Summary of political beliefs

[A18]

economics:  i support the free market and free trade.  period. 

Then why were you complaining about a flat tax about a week ago?

[A18]

It's about fairness. If everyone has a stake in lower taxes, the free market benefits. No 'tax the rich' schemes.

Anyway, that plan actually exempted a generous amount of money.

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The rich pay more than those in lower classes under the flat tax.

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Social: I'm a libertarian. I believe the government should stay out of issues of morality unless it is a matter of negatively impacting others. On abortion, I am pro-life, although I hate those who go around calling pro-choice people "murderers." This is not productive to me.

Economic: Left-leaning libertarian. I believe the government should stay out of business issues unless they are directly and negatively impacting people in a significant way. The government should focus less on quotas, and more on prosecuting bad companies. Good corporate citizenship should be rewarded with tax breaks and logos usable for advertising. I believe taxes are necessary to allow the government to function, although they should be relatively low. Welfare should only be for those who truly need it.

Foreign Policy: Think before you jump and, if you jump, be honest about it. This is a primary reason why I disagree with the Bush administration - an important part of foreign policy is being honest about when you screw up and how you will correct it. The ends should not justify the means.

I never knew you were a libertarian! Welcome to the club; you should join the Republican Party.

[A18]

-Support a progressive tax system.  The middle class is overtaxed and the rich are undertaxed.

People who say this miss the point. An income tax is not a tax on the rich, but the people becoming rich.

The best way to get the rich to pay their fair share is to close loopholes and end tax shelters. A perfectly flat rate would be ideal, as this is the only system completely void of 'get-arounds.' But the top rate right now is 35%! Certainly that is high enough!

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That is not Social Security in its current form. That is a welfare program, equivalent to abolishing Social Security.

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Social:

Libertarian views:
- Oppose FCC; realize that's not realistic right now, but at least stop it from spreading
- Legalize drugs
- No prescription necessary to buy anything
- Fully support school vouchers
- Don't apply federal Bill of Rights to the states; just consolidates power in the federal judiciary
- Federal government primarily for defense and free trade among the states
- Oppose gun control; legalize machine guns
- Oppose affirmative action

Mixed:
- Replace death penalty with hard labor

Liberal:
- Support guest worker program
- Relax immigration restrictions
- Oppose flag burning amendment

Conservative:
- No need to take vague references to God out of public life ("In God We Trust," "Under God" in the pledge, etc.)
- Oppose abortion except to save life of the mother
- Oppose campaign finance reform (also libertarian, I guess)
- Oppose gay/incestuous/polygamous marriages

Economic:

Liberal:
- Remove cap on all payroll taxes
- Cut Social Security and Medicare benefits for wealthy

Libertarian:
- Abolish the 'normal' income tax, and use the payroll tax to replace it, at a flat rate of about 15 percent, with no cap
- Repeal sixteenth amendment (since payroll tax is not a direct tax, as it is paid only by the employer on behalf of the employee)
- Get rid of taxes on everything except wages (includes sales taxes, property taxes, double taxation of all sorts, etc.)
- Abolish a lot of federal departments (Agriculture, Education, etc.)
- Cap federal outlays at 20 percent of last year's GDP

Conservative:
- Increased defense spending (like we're doing now)
- Oppose large deficits, but not necessarily small ones like we have now. The real problem is too much government spending.
- Support states' rights (oppose Federal Marriage Amendment in its current form; oppose Controlled Substances Act both because of this and because I support drug legalization, plus it's unconstitutional; etc.)

Foreign Policy:

Conservative views:
- Support Bush Doctrine
- Support Operation Enduring Freedom
- Support Operation Iraqi Freedom

Libertarian:
- Pull out of the UN
- Support free trade agreements

Mixed:
- Create a treaty making organization similar to NATO, only expanded

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As a percentage of GDP, they are historically small.