Hi Charles, I think you left out three major issues here, which are:
1) the support of two wars and the effect these have on our economy, our reputation and influence in the world, the number of deaths involved, and the legal and human rights implications - for me this goes well beyond the issue of alliances
2) health care policy that has taken the US down the path to having a population whose health indicators are getting worse and worse with one of the highest health care costs per person in the world
3) the issue of weather warfare and geo-engineering, which is unregulated, dispersing toxic chemicals into environments around the world, and being deployed without public consent and with terrible effects on other species as well as the health of human populations.
So I am also including these critical factors in my voting calculus.
Thank Ellen. The idea was that you can customize the list, as long as the focus is on policy! Re. 1: I agree the wars are significant, but they cut across both parties so they do not offer a straightforward binary that maps to the voting options. 2) Our healthcare policies have been sub-optimal pretty much forever. We are the global technology leader in healthcare and medicine, yet have the worst outcomes of any industrial country, and also underperform some "emerging" markets as well. I don't see either party putting forth a coherent solution that has any chance of being enacted. But if you see it differently, by all means go for it!
Hi Charles, I think you left out three major issues here, which are:
1) the support of two wars and the effect these have on our economy, our reputation and influence in the world, the number of deaths involved, and the legal and human rights implications - for me this goes well beyond the issue of alliances
2) health care policy that has taken the US down the path to having a population whose health indicators are getting worse and worse with one of the highest health care costs per person in the world
3) the issue of weather warfare and geo-engineering, which is unregulated, dispersing toxic chemicals into environments around the world, and being deployed without public consent and with terrible effects on other species as well as the health of human populations.
So I am also including these critical factors in my voting calculus.
Thank Ellen. The idea was that you can customize the list, as long as the focus is on policy! Re. 1: I agree the wars are significant, but they cut across both parties so they do not offer a straightforward binary that maps to the voting options. 2) Our healthcare policies have been sub-optimal pretty much forever. We are the global technology leader in healthcare and medicine, yet have the worst outcomes of any industrial country, and also underperform some "emerging" markets as well. I don't see either party putting forth a coherent solution that has any chance of being enacted. But if you see it differently, by all means go for it!