Tipsy
Respected Member
To summarize the news to this point, the frontrunners are Clinton (D), Obama (D), Edwards (D), McCain (R), Giuliani (R), and maybe Gingrich (R) (though he's a special case).
For me, the important issues for the upcoming election are serious immigration reform, fixing the spending problem in the government (and thus the budget deficits), stopping this massive unchecked buildup of power in the executive branch (patriot act, warentless wiretaps, etc), and as always abortion.
The only problem is everyone seems to be campaigning on Iraq. I just have one question for people who use Iraq to vote on issues - what is the biggest threat to the United States? Terrorists? Problems associated with staying in Iraq? I tell you this plain and simple - there is only one thing (barring a world war or something of the sort) that will be able to bring down the United States and that is us. The erosion of liberties that has been associated with this whole sense of 'community' outweigh individualism.
Want to complain about money being spent in Iraq? Over half of our budget is spent solely on entitlements; let's fix these overly bureaucratic and failing programs first. Our tax code is quite simply overcomplicated and requires millions of dollars spent every year just to file taxes. The federal government's attempts to make education better by getting themselves involved and forcing the bureaucracy to grow even more. The dollar is constantly inflating and the government is printing more and more money to spend like there's no tomorrow.
I really don't care what a candidates position on Iraq is if these problems aren't addressed. Clinton, Edwards, and Giuliani are all for more spending on the federal level. Ever since McCain started his campaign he's been pandering to every person no matter how crazy they are (*cough* Jerry Falwell *cough*) and I have lost all respect for the man. Gingrich I can respect even though I completely disagree with him because he was pretty much behind 'Contract with America' that listed specific policies he would implement (though I disagree with a lot of them). And Obama is nothing but someone who spouts messages of hope without actually have a specific policy to deliver the hope. With me refusing to vote for any of the frontrunners I doubt I'll be happy in 2008.
For me, the important issues for the upcoming election are serious immigration reform, fixing the spending problem in the government (and thus the budget deficits), stopping this massive unchecked buildup of power in the executive branch (patriot act, warentless wiretaps, etc), and as always abortion.
The only problem is everyone seems to be campaigning on Iraq. I just have one question for people who use Iraq to vote on issues - what is the biggest threat to the United States? Terrorists? Problems associated with staying in Iraq? I tell you this plain and simple - there is only one thing (barring a world war or something of the sort) that will be able to bring down the United States and that is us. The erosion of liberties that has been associated with this whole sense of 'community' outweigh individualism.
Want to complain about money being spent in Iraq? Over half of our budget is spent solely on entitlements; let's fix these overly bureaucratic and failing programs first. Our tax code is quite simply overcomplicated and requires millions of dollars spent every year just to file taxes. The federal government's attempts to make education better by getting themselves involved and forcing the bureaucracy to grow even more. The dollar is constantly inflating and the government is printing more and more money to spend like there's no tomorrow.
I really don't care what a candidates position on Iraq is if these problems aren't addressed. Clinton, Edwards, and Giuliani are all for more spending on the federal level. Ever since McCain started his campaign he's been pandering to every person no matter how crazy they are (*cough* Jerry Falwell *cough*) and I have lost all respect for the man. Gingrich I can respect even though I completely disagree with him because he was pretty much behind 'Contract with America' that listed specific policies he would implement (though I disagree with a lot of them). And Obama is nothing but someone who spouts messages of hope without actually have a specific policy to deliver the hope. With me refusing to vote for any of the frontrunners I doubt I'll be happy in 2008.
