Voting against your own best interests, why?

This has been discussed post 2000 election and pre 2004 election, but I'd really love to get the response of republican voters here on several issues, where they stand on them and why they voted as they did. I'll make this a numbered/lettered list so this will be easier to quote/reply to.

1. Income. According to exit polls, 82% of America that voted makes less than 100k a year and 55% that voted make more than 50k. Also, this range of people seemed to vote for bush somewhere between 49-56% of the time. Both candidates offered similiar tax plans for this group of people so this isn't too suprising. The concern here is that Kerry offered to roll back tax cuts for those making more than 200k which is reflected in the polls.

Question: Is your income more or less than 200k? Was it a consideration?

2. Religion. According to exit polls, 54% of America that voted (at least those that responded to exit polls) are some denomination of Protestant. Of those 59% voted for Bush. Catholics made up 27% of America that voted and they seemed to vote for Bush 52% of the time. Of the remaining 20% (including Jewish, Other, and None), the majority of votes went to Kerry. Of those that voted and for Bush, they largely indicated to attend church weekly.

Question: How big was religious association an issue with you in this election or was it even a consideration?


3. Civil Rights:
A. Abortion. Florida had a ballot measure requiring parental notification for minors before an abortion; Florida Legislature would be required to provide exemptions and create a process for having notification waived. The measure passed with 65% of voters voting for it. 54% of the voters in Florida were Female and 46% were male. The females voted for Bush at a rate of 50% and the males at 53%. Polling does not indicate male to female versus ballot measure ratios, so the pro-life stance of Bush will have versus the more pro-choice leanings of Kerry will have to do for seperating these issues.

B. Gay Rights. 11 states used various wordings on ballot measures to invalidate gay marriages within their borders. Only a very small portion of all voters indicated they were gay on exit polls, however they overwhelmingly threw their support to Kerry. This leaves a possible 39 states where gay people may freely marry, divorce, and enjoy legal, tax, and death benefits available to everyone else in the country.

Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election?
Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you?

4. Environment. CNN recently reported that the artic ice cap is indeed melting. This, by itself, will not cause the ocean to rise. However the ice within the artic circle on landmasses melting will cause the ocean to rise about 7 meters within the next 100 to 1000 years depending on rate of melt and acceleration.

Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not?

5. Education. Some schools have been noted to scrap their gifted programs either coincidentally or because of the no child left behind program. Allegedly this is because of the program's penalties for not meeting certain standards on all levels and the inability of some schools to meet that standard any other way.

Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election? Why or why not?

6. Health Care. Currently many people are without health care this election year or dangerously substandard health care. Both Candidates were offering different Health Care packages with different goals.

Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not?

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.
This was probably one of the hottest issues this campaign. According to polls and election results, the country is very divided over it. Bush portrayed the country as being either for or against it and divided everyone into two such camps. Kerry portrayed a plan of action that called for less divise measures, but also agreed with the necessity of war. Both candidates engaged or engaged by association in smear campaigns against the other in the 2004 election.

A. Osama bin Laden said in a tape recently that he has cost us 5 trillion+ by only spending 500k, and even if we want to fiddle with numbers, he has gotten a vast return on his small investment even if we only spent a single billion on trying to stop him.

Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice? Why or why not?

B. The Cold War was won without ever firing a shot. Russia has moved a long way towards democracy all on its own simply because given enough time and contact with the U.S., that's what seems to happen.

Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative? Why could it work? Why could it not work?

C. US Politicians are not held accountable even if they knowingly lie in a campaign ad. Even if they look straight into the camera and tell you something they and other people know is false. They could, for instance, stare straight into the camera and say, "2 plus 2 is 5, mathematical fact. Everyone knows it." and they cannot be challanged or held to it.

Question: Is this wrong? Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us? Why or why not?


8. As someone who did not vote for Bush, I may be unable to see some issues you may have considered vastly more important than some I have outlined. For this reason, this is a catch all question. I acknowledge that I cannot adequately outline or be aware of every major issue of importance.

Question: What other issues do you consider important that affected your vote this election? Why were they important to you? Why should they be important to other people?


If you're reading this, you either skipped to the end or honestly read all of it, thank you. I hope to receive some replies that will give me some insight into what y'all were thinking. I did my best to attempt to keep as much of my bias and opinion out of questions and comments as much as possible. I apologize in advance if I did not. Please attempt to answer the spirit of the question, however you see it, if my portrayal of any one question was blinded by a bias I am not aware of. Thank you.

*edited to add question 8

**edited to clarify question 1, not looking for specific data, just a response regarding the rollback to the 200k+ tax cut on Bush's plan that Kerry would have done.

These were all issues for me which is why I voted for Kerry instead of Nader. Thank you for posting this...when I get myself together I'll post on the exact issues.

Beautifully asked Siro, glad to see someone else actually trying to get intellectual responses instead of slinging mud Forget my thread I be watching yours instead, me too confused.

1. Question: Which tax bracket did you fall into and was it even a consideration?

Sorry that's private, but no not really a factor. 'Course we're 1st generation immigrants for what it's worth.

2. Question: How big was religious association an issue with you in this election or was it even a consideration?

It was a worry - I'm not a fan of the President's religion!

3. Civil Rights: Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election?

No. I'd like a national recognition of gay unions whatever you call them, but I don't see it as comparable to Black equal rights or Women's voting rights. I think abortion should stay legal, but think they should limit thoose Partial Brith ones and should require consent for minors!

'Course I also think the drinking laws in the US are retarded...

Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you?

Um.. for religious folks they're the same and for non religious folks it's just the latter so I don't see the point of this question.


4. Environment. Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not?

Not really. It's a priority thing I guess. I want reasonably strong environmental limits on companies tho'.

5. Education. Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election? Why or why not?

Nope. One of my parents is a teacher. They're always underpaid, but even though I was lucky enough to goto a gifted program I missed out on a lot of the basics (and that included ESOL!).

6. Health Care. Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not?

Nope. We've personally known too many people come from other countries with socialized health systems come here for treatment after they've been really poorly treated. In contrast one of our friends without health insurance was able to have cancer surgery and treatment here. So I don't want big change to the system... I do hate HMOs though...

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.
Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice? Why or why not?
I don't know. In a lot of ways he's not as important as other things, but he needs to be kept on the run until he's caught or else other's will be encoruaged.

Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative? Why could it work? Why could it not work?

No, it had been tried for a long time. Every day that you try it more women get led into the Rape Rooms in front of their husbands and children. Just thinking about it leaves me shaking!

C. US Politicians are not held accountable even if they knowingly lie in a campaign ad. Question: Is this wrong? Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us? Why or why not?

Of course they should, but I dont think either candidate did more "stretching the truth" than is normal. I do think the President did such a poor job of communicating that he ended up "lying by omission" an aweful lot. That was one of my biggest reasosn i wasn't comfortable with him.


I do think your questions came out skewed (the post title just a little!), just because it shows what you value more than any other issue and skipped over lots of other issues that I personally thought were important. But I really appreciate that you tried and are making an effort at civil disscusion!

BTW in case you couldn't tell I voted for Bush!

--

Yup, Edited for spelling! Not that it helped...

Question: Which tax bracket did you fall into and was it even a consideration? Yes this was a big consideration for me. The off-shoring of jobs and the tax incentives NOT to off-shore them was one vote in Kerrys favor.

Question: How big was religious association an issue with you in this election or was it even a consideration? Another reason I voted for Kerry but would have been better off voting for Badinark. I believe in complete separation between church and state.

3. Civil Rights:
A. Abortion. Big Issue for Me, I don't believe government should be involved in this AT ALL! In any way shape or form. It should be a decision made soley by the woman and her doctor. It should be kept legal and safe.

B. Gay Rights. Another big issue - I frankly think that the government shoud not be involved in marriage at all. If people want to form partnerships then they should be entitled to the same insurance rights & legal rights as everyone else. All couplings should be partnerships in my opinion, both gay and straight. If people want to be "married in the eyes of the church" then go to church and do it - but the "ceremony" should have no more significance to the government than a candle light mass.

Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election? Yes
Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you? human/legal

4. Environment.
Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not? The biggest reason I voted for Kerry - investment in research for alternative fuel. We are destroying our planet in my opinion. I am sad everyday that I wake up and find another species has been destroyed. Ultimately, our failure to recognize this will be much more detrimental to us than a terrorist attack.

5. Education.
Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election? I think education is important but I did not think that either candidate swayed me one way or the other on this issue.

6. Health Care.
Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not? Yes - I think that too much money is going to insurance companies and not enough into research, doctors and people who need health care. That so many people in the nation stand at the precipice of losing everything that they own if they get sick is criminal. However I do not think that socialized health care is necessarily the "golden" answer. I think that control of corporate greed is. Right now the insurance companies are the height of corporate greed. Right up there with oil companies. Note I am not against free enterprise or capitalism, just illegal and immoral business practices - and look at the number of companies in the last four years that have been caught in the proverbal act of both.

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.

A. Osama bin Laden
Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice? Absolutely - terrorists should not get away with what they do. He deserves to be brought to justice and we should not give up until he has been caught and punished.

B. The Cold War
Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative? Yes - we should have focused our resources on catching Bin Laden and kept sanctions on Iraq coupled with UN pressure.

C. US Politicians
Question: Is this wrong? Yes Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us? Yes - the lies have eroded the American peoples faith in the political process and the American Goverment.

Aestival, thank you for responding. From my own perspective, I may be unable to see some issues you may have considered vastly more important than some I have outlined. I shall add a question based on this:

8. As someone who did not vote for Bush, I may be unable to see some issues you may have considered vastly more important than some I have outlined. For this reason, this is a catch all question. I acknowledge that I cannot adequately outline or be aware of every major issue of importance.

Question: What other issues do you consider important that affected your vote this election? Why were they important to you? Why should they be important to other people?


*main questions updated to reflect this change

edit: The post title was designed to attract your attention, for that I apologize. It was underhanded and mean, but this is how some people have viewed voting for Bush. History and soap operas have shown that people read provacative things like that.

>.> I'd like more than 1 response from someone who voted for Bush.

Siro, perhaps if you would be forthcoming and post your answers to your own poll, you might get better response. You are asking for a one way exchange of information.

1. Income. Question: Which tax bracket did you fall into and was it even a consideration?
As someone else said.. private information I certainly will not reveal publicy. My tax bracket has never affected my vote directly.

2. Religion. Question: How big was religious association an issue with you in this election or was it even a consideration?
Religion, like opinions, are a personal thing. Everyone has an opinion on religion and its place in society. Mine is that it is none of my business what others believe in so religion was not an issue for me.

3. Civil Rights:
Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election?
Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you?

Civil rights was not an issue for me. I have them, the government PROTECTS (not assaults) them for me.
Civil righs are neither a moral nor a religious issue for me in any sense of the word. They are not a human rights issue for me either. They are strictly a legal issue for me.

4. Environment. Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not?
Nope. Not an issue. I own land. It's mine. I take good care of it. I can't control what others do with theirs. I don't worry about it.

5. Education. Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election? Why or why not?
As an educator, I am always interested in education related issues - however I saw and heard nothing (such as you described) which made me believe that Kerry could or would be a better "education president" than Bush.

6. Health Care. Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not?
My health care is tied to my status as a military retiree. Nothing Kerry said affected my status or my concerns about that status and my expectations for care.

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.
A. Osama bin Laden. Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice? Why or why not?
This question is so overly simplified that it cannot be honestly answered.

B. The Cold War was won without ever firing a shot. Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative? Why could it work? Why could it not work?
Nope. Why not? You have to be kididing. The "Allies" we had during Gulf War I routinely bypassed the embargo. Economic sanctions did not work.

C. US Politicians are not held accountable even if they knowingly lie in a campaign ad.
Question: Is this wrong? Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us? Why or why not?
I dispute the premise of the question. Politicians ARE held accountable when it is dicovered that they knowingly lie in a campaign - period. It's called the election day activity. People who are elected can be held accountable during their terms of office if the system is used and it can be demonstrated they have broken the law. If not, then, that is what the next election is for. Silly question from my perspective.

8. Question: What other issues do you consider important that affected your vote this election? Why were they important to you? Why should they be important to other people?
Too many to list. Most relate to things that take too long to explain in this format.
Here's the shor list.
Number one concern was Veterans Benefits support.
Number two - the economy --- and I think that rumors/arguments of it going in the tank are greatly exaggerated.
Number three - maintaining Republican control of Congress so that Supreme Court nominations would be on the conservative side in order to balance the liberals/leftists who are likely to remain on the Court longer.
Number four - national security.
Number five - promoting technology research within the US/by US companies

Edited to add concerning 7B
I did not agree with going into Iraq either the first or second time - BEFORE WE WENT IN. After troops were committed, all bets were off/all reservations withdrawn in the name of supporting the troops or doing my job in the military.

Good luck.. I think they may all be busy applying for jobs at Haliburton.

Very thoughtful questions, Siro. Based on the volume of questions you posed, I cannot really take the time to resond in full, right now. Before I do respond:

1. Are you collecting data for an academic, political and/or business research project? If so, please elaborate.

2. What is the underlying hypothesis of your post?

I'm not posting my own responses because I imagine they'd only piss off the people I'm trying to elicit response from. Political threads often get very heated and all I'm really looking for here is honest answers as to why people voted for Bush. I simply can't wrap my head around it yet and I need to. So thank you who have responded to the questions thus far and anyone who's not staying on topic, please keep biting commentary to other threads



1. I am a registered independant. I have been told I was wrong to vote democrat and I have also been told I am wrong to consider republican as an alternative or a third party. This is not associated with any project other than my own personal one of forming a more enlightened political opinion.

2. I don't have a hypothesis yet. Not a valid one anyway. Assuming something ahead of time about other people's political opinions isn't going to get me anywhere except 'oh that's way off base' and 'oh that's wrong'. So I'm just collecting data to more completely define my own opinion on politics.

1. Question: Which tax bracket did you fall into and was it even a consideration?

I make way too much money for someone doing what I do. I make more than $200k a year and so do many of my friends. It is my duty to pay taxes. They won't pay themselves.

2. Question: How big was religious association an issue with you in this election or was it even a consideration?

If I know your religion and hear you pray, you have pissed me off. In this election I was unhappy with both sides pandering to God. It was not a deciding issue for me.

3. Civil Rights:
Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election?

They were an extremely important issue for me in this election. The focus of the current administraton on anti-abortion measures and their concurrent focus on halting family planning programs is disasterous in my opinion.

A woman's right to control the number and spacing of her children is fundamental to her empowerment. Any efforts to infringe on a woman's ability to control her body are morally wrong.

Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you?

Moral, Human, Legal. Religion is an opiate.

4. Environment.

Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not?

I lose liberal points here. I really don't pay attention to environmental issues and they aren't that important to me. I know that the world may end soon but I honestly don't think about it.

They are important on a local level though. I don't want to live in streets filled with crap.

5. Education.

Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election? Why or why not?

Not really an issue for me. I wish I paid more attention to this but I don't.

6. Health Care.

Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not?

Very important. Inadequate healthcare creates an unnecessary tax burden. Something needs to happen with healthcare in this country. We need major efforts to get people using preventive medicine.

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.
This was probably one of the hottest issues this campaign. According to polls and election results, the country is very divided over it. Bush portrayed the country as being either for or against it and divided everyone into two such camps. Kerry portrayed a plan of action that called for less divise measures, but also agreed with the necessity of war. Both candidates engaged or engaged by association in smear campaigns against the other in the 2004 election.

A. Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice? Why or why not?

Yes, it is worth it. As long as he lives, he stands as a symbol. He could become a martyr, but he won't be as powerful as he is now. I don't think we have focused enough on capturing him and resent that he is sending videos around.

B. Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative? Why could it work? Why could it not work?

He was contained. Iraq posed no immediate threat to the US and we shouldn't have invaded.

C. Question: Is this wrong? Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us? Why or why not?

Accountable who whom? They should be held accountable and everyone in the country has the right to make them accountable. Not sure I understand this question.

8. Question: What other issues do you consider important that affected your vote this election? Why were they important to you? Why should they be important to other people?

People voted for God, Gays and Guns. It's a pretty simple formula that works really well for Republicans right now.

1. Income.

Much less than 100K. I have nothing to sympathize with either of the three candidates as they are all wealthy white men.


2. Religion.

Atheist. "Religion is the opiate of the people". Millions have been killed in the name of God. The Christians did it, now the Muslims are doing it. God hates this planet.


3. Civil Rights:

A. Abortion.

Not as means of birth control. Only in situations where the life or health of the mother may be at risk. Or if you are Bin Laden's, Hussein's, Hitler's, Stalin's mother.

B. Gay Rights.

What you do behind close doors is your business as long as it does not affect others. The company I work for already gives gay unions full benefits, but yet, my female companion cannot get benefits from me. I call that discrimination against heterosexual couples that do not believe in the need a government court or religious blessing. We all have something to bitch about.

Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election?

No. Civil rights are a joke. Everyone only cares about their own little special interest group and the hell with the rest. As an immigrant of mixed racial backgrounds, I laugh at Americans. Each ethnic/racial group hates the other with a passion, but nobody dares to admit it. You can talk all you want about being open minded, but in reality, you are only open minded until someone the wrong color or ethnic group moves next door.

Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you?

This is already an immoral country even if you don't look at it through a religious point of view. Money can buy anything and people do anything for money.

4. Environment.

Mother nature is the #1 polluter. Environmental extremists and their violent ways are more a threat to me than moderate pollution by industry


Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not?

No. Your Gods created volcanos, excrement and disease, not humans.

5. Education.

As long as parents are out partying and/or making money so they can have 10 televisions, their children will be running around wild or not studying. Again, the love of money is the culprit. Either the mother or father should be at home raising their kids. It is not the government's job. American students are disrespectful to their teachers and to other students. Much more interested on MTV and sex than studying.

Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election? Why or why not?

No. What is the use. The root of the problem is much greater than that.

6. Health Care. Currently many people are without health care this election year or dangerously substandard health care. Both Candidates were offering different Health Care packages with different goals.

If they can come up with a plan that will truly work, maybe, but they will not. The European, Canadian and models of free health care are full of holes. In a capitalist society Jobs = Health Insurance.

Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not?

No. The issue is jobs. If people that want to work have jobs, they will have health insurance.

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.

Going into Irak was overall not wise. Getting Hussein out of there was good. Too late now. The war has to be won or it will all have been for nothing. If it was so good under Hussein, how come people were not lined up at the Iraki embassy asking for visas to move there?

A. Osama bin Laden said in a tape recently that he has cost us 5 trillion+ by only spending 500k, and even if we want to fiddle with numbers, he has gotten a vast return on his small investment even if we only spent a single billion on trying to stop him.

Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice? Why or why not?

YES! He is directly responsible for the death of tens of thousands, including thousands of Irakis. He deserves a humilliating and slow death.

B. The Cold War was won without ever firing a shot. Russia has moved a long way towards democracy all on its own simply because given enough time and contact with the U.S., that's what seems to happen.

Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative? Why could it work? Why could it not work?

Ignorant statement. How do you call Korea, Vietnam, and all the other cold war battles fought throughout Africa, Asia, Central, South America and elsewhere? How do you call 50,000 dead Americans and several million dead Vietnamese if not victims of the cold war?

Ronald Reagan was as hated worldwide as Bush is and was also called an evil warmonger. How fast you forget. The cold war was not won by diplomacy, but by bloody attrition. Why is history always changed for personal purposes?

C. US Politicians are not held accountable even if they knowingly lie in a campaign ad. Even if they look straight into the camera and tell you something they and other people know is false. They could, for instance, stare straight into the camera and say, "2 plus 2 is 5, mathematical fact. Everyone knows it." and they cannot be challanged or held to it.

Question: Is this wrong? Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us? Why or why not?

Of course it is wrong. ALL politicians lie. It is up to the electorate to educate themselves and be smart enough not to be deceived. But obviously many people will always follow like sheep and will be easy to brainwash. That is why the world is the way it is - ignorance.


8. As someone who did not vote for Bush, I may be unable to see some issues you may have considered vastly more important than some I have outlined. For this reason, this is a catch all question. I acknowledge that I cannot adequately outline or be aware of every major issue of importance.

Question: What other issues do you consider important that affected your vote this election? Why were they important to you? Why should they be important to other people?

Blind Fanaticism and extremism. The American left never provided a LOGICAL argument, only vicious, virulent and divisive rethoric. The American right is equally frightening.

My first time to vote as a citizen of the United States of America and I was basically asked to decide whether to eat feces or vomit. Both choices were equally disgusting, just as the campaign was. If this is what democracy is all about, I want to go back home.

Thanks Siro! I'm so glad somebody is still interested in talking reasonably. I just hope I can do my little tiny bit to show that people who voted for Bush aren't mostly idiots and jerks!


Well, I'll try to be clear, but it's hard because we probally dissagree about what's important, and we also probally dissagree about the facts. I mean, we might both agree that safety from terrorism is the most important thing, but we'd probally dissagree on what to do about it, and even what's actually going on out in the world right now.

So, for me the most important issue was terrorism and what the US should do about it. I'm not totally happy with the way Bush has run the war, epecially taking so long to fix Iraq, and I don't like how much he's influenced by some groups. But in a lot of ways I think he's got the bascially right attitude and also a real positive vision for spreading democracy. Maybe he's messing up some of the details, but I feel safe and I trust that he's going to do everything he can to keep us safe. I think it's more important to show unity to our friends and enemies than it is to quibble on stuff that's just not as important. I think that the extreme stuff I don't like so much will get fixed after the next election. Also I really felt that the Bush supporters I met were just a lot more tolerant and respectful of differences, even while strongly dissagreeing with me, and tended to have a wider variety of perspectives than the anti-Bush crowd, who was really often nasty and condascending and not at all diverse in what they thought.


Actually I didn't even realise it *was* provocative until after I opened the thread... I thought it was going to be a news story or something! Anyways I'm used to it! (^_^);;

[qute=cashmere]
Siro, perhaps if you would be forthcoming and post your answers to your own poll...
[/quote]
I don't think he needs to do that! The questions are written so that they make Siro's opinion pretty clear!


Silly Panda - when they stole our brains we agreed to work for free!


P.S. I *really* hate doing all the typing for that stupid quote thingy so I hope folks appreciate it!

1. Question: Which tax bracket did you fall into and was it even a consideration
Answer: Let’s just say somewhere above the poverty line and below the 200K “let’s-tax-you-to-death-wealthy-person” threshold.

2. Question: How big was religious association an issue with you in this election or was it even a consideration
Answer: It was a moderate consideration on several fronts. Overall, I would love to see the US strike a balance between the free exercise of religion (without government interference) while concurrently separating extremist religiosity from the policy making process. I believe that persons of faith have just as much of a right to participate in political discourse provided that the end result is policy that serves the needs of a clear majority of citizens, regardless of religious or political affiliation. That said, I am rather alarmed by the conservative polarization that is occurring in this country. We are, without a doubt, in the midst of a "civil war of values." How long until pandemonium breaks out on the streets?

3. Civil Rights:
A. Abortion: Answer: Moderately high on my personal radar.

B. Gay Rights. Answer: Very high on my personal radar. Although I don’t necessarily believe that gays – of which I am – “need” marriage to validate a life-long partnership, I do see that the gay-marriage bans set an overall precedent whereby gays are afforded a lower position on the socio-political strata. Personally, I would like to see government get out of the marriage business, altogether.

Question1: Were these civil rights an issue with you in this election? Answer: Very high.
Question2: Were these civil rights more of a moral/religious issue for you or were they more of a human/legal issue for you? Answer: For me, this is a “both/and” scenario.

4. Environment.
Question: Was the environment an important issue for you in this election? Why or why not?
Answer: Moderately important. I am most concerned with groundwater pollution and the massive consumption of arable land by fast-growing cities (e.g., rampant sprawl). I am very much in favor of alternative fuels research and funding. Given that new technologies don’t happen over night, I would favor limited and carefully monitored drilling in the Arctic NWR, or other domestic sources of fuel oils and gas.

5. Education.
Question: Was this an issue you concerned yourself with in this election?
Answer: My position probably runs counter to most. In my view, “education” in America has devolved into a targeted social engineering process vs. a true educational endeavor. I would like to see the US focus much more of its educational expenditures upon the three Rs and science. I also think it’s a travesty to under-fund (or discontinue, altogether) art, music, physical education, and programs for the gifted and talented under the guise of “no child left behind.” My sense is that we squelching the nurturance and development of the next generation of great thinkers and scientists.

6. Health Care.
Question: Was this an issue for you? If so, what was your analysis that made your choice? If not, why not?
Answer: Yes, very much so. Although I do believe that – at least in the case of health care – a stronger regulatory policy will eventually become necessary to level the playing field, I am opposed to European-style socialized medicine. I believe that addressing issues such as tort reform, stronger regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and adequate funding for under-insured programs such as CHIP are collectively a good place to start. In addition, we need to address the issue of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums. This issue, alone, is driving many qualified health care providers out of the industry and for those that remain, high premiums are ultimately passed along to the consumer, making health care that much less accessible. (I wonder if this is really the result of wide-spread collusion in the insurance industry…) Lastly, I think we need to loosen the stranglehold that the AMA and related organizations have on the health care distribution process. Alternative medicine is often much cheaper, more effective and more curative than the “solutions” that institutionalized health care often affords. As such, we need to counter the lobbying efforts of the AMA-type factions that seek to limit access to alternative care. We also need to petition health insurers to fund more preventative- and alternative-care services so that we can move away from our current reactive approach to health care.

7. Terrorism/Iraq/Politics.

A. Osama bin Laden
Question: Do you think he's still worth spending American money to try to find and bring him to justice?
Answer: Much more so than the billions we are throwing at Iraq. (Well, at least that portion of the billions that aren't being funnelled into pork projects.)

B. The Cold War
Question: Do you think this could have happened in Iraq if we had tried it as an alternative?
Answer: No, but I think our timing and justifications were way off base. The difference, in my view, is that we aren’t dealing so much with a government as we are with a religious movement. This is much more of a grass-roots conflict than the cold war ever aspired to be.

C. US Politicians
Question: Is this wrong? Yes Should someone we elect to lead our country be held accountable when they are speaking to us?
Answer: In a representative democracy, our elected officials are absolutely accountable to the people. Unfortunately, you and I have far less influence in Washington (or the local state house) than do corporate interests and special-interest lobbies. I believe that individual citizens need to maintain a much higher level of discourse with elected representatives. Even then, our only real recourse is to vote for another candidate during the next election cycle. Thus, we can cross our fingers that McCain and Feingold will look at ways to limit lobbying in the same manner as they attacked campaign finance.

Oh, and you had asked about "other" issues that influenced our decisions, this election cycle. Probably the most significant, overall issue to me is/was the economy, and more specifically, jobs. Current policy (especially tax policy) incents companies to offshore and outsource -- a trend that affects almost every industry, not just the tech sector. I didn't find any clear voices, during this campaign, who really wanted to enact meaningful reforms that will benefit both domestic employment and international trade.

Don't get me wrong: I have no problem with American companies employing foreign workers as the need merits. However, destroying vast employment sectors just to "save a buck" will have lasting and very detrimental effects on our ability to innovate, our standard of living, our cultural makeup, etc., etc.

You are eliciting responses from people, asking for gut, personal feelings regarding this election without sharing your own feelings. Then you post you will not state your own feelings because you are afraid of the negative responses you might receive. Yet, you are MORE That willing to glory in reading the scathing replies others might get to answering your "poll" YOU sir, (Sir=Parastic voyeurist asshole, or is that llGetDetectedHypocrit(0)?), are a total fraud. You are not looking for objectivity, nor are you interested in it. I highly doubt that any responses you have received will be used in context in any reply/rebuttal you should chose to make (Cowards typically have no rebuttal, so that is a VERY safe bet on my part). And until you are willing to be a forthcoming, honest member of the SL community, I shall store your name under my cats litter box.

Get off your soapbox and illusionary sense of superiority and answer your own damned questions before you expect honest answers from others.

Cashmere you are wonderful

Way to pin the tail on the donkey!

Briana Dawson

Super-empowered individuals are a bad thing, and he has been attacking us since 1993 - 2 Embassies, The U.S.S. Cole (on which I had friends), and the list goes on. Any person or a group of people that can act against a country or state but themselves belong to no state are dangerous to the world - and since we have been under attack by this 1 person and his group for more than a decade - yes its worth it.
Also, its absolutely idiotic to put even an iota of truth value in anything he [Bin Laden] says. He has spent way more than 500k USD, and I know this for a fact since I was on anintel team working in conjuction with the DIA to track and close his bank accounts around the world.


Well, this is really the sub-question I was aiming for....

Where did you read that the cold war was won without firing a shot? Can we say.. IRAN & IRAQ WAR & MUJAHADEEN in AFGHANISTAN???

Plenty of shots were fired and the U.S. paid for a great deal of the ammunition as well as the weaponry. It's called "War by proxy", something that is on the down trend lately thanks to President Bush who prefers a very personal "in-your-face" style.

---------------

I'd say more but Cashmere already did.

Briana Dawson

First off, screw you too.

Several have already commented that my opinions are fairly obvious if you read into the questions even a little bit. However, now you are reading into motives that I don't have (and have stated the opposite) while claiming to not be able to read into my opinions as well and attacking me personally. You are a mind reader and a very selective one. I don't care what you do with your cat. I do think you should take a minute to consider that someone might honestly wonder why someone thought one way or another and would simply try to understand that viewpoint as opposed to viewing all sources of information as some sort of weapon to use in some retarded flame war to make themselves look better.

You'll notice I'm not responding to answers to polls or challanging any of those answers. I don't intend to. If they can adequately explain themselves and their way of thinking and such, I don't need to. It's just good to know. Even if they can't explain why they decided one way or another, it's still good to know what was important to them.

What the heck… ok… I’ll play along



1. I agree with the others that my tax status is personal information which is of no consequence anyway since it doesn’t factor into my answer. No, my tax bracket was not a consideration but the issue of taxes was. I think that the tax code is all screwed up to be honest and would rather see the IRS go away all together. That aside I believe that you should be rewarded, not penalized, if you earn more money. I also believe that increasing the tax burden on the “rich” will result in 1 of 2 things. Either the cost of goods will go up to cover the cost or jobs will be cut. Businesses have margins that they have to meet to make a decent profit and tax hikes will be bad for the economy and counter productive.



2. Religion was a factor for me too. I am a Christian and like the fact that Bush is unafraid to pray and talk about his faith in public. Kerry says that he is a Christian too but that it has no bearing on any political decision he makes. Well, it is just my opinion but that does not make sense to me. If you are a Christian you will always be a Christian. You will not just shut it off when it is convenient. I have a tremendous respect for Bush. It would be much easier for him to do as Kerry did and try to appease everyone but Bush stands up for his faith.

BTW, just because Bush is a Christian does not mean he can’t make fair and equitable decisions for non-Christians too. Just my opinion again, since you asked.



3-1. Not a huge factor for me. I totally agreed and voted for parental notification for minors before an abortion. Minors are the responsibility of their parents/legal guardians. They should be there to help the minor make good decisions and guide them in their time of need. It is inconceivable that a minor should make or even have the capability to make this decision alone. Provisions for incest were made in the bill btw which would be a logical reason to be against it.


3-2. Civil rights are a human/legal issue for me



4. No, it was not a huge factor in my decision. I do not believe that global warming has anything to do with humans. It is cyclical in nature and we are powerless to stop or speed it up. I am all for preservation btw, I love the outdoors and we often take vacations where we can be in nature and explore. I think that we as a country have come a long way in environment preservation and am all for exploring alternate energy research. That is most likely going to be the long-term answer.



5. Yes. I believe in school vouchers and creating an environment of competition in the public school system. We have a long way to go here and I believe that education is the key to many of the social issues we have today. Create a competitive environment and the bad schools either go away or strive to improve themselves. Yes, there are other issues too. Teachers need higher salaried and class size needs to be smaller. Bottom line, Kerry is not for vouchers and said nothing in the campaign to convince me he had any answers to this problem.



6. Yes in as much as I do not want a national government health care system created. Same as education I believe that more competition is part of the solution. I am very much against just making it a huge national government health care system. Standards of care will go in the toilet. I will say that I am all for figuring out a way to get very basic health care to children and mentally incapacitated adults. I do not believe that Kerry’s plan is affordable or the way to go. Honestly Bush needs to be more revolutionary in this area too.



7-A Yes yes yes. First of all I could care less what bin laden has to say and please explain to me why I am supposed to believe ANYTHING that comes out of his self serving mouth? We should and will find him regardless of the cost.



7-B Yes it worked with Russia but that was a COMPLETELY different situation. We tried it that way for 12 years and saddam only got stronger. It became obvious that he would never submit to the UN and that they were unwilling to back up the resolutions that they signed with more than idle threats. I was all for taking him out because diplomacy would NEVER work in Iraq.



7-C. I do not think that politicians are not held accountable for their actions. Even Bill Clinton eventually had to face the music. Outright lies are eventually discovered and yes, politicians are held to task for them.




8. I will expand on Iraq because your questions didn’t cover all of the issues. I believe that Bush did try to bring together the world in this effort. It is proven that Germany and France were in bed with saddam financially and were effectively bought. They would NEVER join us. I believe that England has been a wonderful ally as well as the many other countries that did join us. Should we wait for some frigging global test or world alliance to take out saddam… NO

It is obvious that there are times that we have to do what we have to do to protect our country. Frankly it is shameful how quickly the French forgot all we did for them and the Germans too with regard to reconstruction after WWII. President Bush made a commitment to fight terrorism after 911 and never has wavered. Regardless of your political affiliation you have to respect his resolve and the lengths he will go to protect us.

There are many other issues which I will not get into but in short I do not believe in higher taxes and bigger government. I believe President Bush is by far the best choice to lead our country in the war on terror. Kerry’s voting record and his subsequent flip flopping in an attempt to make himself appear to be a moderate was disturbing. He should at least have the fortitude to stand up for his beliefs instead of election campaign conversions just to win votes. Kerry’s voting record has been on the wrong side of virtually every defense issue.



I agree that your bias did show through but will take you at your word since I do not know differently. I have no problem with answering without you spelling it out what you believe. Reading your questions I find it obvious what you think. Hopefully my fellow conservatives and my answers will give you the desired insight you seek.

wow all the way down at page 4.

bump.


*edited question 1 to be less offensive, I think. Wasn't looking for a significant bracket, just + or - 200k. But hey, if you don't wanna disclose that either, that's fine too.