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Originally Posted by ASU2003
This "Compromise is defeat" and "Obama must fail" bull shit from the right is what is what is wrong. There are new ideas and other things we can do in order to make progress.
Afghanistan - troop surge, build relationships, eliminate bad people, provide security and let people live in peace for a while, then build up local security forces, make sure a peaceful, tolerant Islam is taught, setup businesses, and work towards getting our troops out, but leaving behind 'cleaners'.
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Your assumption is that we can do things like "eliminate bad people", I don't hold the same assumptions nor do I think it is possible. Written many time before foreign powers can not, will not win a war in Afghanistan. We will not/Can not change the culture in that nation. So we either have to occupy the country and continually impose our will or leave.
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Debt spending - expose how debt spending works and all of the accounting tricks used by lots of past administrations to hide the true cost of projects or pass the costs on. It would have been better if the government would have had to get individual people to put up some money in T-bonds or something similar. It would have been better to focus on who would benefit if the banks were bailed out, and made sure the citizens got their money back. And there needed to be rules to prevent something like this from happening again. Yet, something had to get done.
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Business cycles are normal, government need not take special measures to manage business cycles, however when government creates problems in the market often the solutions are even worse. When Wall St. sees gridlock in Washington the good times will start to roll again.
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DADT - could be Don't Ask, Don't Care. Gay soldiers don't need to flaunt it, and I don't most of them would. And girl soldiers would probably start saying that they are lesbian to stop the guys from hitting on them.
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Just end this policy, and let's move on. Obama is the commander-in-chief, he needs to lead and the military will follow.
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Tax cuts - they need to get paid for, and there needs to be more studies that actually show that they work as advertised.
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Or, the government can spend less. But, tax cuts in a high tax rate environment like the one we have now will lead to increased economic activity and more, not less tax dollars going into the treasury.
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Guns - I have no problem with people having guns. I have a problem with some of their attitudes. If you are making terroristic statements, I have no problem with the feds taking your guns away. If you are mentally unbalanced because you lost your job or went through a breakup, you shouldn't have access to your guns for a while.
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We agree, but others don't. Some want to outlaw guns entirely. I have no problem with restrictions, just like I have no problem with restrictions on motor vehicle ownership and use.
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Environment - We are putting lots of crap into the air (Hg, Pb, small particles). Yes, other countries are still putting just as much pollutants into the air as we are, but we have the technology to reduce the amount of energy we use, generate cleaner energy, and not take shortcuts to get cheap energy (PA ground water - nat gas, deep water - oil). And there is less on-going maintenance needed for renewable generation.
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We must protect the environment, no one disagrees. We have made great strides over the years and we will continue to do so. There is no need for panic, no need for abrupt changes that could ruin our living standards. An "all of the above" approach with continued incremental changes will get us to where we need to be.
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Abortion - Women should have access to birth control and be taught about it in 6th grade. It should be somewhat hard to get one (and I don't believe anyone uses that as their primary BC method), yet, they should be allowed to have it.
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I think a viable fetus be allowed to live.
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Social Security - it shouldn't be the only source of income, but it should provide the basics. The money shouldn't be allowed to be used for other projects.
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The system is broken and needs to be fixed. I want the choice to control my social security, I want to be able to opt out. You should have whatever choice makes you comfortable.
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I want to see them come up with solutions that both sides can live with.
The media doesn't give any time to people in 'the center'. They are having a rally next weekend in DC though.
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Is this the rally meant to make jokes and fun of the people on the right? And then next year they will wonder why no one will work with them. Did you hear Obama's comment to a group of Hispanics about punishing their enemies. Who was he talking about?
---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:23 PM ----------
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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
There are organizations and initiatives that deal with these issues. Their effectiveness is based on their reach and ability to maintain a consistent and persistent message. Unfortunately, ignorance and hatred are like weeds.
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You can not simply create an organization and pass a law - what I suggest are measures to address the underlying issues. As I see it, open and honest dialog is the most important step.
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I don't think Williams was "effectively dealing with the problem" so much as airing his dirty laundry.
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I can understand you seeing it that way - but that is not the point. The issue is how he sees it, why he sees it that way, and how we can help him see it different. Shunning him, making fun of him, ridicule, comments on his mental state, professionalism is not helpful and actually makes some irrational fears become more entrenched.
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What's centrist about it is not taking a stronger stand on it, and not making LGBT issues in general (i.e. gay marriage) a more central issue. From what I've seen, the Democrats have taken a rather moderate, if not disappointing, stance on these issues.
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The moderate stance is "nothingness" on an issue like this.
I see marriage as a religious issue, I see civil unions as a government issue. Government should not favor marriage nor should government deny adults from a civil union relationship. I am more Libertarian than Republican on this question - but not middle of the road. I am not sure what the "centrist" view is, do you?
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You have mistaken centrism as requiring that all issues be left/right issues, that all situations be black and white, that all politicians be in agreement one way or another on all issues in perfect alignment. It's not the case. The varying degrees of agreement/disagreement is why the centre exists in the first place.
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I see issues in black and white, figuratively - I admit it, I am different than many, I was born the way I am. From my point of view I am not mistaken, so what is next in order to move the dialog forward?
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Look at it this way: those on the left generally look at centrist politics as either having gone too far or not having gone far enough.
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That is black and white, they think centrists are wrong. Those on the right think they are wrong. Centrist think those on both the right and the left are wrong. Perhaps it is red, green, blue - rather than black and white. But either way there are clear distinctions.
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In America, to say there is no centre ignores the profound compromises the Democrats have made to appease moderates and the right over the past two decades.
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If by compromise you mean they don't get it right, then I agree. For example heath-care in this country- the plan was to just get something passed and then fix it. That is not a good plan in my opinion.
---------- Post added at 03:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:46 PM ----------
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Originally Posted by roachboy
gee, ace, it looks like these tea party geniuses are trying the same line you tried in justifying williams' bigotry by claiming that it's reasonable to be a bigot:
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I will keep trying.
Many people do not understand Islam. What many know about the religion has come from religious extremists who have declared a holy war against western civilization. With increased understanding of the religion will come increased tolerance and a reduction of irrational fear.
So, the question is - how do we increase the understanding of the religion? We have to allow people to say what they think, only then can we begin to address the underlying issues. The approach of calling people bigots, etc. should not be the first response. There is no doubt that at the end of the day we will find some are simply going to be bigots - but I think that number will be very small. In the mean time we have a large portion of our population that simply does not understand Islam.