What makes people vote Republican?
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From: Holyoke, MA
im registered independent. i like ideas of both parties. i have democratic ideas and republican ones. being in mass it doesnt matter how i vote cause there are a bunch of liberal sissies here.
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From: New York
it baffles me that for some reason, if you are conservative/republican, liberals/democracts think there must be something wrong with you :dunno:
so why am i a republican? lets see:
- tax dollars going towards perpetually abused welfare systems that the democrats refuse to reform
- the idea that successful people are responsible to hold the rest of the nation up, rather than get rewarded for their hard work doesn't really fly with me. (perfect example... my 80k in student loans but still my tax dollars contribute to the free education of those that are considered 'less fortunate' i say give them the same loans i have since they will be qualified for the same jobs... for the same pay)
- the idea that basic constitutional rights are considered outdated is complete bs (and you all know which amendment really comes to mind)
- the idea that repeat violent criminals should be reformed and returned to our communities is absolutely absurd. fry 'em.
- the idea that its okay to let above mentioned criminals re-enter society and that corporal punishment is deplorable whereas, terminating a pregnancy is 'a womans choice' doesnt really work with me.
- the idea that people aren't smart enough or well enough suited to make responsible decisions for themselves so we need a goverment to do it for us is one step toward a complete lack of rights.
- for some reason, the money that i am contributing to social security is completely beyond my control. why can't i privatize at least a portion of that contribution? i understand that i am here to pay for the people who are retired right now but if we allowed people to save toward their own retirement at the same time, we wouldnt need a battered social security system to take care of our future retirees.
this is just a short list. i guess if that makes me close minded, ignorant, or whatever else, so be it.
so why am i a republican? lets see:
- tax dollars going towards perpetually abused welfare systems that the democrats refuse to reform
- the idea that successful people are responsible to hold the rest of the nation up, rather than get rewarded for their hard work doesn't really fly with me. (perfect example... my 80k in student loans but still my tax dollars contribute to the free education of those that are considered 'less fortunate' i say give them the same loans i have since they will be qualified for the same jobs... for the same pay)
- the idea that basic constitutional rights are considered outdated is complete bs (and you all know which amendment really comes to mind)
- the idea that repeat violent criminals should be reformed and returned to our communities is absolutely absurd. fry 'em.
- the idea that its okay to let above mentioned criminals re-enter society and that corporal punishment is deplorable whereas, terminating a pregnancy is 'a womans choice' doesnt really work with me.
- the idea that people aren't smart enough or well enough suited to make responsible decisions for themselves so we need a goverment to do it for us is one step toward a complete lack of rights.
- for some reason, the money that i am contributing to social security is completely beyond my control. why can't i privatize at least a portion of that contribution? i understand that i am here to pay for the people who are retired right now but if we allowed people to save toward their own retirement at the same time, we wouldnt need a battered social security system to take care of our future retirees.
this is just a short list. i guess if that makes me close minded, ignorant, or whatever else, so be it.
I don't assume something is wrong with you or any other Republican. The original question was about understanding choices and preferences and not condemning them.
The fact is, if the Republicans were still the party of Dwight Eisenhower, I'd vote GOP every time. But that isn't the case.
I'm in grad school right now finishing up my MBA and taking a business ethics course. The professor seems to have a generally anti-regulation position, as do most of my professors, and when he addresses the class he talks to us as "future leaders" and says that, should be eventually become powerful leaders of business and industry, we must accept that we are responsible to a greater degree. To be a member of the elite is to be responsible for more than just yourself.
(And by the way, whats wrong with being elite? Isn't excellence a good thing? Don't we all aspire to go to Yale, as did President Bush?)
Particularly over the last two weeks, I think its clear that we should hold responsible people whose actions and choices have great impact on the lives of a great many people. The people who crashed Lehman, Freddie Mae, Fannie Mac, and AIG into the ground don't deserve golden parachutes for their hard work. They did a shitty job. If you accidentally burn down the McDonalds because you suck at working the fryolator, they don't give you a severence package, do they? (I'm not implying that you work at McDonald's; just trying to make a point.)
(On a related note: the current financial catastrophes can be attributed in part to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, signed into law by Bill Clinton. Lest you think I'm just throwing mud at George Bush.)
You can criticize the Democratic party for all of the things you think they're trying to do to ruin your life, but remember that it was a Republican majority in Congress and a Republican in the oval office for a solid six of the last eight years. Thats the government that gave us the PATRIOT Act and implemented the unitary executive. Thats the government that redefined torture so as to exclude from the definition the treatment of John McCain during his stay in Hanoi.
Honestly, has the Republican Party really served your interests as outlined above? Are they accomplishing any of the things they promise you?
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From: New York
on the domestic spying front, they only tapped suspected terrorists. i dont see why anybody is trying to protect them???? foreign prisons are in place to handle prisoners of war. these people were caught plotting against the US and/or commiting acts of violence toward the US. They are lucky to be alive, much less 'awaiting trial' those people didnt give the innocent people in the towers a chance to get out alive, neither would they have given the chance to anybody else in their thwarted terror plots. the fact that they were granted that blessing should overshadow guantanamo.
Bruce Schneier wrote about this issue a couple of years ago. Here's an excerpt:
Too many wrongly characterize the debate as "security versus privacy." The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that's why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide.
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive...lue_of_pr.html