POTUS

[Azdgari]

I would be fascinated to hear more on Ted Cruz from you, TLP. Where I'm from (MA) and where I go to school (NC), Ted Cruz is synonymous with, well, evil. He is more hated in all circles I've come across than even Trump. He's certainly well known as the most hated person in congress, by both parties. What do you find he gets right?

[Carl]

Everyone who thinks I don't deserve to want a decent life because I'm poor and non-straight can go straight to hell. That means all of the Republican candidates, ESPECIALLY Trump, because he's a racist piece of dung to top it all off. Bernie is the only one who has decent ideals, from my understanding.

We need more major parties.

[it means no worries]

^Although more parties do mean more viewpoints and different ideals, they also mean more hung parliaments and coalitions.

[Carl]

Less people would vote for the people who think I have no right to live if there were more than just the two extremes.

That quite honestly is more than worth them getting hung up now and then.

[Regulus]

[quote="TheLionPrince"]I find Bernie Sanders correct on a number of issues with the control and power of the big banks, but I find his support of a single-payer health care system even more extreme than Obamacare.[/quote]

Extreme?

I think it's cool that you respect Bernie even though he's at the other end of the political spectrum, but would you mind explaining this?

Actually, I don't think there's anything extreme at all about single-payer healthcare. I think it is one of his most reasonable policy positions. The way our system works now, we pay insurance companies a recurring fee so that they can cover the costs of most medical expenses that we need. In theory this system works well, but these companies exist to make a profit. We pay them, they pocket some of the money, and they don't always provide full or adequate coverage. Single-payer healthcare cuts out the middleman--instead of paying a company to insure us and having them pocket some of that, we pay the government a tax for healthcare. That tax, in return, covers all medical expenses for any US citizen. There's no complications, no deductibles, no worries over whether or not you can afford the treatment. There's no way you get ripped off. It is by far a better option, and that's why most other developed nations have switched to such a model.

[Carl]

I personally would gladly pay a tax that would prevent other people from suffering the lack of healthcare I've had to endure. If I could get healthcare, I might be able to get a job in the first place, and I'd definitely give up a percentage of my pay check to take care of other human beings. I too fail to see how this is a radical idea or a bad thing. I will never understand why people think denying people like myself basic healthcare is a good thing. Apparently having been born into a poor family who, working as hard as they can, do good to afford the things we need means I don't deserve to go to the dentist or get new glasses or get anxiety medicine or have my messed up limbs looked at. Apparently if we'd just work harder than we're capable of, I'd be able to afford insurance and not having it means I'm lazy and undeserving.

But what happens to me doesn't matter to these people anyway cos I'm a gay nonbeliever.

All I want out of politics is for everyone to be treated like human beings and given a fair chance at life. This is apparently an extremely radical idea, but I always thought it was common sense.

Edit: Anyway, I'm out, before I turn into a ball of fire that burns up the whole forum.

[Tsuki]

Lol Trump. I'm from the UK and even I don't want him as a president. Quite liking the sound of Bernie and some of his views but I don't know enough about politics to form a proper debate or view.

Just not Trump....heh...Trump *ismaturereally*

[TheLionPrince]

I also might want to add that another factor of Trump's support is that he is not politically correct and his campaign is not funded by special-interest groups and PACs.

[quote="Azdgari"]I would be fascinated to hear more on Ted Cruz from you, TLP. Where I'm from (MA) and where I go to school (NC), Ted Cruz is synonymous with, well, evil. He is more hated in all circles I've come across than even Trump. He's certainly well known as the most hated person in congress, by both parties. What do you find he gets right?[/quote]

Well, compared to Trump, Ted Cruz looks like a more reasonable, professional politician. I support him on decreasing the size and power of federal government, gun rights, and illegal immigration and building a border wall. I am not so much onboard with his proposal to eliminate the IRS, and filing out our tax information on a postcard. I am also not that supportive of his proposal of a flat tax; it would really simplify our tax code, but with the excess spending Congress has done in the last decade, it would be difficult to keep an equal tax rate that's appropriate for the poor and middle class, takes enough from the rich, and have enough money to fully fund all federal programs. He also denies climate change, and has stated he would "carpet bomb" ISIS terrorists, which is considered as a war crime in the 1977 Geneva Conventions.

And I have no problem with the hate he gets from Republican and Democratic senators and congressmen. It's just proof that he's not part of the problem that's in Washington, D.C. That said, to be fair, he was instrumental in causing the government shutdown in 2013, but he is appealing to his base. A majority of Tea Party Republicans in a poll supported the defunding of Obamacare even at the risk of shutting down the federal government. Say what you want about Cruz, but at least he tried to deliver what he was elected to.

@Regulus: As for a single-payer healthcare system, it places too much power and control of the health care industry, which is one-sixth of our economy, into the hands of the federal government. The government decides what they choose to pay for and what not to pay for. It would be a bad moment of crisis when the government won't pay for a much needed medical procedure or prescription and they don't have enough money to pay for it themselves, and has to fight through the bureaucracy to get it. It would depend on how much the government can do to keep drug prices low. It would require heavy taxation to pay for a system to cover most medical expenses, and how much money would it take to cover a population of 300+ million when our federal government has proven how incompetent they are with Social Security that sends pension and retirement funds to a lesser population of seniors over 65 years of age. Both programs have to deal with sustainability, and I'm curious how will this system hold up during an economic downturn when there is lesser revenue to generate?

If a single-payer healthcare system is better than private insurance, then explain why Vermont had to abandon theirs?

[Azdgari]

Hmm... I think I'll PM you TLP.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

My brief opinions on each candidate that I have seen in the news:

Bernie: top lad, if I were there I'd vote for him
Hillary: more like Shillary; she rubs me up the wrong way
Trump: wtf America
Ted: ?? why is someone so religiously biased allowed to run for President
Jeb: get out no one likes the Bush dynasty