Hey Fatman, tell me about you. Where are you at in terms of politics?
You mean in terms of my political beliefs? To put it simply, I'm fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I prefer a near isolationist foreign policy but am not unaware of the importance of diplomacy, war, and detente with ideological enemies. The Presidents that I most admired in the past century were Eisenhower and Nixon.
Fiscally conservative
Balance the budget. We can't run on credit forever, and spending like drunken sailors is only speeding our car toward the bridge abutment. Running a government on borrowed money is like running your household finances on payday loans. Pare the bureaucracy to a manageable size. There is something to the quote "The Bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy". We don't need a special committee, council, or agency for every political whimsy that pops up. We should demand and expect efficiency from our elected officals.
Socially Liberal
I support gay marriage/civil unions/domestic partnerships. Though I disagree with abortion personally, and have minimal reservations as to limiting that "right", I am not of the mind that it should be banned in totality. I believe that if you give the government an inch on anything, it will consider it a mandate to take a mile. Thus I am not in favor of the government spreading its influence onto matters it was not originally intended for, such as UHC, gun control, medical (or recreational) marijuana.
Presidents
Eisenhower kept the Russians at bay. Ended Korea. Presided over an era of prosperity and peace, and the beginning of federal enforcement of civil rights. Faced down McCarthy and his hysterics. Nixon took over the country in its most turbulent hour since the Civil War. Ended the Viet Nam conflict. Established OSHA and the EPA. Opened the door to China. Entered into detente, which in my opinion, had more to do with the eventual collapse of the Eastern Block that Reagan. Glasnost had its roots in detente.
