What are your political priorities?

[Maggie Mae]

We all have different ideas and priorities when choosing politicians and voting on legislation. What are your "hot topics"?

It doesn't have to be at the federal level, either. We could all be more involved at the state and local level, as that is where an individual can actually make meaningful changes. 

For me, I'd like to see an end to for-profit prisons, and an overhaul of the education system. Also, a hard line on climate change. 

[Arete]

I don't vote for right to lifers under any circumstances, because I will not participate in even the slightest erosion in women's hard earned rights.  And I  am a person who is definitely uncomfortable with abortion under certain circumstances, but not enough to put reproductive rights under any type of risk.

I also want to see the eventual expansion of Obamacare into a one payor system for all.  

[Mrsaztx]

Climate change, women's health, education overhaul and a willingness toward bipartisanship (not saying "that's a decent idea, but your tie is the wrong color so I vote NO!")

[FundiesInParis]

My political views tend to make it hard to vote, I care deeply about things such as right to privacy and tend to be pretty anti-mass data collection, etc., I'm also fairly anti-interventionist when it comes to conflict abroad. But I'm also extremely pro-choice, which tends to eliminate politician's that I support on privacy issues and foreign policy.  

[Mrsaztx]

@FundiesInParis I feel you, there. I would like very much to vote republican, if republicans would follow their own freaking creed of "government, get out of my business". Because in my opinion that means the government gets the hell out of my medical choices, gets the hell out of everyone's marriage, gets the hell out of my internet searches and phone calls, gets the hell out of any churches, etc. Sadly, it's the opposite of that. And I'm so concerned that "I've NEVER agreed with a democrat/republican/person from the other side" seems to be a badge of honor in this election and that's just awful and terrifying

[Imagine20]

Welfare for the less fortunate, corporate welfare, the need for a more progressive tax system, the chipping away at our privacy rights, single payer healthcare, the environment.  None is more important than another in my book. 

My two main priorities at the moment are the treatment of Muslims and what's going to happen with immigration under a new administration. 

[Catey]

I am not in the States, but still am a voter. I wish I had the luxury of voting FOR something, it seems for the last few elections I have voted  to keep someone out of office rather than get someone in.

 

However, pleased with our current PM.

[Criscat]

@Mrsaztx exactly. I tend to vote conservative but have been frustrated that the republicans are not sticking to the less gov't and the government not being up in private citizens business. For what it's worth, gun control bothers me only because the 2nd amendment is there for a reason. It's the law--not a suggestion. I would also like to see a flat tax system. while I am pro-life, it doesn't mean I want to take the choice away from women...and honestly, it's not a issue that determines a candidates worth to me. It's here to stay. Drives me nuts when that is the primary issue people are concerned about. How about we work on the economy, foreign policy, get people working again, and leave them be! 

Oh, and also, I agree that the current trend of it being a badge of honor that they have NOT worked with/compromised/worked through issues with the other side is scary....and we wonder why nothing gets done! 

[Mrsaztx]

@Criscat the micromanaging needs to stop amongst all. I watched both debates and was not impressed with anyone who has a shot. Trump is a troll, Cruz saying we basically should've started a war with Iran for looking into why our navy was sniffing around in their space and then his "I'm Christian first and America second" thing puts him as a hard no in my book (how far we've fallen from JFK's assurances that his religion wouldn't supersede his duties as president), Rubio seemed so worked up he was about to cry the whole time through (not a good look on a diplomat). All that left me thinking Jeb seemed most reasonable and he has slightly less than a snowball's chance at being the nominee. Then Hillary has way too many "should she be in jail?" Questions hanging over her head to be an acceptable president, even if they are all unfounded, there's just too much doubt. Sanders is way too left (college can't be free and no one wants higher taxes) and has the same slightly unhinged persona as Rubio. Why O'malley, who seems infinitely more electable, isn't doing better is beyond me. He has the same chance as Jeb. Basically I'd like to vote in an underworld blizzard. 

[RosyDaisy]

Healtcare, education, economy, equal rights for all, reproductive rights, welfare, foreign affairs, climate change. Not necessarily in that order. All of my listed issues carry the same weight.

[church_of_dog]

Environment/ecology is my overarching priority.  Of course it can break down into a million sub-topics like climate change, land management, air/water quality (which of course all have social justice components too).  It also leads to me being anti-corporate personhood, anti-globalization (in the sense of goods and services going every which way with no weight of the true ecological cost of all the transport).  Opposed to giant consumer footprints of any source.

My second priority is privacy and freedom to opt out -- so while I understand that our personal freedom is necessarily limited by the need to not infringe on others' similar freedoms, I have a real problem with reduced freedoms in other contexts (ie rights to decline insurance, to keep one's personal data private, etc).  Neither the government nor Facebook nor Google nor Rite Aid need to know more about me than I choose to tell them.  Of course this may limit what services I can receive from them, which is fine, I just believe I should have that choice.

I'm sure there's more but I'm drawing a blank now.

Note:  this doesn't mean that things like social services for those in need, right to choose abortion, racial issues, etc aren't important to me -- I recognize they are important -- even the ones I'm ignorant of details on, I still recognize the importance.  But they're not my highest priority.  To me environmental issues trump pretty much everything else.

Oh, and if I could have one thing I could change in the political system in the USA, it would be to bring in IRV -- Instant Run-off Voting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting so that we could vote based on our actual preferences instead of trying to anticipate who is the best *plausible* candidate so that we don't "waste" a vote on a third-party person who doesn't stand a chance.  This is a no-brainer to me, as all the faux-ethics about voting are for naught IMO without this key component -- but obviously not everyone agrees as we don't have IRV and it doesn't even seem to be a live topic these days...

[ALM7]

5 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

I still recognize the importance.  But they're not my highest priority.  To me environmental issues trump pretty much everything else.

@church_of_dog, was this our Pun of the day? I can't get Trump off my mind either lol.

[JillyO]

7 hours ago, Mrsaztx said:

@Criscat the micromanaging needs to stop amongst all. I watched both debates and was not impressed with anyone who has a shot. Trump is a troll, Cruz saying we basically should've started a war with Iran for looking into why our navy was sniffing around in their space and then his "I'm Christian first and America second" thing puts him as a hard no in my book (how far we've fallen from JFK's assurances that his religion wouldn't supersede his duties as president), Rubio seemed so worked up he was about to cry the whole time through (not a good look on a diplomat). All that left me thinking Jeb seemed most reasonable and he has slightly less than a snowball's chance at being the nominee. Then Hillary has way too many "should she be in jail?" Questions hanging over her head to be an acceptable president, even if they are all unfounded, there's just too much doubt. Sanders is way too left (college can't be free and no one wants higher taxes) and has the same slightly unhinged persona as Rubio. Why O'malley, who seems infinitely more electable, isn't doing better is beyond me. He has the same chance as Jeb. Basically I'd like to vote in an underworld blizzard. 

Not trying to tell you what to think, obviously, but I have to strongly object here: Yes, college can be free, as seen by the many countries on earth where it is free. It's a question of priorities. And yes, actually, many people want higher taxes, especially for higher income brackets. And yes, many people are even fine with higher taxes for themselves if it means the government actually does some good with said money. I'm not saying you have to agree with any of that, but saying college can't be free and no one wants higher taxes is simply false.

Personally, my priorities are women's issues (many people don't seem to realize how much Republicans have managed to take away access to women's clinics/abortion services/etc. as well as to make abortion more painful than it has to be, over the last few years), minority issues (first and foremost, the SEVERE need to reform the criminal justice system and end the war on drugs), education, comprehensive healthcare, welfare and gun control. But then I am not eligible to vote in the US.

[Mrsaztx]

@JillyO, that was a mostly condensed response so that it would fit in a single statement. As an expanded explanation: the American collegiate system would likely not work while being free, there would have to be a substantial overhaul in education and even culture to accomplish that. In addition there would have to be tons of alternatives to universities (tech schools and the like) set up and I just don't see that happening due to a president. Also if it's free that means the government gets to run the university systems either directly or through who they give their subsidies to, and that will make it like our current public school system and I'm pretty sure that will be nothing short of horrible. I honestly don't think free college will work here. I think there definately needs to be an overhaul of our university system, but I think the way to go is to start increasing technical and vocational schools. They need to eliminate the requirement of bachelors degrees, which include around 2-3 semesters of absolutely irrelevant crap at $20-30k a pop, for vocations and go back to vocational schools, have nursing schools for nurses, teaching colleges for teachers, why the hell is medical school 8 years? Because 2.5 of those years are worthless prerequisites. We need to work on shifting the idea in our culture away from "more school is better" I can't tell you how many students I graduated with couldn't find a job within 3 months of graduation so they signed up for grad school, because why not? They figured they could find a job better with a masters (they won't, they'll just be very pedigreed $40k/yr employees because they have no experience). Add in more CLEP-type opportunities, if a student knows the material don't make them waste a semester and all the money that goes with it taking a class they could teach. There are tons of great ways to right our educational system, I don't think making college free will work here. 

Also obviously there are some people who are ok with raising taxes, the vast majority of people have a knee-jerk reaction to that and will vote no for anyone who runs with the platform of raising taxes. There's a reason nearly all candidates throw in vague "less tax for people" statements, people don't like giving their money to what they view as an inept government 

[Mrsaztx]

I don't know if it will allow me to edit more so I'll try a new comment and see if it will just mesh them, here we go:

and another thing! In order to have free college we likely need fewer people going (did a real quick search of "countries with free college", that seemed to be a theme, that not everyone goes). That means that we need to be graduating students from highschool that aren't as dumb as a bag of burnt hair and quite frankly we arent. Typical middle to lower class high schoolers, aka the ones who will likely not go to college in this scenario, are graduating knowing so little. Yesterday I saw a post on facebook, with lots (100's) of agreeing college students, that originated from a university student, saying "I don't know what taxes are, how to do them, when they're due, or what they're for, but if I do them wrong I go to jail". This person and all the commenters agreeing with them are products of our current education system. We can't be throwing those people into real life. Maybe after 20 or so years of getting our elementary and high schools to produce people worth hiring, then we can work on trimming the fat in colleges.

[EyeQueue]

I'm hardcore into the body autonomy thing, especially since I have a 17-year-old daughter, so I won't vote for anyone who threatens to erode a woman's right to an abortion or access to contraception. So, that pretty much means I'll never vote Republican, unless they jettison the religious right.

There are a handful of other issues that are important to me, such as education and climate change, which would then be considered after my not-saddling-women-with-pregnancies-they-don't-want thing is met.

[onlyme]

Not having a argumentative, disrespectful, arrogant attitude that I fear will drag us into a war before too long would be great. That would be number one. 

Environmental issues are really important to me. Tied in with that is the ability of communities to be able to have a say when environmentally impacting industries want to move into their area. Like fracking. Information gathering and storage would be next. 

Basically there are two attitudes in government, one that sees people, other countries, etc. primarily as enemies, people we need to protect ourselves from, citizens as people who need to be controlled, etc. And one recognizes a community and sees government as a tool to serve. I care less about actual policies, and a ton about the attitude. I have some Republican sympathies, but the fear mongering that comes out of them really, really concerns me. 

[church_of_dog]

6 hours ago, ALM7 said:

@church_of_dog, was this our Pun of the day? I can't get Trump off my mind either lol.

Ha!  I saw that after I posted, pondered doing a "no pun intended" edit but got distracted by something shiny.

Damn him for ruining a perfectly fine word like "trump" (after all, my dad taught Bridge classes, so that's a word I learned early on in life...)  Let us hope that the era in which a generic usage of that word evokes images of him is a short one...

[salex]

I am a registered republican but would be considered by most in my state as a RINO-- and with reason.  The only money I've ever donated to a candidate was for a democrat.  The only work I've ever done for a candidate was for a democrat (and very behind the scenes)  In my state the republican primary is often the defacto election, so I remain registered republican (instead of independent) so I can vote in that election.  For years, I tried to balance between old style Republican finance and the growing constant that republicans were anti abortion.  Now, the bizarre combination of religions, publicly favoring  the rich in every political decision and anti woman rhetoric and actions has moved me to decide that I will never vote for any anti choice candidate again, in my lifetime, especially since more and more of them are anti contraceptive. Feminism (or my view of it) will be my guiding principle in voting from  here on out.  I told my husband  that  we might not always be voting for the same person in the future and he said oh... we probably will, as he agrees with me on this.   

I have read the millennials are less worried about the old right wing "social issues" and if that is the case, I hope they start voting en masse..

I don't like Hillary much, and Sanders is further left than I'm comfortable, but I likely will be voting for one of them given the republican options. 

 

 

[sawasdee]

1 hour ago, onlyme said:

Not having a argumentative, disrespectful, arrogant attitude that I fear will drag us into a war before too long would be great. That would be number one. 

 

So you'll be voting for Trump then?

[onlyme]

26 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

So you'll be voting for You-Know-Who then?

Oh you know it! He's my guy! 

[samira_catlover]

@salex: Twin? My sister by another mother? Registered Republican here since 1976, and the only time I *didn't* vote for a Democrat in the Nov elections was when John Anderson ran as an independent.

We're going to be holding our noses, gagging, and voting for Kasich in the Rep primary---but that's only because he's the best of a Really Bad Litter, and the idea of Donnie getting the nomination terrifies me.

[bashfulpixie]

@salex You are better than I.  I was tempted to register Republican for the exact same reason- I live in a closed primary state.  But I couldn't do it.  The last thing I want is to be even more harassed by their people than I already am.

[Mela99]

My only, single, solitary concern is ANYONE BUT TRUMP. Nothing else matters to me right now. sure, women's rights and equal pay and education but I'd go back to being paid in chickens to keep him from getting the nomination. 

[salex]

3 hours ago, bashfulpixie said:

@salex You are better than I.  I was tempted to register Republican for the exact same reason- I live in a closed primary state.  But I couldn't do it.  The last thing I want is to be even more harassed by their people than I already am.

I registered as a republican in the 70s.  I participated in republican caucuses in the early 80s, right before in literally a coupe in my town in KS, the right wing took over the local republican party while the old school republicans were off at a national event (they managed to keep a quorum in town and elect new leadership...) and the litmus test on abortion and religion got worse and worse.... 

I was going to register as independent -- but since I want to keep my vote to always vote against the tea party (for all the good it has done) 

My family of origin was very quiet politically, I didn't know until 5 years ago my dad had voted for Carter, and I still don't know if my mom did or not. I remember my mom asking my dad if he voted for Goldwater or Johnson and talking to him about her choice on one of the first elections I can remember--- I wonder, sometimes if I got my not fitting with either side or ever voting for someone I truly support from my parents.