As a conservative, I feel that we need to:

Healthcare reform - limit insurance paperwork, eliminate nonsense lawsuits and limit liability in those cases where lawsuits are reasonable (because many of the awards are unreasonable), go after price gouging drug companies, allow insurance across state lines

Social Security reform - SS Tax paid on 90% of everyone's income because when first passed the SS Tax was applied to 90% of the total American income. Remove the SS Tax funds to their own account. Social Security should belong to the people collectively and not our government. The government may administer the program, but they should not take money from the program.

Children's Welfare reform - ease the process of adopting children (especially the financial burden upon prospective parents). Introduce 3 strike rule to parents who lose custody of children. In some cases no strikes should be assessed, but in cases of child abuse (severe abuse) 3 strikes should be assessed. A third strike would eliminate a parents right to their child. The child would no longer be theirs and if they want the child back, they would be forced to go through the adoption process. Deadbeat dads should have one year to try to be a part of the children's lives. After that if the mother permanently loses custody, then the children are eligible for adoption and the father should not be allowed to interfere in an ongoing adoption. Want to father children, be a part of their lives or live with the consequences of not acknowledging them when you should.

Welfare reform - welfare should be a contract. You agree to work to better yourself and we help you do it. Should you spend two years not meeting the standards of bettering yourself, then you are off of welfare permanently. I believe that we should do more for welfare recipients, but demand more from them too. It's time to break the cycle of poverty.

Education reform - repeal No Child Left Behind. Institute general testing for K - 5th grades and continue reading/literature/writing tests through the 12th grade. We don't need to test every year after 5th grade either, say 7th, 9th, and 11th grades you test them. Or maybe split some of the tests up. Oh and do whatever is within the power of the respective levels of government to kill the "Whole Language" method of learning to read. "Whole Language" created No Child Left Behind in President Bush and that's turned into a nightmare for schools. It was right to attempt to kill Whole Language but the execution was unconstitutionally cruel.

Defense Spending - end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as quickly as possible and then don't land troops in countries for a while. First of all, I think that, with Iraq and Afghanistan fought, we simply have no need to land troops in another country (invasion) for the forseeable future. Secondly, we just plain need a break from major invasions. Third, after the wars some DOD spending could be spread over a greater period of time. As to other defense spending concerns, I think we need to audit the DOD and where fat exists trim it. It may simply be a case of freezing DOD spending at current levels or maybe we'll be able to cut come.

Farm subsidies - let's not pay farmers to not plant acres. Instead we shoud identify a plant that can both rejuvinate the soil and provide a crop that could be donated to hungry people around the world. No subsidies for tobacco farmers (if any exist)

Pollution - CO2 credits and market should be created. Nuclear energy must be expanded. Wind energy should be put up whereever viable. Could we put wind turbines on top of some buildings? Solar panels everywhere! I heard of this one solar material that could be used like a roofing material. Increase fuel efficiency standards on cars. Oh and any future cash for clunkers deal should allow dealers to swap the "clunker" for an even worse car; that way the people who can afford new cars (whom frankly probably have pretty good cars) will take advantage of cash for clunkers and then the dealer can turn around and give that car to a less wealthy person who has a real clunker. The real clunker could then be killed and life is a lot better; not to say that I support another cash for clunkers, but if they did they could think it out a lot better.

Conserve water - lower sales tax on native plant materials. Plants native to the area will be better able to survive it and plants in and native to a desert environment will use less water. Local is beautiful people, do your landscaping accordingly. Governments should encourage better stewardship of the land. Educating people could do a lot of good.

that's it for now.

confirmed

Healthcare reform --> sounds reasonable; but also sounds like you want a reform of a ton of legal stuff, which i would also support...

Social Security reform --> government oversight of a NGO basically? sounds reasonable, as long as they don't go nuts with investing in random crap like some of those pension funds that manage to eliminate their own investments through stupidity

Children's Welfare reform --> err i don't know much on this subject, is that a big issue in the states?

Welfare reform --> i have no problem helping the unfortunate, but, as you said, you have to make it so they get off it eventually... term & limitations, i agree

Education reform --> definitely repeal No chlid left behind; if you fail, you get held back; increase funding, create upper bounds on class sizes, add funding if necessary to get them down; standardized testing is good, but yea, every year may not be necessary. However we should start teaching in schools that no-education jobs will continue to disappear at an every-increasing rate here, as no-education jobs will be shipped overseas. I would also Add a mandatory advanced class for any institutions large enough to support them; split children into the level they can learn at best, and target them better that way. We need to make sure the smartest can get ahead, while also making sure the slower students don't get neglected.

Defense Spending --> agreed, wars need to end; just having that many troops in a foreign country costs a ton;

Farm subsidies --> I think if you can't be successful as a farmer without subsidies, you shouldn't be farming whatever it is that you're farming. Farmers are often profitable if they have no subsidies, simply because they *have* to be. Throw some money at agricultural research instead perhaps yea.

Pollution --> definitely nuclear all the way. solar panels suck north of like california though; in Edmonton here, you'll *never* pay off your investment practically... just not enough watts/m^2 get to the ground. Cars should have their efficiencies increased for sure, but I think it's more important to get people to use LRT's and trains... and telecommute. Tax breaks for companies based on the %age of employees that *DON'T* drive to work.

conserve water --> as long as you have water leaving at the same rate as it comes in (assuming it's treated) then i don't see a problem with water usage; though i gather in the southern states it doesn't quite work like that... in Edmonton here at least we pump out about as much as we take in from the river. Southern alberta sometimes has a problem.... but lately they have too much water =/



One other thing I think important that you didn't bring up:

Space Funding & Exploration: So much technology was created during the space race; a very high amount of our knowledge about this world comes from NASA satellites pointed downwards. Plus it did wonders to bring the population together, striving towards some goal. NASA needs to be given a mandate to do something, one in which politicians are not allowed to interfere -- let the engineers decide what to build, and where, not some senator or congressman that thinks this plant in his district needs the work. Also funding should be pegged at 1% GDP. (which would be about 10x what they get now).

Or privatize NASA. Let companies invest in space and let your tax dollars go to something more worthwhile.

And if you're concerned about national security in space, then expand the role of Air Force Space Command.

Private companies will never throw the amount of money required at this; for example, a manned mission to mars. We probably could have done this already if money had continued to flow in after apollo and each new program hadn't been scaled back.

No company that I know of could afford to throw 100B or even 20B a year at a program that will not generate profits for the foreseeable future, but that would benefit the economy, benefit many other industries indirectly through the technology developed, &etc.

Exxon.

Just saying they could afford it (at 20B/year, not 100B/year).

I wouldn't have a problem with privatizing NASA if there were some provisio's like "no single person may be paid more than X" (be it $150k or what, to prevent stupid CEO/CTO BS packages), and "There must be a minimum ratio of 3 engineers & scientists : 1 manager"; and "Programs cannot be cancelled without a bloody good reason". And the government continued to give them money... to the tune of 20-100B a year

Exxon Mobil
Net income ▼US$19.28 billion (2009)[1]


Hm... so they could almost *Barely* afford to pay for NASA currently (17B currently). But not 100-150B or anything like that.

"I think state/provincial rights are all very well and good, but they make the law much more fragmented; I'd tend to lean towards a stronger federal government."

It really depends on which laws. The canadian system was set up like this 120 years ago where the division of powers as such made sense then. The intent was a strong federal government. However in a modern context the setup leaves very much to be desired.

It makes no sense that

1) labor laws can be drastically different from province to province. (It makes sense that minimum wage can be diferent)

2) natural resources are provincial

3) driving and alchohol laws are different except where it pertains to the criminal code. This can/does create all kinds of stupid issues

4) Agriculture and artificially generated internal trade barriers regarding food and electricity.

5) That "municipality" is really a branch of the provincial government. This is extremely problematic in this country and is a source of many ills. I don't like the fact that my democratically locally elected government can simply be vetoed or looted or impeded by the province based on the fact that that the party in power at the provincial level has no political stake in it. Also that it can be dissolved by the province for no reason.

On the other hand
-a unified criminal code makes a good deal of sense
-a unified pension scheme and regulatory (or lack thereof) makes sense.

~~~~~~~~~~
don't get me started on Alberta:P

As for myself I very strongly oppose the conservative party of Canada because they lack integrity and are anti-democratic. They also are bigger spenders than their predecessors and they are out and out wasting money on really really useless things. Don't get me started.

Education reform - place the blame where it really belongs, and that is with the parents. Have a tiered system like they do in many other places in the world. Take responsibility for your kids rather than blaming the kitchen sink. Stop abusing/blaming teachers and let them do their job and stop hiring "experts" that know nothing about education and have little practical experience. I wouldn't want my doctor to be dictated how to practice medicine by people who have little/no knowledge of medicine.

Drugs - legalize them and stop wasting money (my tax dollars) fighting a losing battle and using it as a reason to beef up the police force. The crime rate here is falling and has been for the past 20 years. This is a good thing.

Privatization - is not a panacea for all ills. I agree with it in many cases but only if done in a way that generates competition. If you are simply going to create a private monopoly you are in fact making things worse. Oddly canada has less government control over many things than the US does.

Farm subsidies - the problem is that all you global competition does it. If you don't you lose your food production which is somewhat bad. This is actually a global issue and it does a lot of damage. tbh I think it should end across the board however the EU and the US govt will never let that happen

Gay marriage - if you don't like gay marriage, don't have one.

Abortion - personal views aside, advocating the government to have an anti-abortion stance is very hypocritical. Even when they were illegal in the US, if you were rich/had influence you could get them. If you were poor it was coat hanger or you were SOL. Honestly this is an issue where the government shouldn't be involved.

Tort reform - oh boy.. you can't do this without upsetting the legal community. But seriously damages should be limited to actual monetary losses. Also the rise of SLAPP suits is somewhat disturbing.

Conserve water - screw that. If you want to run something in an arid area then find your own damn water and don't steal everyone elses:P Ok.. not letting people pollute the water supply is a good thing though.
Then again I'm biased because of where I live :P

Pollution - sadly cap and trade is probably the easiest solution in spite of the massive opposition to that.

fluff - is life

and if you are a private corporation, no money for u:P

ps. giving selective tax breaks to individual corporations is effectively the same as government spending in the private sector.

Welfare reform -
somewhat controversial but
really you need to distinguish these people into two groups
1) people who are able to work but don't have jobs
2) people who really cannot work due to debilitating conditions.

the people in (2) should be looked after somehow

1) yes. Train them or have them fix the roads or public works projects. Or conscript them:P

I'm all for putting them to work cleaing up trash off of the highway or city owned parks etc... to earn their unemployment check. At least make them do that four hours a day and they can be excused if they actually have a job interview.

i agree with you to an extent. but you have to consider that not ALL people on unemployment can afford to do that. you have to take into account people who dont make enough from unemployment versus what they made at thier previous job.

example. jim has 2 kids, prior to getting laid off was making $1000/wk and had both kids in daycare @ 200/wk per kid. now jim only gets $580/wk on unemployment (max benefit you can recieve from unemployment although could vary by state, im unsure). how is he going to afford to still send his kids to daycare so he can go fix the roads to earn his unemployment?

but now that unemployment has been extended to 99 weeks, this is giving people on unemployment a good reason to not find a job, assuming they can live off what they are recieving.

you really wanna talk about something that needs work its the welfare system. how many of you think that people on welfare should be drug tested?

They'll have to figure out what to do with their kids just like parents who dont make 1000 a week in the first place do. Seriously the whininess of people is getting to a ridiculous level. People have been taking care of their kids while working for thousands of years, you'll figure it out.

Absolutely, Pain. ALL recipients of state assistance should be drug tested and agree to be checked at random as well. If ya pop dirty...3 months without any benefits except for Medicaid for their children. If ya pop dirty a 2nd time, you're cut off for a year. A third time, cut off for life. And I believe that's generous.

yea it doesnt exactly work like that. but im assuming you have no kids and/or have never been laid off to understand the concept.

ive personally never collected unemployment and i dont have kids so my opinion is 100% unbiased.

"Originally posted by GorGo:
The conservitives say they are against bigger government and taxes.... But they are pro big business and tax breaks for THEM! They cut the budjet by cutting programs to help the poor, unfirm and children! The close schools and librarys and fire teachers.... They give tax breaks to rich people to send their kids to a school so they don't have to pass a metal detector to get to school or have lockdowns and locker searchers without a warrent.... Public schools are run like prisons now and the private ones like spas.... Anyone that makes less than 120k a year and votes republican can't see though the propagana and will vote our county into a dicatorship.... They talk freedom and democacy and continue to take away our rights to fight terror... They invade other countys and think that killing women and children with a remote controlled plane is "acceptible" ....

If you believe any of this makes the Republicans worse than the Democrats, then you are really naive. Both parties are completely out of touch. Both parties cater to corporations and the rich. The poor can't hire lobbyists or support reelection PAC's. "

I wasn't defending either party, I am now "not affiliated" I don't belong to one. But we now have a prez that has at least tried to get us a good heath bill... He can't help what happened to it. The other day he signed the financial bill and during the last week a federal grand jury was formed to press charges against Goldman Sachs. But main thing is our government hasn't made any new laws to "protect" us with illegal wire taps and searchs except the 100% republican lawmakers in Arizona that passed a law to detain people that "looked" like illegal aliens.