Iowa Caucus

Well I've put off posting about the Iowa Caucus for several days now mostly because I've been busy and also because I have yet to find a forum that I can discuss politics without getting frustrated. It seems to me that most people that want to discuss politics have a hard-line party affiliation and will defend their party's candidates with almost blind loyalty. For the life of me, I cannot figure this out. For the longest time (and still partially now) I felt like this was due to my naivety to the ways of the world. Maybe when I get a house, a family, and start paying more taxes, I'll see why I should favor party A over party B. This has yet to happen and I don't know if it ever will - I don't think I'll ever base my political decisions on my bottom line.

I am very much an idealist who focuses on the issues that are important to me and votes for the candidate whose positions match the closest with mine. I am not silly enough to believe that the candidate will follow through on their campaign claims 100% ("Read my lips, no new taxes") but for me this is the only criterion that I have to base my decision on and I have to at least trust that they will be earnest in following through on their campaign promises provided they are feasible. I don't think any political party matches with my beliefs closely enough to say, I'm a Democrat, I'm a Republican, I'm a Libertarian, ...

That being said, here are some issues that are important to me in '08. They are in no particular order, and I have labored hard about whether or not to write about these issues as I'm sure that every person that reads my blog will have at least one contradictory viewpoint to mine. But your all stuck with me through birthright or law and forced to love me so I mine as well be honest.

The first issue I'll comment on is immigration. Again, I'm an idealist and I cannot look past the history of this country and the part that immigration has played in it. I'm in favor of providing a means for illegal immigrants to become citizens but am concerned about seemingly rewarding illegal aliens for breaking the law and also effectively jumping in line ahead of people that are trying to enter the country legally. I like the Senate's plan of allowing the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants living in the country now to qualify for citizenship eventually after learning to speak English, paying a fine, paying any back taxes, holding a job, and passing a background check. I do not equate this to amnesty, contrary to some people's opinion. They have also proposed greatly increasing the number of green cards issued this year to get through the huge back log of people that are waiting to immigrate legally, such as the number of Filipino immigrants that have gotten press.

I am opposed to strengthening border security, I feel like this is a just putting a band aid on the real problems. I would instead rather focus on why it is so attractive to enter this country illegally and work on those issues. One of these issues is the plethora of businesses that hire illegal immigrants. I think businesses that cannot provide documentation for workers should be heavily fined and perhaps have their licenses revoked for repeat offenders. This is where the guest worker portion of the McCain-Kennedy Bill would come into play. Through a guest worker program foreign workers would be matched with US businesses through a database and could be hired once the companies provided proof that they could not hire American workers to do the job.

The next issue is gay marriage. I am a big supporter of gay rights and think gays should be afforded all the rights of other citizens. I think the main argument against gay marriage is predicated on religion and I think religion has no place in politics or governance. In a democracy you have to be objective rather than subjective and if you want to ban something based on your religious beliefs, then you want to live in a theocracy.

I think in 50 years when our grandchildren look back on the gay rights movement it will be similar to how we look back on the civil rights movement and suffrage. When the history books are written which side would you like to say you were on?

Another issue is abortion. Historically I have flip-flopped on this issue, but eventually you have to pick a side. I simply cannot imagine forcing a woman who has been impregnated through rape to carry the child, so I am pro-choice.

I'm for the death penalty. I think some crimes are so heinous that the perpetrator deserves to die. I know this is vengeful and I have flip-flopped with this issue for several years, but this is just where I am with this now. I also think it serves as a deterrent to other criminals.

Gun control is a minor issue for me, so I don't know a lot about it. I like the idea of the Brady Bill, I think anyone who wants to own a firearm can wait a few days and not be opposed to having their background checked. I think people should be able to purchase and own automatic weapons.

Wow, I'm remembering the other reason I stay out of political discussions, they are tiring! So enough about my views for now. As a gear up to the election season I urge you all to visit Smart Select.com. You can answer a series of questions and it will attempt to tell you which candidate's views on the issues most closely match yours. This will at least get you thinking about the issues and give you a warm up for what things to listen for during the upcoming debates.

OK, now for some issues that aren't on the radar but are also important to me.

I'd like to see the eradication of the non-existent adjective "funner" from the national lexicon. Violators will be forced to attend English classes with the illegal immigrants attempting to gain citizenship.

I'd like to see a candidate address businessmen cellphone dicks at the airport. You know, the self important A-holes sauntering around the gate having superfluous quasi-business related conversations at full volume just so everyone around them can have the knowledge that they're big important business men on a big important business trips. You know, the ones that still get annoyed at airport security despite the gold member card on their carry-on indicating they fly a lot and should be used to it. You know the ones that roll their eyes and get impatient with having to deal with families on a Saturday flight as if it were a 7:00 AM Monday morning flight that is 95% business travelers.

I'd like to see the number of adjectives used to describe a new station's meteorological department limited to two. And now to Amanda Huggankiss on the High Definition Super Digital Doppler in the Channel 11 Severe Storm Weather Center.

I'd like to see MasterCard be forced to retire the "Priceless" add campaign. It's been 10 years, I've received 100+ dumb forwards based on this theme, it's enough already.

Yikes, Jack's getting hungry. Go Giants! Best out.