Where I Stand

Rather than write an editorial this week, I decided to state my position on a lot of the major issues of the day along with a brief explanation so people can see where at least one Conservative stands on the issues.

For
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ANWR:: A huge source of oil on American soil that’s in the middle of nowhere. Drill it, faster please.

Balanced Budget:: We should not be running a deficit — ever. If we raise spending then revenue should go up or we should cut other programs.

Constitutional Amendment Against Flag Burning:: Making burning the flag in protest illegal sends the right message about respecting our country.

Cloning Ban:: While I support a worldwide cloning ban, because cloning will eventually raise too many moral questions as it becomes more advanced, I don’t believe a “ban” will actually work.

Death Penalty:: While I’m for the death penalty, we need to cut down on the number of appeals so we can carry out these sentences in a more timely manner.

Euthanasia:: This is a tough call for me, but I think people who are terminally ill or are in excessive long-term pain should be allowed to die with dignity.

Flat Tax or Value Added Tax:: Either would be a massive improvement over our current system and would spur economic growth.

Loser Pays Lawsuits:: If you launch frivolous lawsuits you should have to pay part of the bill if you lose.

Making The Bush Tax Cuts Permanent:: We should have done this in the first place, but I suppose we took what we could get.

Medical Savings Accounts:: Giving consumers control over a portion of their health care will will cut costs across the board.

Military Tribunals: This is how Zacarias Moussaoui should have been tried from day 1.

Nuclear Missile Defense Shield:: The sooner we’re prepared to stop missiles launched at us by rogue states (and one day by China), the better.

Nuclear Power Plants:: We need to build more nuclear power plants in order to meet our nation’s power needs.

Palestinian State:: I support a two-state solution as long as the Palestinian state is a Democracy and they accept Israel’s right to exist. If the Palestinians refuse to accept those conditions then I support transferring the Palestinians into the surrounding states.

Pledge Of Allegiance:: The phrase “under God” in the Pledge does not violate the First Amendment. Furthermore, I think all children in public schools should say the Pledge to start their day so they’ll be reminded of their duty to their country.

Posse Comitatus:: I do not believe the military should be used for law enforcement. However, I do not believe putting troops on the border runs up against Posse Comitatus.

Presenting ID When Voting:: In order to cut down on fraud, we need to make sure that all voters present a photo ID when they vote.

Putting Troops On The Border:: We’re at war and we need to make sure our borders are secure.

School Vouchers:: Introducing competition into our school system can only improve it.

Social Security Individual Investment Accounts:: Not only is this a good idea that will help the economy, it is the ONLY chance we have to avoid either large cuts in benefits or raising the age requirement significantly within the next two decades.

Space Based Weapons:: This is where the next generation of weaponry is going to be and the US needs to lead the pack.

Stricter Control Of Legal Immigration:: We need to cut down the number of legal immigrants we’re allowing into the significantly, perhaps into the 250k-400k range from the 700k-900k range. We also need better screening as evidenced by the fact that a Hizbollah terrorist just received US citizenship.

Term Limits:: 12 years for the Senate, 8 years for House. Government shouldn’t be a lifetime job.

Three-Strikes Laws:: Keeping career criminals off the streets permanently keeps the crime rate down.

Tort Reform:: We desperately need to reduce the number of lawsuits in America.

War On Terrorism:: I’m in favor on wiping out the terrorists of global reach and the regimes that continue to support them by any means necessary to get the job done.

Welfare Reform:: Considering how well the last round went, I’d say another round of welfare reform is a great idea.

Against
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Affirmative Action:: Pure and simple racial discrimination.

Ballistic Fingerprinting:: Useless as a law enforcement tool. This is only a backdoor method to register guns.

Baseline Budget:: This guarantees a growing Federal budget. There is no way the baseline budget should be set higher than the inflation rate.

Family Consent For Organ Donation:: Currently, even if you choose to be an organ donor, permission must be gotten from your family after your death in order to take your organs. That helps keep the number of organs needed for transplant in chronic short supply.

Department Of Homeland Security:: Making government bigger and more bureaucratic is almost always leads to less efficiency and higher costs. Instead, we should try to improve each department individually.

Gay Marriage:: Marriage is by definition a religious ceremony between a man and a woman so I don’t think gays should be able to get married. However, I would support “partner” benefits that allows gays to receive the legal benefits we’ve attached to marriage without going through the ceremony.

Gun Control:: I’m against any new law that limits the access of law abiding Americans to guns.

Illegal Immigration:: We need to do everything in our power to remove the people from our country who are not here legally.

International Criminal Court:: No one should sit in judgement of American ‘war crimes’ except other Americans

Internet Sales Tax:: This is a bad idea right now and will stunt the growth of the net.

Kyoto Protocol:: An incredibly expensive and yet largely ineffective solution to a dubious problem.

Legalizing Drugs:: We have enough problems with alcohol and cigarettes in this country as it is. Making Marijuana (if not other drugs) cheaper, safer, easier to obtain, and legal will cause usage to skyrocket. That’s bad for the country.

Medicinal Marijuana:: I have yet to see any evidence that has convinced me that marijuana is the only, or even the most effective treatment for any illness.

Minimum Wage Hike:: Paying people more than they’re worth will cause more businesses to shut down and less people to be hired that otherwise would be. There is no free lunch.

Price Controls On Energy:: Whenever you try California style price controls on energy you inevitably end up with shortages and price increases down the road.

Racial Profiling:: I view this as a 4th amendment violation.

Raising CAFE Standards:: Americans shouldn’t be forced to drive souped up golf carts because a bunch of left-wing bureaucrats want to pander to the environmentalists in their base. Higher CAFE standards means smaller cars than many Americans want and more deaths on the highway.

Reparations:: This is a matter that would be settled between the people who owned slaves and the slaves who were victimized — if they were alive.

Roe Vs. Wade:: Bad constitutional law. I’d like to see it overturned so abortion could be voted up or down on a state by state basis.

Socialized Medicine:: It’ll only lead to greater costs, poorer service, and longer wait times.

Steel Tariffs:: One of the worst decisions of Bush’s presidency. Long term, protectionism just makes homegrown businesses unable to compete.

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