[legalboxerbriefs]

I've been told multiple times by my (crazy) libertarian roommate that I'm "extremely" conservative. I go to services every week, and on a lot of personal issues I guess I'm fairly conservative. But anyway, here are my political beliefs:

Abortion: States should each decide, but no second or third trimester abortion (life starts at twelve weeks). Personally I am against it, but would not encourage the government to totally ban abortion. No state funding.

Affirmative Action: no race-based affirmative action. Socioeconomic affirmative action only.

Church and State: Separation, for the most part. No government policy dictated by religion. However, keep “under G-d” in Pledge of Allegiance; “in G-d we trust” on money, etc.

Education: Remove funding power from local government and place it fully in the hands of the state governments. Repeal No Child Left Behind. Leave actual educational policy in the hands of school boards.

Elections: co-ordinate elections so that they occur at the same time, for the most part. For example, have mayoral, school board, and gubernatorial elections at the same time (as term lengths will permit), as to maximize turnout. Make Election Day a federal holiday.

Foreign Policy: Non-interventionist policy, generally. Use economic sanctions to promote human rights. Shut down most foreign military bases.

Gun Control: gun control is fundamentally classist. Though the wealthy might be able to navigate its way around the intricate gun laws and/or hire security, the poor have neither the time nor the education to do so. Have basic gun regulations to promote safety and require shooting and safety lessons before operation, as with cars.

Immigration: Beef up border security, but allow more people in legally.

Iraq: didn’t like the fact that we intervened in the first place, but now that we’re there we can’t just pack up and leave. This would only further destabilize the region.

Welfare/Social Security/Government Assistance: Welfare to work is good – prevents people from becoming dependent or lazy. However, we must strengthen government assistance programs, especially disability. Federal government should re-establish programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the WPA.

Capital Punishment: Morally and legally opposed to it. Evidence point to the fact that it is exceeding painful; it violates due process (no amount of due process can justify the taking of life); the state has no right to take human life.

Censorship: Only the censorship of obscenity (for my definition, see the Supreme Court’s definition) is acceptable.

Cuba/Iran: Foreign policy isn’t my thing. I don’t care that much.

Energy: Secure emergency oil deposits and engage in offshore drilling, while at the same time providing massive federal funding for research on alternative fuels.

Flag Burning: See censorship – no ban.

Gay Rights: Same-sex marriage will reduce promiscuity and the spread of disease; same-sex adoption will reduce the number of unadopted children – in favor of both.

Healthcare: universal single-payer healthcare. Allow for the competition of private companies, however.

Marijuana/Drugs: No legalization. No lowering of the drinking age. Raise smoking and drinking age to 22. However, focus on punishing the "supply" end of the "supply and demand" -- fines only for possession of small amounts.

Minimum Wage: mandate a living wage. Provide for automatic mechanism which raises it every two years to adjust for inflation.

School Prayer: Allow for a moment of silence. No teacher-led prayer; no spoken prayer; no prayer at football or sports games. Allow students to be excused from class for religious reasons (including needing to pray).

Taxes: Strong progressive tax. Raise taxes on the richest ten percent to fund social programs.

[Wolfman]

You sound somewhere between a NeoCon and a progressive. I wouldn't call you 'extremely' anything, other then complicated. That said, I personnaly find it bad for my health to take basicly anything a Libertarian says seriously. A few points I'd like to discuss though

Energy: Secure emergency oil deposits and engage in offshore drilling, while at the same time providing massive federal funding for research on alternative fuels

There's little real reason to do this. There are already 3 major (and realistic) alternatives to gas/deisel that are used in a variety of places. Namely Ethanol, Biodeisel (ie, vegitable oil), and Natural Gas. Most existing vechicles can be converted into Ethanol powered with a converstion kit (most vechicles cann't stand the higher heat, causing some parts to fail sooner, but this can be dealt with by replacing them with stronger versions). The only other use of oil (as oil) is a small number of plants (like 1% of our energy used is from oil plants). The energy from natural gas can be replaced with more solar/wind turbines.

School Prayer: Allow for a moment of silence. No teacher-led prayer; no spoken prayer; no prayer at football or sports games. Allow students to be excused from class for religious reasons (including needing to pray).

The first part contradicts Seperation of Church and State.

[legalboxerbriefs]

The first part contradicts Seperation of Church and State.

Not necessarily. I went to a private high school where we had frequent moments of silence. Even though, at the time, I wasn't religious, I still found them remarkably reassuring -- not because it gave me time to pray (obviously), but rather because it gave me a time to pause and reflect on my life.

[Wolfman]

The reason there is no moment of silence in public schools is because the majority realise that the major proponents of such a policy happen to be the same groups the advocate praying in school. There are somethings where compromise is idiotic.

[Dr House]

Wolfman got it about right. Personally my objections to your policies are pretty mild for the most part, but I find your position on drugs and alcohol to be unreasonably and excessively harsh (keep in mind I don't advocate complete legalization either).

[PBVBROOK]

You sound to me like a classic old-school liberal. I think you have your head in a pretty good place. Why not call yourself an independent? progressive would be a better label though.

[legalboxerbriefs]

You sound to me like a classic old-school liberal. I think you have your head in a pretty good place. Why not call yourself an independent? progressive would be a better label though.

I've wound up labeling myself as a "religious progressive". Honestly, if same-sex marriage weren't an issue, I'd probably consider myself a socially conservative economic progressive.