Originally Posted by
phillies
Hello,
I am a long time lurker on this forum, which has served as a very valuable resource into knowledge of the campaign and liberty movement in general. Now that Rand has suspended his campaign, I took a second look over the remaining candidates and their stances on the issues that are the most significant to myself. Ultimately, I would love to push for Gary Johnson, but with our experience with Ron Paul on the libertarian ticket, I know the chances are extremely slim that he will gain traction, especially with the importance on this election and the state of our country. I feel my efforts would be better served with a candidate that has a serious chance to get into office.
With my research I have found that none of the Republican hopefuls on the ballet will produce any change. Out of the top three candidates from Iowa: Ted Cruz is bought up by major institutions like Goldman Sachs and has little respect among congress or the senate. Trump talks big game, but ultimately has no experience in the role of POTUS and provides little details into how he will 'make America great again'. Rubio is the same as Cruz with his relationship with special interest and has admitted his plans of expanding our foreign policy. Like many in this community, I am seeking a candidate that is for limiting our role abroad, improving our civil liberties/privacy, cracking down on the corrupt banking system/wall street, auditing the fed, standing up for the constitution, limiting gun control toward closing obvious loop holes, ending the drug war as well as someone who has a consistent voting record. Although I see the Republican candidates trying to address these issues, it is hard to trust what they say because I feel they are empty promises to gain independent & libertarian votes.
The one candidate that addresses a majority of these issues, has a passionate grass roots effort similar to Ron Paul's previous presidential bids and has been incredibly consistent for decades is Bernie Sanders. However, when I read through the threads and comments on this forum, there is a very deep hatred for the Bernie. I understand the where the concerns come from with him 'limiting' capitalism as a result of implementing some of his ideas and the possibility of him increasing the governments role. But after deep consideration, I am not sure that his presidency would do this more then what any of the Republican candidates would.
Just to mention a few high points of Bernie Sanders views:
-He is against the Patriot Act. "We will not destroy ISIS by undermining the Constitution and our religious freedoms"
-He is for revamping our justice system. "We're spending $80 billion locking people up - disproportionately Latino and African Americans. We need, very, clearly major reform in a broken criminal justice system from top to bottom." "We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration."
-He is for ending the NSA phone surveillance program. "virtually every telephone call in this country ends up in a file at the NSA, that is unacceptable to me."
-He is against the TPP (Trans Pacific Trade Agreement). "The TPP is a disastrous trade agreement designed to protect the interests of the largest multi-national corporations at the expense of workers, consumers, the environment and the foundations of American democracy."
-He is against our current foreign policy strategies. "The tests of a great and powerful nation is not how many wars it can engage in, but how it can resolve international conflicts in a peaceful matter. I will move away from a policy of unilateral military action and regime change, and toward a policy of emphasizing diplomacy, and ensuring to go to war is a last resort." "With the third largest military budget in the world and an army far larger than ISIS, the Saudi government must accept its full responsibility for stability in their own region of the world."
-He voted against the war in Iraq.....3 times. "Yes, we could get rid of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, but that destabilized the entire region."
-He has mentioned he is "not a great fan" of Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Am I missing something here? Or is this a fear of voting for a democrat? It seems like these talking points fall very similarly in line with Rand Paul and the opposite of many Republican hopefuls. We all know that both parties, Republicans and Democrats are the same party so this is not an issue of picking the lesser of 2 evils, it is simply lining up all the candidates, their views and how they line up with Rand Paul and the liberty movement as a whole.
If someone can please fill me in on what I am missing and your thoughts on Bernie Sanders VS any other remaining Republican candidate I would greatly appreciate it...
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