| CURRENT EVENTS With the election around the corner, list the Top 5 most important issues YOU care about...

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

And I'm talking about any number of things like border security, taxes, abortion rights, economy, environmental stuff, SCOTUS or federal judge appointments, dependence on China, policy stance(s) on the Israel and/or Ukraine wars and such... things that a president can have an impact on in terms of policy, appointments, etc... I would say something like crime would fall into that, but that can also be a local issue as well depending on what you're talking about. Not really talking about local or state stuff here... I'm just interested in seeing what people care most about, in order preferably, when it comes to the issues this time around.

 

[TerryP]

Three "B's" for me.

The boom (inflation, economy)
The border ('nuff said already)
The busllshit.

 

[rick4bama]

Border: know these people will get a full ride.

Economy: pricing of foods, gas, building items.

Foreigner: policy.

Welfare: of the USA!

What @TerryP said!

The busllshit.

 

[ElephantStomp]

Not sure I have an order of importance

SCOTUS-my top two things fall here because SCOTUS will dictate a lot (LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights)

Crime- more specifically federal funding for local law enforcement and border enforcement

Economy

 

[rammerjammer]

SCOTUS-my top two things fall here because SCOTUS will dictate a lot (LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights)

I know this will divert the thread and if we need to, we can branch off.....

@ElephantStomp I am not trying to argue, but I see this as a hot button topic that is brought up all the time, but what rights do women and the LGBTQ community not have that the rest of us have?

In the last 20 years in the LGB community we have seen partners be able to add another one to their insurance without being married, then we saw marriage get added about 10 years ago. Women have been in the workplace and voting and have all the rights of a man for decades.

In every way from a corporate and governmental stand point they have equal rights as every one else. You can make laws and mandates and do everything you want to force stuff on people, but you can't change everyone's opinion. Racism has existed from the dawn of time. There have been great strides in curtailing it, but it still exists.

In my opinion, all of the areas I mentioned have received preferential treatment over time in getting to the point of having equal rights. Now that they are treated equal, it isn't good enough. They want preferential treatment.

 

[TerryP]

@ElephantStomp I am not trying to argue, but I see this as a hot button topic that is brought up all the time, but what rights do women and the LGBTQ community not have that the rest of us have?

Ya beat me to the question.

 

[ElephantStomp]

I know this will divert the thread and if we need to, we can branch off.....

@ElephantStomp I am not trying to argue, but I see this as a hot button topic that is brought up all the time, but what rights do women and the LGBTQ community not have that the rest of us have?

In the last 20 years in the LGB community we have seen partners be able to add another one to their insurance without being married, then we saw marriage get added about 10 years ago. Women have been in the workplace and voting and have all the rights of a man for decades.

In every way from a corporate and governmental stand point they have equal rights as every one else. You can make laws and mandates and do everything you want to force stuff on people, but you can't change everyone's opinion. Racism has existed from the dawn of time. There have been great strides in curtailing it, but it still exists.

In my opinion, all of the areas I mentioned have received preferential treatment over time in getting to the point of having equal rights. Now that they are treated equal, it isn't good enough. They want preferential treatment.

The question was what three things are important to you this election cycle, I put my three and now getting grilled about my three, this place is fucking amazing at times, I’m not trying to change any of y’all’s opinions I just simply put what’s important to me this election cycle, no where did I say they’re lacking anything, just put my things…..it’s amazing to me that somebody with a different set of importances than y’all can’t state it without questions and opinions on those said importances.

 

[TerryP]

@ElephantStomp the question was a good one. What rights? What rulings of SCOTUS?

The vast majority doesn't give a fuck about who you fuck, we just don't care to hear about who you are fucking. Again. This is stupid.

I was hanging out with a friend last night over a drink and a cigar. Who he was fucking never came up.

But, for some reason, there is an attitude that I need to pay specific attention to a certain group because of their sexual preferences? I need to make a decision, on a presidency, over someone's sexual preferences?

There's a homeless guy, named William, who lives in the woods behind the CVS down the street. I'm going to go ask him about this...

 

[ElephantStomp]

@ElephantStomp the question was a good one. What rights? What rulings of SCOTUS?

The vast majority doesn't give a fuck about who you fuck, we just don't care to hear about who you are fucking. Again. This is stupid.

I was hanging out with a friend last night over a drink and a cigar. Who he was fucking never came up.

But, for some reason, there is an attitude that I need to pay specific attention to a certain group because of their sexual preferences? I need to make a decision, on a presidency, over someone's sexual preferences?

There's a homeless guy, named William, who lives in the woods behind the CVS down the street. I'm going to go ask him about this...

There’s no reason to question, the question was what is important to you this cycle? I answered, this isn’t rocket science, but for some reason on here people can’t have a different belief system without getting FBI level of questioning and seventeen paragraphs of opinions on their belief system, like it’s fucking stupid.

The SCOTUS was one of three, but let’s concentrate on the one, great idea. I said rights not “laws so every hillbilly in this country accepts shit”.

Here I’m going to change my three just so we can end it here….

Border
Economy
Go Trump!

 

[TerryP]

There’s no reason to question, the question was what is important to you this cycle? I answered, this isn’t rocket science, but for some reason on here people can’t have a different belief system without getting FBI level of questioning and seventeen paragraphs of opinions on their belief system, like it’s fucking stupid.

When you are worried about the rights of a group, where you are asked which rights, there is a reason to question.

What about SCOTUS and this group? What rights are in front of SCOTUS?

If you are worried about Trump appointing another member that's conservative, I get that worry. What I don't get is how you frame it under rights for a group who have the same rights as everyone.

 

[ElephantStomp]

When you are worried about the rights of a group, where you are asked which rights, there is a reason to question.

What about SCOTUS and this group? What rights are in front of SCOTUS?

If you are worried about Trump appointing another member that's conservative, I get that worry. What I don't get is how you frame it under rights for a group who have the same rights as everyone.

There is no reason to question. But, somebody that doesn’t share the same importances this cycle as everybody else leads to questioning because god forbid a different opinion enter the fray.

I’m not getting into detail about things or 17 people will come at me with their opinions and why mine is wrong and blah blah blah

 

[TerryP]

I’m not getting into detail about things or 17 people will come at me with their opinions and why mine is wrong and blah blah blah

You have people asking a legit question. I haven't said your opinions and questions are wrong. I've asked why. What. Where.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Absolutely do not care at all. I have wasted enough time & energy concerning myself over things that I have zero control over. Uniparty gonna uniparty

 

[ElephantStomp]

You have people asking a legit question. I haven't said your opinions and questions are wrong. I've asked why. What. Where.

I don’t want Trump being able to put more justices on the court. As for rights, there is republicans actively trying to ban birth control and IVF treatments. Thomas has said he thinks looking at Obergefell vs Hodges and SCOTUS is going to reconsider it, if that was to be overturned that would be less freedom and rights for same sex couples.

Satisfied with my answer?

 

[TerryP]

I don’t want Trump being able to put more justices on the court. As for rights, there is republicans actively trying to ban birth control and IVF treatments. Thomas has said he thinks looking at Obergefell vs Hodges and SCOTUS is going to reconsider it, if that was to be overturned that would be less freedom and rights for same sex couples.

Satisfied with my answer?

Yes, and no.

Banning IVF isn't going to happen. Banning birth control isn't going to happen. "Fear mongering" is a phrase I hate. But yet, there it is.

There is no logical reason to think this might happen; under any presidency. This is truly the definition of a conspiracy theory.

 

[ElephantStomp]

Yes, and no.

Banning IVF isn't going to happen. Banning birth control isn't going to happen. "Fear mongering" is a phrase I hate. But yet, there it is.

There is no logical reason to think this might happen; under any presidency. This is truly the definition of a conspiracy theory.

It’s not even remotely close to a conspiracy theory. The Southern Baptist Convention (who has significant influence in conservative politics) voted to condemn IVF treatment. Rep Matt Rosendale called IVF treatment “morally wrong” and proposed an amendment to the DOD Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2025 banning and defunding any and all assisted reproductive technology that includes “any infertility treatments or technologies including IVF”, but yes it’s a conspiracy theory

 

[64Tide]

The God haters/godless are way to entrenched in our govt to allow going back on anything that we have moved on from After all, you can't legislate morality but you can aid, celebrate, promulgate, subsidize things/actions that were once verboten. We've come far.....

 

[Bamabww]

Border Security

Income Tax

No more wars

Spend our tax money in America helping Americans instead of everyone else

Legalize weed.

 

[TerryP]

Shrinkflation:

In the last election cycle we have 51 "officials" commenting on what was going on...

Now, with the latest Axios article, we have 16 "officials" talking about "Trump inflation boom."

 

[It Takes Eleven]

"With the election around the corner, list the Top 5 most important issues YOU care about..."

I can see why, as it's written, folks move to campaign-related responses. Here are my top 5, and I know neither candidate will address them in a way that suits me.

1. China - With only slight pushback here and there, we are allowing China to envelope the world in a way that will have us in checkmate in twenty years, perhaps sooner with the acceleration of AI. For those who think we are overreaching when we are active in foreign affairs, if we do nothing China will be at our shores within our lifetimes. We are idiots to continue trading with them.
2. The National Debt - It may be too late. As additional borrowing increases and older, lower-yielding Treasurys mature and are refinanced at higher rates, the portion of the annual budget available for anything other than interest payments will shrink, and that shrinkage will accelerate. If I were king, I'd eliminate refundable tax credits of all kinds - once your tax liability hits zero, you'll get nothing more from the government. To get out of this, spending must go down and, unfortunately, net revenues will need to increase, either from declining credits/deduction or higher rates.
3. "Environmental Taxes" - I would eliminate carbon offsets, cap and trade, and all other offsets - they are a shell game and a hidden tax on our citizens. I would terminate the ethanol scam - it takes more energy to produce ethanol than it creates, and we are siphoning precious capacity from our ability to feed ourselves and others. On the positive side of the environmental ledger, I would outlaw Bitcoin mining in the U.S., cutting electricity usage by several percent. It's another shell game and scam. I would enhance the study of what wide scale solar farm installations do to that land over time - there are issues there that are not being shared. I would eliminate California's EPA exception that allows them to dictate environmental policies to our nation. I would enhance natural gas production, transport and export. It's such a cleaner alternative than oil, and the "all alternative now" crowd is killing it. Those who scream about poison air and water have no historical perspective of just how much cleaner our air and water have become over the last fifty years. There are things we still need to do (lead in water, etc.) but we don't need to create many square miles of future Superfund sites in the middle of our croplands in the name of renewables.
4. Tort Reform - The cost of litigation weighs on our nation in a way few realize. Your cost of insurance, cost of products and services - everything - is impacted by litigation costs. There are attorneys who take one issue and try to strike it rich in a class action lawsuit. Let's use the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) as an example. One attorney took one handicapped guy around from motel to hotel to hotel around the country, asking to be able to use their pool. Those that didn't have a lift to move the guy from wheelchair to water, they sued. Other attorneys simply look at hotel photos, or slink around on their own, looking for those lifts. That's why you see unnused lifts sitting at almost every hotel. They are not crusaders, they're parasites. Over 100,000 ADA lawsuits were filed in the twelve years ending 2021, and 18 firms filed 44,000 of them. I believe attorneys should be under oath when they make statements in court, just as I believe Congressmen should be under oath during hearings and sessions.
5. Education - Learn to read, read to learn. At all costs, make sure kids learn to read. Don't promote a kid if he can't read at grade level. Hold educators accountable if they don't achieve that one goal. If we do that, much of what is wrong with education diminishes, and we can begin to break the cycle of dependency in this nation.