Help Choose Final Bush/Kerry/Nader Youth Voter Questions 89
Quite a few of the submitted questions were generated by Slashdot readers, and your moderations and comments helped select the 25 semi-finalists. There's only one step remaining in the process: Voting on the the final 12 questions that will be submitted to the candidates, which must be done on the New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate site by noon Eastern Time on October 5. Note that Slashdot readers are the only members of the moderation panel providing "...nominations from an entire community." We'll post the answers from Bush, Kerry, and Nader (who was added after the process began) on October 12.
Kind of ironic.... (Score:5, Insightful)
when even the
Re:Kind of ironic.... (Score:2)
Re:Kind of ironic.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Kind of ironic.... (Score:1)
Re:Kind of ironic.... (Score:1)
Q: What will you do in Iraq?
Bush: We will be strong and free in supporting freedom from the terrorists for the good of all freedom and starting a free democracy in the middle east. Oh yeah, and I support the soldiers over there fighting the terrorists. Must fight terror. Terror Bad. Terror.
Kerry: Slightly more intelligently worded version of above.
Nader, Oh,
Re:Kind of ironic.... (Score:1)
Someone brought this Borowitz report to my attention
today. I think that it's true that the Republicans are
falling down on the job with regard to promoting
Nader.
To Republicans, I say:
running a few ads for Nader?
doing to get him on the ballot today?
you doing to get him elected today?
The Borowitz Report.com [borowitzreport.com]
.
Affordable healthcare (Score:5, Insightful)
If elected President, what would you do to make quality healthcare affordable to all Americans?
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Just out of curiosity, do you have a citation for this? I don't, but I'd guess that credit cards and predatory pay day lending have more to do with most bankruptcies than doctors' bills.
Having said that, I'm sure that medical bills do account for many bankruptcies, and (if in that situation) I don't blame the person for opting for bankruptcy.
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Spending on health care isn't the same as the cost of health care.
The difference is an important one.
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
The insurance CEO's new boat would be part of the cost, if that's what it took to get someone to run an insurance company. Most people don't work for free (maybe you do).
No. The difference between costs and spending is the difference between how much money it takes to purchase a particular treatment and how much money you actually spend on all treatments.
The costs in two different places mig
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
I would if I could figure out some way to get food, clothing, and shelter for free. I can't- so I feel FORCED into working for money. That beside the point- CEOs in our society are WAY overpaid for what little they actually do (all C-level executives are) and are definately not within the Platonic Free Market ideal (of no job being paid
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:1)
>any other job- for no man is
>more than 10x as productive as any other).
that is one of the biggest loads of crap that i have heard in awhile. where did you get that from, karl marx?
compare some ghetto-rat who does nothing but sit on his ass feeding off of society versus someone creative who is a benefactor for society: are you suggesting that this comparison cannot be quantified? that somehow all people are intrinsically of the same value and therefore des
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Nah, Marx is too modern for this idea- it came from Plato's The Republic. But I can't expect a neocon mammon worshiper to actually READ the classics.
compare some ghetto-rat who does nothing but sit on his ass feeding off of society versus someone creative who is a benefactor for society: are you suggesting that this comparison cannot be quantified?
No- I'm saying that there's no need for more t
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:1)
why stop at 10x the amount? what makes 10 so special?
you definition is just as arbitrary as mine.
i hate to tell you this, but why the heck would anyone take the risk and deal with the punishment required to start a company if all they could make was $235,000?!?!?
i guess it all comes down to whether you think that we are better off as a "work"-driven or "capital"-dri
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
It's the point that Plato in his thought experiments found didn't create undue inflationary pressure on basic needs items. It would clearly have to be tinkered with in today's society- we might find it should be 100, or even 1000, times minimum wage.
you definition is just as arbitrary as mine.
Yes and no- there is some very old mathematics backing it up- read Plato's Republic.
hate to tell you this, but why the heck would anyone take the risk and
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Second reply- there's a third option rapidly approaching, and that's the robot-driven society. It will be marked by 75-90% unemployment, because human labor will be not economically viable any longer AT ALL. I've got some other long term ideas for how to deal with this beyond minimum/maximum wages- and all of them include using the money gained from the maximum wage cap to produce food, c
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
I think this question is a little vague. The candidate could say something to the effect of, "I would protect medicare and ensure that all children under 18 have access to healthcare," and would answer the question without any specifics. We need to phrase it so that it's harder for them to worm their way around the question instead of showing that they have an actual plan.
Re:Affordable healthcare (Score:2)
Well, to some extent, this is fallout from the increasingly litigious society we live in. As more people sue their doctors, the doctors (and hospitals, and pharmacutical manufacturers) insurance costs increase. This cost is eventually passed back to the patient. Now, to raise the cash, the patient needs a lawsuit..
The Second Coming (Score:4, Interesting)
Please tell the young voters what your beliefs regarding the Second Coming are, and how those beliefs influence your choices on long-term policy matters such as energy, the environment, and foreign relations.
Re:The Second Coming (Score:1)
Re:The Second Coming (Score:2)
Re:The Second Coming (Score:5, Insightful)
When asked later why he went about his work, he replied, "Well if figured it was one of two things. If the Good Lord wasn't coming back then I didn't want to waste my time. But if the Good Lord was coming back, then I wanted Him to find me industrious instead of idle."
Believing in the second coming shouldn't have any effect on one's behavior towards the environment. A really good answer to your question would be, "If the Good Lord is coming back tomorrow, I want Him to find me to be a faithful steward of the Earth..."
Re:The Second Coming (Score:2)
Two things drive me nuts, and that is George Bush Christians, and the Liberals who confuse them for actual Christians.
Re:The Second Coming (Score:2)
10th Amendment (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:10th Amendment (Score:3, Insightful)
Such a question requires the asker, and those voting on the top 50, to actually understand balance, and the notion that there are some laws the federal government cannot pass, but the states can... and vice versa.
Until folks from coast to coast stop thinking of themselves as only as citizens of "America" and not citizens o
Re:10th Amendment (Score:1)
No Child Left Behind means that you don't get certain funds from the federal government, if you don't follow the attached rules. It has nothing to do with interfering with the soverignty of the states.
If you don't like it, don't follow it. You just won't get money from the federal government.
LK
Re:10th Amendment (Score:2)
Re:10th Amendment (Score:1)
States are able to dictate their own tax rates. If they need more money, they have the option of raising taxes. But, no one ever really wants that.
The grandparent poster's question is valid, your defense of Bush notwithstanding.
States have the choice to not take the money and not deal with the attached strings.
LK
Re:10th Amendment (Score:2)
Re:10th Amendment (Score:1)
The federal government is also subject to the same pressures. When it becomes too expensive to have a corporate HQ in the US, they have and will relocate to another country that is more friendly.
Is it too expensive to make VCRs here? Yes. They get made
What about the real Green Party nominee? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:What about the real Green Party nominee? (Score:3, Insightful)
2) The reform party has pulled more than 10% in two presidential elections and elected a governer, what have the greens done nationally?
No while the reform party has fallen on hardtimes it is currently on the ballot in as many states as the green, and while you (a) may not agree with them, or (b) think that because they will most likely get fewer votes than the greens (although they will get more) does not mean they should be ignored.
The reform party has bec
Only 12 questions? (Score:4, Funny)
Yet they only have to submit to 12 questions?
Jesus! A McDonalds application has more than 12 questions!
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:1)
I'm going to stab the next conservative I meet. I hope it's you! :P
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:1)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:1)
Why don't you asshats just go live in Iran where everyone is a braindead religious fanatic? This isn't the twelveth century.
You know what's really funny? You. :) I'd call you a homo, but I actually have a shred of respect for gay people and wouldn't want to insult them.
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:1)
return liberal_hatred();
}
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:1)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2)
But I like your code.
I thought those guys were supposed to be the "tolerant" ones.
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2, Interesting)
Neither candidate is proposing something to prevent the collapse of Social Secuirty, but at least Bush is talking about investing some of the Social Security payroll tax (i.e., the additional 15% income tax you and I will never see back) to help prolong it. All the Democrats want to do is back out on the original SS promise by means-testing payouts. Forcing me to invest a sixth of my salary for my retirement for an expected cumulative interest rate of 1-2% per annum su
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:3, Insightful)
Well since question #20 [slashdot.org] is mine, I'll give you my response.
Background:
We're talking about 73 trillion dollars here, to be spent over the next 50 years. Allowing for a bell curve, that means in about 15 years time we'll be heading for the sharpest increase in the curve.
Since congress never met a pork project it didn't like, both the Repbulicians and Democrates used Social Security to spend money that they didn't have, on the promiss that it would be paid back.
The problem
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2)
PS. I find your sig to be part of the problem with politics in general- too much 'Get the other guy' mentality.
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2)
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:2)
At the end of the day, SS is screwed and those of us who aren't retiring in next decade or two are screwed. It would just be nice to somehow modify (or get out of) a system we didn't agree to, won't benefit from and don't want to be in.
Re:Only 12 questions? (Score:1)
I knew this kind of immature ad hominem attack would be made by someone. Too bad you didn't at least try to make it funny.
which applicants? (Score:2)
I'm not entirely sure, but I assume you are referring to the MacDonald's applicants, right?
Coming Global Energy Crisis (Score:3, Insightful)
And have you stopped beating your wife? (Score:2)
Re:And have you stopped beating your wife? (Score:1)
What are these questions? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:What are these questions? (Score:1, Interesting)
Did you even consider that, or do you just automatically assume that anything that doesn't favor your guy is "biased"?
Re:What are these questions? (Score:1, Troll)
I wholeheartedly agree. We really need to be less partisan: it is just so unfair to ask questions which are aimed towards the strengths of John Kerry and the weaknesses of George W. Bush. For example, the question, "what is six plus seven?". That's just completely biased against W.
Damn liberals.
Re:What are these questions? (Score:2)
Perhaps the average young voter isn't neutral.
Why do I even bother reading the politics.slashdot section any longer?
Only you know the answer to that.
Re:What are these questions? (Score:1)
Still, I couldnt find ten I liked.
Re:interesting fact about the new voters project (Score:2, Insightful)
One of the articles claims that the New Voters being a registrant is bad because it can push its ideals on the voter as he registers. Even
Disenchantment with Politics? (Score:4, Insightful)
If so, in which ways do you consider partisanship the problem, and in what the ways the de-facto two party system.
What have you done, and do you to plan do to counteract this?
How do you think your political campaign affects the image of politicians in general?
Re:Disenchantment with Politics? (Score:2)
I was very let down (Score:1, Offtopic)
No question selecting for me. (Score:2)
Use:
We do not use any information collected for any purpose inconsistent with state or federal law, or for any purpose other than forwarding the goals of the New Voter Project.
Seems like dodging the issue to me...normally use of personal information is spelled out in some detail. Not to mention that political organ
A question that will never see air time (Score:3, Insightful)
Um... (Score:4, Insightful)
Clue in: We're not proposing new questions, and this *IS NOT* an Ask Slashdot. If you want your voice to have ANY chance of being heard go to the site (http://youthdebate.newvotersproject.org/) and vote for the questions you want to see answered by these candidates.
If y'all have INTELLIGENT comments to make, by all means make 'em, but quit baiting eachother with the usual republicrat false-posturing "A is a better choice than B because A stands for everything that B doesn't" crap, it's sickening.
Re:Um... (Score:2)
have you seen the questions? (Score:3, Informative)
16. Nearly 100 American media resources today are owned by only 5 corporations. [newvotersproject.org]While the Senate's overruling of the Federal Communications Commission's controversial 3-to-2 decision to further deregulate media ownership rules in June of 2003 is a source of encouragement, most Americans want more variety in their sources of news and entertainment. What will you do to ensure that Americans have accurate sources of information to base their democratic decisions on?
that is 100 times better of a question then the crap we saw the other night! I want to know how the candidate is going to fix things in MY country before worrying about someone elses!
11. Why won't the candidates address the difference between civil marriage and religious marriage? [newvotersproject.org] Do they recognize the significance that this demarcation holds as a stand against discrimination? Do they realize how their unwillingness to address this issue impacts every aspect of GLBT's (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender), and their families', lives? Are they aware that when political issues call civil rights into question that hate crimes rise exponentially?
I'm glad somebody is bringing up gay issues in the debate. This is important to Americans.