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As the campaign season starts it's normal ramp up for the "preliminaries" I was wondering what really matters the most to people?  Granted, elections are a year and a half away, so it's probably not on the minds of most people, but at this point, what do you consider to be the things that we need to focus on in government and of course, who would the best candidate be to fulfill those needs?

 

For me, the most pressing issues that a potential Presidential Candidate needs to address are as follows (in no particular order).

 

1.  National Security - What is going on in the world is an important aspect of what a potential candidate should address.  The problems in Afghanistan, Ukraine/Russia and the Middle East are "hotbed" issues for me.

 

2.  Immigration - The immigration issue needs to be addressed and something needs to be done.  I favor first and foremost securing our borders, then dealing with the illegals that are here.  I don't support something like the "Dream Act", yet something needs to be done.  I would immediately "write off" any candidate that would support the "round them all up and send them back" point of view.  I would also "write off" any candidate that allows illegals to get a path to "amnesty" that circumvents our current laws, and gives them any kind of advantage.

 

3.  Economy - The current state of the economy is in dire straits and has been for several years.  Despite what the current "employment numbers" might say, people are hurting right now.  Something needs to be done to turn this whole thing around.

 

4.  Taxation - This is an issue that always has been and always will be an issue.  Taxes are way to high in my opinion across the board.  Personal income tax, corporate tax, the "death tax" and capital gains taxes are way too high and the thought of raising them higher should be squashed.

 

5.  Health Care Reform (For Real) - I have nothing good to say and wholeheartedly disapprove of Obamacare.  This disaster needs to be repealed/replaced with something better.  In my mind, the main focus should be on Veterans and Seniors.

 

The "issues" that mean very little to me (and I say this solely for political reasons not personal reasons) are as follows.

 

1.  "Gay Rights" - I really could care less if two people want to enter a civil union and enjoy the tax benefits, insurance benefits, etc. of doing so.  If they want to call it "marriage" I really don't care.  While it might be an "issue" for some, it's not a pressing need that someone running for and attaining the position of President of The United States should put a lot of effort in.

 

2.  Abortion - While I personally don't agree with abortion, I don't think that people should be denied the option of doing something like that.  Where I disagree is when tax dollars are used to fund something like that.

 

3.  Keeping "prayer" out of anything, much less schools - Now on this issue, I'm not saying that "prayer" to any religion/god/entity should be "required".  All I'm saying is that I'm sick and tired of those on the left that attack certain symbols as being "offensive" as well as certain practices.  If you don't want to recite the words "under god" when reciting the pledge, you are certainly within your rights to do so, but don't push it as far as being what should be "required".  If a cross in the middle of the desert "offends" you, then don't look at it.

 

I'm approaching an age and time in my life where politics really matter.  Though my children are grown up and make their own decisions, I look at my grandson every day and wonder what kind of country I'm leaving for him.  What kind of opportunities/hardships and experiences will he deal with throughout his life?  What can I do to give him a better life than the one that I have had?

 

I look back at what my parents and grandparents did for me with much appreciation.  I look to the future, and I question myself and what me and my siblings have done as well as what lies ahead for not only my children and grandchildren, but my many nieces, nephews and their children.

Education should be number 1 without question and it isn't even on your list.

Quote:Education should be number 1 without question and it isn't even on your list.

Everyone has different priorities.  Personally Education would be #1 for me, though I'm sure most here would disagree on what should be done in education.  


I'd go into what matters to me, but I'd prefer to limit my political arguments to a single subject at a time.

I don't know about you guys, but I want my damn privacy back, and I'm sick of having my chain yanked (literally) every time I set foot in an airport.

Domestic policy over foreign policy all day everday.

1 civil rights and a return to personal privacy


2 economy it's bad and everyone is ignoring it


3 education it's bad and no ones addressing it


4 immigration this one could be fixed by addressing 2 and 3


5 foreign policy

Jagbelieve in regards to immigration of you'd write off round up and send them home, and you'd write off a path to citizenship what the hell do we do with them? Leave them here as non-citizens?


Immigration is an easy fix, eliminate their access to all public institutions/welfare and Change the tax code to a production tax and Mexico has the illegal immigration problem not us.

 

What is most important to me is that a candidate not insult my intelligence with cheap political trickery and demagoguery. There is so much bovine excrement coming from these candidates. So far, I don't like a single one of them.


I believe in freedom. But your freedom ends, figuratively, at the point of my nose. The role of government is to balance your freedom against my freedom. That's why these issues are complicated. I don't like politicians on either side who try to tell me they have simple solutions to major problems. That is just cheap political trickery.

Quote:What is most important to me is that a candidate not insult my intelligence with cheap political trickery and demagoguery. There is so much bovine excrement coming from these candidates. So far, I don't like a single one of them.


I believe in freedom. But your freedom ends, figuratively, at the point of my nose. The role of government is to balance your freedom against my freedom. That's why these issues are complicated. I don't like politicians on either side who try to tell me they have simple solutions to major problems. That is just cheap political trickery.

I agree entirely here.


Education pretty much tops my list. NCLB needs to be eliminated entirely. It forces schools to promote students who aren't ready or risk losing funds or, in extreme cases, their jobs. We need better measures than standardized tests. You certify the teachers--trust them, damn it! And give schools the ability to fire teachers on a three-strikes type of system. There are many bad teachers who keep their jobs due to tenure.


Our kids are graduating entirely unprepared for college or the workforce. Let me rephrase; our IMPOVERISHED children are graduating in this manner. If this country is still about upward mobility, something needs to be done.


We need a system that offers pathways to students. You don't want to go to college? Here is an apprenticeship training program so you can learn a trade. Teach kids the reading/writing/math skills they need to be successful in the real world and then let them pursue their interests. I didn't take a single math class in college, but I can still do algebra.


The economy needs fixed, healthcare reform needs to ACTUALLY be healthcare reform and not mandatory pocket-padding for insurance companies.

Quote:Education should be number 1 without question and it isn't even on your list.

 

 

Quote:Everyone has different priorities.  Personally Education would be #1 for me, though I'm sure most here would disagree on what should be done in education.  


I'd go into what matters to me, but I'd prefer to limit my political arguments to a single subject at a time.

 

While I agree that education is certainly important, I don't put it on my list of priorities because it should not be a federal government matter.  In my opinion the Department of Education should go away.

Quote:I agree entirely here.


Education pretty much tops my list. NCLB needs to be eliminated entirely. It forces schools to promote students who aren't ready or risk losing funds or, in extreme cases, their jobs. We need better measures than standardized tests. You certify the teachers--trust them, damn it! And give schools the ability to fire teachers on a three-strikes type of system. There are many bad teachers who keep their jobs due to tenure.


Our kids are graduating entirely unprepared for college or the workforce. Let me rephrase; our IMPOVERISHED children are graduating in this manner. If this country is still about upward mobility, something needs to be done.


We need a system that offers pathways to students. You don't want to go to college? Here is an apprenticeship training program so you can learn a trade. Teach kids the reading/writing/math skills they need to be successful in the real world and then let them pursue their interests. I didn't take a single math class in college, but I can still do algebra.


The economy needs fixed, healthcare reform needs to ACTUALLY be healthcare reform and not mandatory pocket-padding for insurance companies.

 

I somewhat agree with you, but refer to my previous post where I don't believe that the federal government should be involved in education.  However, that being said, I will admit that there might be some way for the government to get involved somewhat, and I'll explain what I mean below.

 

I do agree that No Child Left Behind is not a very good idea and should be eliminated.

 

I also agree that students are graduating high school today with no real skills or paths to lead them to success.  I'm all for teaching skilled trades for those that don't have the desire or the means to go to college.  That's somewhat the path that I took, though I learned my current skills and profession through the military.  I have 3 siblings that are all older than me.  All three of them went to college and got degrees.  Today I actually earn more than any of them, and one of them is a registered nurse.  Two of them have masters degrees and only one of them is actually working, though not in a profession having anything to do with his degree.  The other is well.... pretty much useless and surviving off of "assistance".

 

I would support programs that gave graduating kids a path to learn skills and gain knowledge through non-traditional means.  Vocational/technical training provides the skills, knowledge and experience necessary for some to be very successful.  In my case, I chose the military, but that shouldn't be the only path that a graduate can take.

 

Again I'll reflect on my own personal experience.  I joined the Navy as an enlisted man and learned the job of Avionics Technician.  I spent 6 years in a sea-going squadron doing troubleshooting, repair and maintenance on aircraft communications, surveillance and sensor systems as well as computer systems.  I spent another 3 years on "shore duty" as an Instructor for aircraft avionics systems and also wrote and taught a computer systems specialist course.  I learned an awful lot about electronics, computers (hardware mostly) and aviation.

 

I also started using Linux when the OS was in it's infancy and sometimes required compiling certain programs in order to make them run and work.  I did a lot of reading and taught myself first scripting languages, then computer programming languages.  I've since held jobs at different companies and held different titles such as Engineer, and have actually had to train college graduates with EE and/or CE degrees that had absolutely no experience or common sense at all.

 

My point is, I consider myself pretty successful.  I am by no means wealthy, but I earn a pretty good living, am just about debt-free (I owe less on my house than most people owe on their car loan), I have a nice "nest egg" to get me through my retirement years and managed to raise 3 children.  I did all of that without ever having gone to college.

Quote:Jagbelieve in regards to immigration of you'd write off round up and send them home, and you'd write off a path to citizenship what the hell do we do with them? Leave them here as non-citizens?


Immigration is an easy fix, eliminate their access to all public institutions/welfare and Change the tax code to a production tax and Mexico has the illegal immigration problem not us.

 

I would "write off" any of the "round them all up and send them home" candidates because it is not a realistic possibility.  By the same token I would "write off" any candidate that advocates "open borders".

 

The problem then becomes, what do we do with the ones that are here?  I don't agree with the "Dream Act", though I understand the reasoning behind it.  However, they should not be given an "easy" path to citizenship when there are many who do things legally.  They should have to at the very least "go to the back of the line" when it comes to applying for citizenship.

 

I know that you don't like Marco Rubio, but the bill that he and other members of the Senate wrote and passed addresses the problem and pretty much satisfies and goes beyond your "easy fix".  If you want to see the "bullet points" of the bill, you can do so here.  There is also a link to the actual bill that you can download/read on that site.

Quote:I somewhat agree with you, but refer to my previous post where I don't believe that the federal government should be involved in education.  However, that being said, I will admit that there might be some way for the government to get involved somewhat, and I'll explain what I mean below.

 

I do agree that No Child Left Behind is not a very good idea and should be eliminated.

 

I also agree that students are graduating high school today with no real skills or paths to lead them to success.  I'm all for teaching skilled trades for those that don't have the desire or the means to go to college.  That's somewhat the path that I took, though I learned my current skills and profession through the military.  I have 3 siblings that are all older than me.  All three of them went to college and got degrees.  Today I actually earn more than any of them, and one of them is a registered nurse.  Two of them have masters degrees and only one of them is actually working, though not in a profession having anything to do with his degree.  The other is well.... pretty much useless and surviving off of "assistance".

 

I would support programs that gave graduating kids a path to learn skills and gain knowledge through non-traditional means.  Vocational/technical training provides the skills, knowledge and experience necessary for some to be very successful.  In my case, I chose the military, but that shouldn't be the only path that a graduate can take.

 

Again I'll reflect on my own personal experience.  I joined the Navy as an enlisted man and learned the job of Avionics Technician.  I spent 6 years in a sea-going squadron doing troubleshooting, repair and maintenance on aircraft communications, surveillance and sensor systems as well as computer systems.  I spent another 3 years on "shore duty" as an Instructor for aircraft avionics systems and also wrote and taught a computer systems specialist course.  I learned an awful lot about electronics, computers (hardware mostly) and aviation.

 

I also started using Linux when the OS was in it's infancy and sometimes required compiling certain programs in order to make them run and work.  I did a lot of reading and taught myself first scripting languages, then computer programming languages.  I've since held jobs at different companies and held different titles such as Engineer, and have actually had to train college graduates with EE and/or CE degrees that had absolutely no experience or common sense at all.

 

My point is, I consider myself pretty successful.  I am by no means wealthy, but I earn a pretty good living, am just about debt-free (I owe less on my house than most people owe on their car loan), I have a nice "nest egg" to get me through my retirement years and managed to raise 3 children.  I did all of that without ever having gone to college.

 

And you arrived at your current situation with more than a little help from the government.

Quote:And you arrived at your current situation with more than a little help from the government.

 

I would somewhat agree the government "helped" me get to the position that I'm in now, but I wouldn't say that it was "more than a little help".  I received my initial training and experience from the government, but it wasn't a "grant" or a "hand out".  It was through a contract that I signed with the government that required (initially) 4 years of my service.  I extended my contract initially for another few years, then re-enlisted as part of my final contract with the government (military).

 

I credit my experience in the Navy for my basic knowledge of electronics, but the rest of what I learned I did so on my own.  The bulk of what propelled me to my current status/position was done solely by me.

Quote:What is most important to me is that a candidate not insult my intelligence with cheap political trickery and demagoguery. There is so much bovine excrement coming from these candidates. So far, I don't like a single one of them.


I believe in freedom. But your freedom ends, figuratively, at the point of my nose. The role of government is to balance your freedom against my freedom. That's why these issues are complicated. I don't like politicians on either side who try to tell me they have simple solutions to major problems. That is just cheap political trickery.

Actually most of these issues are an easy fix as long as you truly want to solve the problem.  There in lies the rub.  Politicians do not want to solve the nations problems.  There is no money in that for them.

 

Immigration - Fine every corporation, small business or individual $10,000 dollars for every illegal immigrant they employ when they are caught for the 1st offense.  50k for the 2nd with 6 months jail time.  100k and 1 year for the 3rd.  Remove all US government assistance for illegal aliens and they will deport themselves when the jobs run dry.

 

Tax code - fair tax

 

Education - Reading, writing, arithmetic and science.  Bring back recess and gym classes.  Teach the arts and music.  Stop teaching for an end result with cookie cutter 1 size fits all formulas.  Good teachers know what each kid needs, let them do their job and for the love of heaven reduce the number of administrators at each school and give that saved money to the people in the class room.  Bring back trade schools that are tied to the high schools.  Not everyone is cut out for college.  

 

Campaign finance reform - One issue bills and no riders or attachments.  Every vote is up or down for a single issue.  If the lobbyist can't get garbage that no one would vote for in that format they will stop flooding the politicians with cash.  

 

Employment - End all fair trade agreements.  Bring back tariffs and force corporations to bring those jobs they sent overseas back home.  Guess what, we have factory jobs again.  End all unions for federal employees.  

 

Spending - Have businessmen with no ties to government contracts or ties do an audit of government expenditures.  Cut the fat and the duplicate programs.

 

Foreign Policy - Quit borrowing money from China to give to other countries.  Bring the troops home.  If the Arab nations want to kill each other let them.  They have been fighting each other since the beginning of time.  If they bring that crap over here a missile fired from Colorado is just as accurate as one fired from 1 mile away.  We don't need troops on the grounds when a satellite photo can tell you the color of my eyes.  If we do engage in a war for any reason, let congress vote on it and if they give the go, get out of the way and let the military do their job.  Their job for the record is to kill people and break things period!  There is no such thing as a sanitary war.  

 

Welfare - no more corporate welfare.  Low interest business loans for viable business plans sure.  Personal welfare, if you are able bodied then in order to get a check you will go to a trade school to learn a job skill.  You get housing, food and clothes and daycare provided for two years.  If after two years you have not figured it out quonset huts and low skill jobs like mowing grass along the highways or being assigned to the jobs of the transient farm workers that left in droves over the illegal immigration policy we passed.  No more steak and lobster, you get basics like beans, rice and spam or hamburger.  

 

National Debt - Pay that sucker off with all the savings just provided and no increases until it is payed off.  That includes the automatic increases for congress and all federal workers.  We out here in the private sector have to suck it up all the time you can too.  Oh and no more of the voodoo math.  A cut in a program is not a reduction in the increase of spending.  If I am budgeted for a 5% increase and only spend 3% I still increased what I spent last year by 3%.

 

Did I miss anything?  

 

I speak to individuals on both sides of the political spectrum and you know what?  With the exception of the extremist on both sides we all want the same things.  We have different ideas on how to get there is all.  The problem is we let the media, politicians and rhetoric divide us.

 

Peace out.  Whew!

Quote:And you arrived at your current situation with more than a little help from the government.

Yeah, a government JOB. Which is very different than government assistance.

Quote:Yeah, a government JOB. Which is very different than government assistance.

 

I'm all for a jobs program. That is, after all, what the military industrial complex is all about. It's a massive jobs and economic stimulus program, mixed in with corporate welfare.

Quote:I'm all for a jobs program. That is, after all, what the military industrial complex is all about. It's a massive jobs and economic stimulus program, mixed in with corporate welfare.

Imagine if we took all that war money and put it towards infrastructure and education.


I bet there would even be plenty of money left over to build a humongous wall on our southern borders and patrol it like crazy.

Quote:I'm all for a jobs program. That is, after all, what the military industrial complex is all about. It's a massive jobs and economic stimulus program, mixed in with corporate welfare.

 

The so-called "military industrial complex" is actually the majority of the job description of those in Congress.  It's purpose is not about a "jobs program" and it is not a "massive jobs and economic stimulus program".  The purpose is for the common defense.  Peace through power is a proven policy that has been discarded by the current administration, and it's being replaced by a "apologize for our country's greatness" policy.  Just look at what President Obama had to say in his first inauguration speech.  Rather than address our allies with assurance that we would continue to stand with and support them, he chose to address our enemies.  Here is what he said specifically to our enemies in the Middle East.

 

Quote: 

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

 

That kind of policy has sure worked out well hasn't it?  Our allies as well as our enemies look at that and perceive weakness rather than strength.  Why is it that Putin decided to invade Ukraine?  Why is it that China and North Korea are becoming more aggressive militarily?  Why is it that Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons?  Why is it that brutal dictators and groups are over-running middle eastern countries?

 

Yet the military is what is suffering the largest cuts in history.

 

So what I am saying is, don't give me this business that I have achieved what I did because I got "more than a little help" from our government, and don't tell me that the military is a "jobs program".  That is pretty insulting to our men and women in uniform as well as our veterans.