[Frohickey]

So, what other 'cause' makes your blood boil, and make you want to volunteer for a policritter's campaign?

[Monkeyleg]

Given that I have to "contribute" nearly 50% of my meager income to the state, local and federal governments, I voted for taxes.

[Soap]

There are only two important issues to me: Right to life (which could be included in the right to property) and the right to property. Tons of issues stem from that.

[Gray Peterson]

equal rights for gays and lesbians.

[Greg L]

Term limits would be nice.

So would a sunset clause on all laws/regulations. They could only be renewed if there was a 2/3 majority.

Of course the chances of either are somewhere about equal to me winning the lottery ...... three times.

Greg

[Russ]

Greg L,

I used to think term limits were a good idea. We put them in place in California at the State level. Can you say Disaster? They aren't in there long enough to care and since they will be term limited out, they come up with insane pieces of legislation. Once their terms in the Assembly run, 3 2 year terms, they run for Senate, 2 6 year terms. They usually always get re-elected because no body pays attention and they vote for the person listed as "incumbent". I think term limits are a bad idea now.

[Zander]

equal rights for gays and lesbians. -- LWWould like to discuss this with you by PM rather than hijack the thread.

I respect your opinion and would really like your thinking on this question...

[roscoe]

The environment - we are selling our wilderness off to the highest bidders. A developer here, a logger there. Pretty soon we all our public land will be little national parks with all the real wilderness (and wildness) removed.

[sm]

voted "other"
Concerns: Constitution, BoR, less gov't meddlin'...

[El Tejon]

Where's the "women, wine, and nice cars" choice?

[cool45auto]

Propery rights. What's mine is mine, not yours so don't tell me how to use it or where to take it. I have common sense and don't need everybody acting like another set of parents.

[pdh]

Non-corrupt and moral government.

[AJ Dual]

With the government's legs cut off, or at least shortened through less revenue, the less of all the other things I don't like that it does will it do...

[Monkeyleg]

Cool9mm: "Propery rights. What's mine is mine, not yours so don't tell me how to use it or where to take it. I have common sense and don't need everybody acting like another set of parents."

That sounds a lot like the argument against taxes. Your money is your property, and the vehicle by which you attain other property.

[ahadams]

well the first two issues that both I and my wife decide with regard to any candidate is that they have to be both pro-2nd Ammendment and as importantly 100% pro-Life. Beyond that we look for for candidates who are strong obvious supporters of traditional conservative Christian American values.

uh, all you folks who didn't like that - well get out and support candidates who support your values, and we'll get out and support candidates who support ours.

[HBK]

Property rights and taxes are important. I think we should be able to do what we want with what we own and I think we are overtaxed. The one thing other than the 2nd ammendment that makes my blood boil is the issue of abortion, which I view as legalized murder. I don't see how anyone can see a picture of a developing baby, (fetus) and think that killing it is okay.

[Justin]

Property rights.
All political issues are fundamentally based in property rights.

[stevelyn]

It was tough to decide on taxes vs property rights. I chose taxes because if govt dosen't have tax funding then they can't affect property rights. I would put them both together.
The abortion/pro-life thing is a personal non-govt, non-issue.

[Ian]

Property rights...and taxes are the most blatant violation of them.

[ImJustRick]

I had to choose "other" because I couldn't pick just one of the following:

Animal rights, the 2nd amendment (and how it applies to INDIVIDUALS, damnit!), Abortion rights, Smaller government (or at least less government telling me what I can do), Taxes, Doctor-assisted suicide and a MAJOR overhaul of the welfare system.

All things I support and feel strongly about. This is a partial list.

Ha ha, I'm gonna get blasted for the animal rights comment. :D

-Rick

[Safety First]

How do I spell abortion- MURDER-- If you don't think it is, then what do think the millions of defenseless, innocent babies who have been slaughtered would tell you if they could? I am very much a live and let live ( did you get the let live part) person,if this offends you I apologize in advance,you are entitled to your opinion. To keep it gun related,what difference does it make if the yet to be born baby is killed with a gun or surgical instrument. The baby is just as dead..and oh yes, one more thing in order for something to die it has to be living first, but I guess those who support abortion would just call it "pregnancy termination"...Holy moley, did I say all of that? Oh well,just grateful my mother decided I was not a CHOICE but a CHILD, and not just a blob of material that was a inconvience...Long live the THR and all its members who would not be here if they were the victims of well you choose the word,it's your chioce...

[Shweboner]

Taxes is a major one for us Oregonians. They've f'ed up the economy so bad, they want to raise taxes for those of us lucky enough to still ahve a job.

Whenever it gets tight, they cut police/fire/schools first so they can get everyone freaked out over the "budget crisis" therefore justifying higher taxes "for the children" and "for our safety" These idiots are just dying to implement a sales tax.

The big thing in Portland now is attracting a MLB team. A local indian tribe was offering to put up 350 million dollars of their own money to build a stadium, as long as they were allowed to build a casino in the metro area. Both the casino and stadium would cost taxpayers NOTHING, and would have created millions of dollars for our economy, not to mention the jobs! oh, how we need jobs. But our newly elected backwater dip**** (dem) gov. shot it down without so much as a debate. His reasoning???? And this is right out of his interview on tv... He didn't feel right letting a casino fund a MLB stadium, because Pete Rose wasn't allowed in the HoF because of his gambling..........................................***?, over.
Now they are finding "alternate sources for funding" what crap.


Also abortion is on my list.... Its terrible and I am against it... but legally, I am pro-choice.... the gov't has no right to tell you what to do with your body... Abortion is something that should be left between you and your family, you and your partner, or you and your god.... not you and your government.

Equal Rights... I dont care what color you are, or who you have sex with... none of my business, none of the gov's business. Nobody should be treated better or worse than the other simply because they are different. This shouldn't even be an issue. But you know how that goes.

Free Speech: The most important thing for an American.... thats why its the First amendment... and well if that fails... we have the 2nd amendment;)

Well I think ive said enough,

~Brian

[TallPine]

The environment - we are selling our wilderness off to the highest bidders. A developer here, a logger there. Pretty soon we all our public land will be little national parks with all the real wilderness (and wildness) removed.

Roscoe, could you please provide some specific examples of "selling off our wilderness" ?

If anything, the feral govt is taking MORE land into custody from private landowners, mostly through restrictions on development.

As for logging, do you prefer fires instead ??????

I agree, that the "wildness" is disappearing. I have seen some pretty "wild" areas become "tamed" just because they were declared by congress to be "wilderness areas". What used to be pretty remote and unused land now has huge parking lots for backpackers and maintained trails - besides the fact that it is now "on the map." The folks back east apparently can't find "wilderness" unless it is pointed out to them.

If I had my way, I would start falling trees across the trails in designated "wilderness areas" so the backpackers would have to find their way through the brush - make it a really "wild" experience for them.

:)

[UnknownSailor]

My pet issue, which can be rolled into my 2nd Amendment concerns, is returning the United States to exactly that, a loose confederation of States, represented at the national level by the Federal Government.

IOW, a return to Constitutional Government. Not the present modified mob rule.

[Chris Rhines]

Property rights. Every single right that a human can claim comes back to property rights.

- Chris

[Partisan Ranger]

So many to choose from....today's choice for me is taxes.

We just got our first house and in the process in the last year, I discovered just how much you get....anally stimulated.....if you rent rather than own. Even if your new mortgage is close to $1,000 more than your old rent, it comes close to evening out when you reduce your withholding and factor in the tax advantage.

I'm glad to get the tax break, but I think income taxes are immoral regardless of the level of taxation. And taxing some more than others is Marxist, not American. If RUSSIA can do a flat tax, why shouldn't we?

[MeekandMild]

Sorry, didn't vote. The poll forced choices and there is more than one right answer. Try again. :(

[tobeat1]

I chose "other". Let me preface this by saying I dont do drugs, dont wanna do drugs. The War on Some Drugs needs to be ended. I guess you could lump this with property rights as some of the most asinine forfeiture (sp?) laws have come about from the WoSD. The parallels between it and prohibition are just to great to be ignored. Legalize drugs, give us a consumption tax and disband the IRS. Look at it this way, just think of all the revenue we could generate by hicking up the tax on snack foods! :D

[ImJustRick]

Safety First / Lloyd-

I can appreciate that you feel passionately about this issue. You can call abortion murder from now until the end of time and tell me all of your arguments but I still just won't understand your point. However, I'm impressed by anyone who feels strongly about an issue, even if I happen to disagree. Emotion trumps lethargy and indifference every time.

I think Shweboner / Brian and tobeat1 said it best - It's really not the government's (or anyone's) business what we choose to do. I think there's a little too much attention paid to what our neighbors do when our own yards are messy, if you get my drift. I don't need a mommy-state or a PAC determining what my rights are. I think I can figure those out for myself.

Let's do keep in mind, just as an aside, that this is a friendly conversation. Nobody is on the attack here, and being that it's just the anonymous internet, much of it is "blah blah blah".

Regards

-Rick

[braindead0]

I voted other: General Political Reform.

I think that all money spent for campaigning must come directly from registered voters, with each voter being allowed to donate up to $100 per year.....period.....

No more special interests, corporations....etc... essentially controlling the election by funneling money to their favorite candidate. Imagine the competition from candidates if all they could get from you is $100 tops...

Just a thought..

[s&w 24]

I picked the pro life issue but I'm also very vocal and involved with the support of the opressed peoples all over the world thru VOICE OF THE MARTYERS (the othe link on my signiture)

[Waitone]

Militarization of the Executive Branch of the federal gov't.

ILLEGAL immigration

De-industrialization of the US.

[Nightfall]

Well... I care about the abortion issue, the gay/bi/lesbian rights issue, further gov't intrusion issue (see above), I could go on and on. Half the things I care about don't even directly impact me, to be honest. :) Anything I see as an attack on individual freedom and liberty becomes an issue, IMHO.

[mercedesrules]

(tobeat1)The War on Some Drugs needs to be ended.

I picked "taxes", but my second pet peeve, next to gun rights, is the so-called war on drugs. I think that all drugs should be sold over-the-counter and that all government regulation of drugs should cease.

I don't think that there should be any special taxes on them nor should the money "saved" be used for treatment or anything else; It should never be collected in the first place.

MR

[Handy]

I'm not sure which.

The abortion one sounds like a narrow issue, but it isn't. It's all about legislating morality, which I hate. So I'm with those that feel it's personal, not legal. If you want to make a law that my wife HAS to gestate an infant for 9 months, I want a law that makes you a Hindu.

Laws that hinder anyone's life (or unfairly assists someone else's) I'm totally against. This country is not about who you screw or pray to or how you wear your pants or what you smoke. You shouldn't get a tax break because your spouse is the "proper" sex. Every couple deserves it, or none do.

But we need some legislation, because we are screwing up the environment, burning oil faster than ever and debilitating the medical system.


In the end, I vote other. We are not concentrating on moving forward. The space program is a skeleton, fusion power gets no funding, we put no emphasis on creative energy in our youth. The status quo will fail someday.

[jimbo]

Voted OTHER:

Freedom. Justice. Honor.

I want a society that is self-regulating, not one regulated by laws. We had it right when the law prohibited little, but church and community scorned divorce, infidelity, illigitemacy, criminal behavior, selfishness, laziness and personal corruption.

Now the Government regulates every facet of your professional, financial and private life while pop-culture allows for every kind of social deviancy imaginable. "Do your own thing. If it feels good do it. I'm only hurting myself" mentality.

I detest the multiculturalism that says a kid raised by 3 Lesbians is no worse off than a kid with a loving Mom and Dad in a stable marriage, with Mom staying home to give full time care and attention. I detest the thought-control of Political Correctness with its zero-tolerance absurdity crying "racism" and "sexism" and "jingoism" for its every critique.

We need to get back to where the Government has no right to dictate our lives but where our families, friends and community play a key role in keeping us upright, straight and narrow.

[zahc]

OK, it's not important, but when cities build public skateparks and them don't let bikers in. (for no logical reason). Hurts because I'm a biker. Then they give huge tickets to little kids for riding their bicycles and getting exercise. Way to give kids respect for the police.:(

[Hkmp5sd]

Term limits would be nice.

We already have term limits. It's called the next election process. The only control we have over politicians is their knowledge they need our vote to keep their job. Remove that and they can do anything they want or anything some group bribes them to do.

[Soap]

Chris and Justin have it dead on.

[Satellite]

I stopped thinking in terms of individual issues a while ago. The political system of this country has become so corrupt that about anything that the feds do could be considered an "issue"

I don't want to talk issues. I want government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I want my freedom back. I don't want my children to live under tyranny masquerading as liberty.

[aikidoka-mks]

I am pro-life as well as pro-gun

Mark

[Safety First]

One of the things I have come to appreciate about this forum is that MOST of the time, when we disagree with anothers perspective it is done with respect,not a personal attack. I appreciate the way Rick responded and I do respect his opinion. We strongly disagree but do so like adults should.. I hope the members here will continue to share honestly and with out condemnation of another just because they disagree with what someone says or because someones knowledge of a subject is less than anothers..After all,many of us come here to learn and enjoy good conversation,so lets try to keep it pleasant even when we are tempted otherwise.. The best way I know to sum it up is simply follow the Golden Rule.....Happy posting/shooting:)

[Bainx]

jimbo...here, here!!

My wife adopts the opposite. When I bring up an issue about the 2nd, she quickly states.."oh, guns I'm not worried about", like there is no threat to our 2nd. Do any of you other guys hear this?
I'm trying to figure out a way to demonstrate to her that without our 2nd, all other rights are merely a suggestion.

[Freedspeak]

Bring it back down to the minimal constitutional level. If the states rights were restored and the feds were limited to the constitution, things should be better.

As a Libertarian my view is pro choice on everything, but you must be willing to accept the consequenses of your actions!

[CZ-75]

I thought about taxes, but I had to go with property rights instead. If the govt. can utilize some kind of forfeiture law to take my property for an ever expanding list of "crimes," I'm going to be doing a whole lot worse than I would with even high taxes. You could say forfeiture and lack of respect for property is the ultimate tax.

Next, of course, are taxes and free speech.