Top 5 Issues?

[Mr.Conley]

1. Iraq = losing the tactical advances we've made in WWIII
1. Energy = killing capitalism
1. Deficit= raising taxes
4. Science Education and Research = pork for pinheads
5. International Relations = destroying america

rtwng,
Since when did you want to stop destroying America. You can't have changed your opinion that quickly.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

How far below average are you? :chains:

Relative to you?

 

[5stringJeff]

Top political issues to yourself, personally? Or your opinion of what the top political issues for the average American are?

To you, personally.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

To you, personally.

Cool.

No particular order amongst the top 5:

Energy
Deficit
Terrorism
War on Drugs reform
Lobby reform

 

[Nienna]

Cool.

No particular order amongst the top 5:

Energy
Deficit
Terrorism
War on Drugs reform
Lobby reform

Oooo... lobby reform! That's a good one.

 

[5stringJeff]

Boy.... you bought Bush's agenda full-tilt, eh?

Just out of curiosity. How does immigration or gay marriage affect you on a personal level. Interested. Not being facetious.

For me...

Iraq
Deficit Spending
Supreme Court
Violaitons of the Bill of Rights (particularly the 1st and 4th Amendments....)
Theocratization of education/science (which I lump in with our lagging behind other countries in science).
Environment/Energy policy

And, yes. I know I picked 6. Couldn't decide which one to leave out

Not to derail the thread (I really am curious about what people's issues are), but:

1. My position is significantly to the right of Bush's of illegal immigration, tax code reform, and budget reform. So I don't see how I've bought hs agenda - my solutions are significantly more sweeping.

2. How does gay marriage affect me, personally? I have kids. I do not want them to grow up in a country where state-sanctioned gay marriage and God-ordained actual marriage (i.e. one man and one woman) are held as equally valid. I also see major freedom of religion issues involved in gay marriage, and I don't want my church to be persecuted by refusing to marry gay couples (which we would).

3. How does illegal immigration affect me personally? I pay for the services that the federal and state government provides them. That includes not only BS like welfare for the lazy ones and police/court bills for the over-and-above criminials, but also pubilc schooling, health care, road wear-and-tear, etc. Not to mention that the illegals don't assimilate, so American culture is degraded in the process.

 

[Hobbit]

Oooo... lobby reform! That's a good one.

Yeah, most lobbies I'm in just aren't well furnished enough. I was in one the other day that only had ONE chair. Something's gotta be done.

 

[insein]

My top 5 political issues are in order...

Illegal Immigration and securing the Borders
Government Spending
Politicians that receive any money from any source while in office.
War on Terror being operated correctly.
Ending useless wars like War on Poverty and War on Drugs.

 

[Annie]

Sorry Jeff, I tried to stop myself, couldn't be done! Links at site, do I get points for restraining myself this long?


http://influencepeddler.blogspot.com/2006/05/soccer-moms-security-moms-lou-dobbs.html

Soccer Moms, Security Moms... Lou Dobbs Moms?
National Review's Rich Lowry makes a valid point about the May Day protests. He says they contribute to a sense that things are out of control, which hurts the President. That may be true as far as it goes.

At the same time, those marches call more attention to the issue of immigration generally, and I think that helps Congressional Republicans. For better or worse, there are lots of Republican voters out there who are very upset about illegal immigration. They're some of the same people that helped deliver House Republicans a 54-seat pickup in 1994. By standing firmly against an amnesty, I believe House Republicans are giving their conservative base a real reason to come out in support this fall. I'll need to watch the polling data to see if the conservative base is starting to improve its view of Republicans in Congress.

If this is correct, I think Bush's standing is likely to improve as well, as the base 'comes home' for Republicans generally.

I'm starting to wonder whether this may be the year of the Lou Dobbs voter. Dobbs is a demagogue who either underwent an epiphany when space.com failed, or doesn't believe half of what he says. Nevertheless, he stands for some causes that look pretty popular right now: wariness of international trade, opposition to illegal immigration, and throwing the bums out of Washington. Now take a look at the latest CBS News Poll on voter priorities:

"What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" Open-ended

War in Iraq 23%
Gas costs/Heating oil 13%
Economy/Jobs 12%
Immigration 8%
Terrorism (general) 3%

What is Congress debating this month? Lobbying reform, foreign investments like the Dubai Ports World deal, gas prices, immigration restrictions, China's unfair trade practices... sound like anyone we know? It seems that Lou Dobbs has his finger on the pulse this year.

As the party in power, Republicans are poorly-positioned to 'take advantage,' but Democrats have weaknesses on ethics, immigration, and the war on terror. It'll be interesting to watch.

Welcome Instapundit readers, and thanks, Glenn for the traffic. As long as you're here, please look around the site. Or, just take a look at Kristin Kreuk.

# posted by Nanman @ 10:24 AM

 

[Huckleburry]

In order

Deficit
Pork Barrel Spending
Energy Indipendence
Security
Beating back protectionism

 

[Annie]

In order

Deficit
Pork Barrel Spending
Energy Indipendence
Security
Beating back protectionism

So you thing that 'energy independence' will lead to an end of WOT? Or you don't care about that?

 

[theim]

1. War on Terror
2. Supreme Court
3. Semi-Rogue CIA Agents ("leakers")
4. Traitorous Media Personalities (who print said leaks)
5. Bastardization of 1st Ammendment

 

[jillian]

Not to derail the thread (I really am curious about what people's issues are):

1. My position is significantly to the right of Bush's of illegal immigration, tax code reform, and budget reform. So I don't see how I've bought hs agenda - my solutions are significantly more sweeping.

2. How does gay marriage affect me, personally? I have kids. I do not want them to grow up in a country where state-sanctioned gay marriage and God-ordained actual marriage (i.e. one man and one woman) are held as equally valid. I also see major freedom of religion issues involved in gay marriage, and I don't want my church to be persecuted by refusing to marry gay couples (which we would).

3. How does illegal immigration affect me personally? I pay for the services that the federal and state government provides them. That includes not only BS like welfare for the lazy ones and police/court bills for the over-and-above criminials, but also pubilc schooling, health care, road wear-and-tear, etc. Not to mention that the illegals don't assimilate, so American culture is degraded in the process.

First, thank you for your well-considered reply. I appreciate it. Obviously, you and I don't see eye to eye on these issues, but that's cool.

1. Insofar as taxes and budget are concerned. I think government needs enough funds to be operated effectively and would point out that until the current admin, we had a balanced budget AND a surplus. that's been shot to hell.

2. I think immigration doesn't need to be "reformed", but only that existing immigration laws should be enforced; I also think it's a fabricated issue because Bush decided he wanted to bring more cheap labor into the country and he shouldn't be allowed to do that because I believe a strong middle class is the foundation of a democratic society in the true Jeffersonian sense of the word.

3. Under no circumstances could government ever EVER (let me say that again.... EVER!) tell a church it had to sanction gay marriage if it did not wish to. Nor could anyone be persecuted for that.....part of the beauty of the separation of Church and State. Might be good incentive to not wear that wall down too much. (Same reason that government can't tax churches! It's all interrelated). I have a son. He's 8. Could care less about seeing two men together. I don't have problems with gay marriage. (Though I think most wouldn't care if you called it a "civil union" so long as the legal rights were in place). And I would prefer that my child not grow up in a country where we discriminate against someone for what they're born.

4. Insofar as welfare reform goes, the majority of welfare goes to white single mothers living in southern states, not to immigrants in urban areas. Wanna get rid of welfare, we should be enabling these women to get educated and get trained for jobs by making daycare available at least for a rehabilitative period of time so they can become self-sufficient. Making women have children they aren't ready to care for and can't afford out by overturning Roe v Wade is the worst possible thing to do in this regard. Might not be pretty, but it's true. Sex education doesn't hurt either.

So that said, I'm more concerned about the things I mentioned in my top six.

Oh yeah...because I have a son and I'd really prefer we never ever need a draft again, would like us to concern ourselves with the environment once again; and don't want him paying off a national debt run up by a bunch of rich pols in D.C. who could give a rat's patoot about what they leave our kids and their kids with.

So there ya go...

 

[Huckleburry]

I don't care about it. We now live in an age of terrorism. In many places hubris has only encouraged a terrorist response. I am not blaming policy for terrorist action against the US but frankly we did not do ourselves any favors. What matters now is getting our own house in order. That begins with moving our economy beyond oil. Additionally, this administration and congress does not have the will, muster, or competance to effectively wage a war on an abstraction. So for the next two years I think we should aim small until we get someone who can actually do the job.

The test of time has come and sadly, Mr. Bush has failed...bismally.

 

[manu1959]

i would like to see politicians function as problems solvers rather than children and not play quid pro quo and horse trading economic games to buy their support for others ideas

i would like to see america run as a profitable business not a day care center

i would like to see people of america behave in a private and respectful manner and honour the laws of the land and intergreity inherant in acceptable human behaviour

i would like to leave other nations to solve their own problems stragically economically and militarily and those stop all forigen aid and focus those resources domestically

i would like to both sides of every issue taught equally in public schools

 

[CrimsonWhite]

and would point out that until the current admin, we had a balanced budget AND a surplus.

Thanks to Newt Gingrich and his unrelenting determination to keep the Clinton Administration's spending under control. I do believe congressional oversight and Gingrich's refusal to pass another C.R. was responsible for this. Gingrich fixed things. The Dems hated him for it. They ran him off. They gave Clinton the credit for Newt's economic genius. Sounds about right.

 

[Huckleburry]

Of course that means we have to ignore Newts congressional with hunt and the millions of dollars he gave to Star. Or have you conviently forgotten about that.

 

[jillian]

Thanks to Newt Gingrich and his unrelenting determination to keep the Clinton Administration's spending under control. I do believe congressional oversight and Gingrich's refusal to pass another C.R. was responsible for this. Gingrich fixed things. The Dems hated him for it. They ran him off. They gave Clinton the credit for Newt's economic genius. Sounds about right.

I am always amazed by the ability of those on the right to delude themselves into thinking that Newt did anything but embarrass Congress when he shut down the government.

Guess the Republican Congress only forgot how to control its spending after Bush got into office. :duh3:

 

[rtwngAvngr]

I am always amazed by the ability of those on the right to delude themselves into thinking that Newt did anything but embarrass Congress when he shut down the government.

Guess the Republican Congress only forgot how to control its spending after Bush got into office. :duh3:

Be amazed. Gingrich is a genius.

 

[HopeandGlory]

1. Iraq/Afghanistan - the 'War on Terror'

2. The Enviroment - for all it's size and apparant influence, the US is woefully avaricious when it comes to taking postive action to protect the world we all inhabit.

3. The Energy Crisis - I guess this goes hand-in-hand with the above. Developing sustainable sources of energy which are eco-friendly and non-dependant on unfriendly nations.

4. World Isolationalism - International/Public Relations - less than 10% of all Americans own a passport!!!!!! Get out more - be friendly. There's a whole planet out there and just because it doesn't have a Taco Bell, doesn't make a country less worthy of interest!

5. Education - not the revisionist, PC form of education, but an inclusive, accurate programme of excellence available for all!