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Originally Posted by aceventura3
I have never been 100% in agreement with a candidate I have supported. I generally side with those where I agree on a few of the most important issues that a politician can have an impact on. When it comes to religious issues I tend not to factor that in because a politician is not going to influence anyone's religious beliefs.
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It's less about influencing beliefs and more about a decision-making process. I don't trust a medical doctor who doesn't trust basic science to be objective. I expect him to be dogmatic, which is a good word to describe Ron Paul. Reality doesn't jive well with dogmatic people because rarely are the dogmatic always right.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
I don't understand the appeal of a progressive tax code in a culture where people have the freedom to go from one income class to another. In a caste system I get it. But a progressive tax system hurts those who start poor and want to work their way out of poverty. At each threshold, that higher marginal tax rate is extremely unfair and can stifle a persons progress.
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A progressive tax system isn't punishment, it's about creating a fence in which capitalism can play. Without that fence in place, capitalism leads to further and further inequality until you have an economic caste system. It prevents the caste system, when it works properly and isn't full of loopholes.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
Regarding free and fair trade, I need more detail to understand what your issues are. My initial feeling is that the consumer decides what is fair. If people or nations are selling products made from slave labor, I would agree with laws to stop the sale of those products in this country. Outside of that I am uncomfortable with government trying to decide what is fair and what is not.
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The United States has laws which protect workers. We have a minimum wage, we have weekends, we have legal recourse against irresponsible or exploitive employers, and we can even unionize in order to organize and improve worker laws. The same is not true of many of the United States' trading partners. All of the hard work that was done in the United States to create our middle class and to protect our workers goes out the window when we start trading the slavers and exploiters. Part of globalization means exporting workers rights to create an even playing field for everyone. If industrialized nations had strict requirements in order to trade, including basic workers rights, we could help the world be a better place and we'd prevent American companies from moving jobs to dirt-cheap areas where they could exploit people to keep costs down. That's my understanding of fair trade.