From where i stand

My Views on Politics

Politics

My political views are very much the same as the Democratic party’s platform this year.

TAXES. I advocate for lower taxes on middle income, higher on upper-income, and substantial higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

WELFARE. I support increased assistance for the poor and children, including welfare, food stamps and school programs. Along with this, though, should be mechanisms to prevent fraud. I was a welfare/food stamp caseworker and know how the system needs reform but also how it does help a lot of people.

CLIMATE CHANGE. The environment is naturally something we should all care about. Evangelicals and other protestants have an other-worldly view where they think heaven matters and not the earth because it’s somehow corrupt or evil. It’s stupid thinking. Our planet is a beautiful place and should be treated with care and respect.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS Women should never be told what to do with their own body. Abortion should be legal and safe when necessary. Women deserve exceptional care when they’re suffering with a non-viable pregnancy. No woman should ever fear for their lives from a government wanting to regulate them. Along with this I support IVF and birth control.

LAW ENFORCEMENT Police departments should be supported as it is needed. Officers need to be thoroughly vetted, however, and directed to keep the peace and protect citizens rather than being used as political weapons. Stronger gun safety laws need to be in place. Bump stocks and AR15s should be banned or restricted to professionals with permits.

COURTS. The Congress should find ways to limit the political activities of the Supreme Court and all other courts. Mechanisms need to be created to deal with spurious and blatantly political decisions. The Supreme Court should be increased in number and terms limited.

DRUG ABUSE. The so-called “war on drugs” was a joke. So are most of the programs used in schools. More effort should be made to stop the distribution of drugs while at the same time efforts to deal with the poverty and other conditions that lead to drug use. Marijuana should be legal.

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. Citizens should be allowed to have whatever kind of family they wish. LGBTQ rights should be safeguarded. I am opposed, however, to surgical or other permanent procedures for minors, with our without parental permission.

CHILD ABUSE. Having been a foster parent I know too well what abuse does to children. They are scarred for life. Often they are destroyed. Abusers should be prosecuted and given sentences that fit the crime. Much, much more should be done to help children in affluent homes get help when they are abused. The poor are easy to deal with. Wealthy families have lawyers who make it impossible for agencies to intervene. This is a situation that must be dealt with.

GENERAL POSITIONS. I consider myself a basic progressive with a liberal-leaning point of view. I am not a Democrat though I generally support their platform. I am a cynic and skeptic and have a bit higher hopes than I do expectations about what government will accomplish though my hopes are not extremely high either.

CONCLUSIONS. People often say, “all politics is corrupt.” This is entirely not true. Politicians may be corrupt, many of them are, but the system itself is not corrupt. The view the system is corrupt, however, does tend to increase its corruptness because “good people are not politicians” so, therefore, good people do not try. The door is left open for the corrupt to get a hand up. If our government is ever to be what it should be then the cynical attitudes must be eliminated and participation encouraged.