Saturday, June 05, 2004
Report cards and politics
Jacquie's report cards are due next week (for kids in Durham Region, nothing else matters for the rest of the school year -- stop thinking now *wink*), and she's been working on catching up with her marking for the past week or so. However, she has actually been staying at the school later on some nights, which is kind of cool. She's usually hopping in her car once the school buses have cleared out and she's home by around 3:30, making it difficult for me to concentrate on my own work.
Federal election crap continues. I've been doing some reading to find out what all the stances are. It's really odd that abortion has suddenly become such a major issue again. I thought we were over that, but I guess not. Me, I'm stuck in who to vote for. I like bits and pieces of the two main parties' platforms, but there are other things within both those platforms that make me feel ... icky.
On the subject of abortion, Paul Martin of the Liberals seems to want to push through right-to-choose legislation, which is something I'm all for. However, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives (a new party formed from the Progressive Conversatives and the Canadian Alliance) is pushing for an open vote on it. Harper's stance on it is smart politically. He's able to avoid giving his own opinion and push for a more democratic solution, something that has been going over well with a lot of people, as I understand it. However, the strong religious overtones from the old Canadian Alliance (previously known as the Reform Party) are still there, and I'd say it's fair to guess Harper and his party would fall on the right-to-life side of the issue. That's something that frightens me, as this is also Harper's way of dealing with the gay marriage issue. Abortion and homosexuality -- I can't believe these are still two major issues. I obviously fall into the pro-choice and pro-gay marriage areas, and I frankly think it's just wrong to have an opposite view on either of those issues. In this case, I just can't vote Conservative. I have to look toward the Liberals or even Jack Layton and the NDP (as a side note, this is the first time I've ever even considered voting NDP, as I typically don't like the party's social reforms and its affiliations with labour unions).
However, Harper is calling for the removal of the gun registration laws that came into effect under Jean Chretien. This is a very important area for me, as I've been a licensed hunter since I was fifteen years old, and being treated like a criminal just because I happen to have access to firearms annoys me to no end. The Liberals really pissed me off when they bent over and took in the ass from the anti-gun lobbyists. Hey, dumbshits, all you did was make more criminals, not fewer of them. One hell of a lot of people have adamantly refused to register the firearms they use for hunting. Gun legislation like this doesn't take the guns that are being used to kill people off the streets, you fucking idiots. Anyway, I doubt Martin is going to backtrack and get rid of the gun registration laws, so I find myself looking to Harper for this. Thankfully, Layton seems to be against the gun registration. I don't think he's said anything about repealing the law, but he has said he thinks there's a lot of money being wasted on it. However, he wants to continue to put some emphasis on gun control of the illegal firearms out there. Anyone who wants to quit bothering hunters is okay in my books.
In the marijuana issue, I'm all for decriminalizing it. This is something my parents and I vehemently disagree on. Everything I understand about the drug says it's no more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes. Harper is against decriminalizing it. Martin has said he wants to bring it back up for debate, and he's also said he supports the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana (I assume this means personal use). In this case, Layton kicks ass. Although he wants to introduce a "non-punitive education program," he's all for full decriminalization of the drug. I wonder if he was a hippy in his past life. He wants to restrict use and production of marijuana through regulations, not the Criminal Code. Cool. It would be nice to hear from someone other than the Marijuana Party about actually making the drug legal, but I can settle with decriminalization for now.
Taxes -- that's another important issue. Harper wants to reduce personal income tax. Martin says he wants to do so if the debt-to-GDP ratio improves, which I highly doubt will happen under a Liberal government. I'm not sure I understand Layton's stance on taxes. If I understand it correctly, it's a "more taxes for the rich" type of thing, but that's just a silly idea. If he taxes banks higher, that'll just filter down onto us poor sods again. No matter what, the average person is getting fucked. I'd really like to see my taxes reduced, but I don't know that anyone is actually going to do that. Governments have the tendency to like to hold onto tax money. Remember when one of Chretien's biggest promises a few years ago was to get rid of the GST? I've got two words to describe him: Lying motherfucker.
The CBC has a good pop-up window that lays it all down as to what the basic issues and platforms are. Check it out here.
In the riding in which I reside, I've only seen three different signs -- Liberal, Conservative and Green Party. I've heard the NDP have a candidate in my area, but I haven't seen a damn sign from him or her. Assuming there is an NDP candidate, I currently have four choices -- Liberal, Conversative, Green Party or NDP. I still have a few weeks to make up my mind. This is the first time I've ever seriously considered voting NDP, and it's also the first time I've ever considered just submitting an empty ballot.
Federal election crap continues. I've been doing some reading to find out what all the stances are. It's really odd that abortion has suddenly become such a major issue again. I thought we were over that, but I guess not. Me, I'm stuck in who to vote for. I like bits and pieces of the two main parties' platforms, but there are other things within both those platforms that make me feel ... icky.
On the subject of abortion, Paul Martin of the Liberals seems to want to push through right-to-choose legislation, which is something I'm all for. However, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives (a new party formed from the Progressive Conversatives and the Canadian Alliance) is pushing for an open vote on it. Harper's stance on it is smart politically. He's able to avoid giving his own opinion and push for a more democratic solution, something that has been going over well with a lot of people, as I understand it. However, the strong religious overtones from the old Canadian Alliance (previously known as the Reform Party) are still there, and I'd say it's fair to guess Harper and his party would fall on the right-to-life side of the issue. That's something that frightens me, as this is also Harper's way of dealing with the gay marriage issue. Abortion and homosexuality -- I can't believe these are still two major issues. I obviously fall into the pro-choice and pro-gay marriage areas, and I frankly think it's just wrong to have an opposite view on either of those issues. In this case, I just can't vote Conservative. I have to look toward the Liberals or even Jack Layton and the NDP (as a side note, this is the first time I've ever even considered voting NDP, as I typically don't like the party's social reforms and its affiliations with labour unions).
However, Harper is calling for the removal of the gun registration laws that came into effect under Jean Chretien. This is a very important area for me, as I've been a licensed hunter since I was fifteen years old, and being treated like a criminal just because I happen to have access to firearms annoys me to no end. The Liberals really pissed me off when they bent over and took in the ass from the anti-gun lobbyists. Hey, dumbshits, all you did was make more criminals, not fewer of them. One hell of a lot of people have adamantly refused to register the firearms they use for hunting. Gun legislation like this doesn't take the guns that are being used to kill people off the streets, you fucking idiots. Anyway, I doubt Martin is going to backtrack and get rid of the gun registration laws, so I find myself looking to Harper for this. Thankfully, Layton seems to be against the gun registration. I don't think he's said anything about repealing the law, but he has said he thinks there's a lot of money being wasted on it. However, he wants to continue to put some emphasis on gun control of the illegal firearms out there. Anyone who wants to quit bothering hunters is okay in my books.
In the marijuana issue, I'm all for decriminalizing it. This is something my parents and I vehemently disagree on. Everything I understand about the drug says it's no more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes. Harper is against decriminalizing it. Martin has said he wants to bring it back up for debate, and he's also said he supports the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana (I assume this means personal use). In this case, Layton kicks ass. Although he wants to introduce a "non-punitive education program," he's all for full decriminalization of the drug. I wonder if he was a hippy in his past life. He wants to restrict use and production of marijuana through regulations, not the Criminal Code. Cool. It would be nice to hear from someone other than the Marijuana Party about actually making the drug legal, but I can settle with decriminalization for now.
Taxes -- that's another important issue. Harper wants to reduce personal income tax. Martin says he wants to do so if the debt-to-GDP ratio improves, which I highly doubt will happen under a Liberal government. I'm not sure I understand Layton's stance on taxes. If I understand it correctly, it's a "more taxes for the rich" type of thing, but that's just a silly idea. If he taxes banks higher, that'll just filter down onto us poor sods again. No matter what, the average person is getting fucked. I'd really like to see my taxes reduced, but I don't know that anyone is actually going to do that. Governments have the tendency to like to hold onto tax money. Remember when one of Chretien's biggest promises a few years ago was to get rid of the GST? I've got two words to describe him: Lying motherfucker.
The CBC has a good pop-up window that lays it all down as to what the basic issues and platforms are. Check it out here.
In the riding in which I reside, I've only seen three different signs -- Liberal, Conservative and Green Party. I've heard the NDP have a candidate in my area, but I haven't seen a damn sign from him or her. Assuming there is an NDP candidate, I currently have four choices -- Liberal, Conversative, Green Party or NDP. I still have a few weeks to make up my mind. This is the first time I've ever seriously considered voting NDP, and it's also the first time I've ever considered just submitting an empty ballot.
// posted by Chris @ 1:49 PM 
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