Issues in the 2008 election
It's almost that time, when politicians will start duking it out. We'll see a lot of vague promises, like "If I get elected, I'll improve the American education system." WTF does that supposed to mean? Or "looking out for the average American." Yeah, whatever.
What I'd like to see is someone who considers serious issues. We'll have an energy problem in the future. We're already seeing the beginning of it. What kind of plans do these politicians have? Any real solutions?
Also, what will be done about exporting the middle-class to India and China? I'll tell you right away, I'm hoping Wesley Clark doesn't get nominated. I'd like to give that guy a good right hook to the jaw. When my job got outsourced, he said "we'll let them have those jobs. We'll do other jobs here." So, you want to pay off my student loans for me, asshole? Because apparently, my degree's worth nothing now to you. I hate Wesley Clark.
What about illegal immigration? Will we have a free for all like our current President likes? Apparently, he has no regard for immigration law.
And how about America's future goals? Are we more interested in fixing other countries' problems or will we finally get around to fixing New Orleans? How about a joint manned mission to Mars? JFK promised a manned mission to the moon. Let's go further. Where does the human race go from here?
Energy. I know it's not sexy, but something needs to be done. Our dependence on foreign oil is not a good thing. How about tax incentives for biodiesel? More geothermal? Something. This is not my strong point, but I'd like some ideas thrown around.
We'll also have to do something about the deficit. I'm uncomfortable with a huge deficit. It's kind of like if you're sitting there with a $50,000 credit card bill. Sooner or later, you have to pay it off. Or should we just leave it for our grandchildren to deal with?
Or will we just see bullshit smokescreen issues like gay marriage, and flag burning? Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about those issues.
Three things to watch out for with politicians:
1) vagueness. Vague people cannot lead a nation. I want solutions, not mumbo jumbo crap that could be interpreted a thousand ways.
2) appeals to patriotism. You all know I'm patriotic. The thing is, when politicians talk endlessly about patriotism, it's usually to cover up flaws in other areas.
3) when politicians talk endlessly about how religious they are. That's usually a sign that soon we'll hear from the media that politician cheated on his wife, or has something else to hide.
So, what issues should we be looking for? What should be our big concerns going into 2008?
posted by The Zombieslayer @ 3:29 PM
18 Comments:
Can't wait for the "family values" nonsense to start up.
ACK, I am so not looking forward to this election.
Very nice... Let's see, that's a definite "no" on Wesley Clark, right?
I'm with you on the deficit and illegal immigration, but I'm coming from a gut level "that's just not right" attitude. I love the melting pot ideal, but there has to be respect for the law. And, there's just something cheesy about living beyond your means. I say cut back on the non-performers like education and medicare... get them away from the social engineers and policy wonks -- into the hands of professionals who have a sense of vocation and are committed to quality for the nation's children, elder and poor.
China is a tough nut... I think we and they are beyond the point of no return in our dependence upon one another. Our future with China will take brains... real intellectual horsepower and a plan... a long-term plan.
Come to think of it, we seem to be at a real crossroads here and I don't see anyone rising to the top in either party. This could be frightening if things don't change in the next couple of months, but I can't even think of any dark horses out there.
The Zombie invasion has begun... from the top down!
The only way we will avoid "vague" politicians is to get big business out of our gov't!
The only plank I would add to your platform is health care reform(minus the big business of insurance companies).
i agree on your three points...vagueness, family values and religion....i want to do the monty python shout 'get on with it!' when they start with that and the damned mudslinging.
in addition to the deficit and illegals, i wonder what will be done to repair our foreign relations. we have squandered the good will of he world. this grieves me and i hope we can manage to repair some of the damage while remaining true to our own people without being obnoxious. also not by kissing arse but by regaining the respect we once enjoyed. i don;t think any candididate wil lhave many real answers for this but....it's somethign that weighs on my mind.
Hey, man... all I can say is:
yonderincarp in 2012.
From the looks of it we are gonna get some joker one way or the other this next go 'round. There isn't even an Achilles pouting by the ships.
But I am happy to hear some good ideas for us to accomplish in 2012-2016.
One of the first things I will do is nuke that stupid 'No Child Allowed Ahead'. Six sigma every government organization. Also gas taxes will be fixed at a low rate instead of a percentage. There will be serious incentives for sustainable industrial processes and organic food production. We will build a shiny new wall between the US of A and our neighbors to the south, patrolled by legal immigrants with guns. Also thinking of declaring St. Patrick's Day will be a legal holiday with subsidized Guinness.
Logophile - family values is probably the biggest distraction. I mean, how can you argue against family values? Everyone has family values. Just some families have better values then others.
Bo - Yeah, no on Clark. ;)
the melting pot is great, but we still have to weed out the bad seeds. I'd like to check for terrorists and criminals. I'd rather not have other countries' child molesters. I think our immigration laws are excellent, we just need to enforce them.
And agreed on education. Seems like every year we spend more money and every year the schools get more stupid.
My boss at work is convinced the winner of '08 hasn't thrown in his (or her) hat yet.
Tshsmom - The way to get big business out of the gov't is to limit campaign contributions. Also, Americans are at fault for not voting. Power lost goes into a vacuum and big business sucks this back up. It's really our fault for not using our power.
Lime - That's a tough one. I think diplomacy is President Bush's biggest flaw, which is weird because that was his father's greatest strength. We have managed to alienate a lot of people worldwide. I unfortunately don't have the answers to this problem.
Yonder - Guiness? You got my vote. I'm easy to bribe. Not money, but good beer. Actually, that's all I've drank the past three weeks.
No Child Left Behind caters to the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator), so any child who is smart is bored out of their mind. I hate that plan.
And you already know my thoughts about illegal immigration and those other issues.
Dang, I had no idea you were that young. You're even younger than Dave.
I am no political piggy here.LOL.. I hate politics really but here are my thoughts anyway. I think anyone who cant speak our language just better go home till they can. Or dont come here at all. Its no different if we went over there to live and needed to learn there language. I am not predjudice. I just think that if they want to better themselves they need to learn our language so yes who ever comes into office next needs to really crack down say if you cant or wont do this dont come over. I mean look at the Mexicans that got stuck in the pipe line a few months ago trying to come over here illegally. A lady we go to church with had family members in that pipe line down there in California. Or somewhere in the general area.
Then here in WI my oldest daughter is in Kindergarten and they switch classes like they were in fifth grade. I mean she goes to where all the English speaking kids are for a few hours and the spanish kids stay in one class instead of coming into school knowing how to speak English in the first place. Sorry for such a long rant. LOL.. I just hope we find some one who can get our troops home safely and not make a bigger mess over there than Bush has.
oh yonder, if you are repealing NCLB you've got my vote. can we repeal the patriot act too?
2 things for me:
The environment
Health Care
How about voting on which people to send to the moom!?
Hey Zomb I would e mail you the new place but don't have your e mail!
But you can traceback from this name....;)
errr, I meant 'mooN'
it's been a rough day....
Tweety - You'd think the language thing would be common sense. Let's say I go to India to chase my old job. I know I could get around by speaking English, but would it be in my best interest? Don't you think I'd fit in better if I learned the language?
I think not forcing everyone to speak one language actually hurts the country. You have people, people who could have been friends, who can't communicate with each other. It's just common sense. One nation, one language.
I definitely agree with you there.
Lime - The Patriot Act is the first thing I'd repeal. Of course, I have too many skeletons in the closet to be anything more than a Congressman. I was just sayin'...
The NCLB needs to go away. Teachers hate it. But the thing that drives me nuts about it is now kids are learning only to pass that stupid test. Gone are cool classes like shop, art, music, etc., things that actually make a child interesting.
And I like what Yonder said - no child allowed ahead. Any kid with any imagination will be bored out of his or her mind.
Joe - I have no opinion of health care yet, but the environment is one of my biggest issues. The Libertarians and Republicans are both guilty of neglecting this issue, losing a lot of votes. There are a lot of people like me that are fiscally conservative and love guns, but are big time environmentalists. Our current President's policy towards the environment leaves much to be desired.
Bridget - I had an old post about celebrities we'd like to see devoured by zombies. Close enough?
I posted my email to your blog.
Its ridiculous and I just hate it sometimes because K my oldest will come home and ask if I know what somethign means and I have no idea so our new rule since she started school is, if you dont know the translation of the word yourself, dont say it. Since then she hasnt said to many more spanish words. I just dont want her walking around calling some one bad names by accident. But I really think Bush or who ever comes into Presidency this time around should really crack down on that. Now our enviroment is a big issue also. Its amazing how much you dont think of when your not awake fully.LOL...
I'm not sure there is a solution to exportation of jobs, and maybe that is just the world in transition as during the industrial revolution. I'm sure a great many factory workers felt as you do about machines replacing their services.
Still, I would like to see some kind of incentive that would make our country a great place to do business. But like you, I'm no expert. I sure would like to hear some talk about it though.
Energy is my biggest issue.
There was a big discussion about illegal immigrants and non-profits providing them social services at one of my grant trainings recently. Being a border state it can effect a lot of funding for non-profits if they say they do serve undocumented people. It would be nice if politicians would be more up front about the important issues.
Two huge issues for me are medical coverage (it's getting worse and worse) and the state of public education - not just K-12, but college as well. Both make me sick as far as what I see day-to-day.
I would like to clarify something. I know people have no confidence left in public schools. However, not all public schools are bad, but they are poorly managed. I will agree to that. Something is wrong with a system that is using general ed $ to fund special education. Our population of students has changed and our way of doing things don't reflect the change in demographics. Let's not condemn the whole system, though.
Tweety - The environment has always been one of my top issues. See my new post.
Scott - I remember you mentioning energy. For outsourcing, I'd simply tax it. You outsource jobs, you lose tax revenue. People tend to spend locally. I think I did a post on that before.
Myutopia - That's why I usually end up voting 3rd party. They're more likely to talk about issues than being vague.
Notta - I neither have the answers for public schools nor health care. I do think if we take the politics out of public schools, they'd have a better shot. I'd get rid of that No Child Left Behind, and get more variety of classes. Bring back shop, music, art, etc., things that make a kid interesting. And force kids to learn English. Get rid of ESL entirely. The only ones who shouldn't be forced to speak English are the Native Americans. No one else gets a free pass.
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