The one thing he did I do support is not supporting the war in Iraq. I personally thought that was the wrong thing to do and was simply revenge for 9-11. It took out the bladder that Iraq was to Iran and now Iran is our major enemy in the world. But he is too liberal for me to support. Brown is an advocate of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. I understand many good people think that is OK but I for one cannot support that.
He is an advocate for and voted for the Affordable Health Care Act. That act that was never read before voted on and is not affordable. In the feable attempt to "make health care more affordable" they actually increased the cost of it at a time we cannot afford it.
Brown has criticized free trade with China and other countries. In a 2006 Washington Post article, Brown argued against free trade on the grounds that labor activism was responsible for the growth of the U.S. middle class, and that the U.S. economy is harmed by trade relations with countries that lack the kind of labor regulations that have resulted from that activism.
In 2011, the Columbus Dispatch noted that Brown "loves to rail against international trade agreements." Brown's book, Myths of Free Trade, argues that "an unregulated global economy is a threat to all of us." He recommends adopting measures that would allow for emergency tariffs, protect Buy America laws, including those that give preference to minority and women-owned businesses, and hold foreign producers to American labor and environmental standards.
Brown is a career politician since they day he graduated from college. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian studies from Yale University in 1974. At Yale, he was in Davenport College, the same residential college as U.S. Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush. He went on to receive a Master of Public Administration degree and a Master of Arts degree in education from the Ohio State University in Columbus in 1979 and 1981, respectively. He taught at the Mansfield branch campus of The Ohio State University from 1979 to 1981.
I don't know about you, but I am not too happy with our career politicians. Senator Brown is on the far left and I don't support his positions. Since Congress is in deadlock and our country is not progressing, I believe what Josh Mandel says, ""He's just a politician we can't trust." "The only way we can change Washington is change the people we send to Washington."
I support the young man in the picture, not the career politician who should be out of the picture.
Ed Winkle
Does "I don't know" apply to "something" or "Josh Mandel"? ^-^
ReplyDeleteI thought affordable care (i.e. providing healthcare for 30 million indigent people) would be the Christian thing to do. There was a need to reform the 40-50 years old healthcare system after the post 9/11 depression and job losses which increased the number of uninsured people. If not for PPACA (Obamacare), how would you deal with these people? Would you let your own countrymen and kids stay sick and die because they can't afford healthcare, or increase the cost of healthcare anyway because they would hit the expensive E.R. instead of seeking cheaper preventive treatment? Seriously, to be constructive, I am asking, because it looks like there is a conflict between the Christian values of charity and compassion, and the Conservative/Republican values of not sharing the wealth of the rich with the poor. I am not asking about a detailed budget, because I think that's why we elect politicians, but about the basic principles of dealing with these uninsured people. Even when we had only 4-5% unemployment, someone working 40 hours a week at McDonald's would earn only $1300 a month and cannot afford any form of self-paid healthcare.
Repealing PPACA as Romney promises would still cost an extra $10 billions or so every year, because there are some good money-saving measures in it, so I guess the answer is not as black and white as it seems, and maybe the best plan even for Romney would be to compromise and take the good things out of PPACA, and leave out what he thinks are the bad things. I won't even mention that the federal PPACA was based on Romney's own healthcare system he put in place in his State. Oh, I guess I just did... ^-^
In any case, PPACA is indeed mostly a cost center. I couldn't find by how much, once the PPACA funding measures are taken into account. I know its total spending budget is $110-120 billions a year on average over 11 years, but it also contained several new taxes and other measures, like the 2013 tax over $200-250K and high incomes.
By the way, that's why we need same sex marriage, so a gay couple can't earn $400K without paying that extra tax! ;)
Since you mentioned LGBT rights, what is your stance about them? I'm guessing it is purely a religious not a political one. For instance, do you agree that gays are "born this way" as the song goes (or at least become so in early childhood regardless of parental or social conditions), or do you accept that there are gay people but think that they should not express their sexuality, as seems to be the current religiously-correct view, or just think it's unnatural and they should convert to straights.
If LGBT rights mean mostly gay marriage, why does it bother you? Because for the sake of me, I don't see how civilian married gay couples could affect the religious sanctity of marriage. Why would one deny marriage to two persons in love, if they are of consensual age? Should it be only regardless of age, faith, race but not sexual orientation?
When in doubt, always check what the kids have to say about it:
"They're like 5 year olds fighting over a toy, except the toy is America."
"Republicans, they're the people who own land."
"I don't know what the electrical college is."
"Even rappers make more money than the President, that's what I don't understand."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05uQR5C2AXw
Boy, I lit your fire, didn't I? Is that because your liberal? I don't think you are as far left as he is, I actually thought we could be friends.
ReplyDeleteBrown is way too far left and hides it with good things more conservative people buy into.
I think gay is an illness and I don't think illness should have rights. It has too many already. Yes, I may be sicker in some ways but at least it is accepted in my neighborhood!
I don't know the facts about Republicans own the land but Ted Turner owns a million or more and he sure isn't Republican.
The electrical college, now that's a good one though I have never heard anyone say it that way. The Electoral College and how it operates IS taught in public schools here.
Rappers deserve more money than this president though I don't support either one.
Ed
I think most Europeans are probably more liberal than any American Democrat... ^-^
ReplyDeleteWow, I must have caught that illness then, and my brother too.
You should know that no doctor or shrink worldwide thinks that this is a sickness, only a few American religious extremist hate groups do.
If it was a sickness, it could be cured, but conversion therapy just does not work. There are a few success stories, but it's mostly people ashamed with guilt and conflicted between their sexual orientation and the desire to belong in their religious community, or people who want to marry and have kids even at the cost of sacrificing part of their true self, or people who were not gay but bisexual in the first place.
I feel a bit sorry for you that you consider me and 250 million people (at the least) sick, or all your gay ex-students or American farmers (and this French drifter) who read your blog, or some of your ancestors and descendants, or the "two-spirit" Native Americans, gosh, when I think about it, they're everywhere, since the beginnings of humanity! ^-^
Anyway, I'm glad we agree on rappers. ^-^
Well at least on those who feature huge gold chain necklaces and naked black women on Cadillac bonnets on their album cover or video clips.
Except this song which ends appropriately by "Hell is on Earth and who manages it?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK5EAkdUyhk
I translated the lyrics here: http://bitly.com/Yhsd3u
The issues of people being insured or not insured or using emergency rooms because they can't afford to pay for medicine can be debated at length. The issue of universal health care is also another debate, and the question of whether "obamacare" did anything but make by brother's insurance unaffordable-or make it virtually impossible for us to provide health insurance should we ever get an employee that works hard enough that we could provide him with insurance) is another issue.
ReplyDeleteThere are ways to tie these issues together but saying that as Christians we should support a plan that I (and others) see as insuring that the graft and corruption in the system will never be removed, is not really fair.
As a responsible member of the human race and per my understanding of the requirements and the spirit of my Christian faith I both contribute to individuals in need and I donate what I can to responsible charities which provide aid to those in need. However I do not feel compelled to force you to contribute to my charity and I don't think you should ask me to contribute to yours. I feel that applies to most of these universal health care schemes.
I can assume from reading this blog that Ed shares this same belief system/world view.
THis is an unasked for interpreting Ed's belief system and so I will not go further. Other than to add...
I do not like either of the two main candidates.
I think Ed should be free to be offended by gay people and gay people should be free to be offended by him. I do not think their rights to express themselves should be determined as hate speech or that they should be forced by law to accept each other.
Personally I don't mind if you wish to marry your dog, first cousin, or the troll under the bridge. Just don't force me to care.
I think the traditional idea of marriage and the slogan, "In God We Trust" has been made a mockery out of for years and is pretty much irrelevant in today's world-but then that is just my opinion.
Didn't want to offend anyone with my post or my beliefs. Did I say Europeans are more liberal than Democrats? I don't think so and I don't know where that came from.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I would feel if I were that kind of person because I am not one. Yes, I might look at it quite differently if I were.
America was founded on religious freedom so yes I do have the right to my opinions and too many people agree with me to not believe so. 250 million is a minority out of 6 billion people. There are way more alcoholics and drug addicts than 250 million so that sickness is much bigger.
This is good discussion just so we dont' get our feelings hurt and I did not intend that.
I just cannot support people like Sherrod Brown leading our country and I am going to say so.
Ed
"Did I say Europeans are more liberal than Democrats?"
ReplyDeleteNo worry, I was just answering your "I don't think you are as far left as" (Brown), and in a very light manner at that, not to be taken seriously or initiate another debate.
The social contract is so embedded in some European countries that it is sometimes hard to notice. I remarked yesterday in Gene Logsdon's blog that the French city of Toulouse has 8 different income brackets for the participation cost in school lunches, from $0 (less than $1,300 income a month, a McDonald's salary), $2 and up to $5 per meal per kid. And that hasn't changed for all these years regardless if the city or department or region or country has had a Republican or Socialist government.
Religious freedom is one thing, but voting specifically in order or in hope to reduce the rights of people is a whole different matter. In the case of a minority, it is called persecution, there is no other word for it, sorry to say. I hope you don't belong to some of these hate groups, but they do exist and are very vocal: Westboro's Baptist Phelps with his "God hate fags" (and "Thank God for dead soldiers" signs at veterans' funerals), American Family Association, Focus on the Family, Exodus International, One Million Moms (that is really ~20,000 members), and some politicians like Santorum or this other public guy who said we should have the balls to hang gays like they do in Iran, they all do engage in gay hate speech all the time and to this day, continue persecuting the gay community and encourage gay bullying at school (an epidemic of gay teenager suicides for the past 3 years), which is why it is in need of protection, not more persecution.
That's the thing I don't understand with some of the religious extremists: Why does it matter to them at all who other people marry? It looks like they want to convert the whole country to their single point of view, that's proselytism or missionarism, not how you govern a country made of a diversity of races, faiths, genders, etc. Gays (or atheists) do not prevent religious people from exercising their religious freedom and practice their faith, it's their own business, on the contrary, they would defend that right, but the opposite is not true: These extremists want the gays out, when it's not even a capital sin in the Bible. We don't stone adulterers to death anymore, or condemn blood sausages, why condemn the gays then? All three are in the same Leviticus book.
Well Bud, "In God we Trust" never existed in the Constitution or the dollar until the fake commie scare of the 50s. It used to be "E pluribus unum" (~stronger united). Same thing for the nation "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. It's not even 60 years old, and made a mockery of the "United States" at the time, no wonder if it feels like a mockery in today's world.
Yes, yes, I agree, do not reduce voter rights to religious freedom. That is why Christians are feeling persecuted and fighting for candidates who agree with our moral principle.
ReplyDeleteWe as a group do not wish to limit anyone's rights but we don't believe in putting them ahead of ours, either.
We are not condemning gays, every one deals with problems and many deal with much bigger problems than that. I don't believe in any form of bullying either as you well know and I have always championed the little guy. I am one.
It's a deep philosophical subject but remember I wrote my own belief in supporting a race you can't vote in. I think we have all handled it very well.
The national race is much bigger and does affect the world. I take that quite seriously.
Ed