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.

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