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Willravel · 01-10-2010, 12:51 PM

(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill
The idea that someone should believe in "bigger" or "smaller" government is truly and utterly absurd. It's a perfect example of the absolutism that comes from people unable to accept that reality is nuanced. I'm afraid you'll never catch me saying "I believe in small government" because there are some areas in which government should be bigger and some where government should be smaller. So that'd be a no.

(2) Market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
What constitutes "Obama-style government run heathcare"? It seems clear that President Obama at most wants a public option, which is a bit of a joke. I fully support single-payer healthcare, similar to the system currently being used by Canada and very similar to Medicare. That's another no.

(3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
I'm going to say yes and no to this one. Cap and Trade is a complete joke because it cannot be realistically enforced. Still, the market doesn't have mechanisms in place for things like pollution, so the job ultimately has to fall to the consumers and the government.

(4) Workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check
If only the GOP hated worker exploitation as much as they hated unions. I'm afraid this is going to be another no. Unions work best when workers collectively stand together and proudly demand fair treatment. It's incredibly difficult to intimidate a vocal and large group of workers looking to unionize. Secret ballots, on the other hand, take away that sense of community and unity, and have been demonstrated to undermine the formation of unions. So that's a no, too.

(5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
Bullshit. The GOP has been quite good at making legal immigration a complete mess and because of that, people (people as in fellow human beings) are forced to try and enter this country illegally. It's xenophobia, and I for one am anything but xenophobic. Until the process by which one can come into our country is made straightforward and fair, I will support amnesty. So no.

(6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
When viewed objectively (in other words, when forming your own opinion based on facts and not adopting the majority opinion of mainstream news media), the surge wasn't as much as success as it was simply a slowing of deterioration. Iraq is a smoldering wasteland. We have some pretty damned talented and well-trained troops, but there was never going to be a true military victory in Iraq or A-stan in the way people seem to want. You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy. Worse still, several insubordinate generals tried to pressure the President into his recent Afghanistan surge. That's a good indication it's time to leave. So, again, no.

(7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat
Iran is run by a totalitarian leader, and it's on the verge of revolution because of their government's atrocious behavior, but they've still not violated IAEA rules for the NPT. Anyone that says otherwise is uninformed. So that'd be a no. As for North Korea, we need to actually start taking them seriously... but is "containment" the way to go? I really don't think so. What we need to be doing is to get China and Russia on board for multilateral talks. We need North Korea to understand in no uncertain terms that there are three superpowers that have their attention squarely on North Korea and it's time to shape up or face real consequences (more than just sanctions). So no again.

(8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
I cannot support bigotry. LGBT individuals deserve the same rights as everyone else. So that's a huge no.

(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
We already ration healthcare, and I'm against healthcare being rationed for nothing but profit. Healthcare is less rationed in countries with universal or mixed healthcare, therefore, anyone against rationing should be in support of a government run or partially government run healthcare program. So no.

(10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership
Depends on what's meant by "restrictions". Does the GOP wish to arm people in prison? Or people with severe mental disabilities? Or people with severe mental illness? Or people that have committed multiple murders? These are all restrictions.

It would seem I fail the test.

01-10-2010, 12:51 PM	#13 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill The idea that someone should believe in "bigger" or "smaller" government is truly and utterly absurd. It's a perfect example of the absolutism that comes from people unable to accept that reality is nuanced. I'm afraid you'll never catch me saying "I believe in small government" because there are some areas in which government should be bigger and some where government should be smaller. So that'd be a no. (2) Market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare; What constitutes "Obama-style government run heathcare"? It seems clear that President Obama at most wants a public option, which is a bit of a joke. I fully support single-payer healthcare, similar to the system currently being used by Canada and very similar to Medicare. That's another no. (3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation; I'm going to say yes and no to this one. Cap and Trade is a complete joke because it cannot be realistically enforced. Still, the market doesn't have mechanisms in place for things like pollution, so the job ultimately has to fall to the consumers and the government. (4) Workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check If only the GOP hated worker exploitation as much as they hated unions. I'm afraid this is going to be another no. Unions work best when workers collectively stand together and proudly demand fair treatment. It's incredibly difficult to intimidate a vocal and large group of workers looking to unionize. Secret ballots, on the other hand, take away that sense of community and unity, and have been demonstrated to undermine the formation of unions. So that's a no, too. (5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants; Bullshit. The GOP has been quite good at making legal immigration a complete mess and because of that, people (people as in fellow human beings) are forced to try and enter this country illegally. It's xenophobia, and I for one am anything but xenophobic. Until the process by which one can come into our country is made straightforward and fair, I will support amnesty. So no. (6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges; When viewed objectively (in other words, when forming your own opinion based on facts and not adopting the majority opinion of mainstream news media), the surge wasn't as much as success as it was simply a slowing of deterioration. Iraq is a smoldering wasteland. We have some pretty damned talented and well-trained troops, but there was never going to be a true military victory in Iraq or A-stan in the way people seem to want. You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy. Worse still, several insubordinate generals tried to pressure the President into his recent Afghanistan surge. That's a good indication it's time to leave. So, again, no. (7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat Iran is run by a totalitarian leader, and it's on the verge of revolution because of their government's atrocious behavior, but they've still not violated IAEA rules for the NPT. Anyone that says otherwise is uninformed. So that'd be a no. As for North Korea, we need to actually start taking them seriously... but is "containment" the way to go? I really don't think so. What we need to be doing is to get China and Russia on board for multilateral talks. We need North Korea to understand in no uncertain terms that there are three superpowers that have their attention squarely on North Korea and it's time to shape up or face real consequences (more than just sanctions). So no again. (8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act; I cannot support bigotry. LGBT individuals deserve the same rights as everyone else. So that's a huge no. (9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and We already ration healthcare, and I'm against healthcare being rationed for nothing but profit. Healthcare is less rationed in countries with universal or mixed healthcare, therefore, anyone against rationing should be in support of a government run or partially government run healthcare program. So no. (10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership Depends on what's meant by "restrictions". Does the GOP wish to arm people in prison? Or people with severe mental disabilities? Or people with severe mental illness? Or people that have committed multiple murders? These are all restrictions. It would seem I fail the test.