-Gay Rights
Here's one that's a hefty topic to talk about. Especially being a conservative and a Catholic, my view may surprise many of you. Personally I do not agree with homosexuality or support it, but at the same time my faith tells me to respect and love all, to treat every one equally, and to leave judgement up to God. So I have a hard time living a double standard where we as a society accept homosexuality and let them live openly, but at the same time we deny them rights and privileges a straight couple can enjoy under our laws. They aren't allowed to make medical decisions about their partner, they aren't allowed to inherit anything if their partner was to pass away, and they aren't allowed some tax benefits as a married couple. Reading this, you must be thinking I'm all for gay marriage. Well not so fast, young grasshopper. The constitution states a separation of church and state, and since marriage is a religious institution, the term marriage should not be a legal term. Granted, people of faith and even some who aren't but believe in traditions could still call it that. So I'm proposing legally there would be no marriage, but civil unions for all, equal rights for all couple homo and hetero. This wouldn't kill all the little girls' dreams of a big wedding in a church. You could still get married and have weddings, it would just be considered a civil union in the eyes of the law. A solution that Christian conservatives would suggest, just because it looks like they support homosexuality. But they should realize that making something legal doesn't mean you support or agree with it. I don't agree with people charging more on their credit card than they have in the bank, but yet if they are willing to risk their financial security on a new tv, this years model of Corvette, and the hippest clothes, that's their decision. If they feel happiest with some one of the same gender, it's not my place to judge or to punish.
Long story short, civil unions for all
-Abortion
This one won't be a shocker. I'm pro-life. They only case where an abortion should be remotely considered is if either the child, the mother, or both are in danger of dying. It's not up to me as to if the mother, or child should be the one saved. If both can't be saved, then it should be up to the family how to go about it.
-Military Presence
I believe we should not have a military presence in any conflict in which we have not declared was. We should not be forcing our hand in how other countries are run and interact with each other. I also, however, don't think it should be total withdrawal. A significant scale back to have a small force and security at our embassies would suffice. And as for NATO and UN forces, and their interaction in conflicts, I believe should be optional for US troops. We should not force our men and women to fight a battle we as a country are not involved in. The world knows what we are capable of militarily, so there is no need to have troops worldwide flaunting our power. If anything all it does is make some countries irritable and annoyed, and may cause more tension than protection.
-The Economy
This is one big mess. There is no one thing to change that can make everything better. So I'll list some points and won't go into too much detail
1. Stop raising taxes. People have more money to then put back into the economy. Plus, they'll have more to save, which actually is better for future growth than spending now
2. Cap government spending as a percent of GDP. We shouldn't spend money we don't have.
3. Cut pork-barrel projects and fluff out of bills in congress. If the states want those projects and funding, they can ask for it instead of handing them money they might need.
4. Congress can't be allowed to set their own salary. Putting amendments on bills to give themselves pay bumps is wrong. Set their salary, make it variable based on inflation and that's it
These are a few ideas to limit spending and help our economy. Of course, these are more geared towards the symptoms because there are so many causes what can't all be solved at once
-Big Government
Another list, ways to stop the government from over-controlling us and out reaching their constitutional powers.
1. Cap the number of terms Representatives and Senators can serve. Politics should not be a life-time gig. The longer they are in office, the more they forget where they came from and what they fought for.
2. We have too many federal departments. So many they overlap authority and have ambiguous ranks in power. We need to cut the number of departments, consolidate them and make them more efficient. This will also effectively cut government spending and help us use our money more effectively. I'd hate to see how much we waste double spending on the same causes just because two departments are doing the same thing.
Now these obviously aren't all the issues or all of what I believe in politics. There were more things I was going to include that I forgot to include because I'm half watching House and have been typing this for and hour and a half. Now it's time to find out who get's the coveted Jonathan Vanderah bump. My support in this years GOP race goes to the Ron Paul.
When it comes down to it, Ron Paul is the candidate I agree with the most. Along with agreement, I believe he is the most viable candidate to beat Obama. He'll give him a run for his money in the young vote, plus he has shown he hasn't changed his views over his stay in congress. Now most Republicans have and issue saying he isn't conservative enough, but maybe it's a good thing he isn't totally conservative. The fact that he has a little liberal in him when it comes to social matters means he has a better chance at bringing congress and the people together to get something done in this country. Besides, he is way more conservative than his opponents make him out to be. they just focus on the few things that he isn't. In the end, I believe he is the best candidate out there right now and our best shot at getting Obama out of office.
Follow me on Twitter @JVanderah20 if you dare. We'll see when I post again and what it'll be about. It surely won't include the B1G's terrible showing this bowl season.
