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Fair enough. rebelaessedai Send a noteboard - 07/01/2012 04:12:37 AM
Let's just say that if Santorum were the candidate I'd have no choice but to sit out the election (or, if it got really bad, donate to Obama). If Romney is the candidate I'll probably give money to his campaign because I think Obama is a terrible President who has done little more than give endless speeches with empty platitudes and signed everything that Congressional Democrats have vomited out, sometimes with his help (I guess he held the feather).

I think Obama has done a lot considering what he walked into. What George Bush left was a big fucking mess. At the end of the day, I do believe he saved us from a full-out depression. American politics are ugly and getting uglier all the time, and I can't see how anyone is going to get out of that mire alive.

Of course, I am liberal on social issues. Gay marriage? Of course. Abortion? Safe and legal. Porn? More, please. Drugs? One word: legalize. Consenting adults have the right to choose how to live their lives, and the only things that should be illegal are trespasses against the person or property of another (theft, arson, rape, murder, all the way down to simple things like noise pollution at unreasonable hours).

I knew you felt that way. That's why I don't dislike you for being, as you say, nominally a Republican. This is what really terrifies me about the party, and it's why no matter how much money I have, I will never vote for them.

It's just that when people start to say, for example, "we need universal health care", I start to ask - "What do you mean to cover, how much is it going to cost and who's going to pay for it?" Am I against putting an additional tax of 3-5% on that portion of personal income in excess of $1 million? No. I think that's fine. Am I against putting that same 3-5% on everyone making in excess of $250,000? Yes. In lots of urban areas families can be simply middle class at that level and it would kill the economy.

Do I like unions? No. In theory, they could be good, and some local unions are, but in general they're unreasonable and belligerent, in some cases criminal.

Does that make me a Republican?

I suppose it does. You lean that way, I would say. But it's upon those things that we disagree that I think a real discussion needs to be had, not by those idiots in Congress who are bought and paid for (on both sides) but by those of us who are thinking, rational human beings.
At the end of the day, it's a matter of priority. I strongly believe that people have a right to healthcare, that insurance is a service and not a business. I hate corporate culture. It's easy to see why I think these things- I come from a poor family. But I also understand that making $250,000/year can mean several different things, depending on where you live. It's hard to round up everybody under one roof and say "this applies to you" when it clearly might not. It takes people having rational discussions to fix the problems we face- I tend to lean a lot more towards the left than you would like, but I also respect your opinions because you're not a flaming idiot. That's more important to me than everybody agreeing with what I say.
And I do like that link, thank you.

I figured you would. I have not read Martin Scott, but I think "Fat Fuck Saves The Day" was my favorite.
Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position. - Bill Maher
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