a pretty crappy job staying married. Gives lawyers and accountants something to do, though. LEFT

 

10. Gun ownership rights. Pro, but I really don't understand the need for automatic weapons. Background checks, periodic renewal process of some kind. MODERATE to LEFT

cch5432, if you don't mind, let's not debate folks positions on the issues in this thread. Again if you don't mind, start separate threads for each issue that you want to discuss. I'd rather the thread not get bogged down on the issues as I'm more interested in seeing how people stand on the issues and later compare it with how the posters view themselves on the political spectrum. So far, I've found it very interesting how some people that a lot of people consider as far left or far right, actually have some very different and broad positions on issues . I'm beginning to think we have a bunch of "rifterates" on here (or would that be "leghterates"?). Hope you don't mind. Thx.

 

That's fine. If a mod wants to delete my posts, I'm OK with it.

Because I didn't seem to answer the questions to someone's satisfaction, please allow me to clarify that my responses are the bolded within the quoted text of leatherneck's original post in my post above.

 

To further clarify, as I was apparently mistaken in that I thought leatherneck just wanted other barometers, my position on the following:

 

Education: I don't believe that education should be a "right". I believe it is a privilege, and I believe it's as abused as the welfare system. I believe that children should be able to be removed from school for behaviorial issues. I believe that children who are not interested in learning should not be allowed in schools. If we are to have taxpayer-funded education, the value of that investment would be greatly enhanced if those receiving that education held it in some regard.

 

Vouchers: I believe in a voucher system. I believe most children will succeed in a school environment in which they "fit", whether sociallyor academically. I believe a child should be able to attend any school they choose. I do have some reservations regarding the acceptance of Vouchers by private schools who receive no federal funding. I believe that schools who do not rely on federal funding actually provide a better overall educational opportunity than if they were subject to the same legislative requirements as public schools. But from public to public schools, I believe students should be free to attend the school that best suits them, and that the money should follow.

1. Death penalty: Oppose.

 

2. Steeply progressive income taxes and the belief that the rich should be forced to give back more to share with the poor: Not sure how to unpack this one exactly. I favor a progressive income tax, though not to the point of regression, so I suppose that is fairly subjective and relative to the exact figure. As to who benefits from income taxes, I would prefer it to benefit all of society, not one particular demographic exclusively.

 

3. Estate taxes: I'm not necessarily opposed to it, though because I feel in our society it is only healthy for talent and ability to lead one to wealth, not birth.

 

4. Abortion: Oppose. Of course, it depends at one point life is considered to begin and I don't believe that to be at conception.

 

5. Welfare programs (including increased govt provided/paid health insurance): I believe any responsible government and successful economy would provide and possess some form of a "social safety net." I think the key is to restrict the benefits on the basis of time and encourage movement toward employment.

 

6. Privatized social security: Support.

 

7. Degree of Govt regulation of business: I'm certainly not what one would call a laissez-faire capitalist, but I generally feel regulation should be limited to the "commonsensical" variety.

 

8. Minimum wage: Indifferent.

 

9. Gay marriage: Support.

 

10. Gun ownership rights: Support.

What are some other issues that think that help serve as a barometer of where a person stands on the political spectrum?

 

I would add: Free trade; Subsidies; Foreign aid; US Diplomacy (isolationist, internationalist, unilateralist, etc.); War/Military force (self-defense, preventive, pacifistic, etc.). This is interesting, I may add a few more later. As for my answers:

 

Free trade: Support.

 

Subsidies: Oppose.

 

Foreign aid: Support.

 

Diplomacy: Internationalist.

 

War/Military force: Only in self-defense and in narrow cases of humanitarian intervention.

I am to the right of all except 2,3,and 5.

 

I hate to qoute myself, but I am actually to the right of all of these issues. I simply misread a few.

Reading the little back and forth on another thread about whether Rockmom is a liberal or a moderate got me thinking: Do you consider yourself to be on the left, the right or a moderate in the middle and what issues do you use to determine your status?

 

To me some of the key determining issues are (in no order of significance):

 

1. Death penalty; For

 

2. Steeply progressive income taxes and the belief that the rich should be forced to give back more to share with the poor; Totally against

 

3. Estate taxes; Totally against (double taxation)

 

4. Abortion; Totally against in all cases

 

5. Welfare programs (including increased govt provided/paid health insurance); Limited for those who truly need help

 

6. Privatized social security; For

 

7. Degree of Govt regulation of business; it should be very limited

 

8. Minimum wage; Against

 

9. Gay marriage; and Totally against

 

10. Gun ownership rights. For

 

What are some other issues that think that help serve as a barometer of where a person stands on the political spectrum?

 

For educational vouchers and local control of education issues

Issues of note to me:

 

 

Energy Policy: Not the typical "climate change" fear mongering and indoctrination you find on TV and in schools but rather more efficient and clean power. I am an outspoken advocate of nuclear power and the conversion of coal to other natural resources so as to ween ourselves off of foreign sources of fuel. Understandably until an economical and valid energy source for vehicular transportation comes into existence then we will still be reliant on Oil.

 

National Defense: I may well be the closest thing to a militarist on this site. I am not an advocate of blind force, however I do not mind using it as an extension of foreign policy and I am also an advocate of total commitment. If we are going to be involved in any kind of military action we need to be willing to go as far as is necessary (even to the extent of blacking out news correspondents) in order to ended with the least amount of casualties on our side. I am also not for the willy-nilly use of force (i.e. sending a few cruise missiles somewhere to show "we mean business"). I also do not feel that social programs deserve any kind of priority over military spending.

 

 

Foreign Policy: I want someone who is not afraid to be firm and strong with military action if needed but at the same time I do not want someone who recklessly uses it. I also do not want people in office who will not look at the world in a pragmatic sense. I can't stand the concepts of American Idealism in that "everyone wants to be just like us." At the same time I don't want total isolationism because we have world-wide interests we need to protect.

 

Immigration Reform: I am not advocating open borders, and I would like to see more stringent penalties for illegals while making the naturalization process more streamlined to help those who want to come to the states legally. If need be though I would not be adverse to using deadly force to guard the border. Not that I want people looking for a better life dead, but I would rather they come here legally. For those already here illegally I am willing to concede some form of amnesty ONLY after they have paid fines for being here illegally(or done some form of community service), learned English and passed the citizenship test. At that point then I could be okay with former illegals being here.

Because I didn't seem to answer the questions to someone's satisfaction, please allow me to clarify that my responses are the bolded within the quoted text of leatherneck's original post in my post above.

 

To further clarify, as I was apparently mistaken in that I thought leatherneck just wanted other barometers, my position on the following:

 

Education: I don't believe that education should be a "right". I believe it is a privilege, and I believe it's as abused as the welfare system. I believe that children should be able to be removed from school for behaviorial issues. I believe that children who are not interested in learning should not be allowed in schools. If we are to have taxpayer-funded education, the value of that investment would be greatly enhanced if those receiving that education held it in some regard.

 

Vouchers: I believe in a voucher system. I believe most children will succeed in a school environment in which they "fit", whether sociallyor academically. I believe a child should be able to attend any school they choose. I do have some reservations regarding the acceptance of Vouchers by private schools who receive no federal funding. I believe that schools who do not rely on federal funding actually provide a better overall educational opportunity than if they were subject to the same legislative requirements as public schools. But from public to public schools, I believe students should be free to attend the school that best suits them, and that the money should follow.

 

I strongly agree with both of those opinions, and believe both of those issues should be added to LN's barometric list.