Facebook Presidential Candidate Guide

This is from a facebook posting.

My response:

• Gay marriage - if you are against it then don't marry someone of the same sex. 
• Increase Gun control - are you part of a "well regulated militia"? 
• Increase Border - ever hear of work visas? Oh, that's right, then you would have to pay higher wages.
• Common Core - good luck to students transferring schools and meeting minimum standards.
• Support Obama Care - this was actually the Republican plan (Massachusetts, under Romney). This is putting insurance companies between you and your doctor, and is costing people big time with deductibles and co-pays and coverage limits and gaps. What good is insurance with a 40% co-pay after the deductible? Most other western nations have essentially free health care and lower costs. 
• Drug Test Welfare - anyone accepting government money, including congressmen. In states that have testing requirements, welfare recipients test positive for drugs at a much lower rate than the average population. 
• Felon Right to Vote - Didn't you already pay your dues? And why complicate voting? If you are not in prison, you should be able to vote. (Shouldn't that be ex-felon?) 
• Global Warm Regul. - Nah, let's deny climate change and cite the one (debunked) study that disproved global warming. Anyone want an iceberg? We're having a fire sale. 
• Space Travel Budget - Oh, we can't afford that. Deficits are way too high. Why? Because revenues keep going down. Corporate taxes are a fraction of what they used to be, with the big corporations paying the least (especially if you have your corporate address in another country). Capital gains, which is when your money makes money, is taxed much less than when humans make money. (Rich people's money is so much more important than workers' income from labor.)
• Military Budget - We spend more than the next 20 nations combined on our military. (Hardly any of that for personnel - ask all the military people on food stamps.) And do we have to have 900 military bases in foreign countries? 

And do you want to know where American jobs went? Overseas, with cheap labor and no standards for imported goods (which US companies must comply with). Free trade. Shouldn't that have been fair trade? And remember, US companies must provide health insurance for employees if they have more than 50 workers, unlike foreign companies whose employees have health care through their government (or none at all).

Social Security - those paper I.O.U.s? They're called Treasury Bonds. Yes, Social Security is broke with only 2.8 Trillion in the Trust Fund. After 2034, Social Security will only be able to pay out 79% of benefits owed. Let's raise the retirement age and cut benefits! We should start to see results from that in 2034. Or we could raise or remove the cap after which income is not subject to payroll taxes. Currently the cap is $118,500, which means that all income above that is not subjected to payroll taxes. Millionaires pay a much lower payroll tax percentage than most people. Social Security has its own revenue stream (payroll taxes) and should not (by law) be counted as part of Federal revenue or costs. If Social Security has deficits, it only means that money must be taken from the Trust Fund; it has absolutely nothing to do with the regular Federal budget or its deficits. And why should SocSec be privatized? So that the financial sector can make lots of money with administrative costs. Instead of a 2% overhead, think 20%. Also, think embezzlement, bankruptcies, stock market crashes, etc. that are hazards with privatization. How many people lost their retirement money in 2008?

2008 Recession. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated risky trading and investment from traditional banking activities like business lending and consumer finance. When the repeal was passed in 1999, lots of people said to expect a financial crisis in 10 years. They were wrong. It was only 9 years. The repeal was part of the "less regulation" philosophy of the radical conservatives.

I used to think Republicans were the fiscally responsible party. But now they decimate revenues (part of "shrink the federal government and then drown it in a bathtub" ideology) and then claim there is no money for social programs. Social Liberal and Fiscal Conservative? Then you are definitely not a Republican.

I am a Progressive Democrat, and the above are some of the reasons. Do you really think you are a Republican? Then read each party's platform and tell me again what you are.