my views on politics

I thought I would write about Britney Spears. Just kidding! No, today's rambling will be about my views on political issues. I have taken a couple of those "find your candidate quizzes" and even when I answer questions differently at different times, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and Duncan Hunter tend to end up in my top four, in different orders, though Paul is often first. About the only republicans who never seem to show up as being aligned with my views are Romney and Rudy. I consider myself a moderate conservative, but some would disagree, I am sure.

I feel the most strongly about keeping and increasing tax cuts, keeping/getting the economy going, and limiting federal spending. I am a capitalist, and I don't think the rich should have fewer tax cuts, as some people do. But I also don't like caps on things once you make a certain amount, so long as we have the awful tax system we do now. Seriously, where does our money go? PA is pretty bad when it comes to taxes, and now we have yet another, the 10 percent drink tax, supposedly to pay for a transit system that is pretty broken. Of course, Dan, Dan, the tax man said even if the county collects over what they project (and they will), that is a nice problem to have. Really? Note to Rendell: When you first ran, you promised lower property taxes. I did not believe you and therefore did not vote for you. And rightly so. You are in your second term, and my house taxes (albeit local) have only gone up. My state taxes have gone up. Where does the state surplus go? Into our bloated legislature?

I have never supported the war in Iraq, but I mostly feel as if we leave now, then all the war (and the deaths) will be in vain. I did, more or less, support the war in Afganistan. How can you lie down and die (I hope I mean lie and not lay!)? There are obviously terrorists in the Middle East, but I think the US has its own problems it should be worried about first.

I think we need to toughen our immigration laws/borders, and I don't think illegals should get a free pass. If it is hard to become a citizen, well, too bad.

Health care is a tough one. I feel lucky that my employer pays for employee health care. That saves us several thousand a year. And although I think health care costs are outrageous, I am not sure if universal health care is the answer, but I really don't know much about it.

I don't support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. See below.

I am absolutely pro-life, but I have never voted for a candidate because of that. As much as I am against abortion, I am not a fan of taking away a right.

I am also against the death penalty. In this case, I might favor banning that practice.

I also believe citizens have a right to carry arms and protect themselves. I might support some tougher restrictions; think of the Va Tech student who was diagnosed with some mental issues yet was able to get a gun. But I think the reality is that criminals always seem to find a way to get guns, and the law-abiding citizen will suffer.

As for energy and global warming issues, I am not sure it is the government's place to get involved. I don't buy into global warming being as big of a deal as some make it out to be, but there are a lot of us on the planet, and many of us drive a lot and consume and dispose of way too much, so there has to be some effect.

I don't think the constitution needs to define marriage. I have lesbian and gay friends, and if they want to get married to someone of the same sex, fine by me, which I am pretty sure separates me from most of my conservative friends. You cannot help whom you fall in love with.
Education is a big deal, but again, I don't know where I stand on this issue. I will be sending my kid to private school this fall for kindergarten. The school district where we live is decent, I think (some elementary schools are pretty good, actually, but apparently ours is not one of the better ones). For us it is more about not wanting our kid to be in such a big school district, and for Brian it is more about not wanting our kid to be in the minority when she is not in the minority in the county, state, etc. That does not bother me so much. Regardless, I do think this country has some education issues. When I taught at a business college last decade, I could not believe the reading skills of some of my students. I am sure it has gotten worse.

Well, that about covers my rambling. Hope to hear from some of you!