Hi all, Election day is closing in soon. I was wondering what everyone was looking at as key concerns. I was in the "undecided" camp for a long time and certain things are still not ok with me. Here are some of the things I looked at not necessarily in order of importance - --> Second Ammendment --> Roe V Wade --> Oh that empty supreme court bench --> Taxes --> Economy in terms of jobs for the pink collars. --> Healthcare in terms of access --> Cost of health insurance --> Education - Free college is good but I'd like to see more people get to college. Basic high school diploma and access to it. --> Mental health issues Tagging @Viswamitra, @Jey, @Induslady, @Rihana, @Srama, @Amica, @MalStrom, @poovai, @KashmirFlower, @ChennaiExpress - any opinions? @Gauri03 - Know you are busy but what do you think?
My list of priorities: 1) Supreme court and by extension Roe. v Wade 2) Gun control: I hope someone will be brave enough to take on banning assault weapons 3) Health care reform 4) Immigration reform 5) Foreign policy 6) Economy and taxes 7) Affordable education. Free college is probably a pipe dream but the costs have soared even at average colleges, such that students are emerging with crippling debt 8) Social justice This election was a no-brainer for me.
IMHO this election is not about policies, but about everything else. It is more about the way you want the country you live in to be represented as, whom your kids/younger generation should see as a role model, who respects minorities (religious, race and nationalities); someone who respects women and her rights , the person who not abrasive and make sweeping generalizations, who will respect the immigration reforms, healthcare, value of life, do not desegregate people on the basis on race or financial ability. The above encompass most of your concerns in a different way.
Honestly I am kind of disappointed with the GOP. Even in the deep red we are seeing a lot of friends and neighbors not going to vote or voting for Stein or Johnson. Of course lots of folks here are voting dem this time around. I really hope they can recover from this. People here are conservative but that tape and those comments on women ruffled a lot of feathers. And the cherry on the cake was the third debate answer where he called the elections rigged and refused to agree to its results. People were pissed off with that. The good news is that the DNC has a real chance of winning the senate. What's the use of presidency without senate majority?
Hi Laks09, I always believe the success of this nation was primarily built on a few principles that are determined by the people of the United States: 1) A very strong infrastructure that connects every part of the country 2) A vibrant immigration system that encourages the best talents in the world to get together 3) An excellent and affordable educational system that attracted students from all over the world to gain knowledge 4) A powerful system of governance consist of Executive, Legislative and Judiciary with laws that are second to none 5) A clean environment that allowed animals, plants and human beings to co-exist peacefully 6) Industries and research and development centers interacting continuously with the educational institutions to recruit talents 7) A work environment that allows talents to thrive providing endless opportunities to both men and women 8) A business environment that allows talents to build both small and big enterprises, financial institutions that are ready for infusion of capital for great ideas and open market economy that supported free enterprises to thrive 9) A very strong military that is built with world class resources 10) A collective wisdom that if every individual is supported to be successful, the whole nation will succeed Despite resistance to these original values, sustenance of these values are facing crisis situation for many decades. Every time the resistance is more than erosion, it results in America remaining invaluable role model. The slogans, "Making America great again" and "Stronger together" mean nothing and the real values are in the above principles. Right or wrong, the US continues to attract talents from all over the world even today. My principles on the issues raised by you are as follows: 1) Supreme Court plays a major role in interpreting constitution and hence every vacant seat weakens the Supreme Court. The legislative system blocking the filling of the seat is outright wrong. 2) As far as second amendment is concerned, the right to bear arms was originally introduced as the police force was still developing. Even now, I have no issues with the second amendment but I am for common sense gun laws that prevents criminals and mentally disturbed from obtaining guns and for tightening the background check. I still believe majority of the gun owners comply with the laws but because of a rare few who violate, they have to go through additional security measures. 3) A woman has a right to decide in connection with her body whatever decision that she feels comfortable especially when it is associated with extremely difficult circumstances. At the same time, endangering the life of both mother and an unborn child after a certain period of pregnancy appears to be extremely dangerous. Even if there is a slightest doubt that a market exist for buying and selling organs of still born children, it makes me sick to my stomach. 4) Avoidance of deficit and reduction of the national debt stand a great priority. Even if it is a tax increase only for those who earn $250,000 or more, every dollar generated from such revenues should be properly utilized for enhancing the economy and not to build a larger government and increasing the welfare measures unless it is absolutely critical. 5) The original principles that I have mentioned above made the economy thrive automatically for centuries and employed the US population effectively. Government should be a facilitator as opposed to a regulator, unless there is a large scale fraud and abuse in the industries. 6) Both access and cost of health are important. Unfortunately, we are the only country in the world that has a unique system different from the rest of the world. Unfortunately, access and cost work against each other everywhere. The healthcare should become affordable with reasonable access. Whatever correction needed to build such healthcare system should be jointly developed. The decision on healthcare should be driven by the advice of the physicians and decided by the users/guardians and not the payers including in case of mental health. 7) Free education doesn't come without a cost to the nation. At the same time, cost of education has increased many fold and became not affordable for many families from the time the educational system was founded centuries back. The student loans are the single largest debt in the country now. Therefore, in my view, it has to be a cost sharing model where the educational grants and scholarships contribute when the students/parents invest a portion for the next generation. To the extent possible, education should be available online up to a certain level for the citizens to have free access. At the research level, it could be different. In my view, there are some domestic and foreign policy issues that are worth mentioning: 1) Despite the passing of Civil Rights Act, there exist a pocket of resistance throughout the country. This has resulted in large scale incarceration of African American community and a whole industry of building private prisons and lending the services of incarcerated labor force has developed. This is wrong and need to be recognized and a step taken towards the minimum sentencing requirements for minor crimes. We have a very strong law enforcement and their efforts should be appreciated. But they need to make an initiative to develop interaction with minority community to understand their issues. 2) Women are not paid equal pay for equal work and this has to be eliminated completely 3) A national study has to be conducted to find what should be the minimum wage policy for each state and it is unfair to pay a very limited hourly rate for hard working Americans. 4) Government borrowing money from social security and medicare should be prohibited and the money should be reserved only for what it is intended for invested in safe securities and not privatized. 5) There has to be better coordination among the intelligence departments to prevent terrorism like what happened in San Bernardino and Orlando. There has to be a better international coalition among intelligence throughout the world. 6) A complete revamp of the foreign policies is needed and there were so many missteps for many decades with reference to US foreign policies. Some issues faced by the US now are self-inflicted wounds. 7) An international alliance and coalition effort is needed in not only combating terrorism but also addressing human right violation. Leadership in the world is not earned by strong military or strong economy but by the strong values practiced in foreign policy. I am sorry for the long response. There is so much to write but let me stop here. I don't like either candidate for Presidency but most of the time, in a democratic nation, we have to decide which one is better. Viswa
@Viswamitra sir - When I started the thread, I was only looking at the elections. Your write up has far more to it than just the elections. You have stated what defines us as a country and how we can move forward. We do need such reminders and often so. I really want to send your post to the FP nominations but you run the FP this month I'm still going to quote you there. The country is constantly evolving and like you said remaining a role model. What I also like to add is the power of the people to forge forward and embrace progressive thoughts and ideas despite resistance is probably how the democracy made it this far.
When elections are close, I often see people deciding to caste their votes based on the "party" vs "candidates". The idea that people are sitting the election out of frustration for the candidate of their preferred party isn't sitting very well with me. The last three were very easy for everyone. This election is somehow different and yet it somehow feels "more" important. A video clip of Justice David Souter who was previously a Chief Justice of the SCOTUS. What we should resist is probably what he described here four years ago. @Nitha J - You did mention something along these lines - someone who wants to take charge and "fix" the country of all evils.
@Akanksha1982 - I didn't tag you here in my original post. The oversight is unintentional. I know you keep abreast on current affairs and wonder what you think about our POTUS elections.
My apologies for mistakes in sentence constructions in my post. Instead of writing, "Despite resistance to sustain this values" I wrote, "Despite resistance to these values". I also meant to write, "minimum sentencing requirement should be eliminated". I also wanted to write about our military force, their stress post war and the need to give excellent medical attention. I also believe they need to be paid well besides being respected. The best way to respect them is to simply avoid conflicts that are not for defending our nation. Viswa
That's something that I wasn't happy with in the third debate. I mean going back into Mosul as touted by Trump and arming the Kurds as suggested by Clinton are both terrible ideas. Why go back and do things that have anyway backfired in the past? I don't want to arm anyone. They are going to use that against us one day. And I definitely am against all unnecessary military action no matter how one tries to justify it. The armed forces have done their due. It's time for us to focus on things like terror within the country instead of taking sides in international strife when there is absolutely no need.
