To: YlangYlangBreeze who wrote (3575 ) 1/27/2001 1:15:29 PM From: Lane3 Read Replies (7) | Respond to Also a couple people have posted a list of their positions on a list of issues, and some of those were rather surprising. Those poster deserve extra credibility. We may have more in common than we think. It could actually be fun. Abortion: In general, the government should use as light a hand as possible. It definitely doesn't belong in this most personal and complicated of matters. The practice of abortion can be expected to naturally subside over time through technology, availability of birth control, greater rights for women around the world, and the consciousness raising of those wo are cavalier about abortions. I'm pro-choice.Gun control: I wouldn't control guns, with the possible exception of criminals, but rather register them. We register cars and hair dressers and dogs, which are not as dangerous as guns. Registration would assist in crime fighting and increase the accountability of gun owners. The argument that people need to own guns anonymously to protect the citizenry from a government run amok, in the day and age of nuclear missiles, is easily dismissed.Affirimitive action/anti-discrimination: Affirmative action was a necessary approach in its time but the current marginal value of continuing it is outweighed by its inherent unfairness. It should be phased out. Discrimination in public fora is unacceptable.Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is unacceptable behavior and employees need to be protected from it by employers. Likewise from the threat of a formal sexual harassment charge.Drug enforcement: Drug abusers who are not (otherwise) criminals should not be treated as criminals but as addicts. More drugs should be legalized and controlled. The war on drugs has been lost. We need to move on.Environmental regulation: More money and effort needs to go into the science behind environmental regulation. The technology moves so quickly and often the science is not of sufficient quality stature to give us definitive direction. Meanwhile we should err on the side of caution about the environment rather than risk screwing it up big time. Environmental regulations should have mandatory review to assure that they still make sense. I have no clue why I need an emissions test on my '97 Acura RL, which just turned 10K miles. Seems wasteful and needlessly annoying to me.Defense: The Defense Department should be a more family-friendly employer. The fancy toys need to work. The proposed anti-missile defense is not ready for prime time so it's not worth the risk of losing international political capital.Foreign Policy: The US needs to play nicely in the increasing globalized world by respecting the sovereignty and culture of other countries and reducing barriers to trade. We have a bully pulpit so we should use it when needed but we're not a global police force.Immigration: Policy should reduce the number of relatives admitted in favor of value-added immigrants according to the US interest. There always needs to be room for some refugees but we aren't the lifeboat to the world.
