Politics

Days till 18th birthday:777
So at my school we have 4 periods in a day, my 1st period class is civics, last week we went over the views of the democratic and republican parties. Back when I had honors civics with Mrs.Tripken, she had us find out what political party we belong to. We were supposed to read about thier views on different issues and pick which group we agreed with the most. I went home and looked up the stuff but I got bored and just decided to take a quiz to see which political party I belonged to instead :P. The quiz said I was democratic and so I just went with that, but now that I really know the views of the democrats I can say with full confidence that I am democratic. For those of you who don't know which political party you belong to, I hope this helps:

Abortion:
Democrats: it's a womans right and should be legal
Republicans: should be illegal and restricted by government.
Me (that's not a political party) yes I know, but I just wanted to voice my opinion. I don't completely feel the way the democrats do on some issues anyways: This is the only view where I agree more with the republicans. Unless the woman was raped, I think the woman should have the baby. If you don't want to have a baby you shouldn't have sex, or you should atleast use as much protection as possible. For some girls abortion is just another form of birth control. I just think it's wrong and if you were stupid enough to have sex before you were completely ready than you should have to deal with the consequences, what ever they maybe. Sex is meant to be special and you shouldn't have it unless you don't mind having a babyand you shouldn't have a baby unless you can handle the responsibility and you truely love the father/mother and you plan on spend the rest of your life with him/her. Its not fair to the child to make them go through the stress of living with divorced or a single parent.

Flag burning:
Democrats:it is a political speech and is protected by the constitution.
Republicans: flag should be protected from burning by a constitutional amendment.
Me: I don't really care that much about flag burning. It is symbolic of your anger with the government, but can also be seen as a threat to the governemnt. I can understand both sides of this arguement.

Gun control:
Democrats: Favor gun control/ It is needed
Republicans: Oppose gun control/ It's unconstitutional
Me: Guns and knifes aren't absolutely needed to defend yourself. Yes it does help, but I think the world would be alot safer I only people working for the law had access to guns.

Environment:
Democtrats: strong regulations are needed to protect the environment.
Republican: stong environmental laws harm the economy.
Me: I'm all for saving the environment and I think if the government made everyone change a few small things the economy would improve as well as the environment. Seriouslly guys it's not that hard to make a difference.

Race relations:
Democrats: Strong anti-discrimination laws are needed. Favor affirmative action.
Republicans: People and businesses can be trusted not to discriminate. Many oppose affirmative action.
Me: It'd be nice if we could trust everyone, but you know in reality that many businesses do discriminate.

Minimum Wage:
Democrats: Favor/ increase the minimum wage to help workers
Republicans: Oppose/ do not raise it because it hurts businesses.
Me: I guess for some cimpanies it could hurt them, but there are some big businesses that are making way to much money. If minimum wage was increased, the lives of many would probably improve.

Healthcare:
Democtrats: Government should require universal access to healthcare.
Republicans: Private insurers are preferable to a government controlled system.
Me: If healthcare was required and was made more affordable, we wouldn't have to waste money treating conditions that would have been much cheaper and easier to treat if it was caught ealier, but wasn't because the person didn't or couldn't afford to have healthcare.

Taxes:
Democrats: raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for public programs.
Republican: cutting taxes for everyone helps the economy.
Me: I think the wealthy should have taxes increase since they have more money to spend on useless stuff. If we did this the government would have more money to spend on public programs to improve them and help everyone.

Military:
Democtrats: Cut military spending, expand veterans benefits; act in concert with other nations and/or with support from NATO and the UN.
Republican: Increase military spending; cut veterans benefits; don't be constrained by other nations or by NATO and the UN.
Me: I don't know much about this issue, but from what I do know I can say I agree with the democrats.

Death Penalty:
Democrats: Oppose/ It's not a deterrent and innocent people are in jeopardy.
Republicans: Favor/ The death penalty is necessary and effective.
Me: I don't think the death penalty works. Some people don't care if they live or die so the death penalty doesn't mean anything to them. Instead of killing the people on death row when thier day comes they should be sent to a labortory to have things tested on them, instead of innocent animals. And you base how harsh the test are on how much undeniable evidence you have on that person and what the crime was. Then the innocent people can still be released if found not guilty and the test results will be much more accurate.

Prayer in School:
Democrats: Oppose/ Violation of the seperation between church and state.
Republicans: Favor/ it is a religious right and our christian heritage.
Me: Not everyone is christian and it would be a waste of time to take time out of class to pray, unless its a religion class.

Gay rights:
Democrats: Favor/ Gays rights and marriage are civil rights.
Republicans: Oppose/ Marriage is a sacred trust between a man and a woman.
Me: You already know how I feel about this from my Religion? blog.

War in Iraq:
Democrats: favored at 1st but now criticize president Bush for messing it up. Want to get more countries support and want a defined exit strategy.
Republicans: President Bush stated 8-21-06 that the U.S. will not leave Iraq until the job is done. Admits to mistakes in Iraq and says it will be a tough fight. They hope Iraq's new government and people will eventually be stable enough in several years for U.S.s withdrawal.
Me: OK so I don't know much about this issue either, but it does feel like its gone on long enough. We need to leave but we shouldn't do it so soon that Iraq goes back to the way it was.

Finished! sorry this blog was probablly a bit boring, but more people need to learn about the government before criticizing it. All this stuff comes from note I took in my civics class. If I messed up on something please tell so I can fix, I don't want to look like an ignorant jerk. So... yea tell me your opinions and I'll talk to you later.