BluePhantom
Educator (of liberals)
Rubrik I: Financial
Liberal economic policies (bottom up) CONTRA
Conservative economic policies (trickle-down) PRO
Healthcare: Obamacare, pure-single-payer, undoing Obamacare, complete private-health care, etc. STRONGLY CONTRA - Obamacare must go
Debt reduction. How to reduce, how long it should take? My position on this is a thread unto itself. Briefly, enforce our trade agreements and give nations that do not conform to those agreements the same treatment they give us. Adjust corporate tax policy to allow for increased production so that exports exceed imports. Hold government accountable for irresponsible, wasteful spending. Lot's more.
Budget/Deficit: balanced budget amendment? PRO
Trade agreements, like NAFTA from the past, the pacific pact from today, also the large trade agreement with India, for instance. Nothing wrong with a trade agreement provided it works to our best interests and we actually enforce the terms.
Rubrik II: National defense / foreign policy
Military spending: up the spending, maintain the spending, reduce the spending (thoughts about the War on Terror are probably best written here, imo)? STRONGLY PRO
Isolationistic foreign policy vs. Interventionistic foreign policy?
INTERVENTIONIST - Preserve the petro-dollar at ALL costs. Global economics is one big game of King of the Mountain. Right now we are on top. We want to stay there.
"Nation Building" - does it work, or not? It works if we install a puppet government. If we build a nation up and then leave it to their own devices, it's a disaster and a total waste of money.
NATO? PRO
Israel / Iran ...STRONGLY PRO-ISRAEL
Rubrik III: Social Issues / Constitutional issues
Net Neutrality INITIALLY PRO but far from decided. Not an issue I am very knowledgeable about.
Marriage Equality (aka "gay" marriage vs. "traditional" marriage) STRONG PRO. It's s simple question of equal rights. Denying homosexuals the right to marry is flat-out discrimination.
abortion - pro-life? Pro-choice? PRO-CHOICE. Oppose the principle of abortion, but banning it won't stop the practice. It will just create a black-market for it and create a lot of new criminals. Abortion will die out on it's own when we, as a society, choose something different.
Legalization of Marijuana STRONGLY PRO. Great way to generate tax revenue, reduce crime, and clear out an over-crowded prison system.
2nd amendment vs. Gun Control PRO 2nd Amendment. "An armed population is a polite population". "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away". All that rhetoric, I agree with.
Prison system: death penalty PRO DEATH PENALTY
Legal system: tort reform STRONGLY PRO TORT REFORM
Cops: body-cams? OH HELL YEAH!!! Cops are sometimes just as bad as the criminals
Term limits for Congress and/or Judges? PRO for Congress, UNDECIDED for judges
Drones, droning, privacy issues PRO DRONE!
Electoral college: pro, contra? PRO
Voting, voting-rights, elections Well I am in favor of all legal and eligible citizens being able to vote. I see no harm in having to prove your legal status
Race-Racism: too much discussion, not enough, or just right? Problems get solved through discussion. What we need is more discussion and less bitching and finger-pointing
Immigration, Immigration reform STRONGLY PRO BORDER SECURITY AND EXPORTATION
So I am a Republican-leaning moderate. I am also strongly in favor of stem-cell research and animal testing which wasn't addressed above. Moderate on environmental issues (should be good stewards of the planet, but no need to get carried away and return to living in caves).