On What Issue(s) Do You Agree With The Other Side?

For the vast majority of my posts I am either agreeing with my fellow liberals or debating against conservatives. However, that does not mean I always disagree with the conservatives. As a liberal with a libertarian bent, I am a proponent of decentralized power. This doesn’t mean I want governments weakened against corporate control, only that I think citizens are generally more trusting of their local and state governments than they are of a centralized system ruling over 300 million. If citizens felt more like government was ‘the People’ rather than some nefarious outside entity then our energy could be better focused on seeking solutions rather than fighting each other. Also, different regions hold different values. Can’t help but wonder if this country would be better split up into 4 or 5 different nations, considering the differences in values.

So, on what issues do you agree with the other side of the political spectrum?

Ugh, how do I edit a thread title?

Geoist said:

Ugh, how do I edit a thread title?

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Ask a mod to do it. You can't.

Geoist said:

For the vast majority of my posts I am either agreeing with my fellow liberals or debating against conservatives. However, that does not mean I always disagree with the conservatives. As a liberal with a libertarian bent, I am a proponent of decentralized power. This doesn’t mean I want governments weakened against corporate control, only that I think citizens are generally more trusting of their local and state governments than they are of a centralized system ruling over 300 million. If citizens felt more like government was ‘the People’ rather than some nefarious outside entity then our energy could be better focused on seeking solutions rather than fighting each other. Also, different regions hold different values. Can’t help but wonder if this country would be better split up into 4 or 5 different nations, considering the differences in values.

So, on what issues do you agree with the other side of the political spectrum?

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Partition is looking more and more inevitable...

Could a mod edit the title to include ‘the other side’? Thanks.

Single payer option. Anything that furthers competition is fine by me. '


If it were 20 years ago, there would be a lot more I would agree with Dems about but since they've gone full throttle Commie, there's unfortunately little room to have serious conversations.

The biggest thing dividing left and right at the moment is free healthcare.

I don't favor free healthcare because the government will screw it up. Look at VA healthcare. Sometimes the VA does okay and other times they completely screw it up. You're gambling every time you use it.

We really like out health savings program were me and my employer both contribute to a health savings account and I can draw from it for health related issues. Why can't something like this that works be expanded instead of giving us a trillions of dollars a year program that's an experiment at best?

:thinking: ....thinking.....still thinking

I'll get back to this question after I come up with something

Don't really have a "side" since I'm independent, but here's what I believe that fits something from both "sides" (I think):
* Free trade (with some caveats, such as addressing dumping, etc.)
* Low taxes in concert with a smaller government
* Right for two adults to marry no matter their sex or orientation
* Tackling climate change
* Right to own certain firearms for personal protection, hunting, and leisure
* Freedom of speech but not freedom from the consequences of exercising certain speech
* Decriminalizing drugs such as marijuana
* Effective criminal justice reform
* Pulling back our presence around the world, militarily (stop empire building and/or policing people of other nations)

That's a start of a list anyway...

My politics are quite mixed.

hard line on immigration.
Pro choice
Fiscal conservative
Pro gun control
Small government advocate

In answer to the specific question asked in the OP: 'So, on what issues do you agree with the other side of the political spectrum?', I'll pick a side to comment on, though I don't consider myself as one side or t'other.

I agree with the conservatives that we should begin reducing the national debt. I also agree, in keeping with conservative's views of themselves, that we should not mooch from the government by putting the cost on the tab.

So, I would cheer them on if they 'man up' and start paying for the government services we receive. That means increasing taxes to cover the deficit, plus a bit more to begin the reduction of the national debt.

Geoist said:

For the vast majority of my posts I am either agreeing with my fellow liberals or debating against conservatives. However, that does not mean I always disagree with the conservatives. As a liberal with a libertarian bent, I am a proponent of decentralized power. This doesn’t mean I want governments weakened against corporate control, only that I think citizens are generally more trusting of their local and state governments than they are of a centralized system ruling over 300 million. If citizens felt more like government was ‘the People’ rather than some nefarious outside entity then our energy could be better focused on seeking solutions rather than fighting each other. Also, different regions hold different values. Can’t help but wonder if this country would be better split up into 4 or 5 different nations, considering the differences in values.

So, on what issues do you agree with the other side of the political spectrum?

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English.
Things like requiring at least SOME basic English proficiency for new arrivals.
Hey, it's only fair. Most countries require that you at least be able to stumble along at a rudimentary level in at least one of their dominant languages.
English is the dominant and primary language in the USA and we HAVE to be able to understand each other at least on a rudimentary level.

Guns.
Banning specific gun models or types will not be effective. Point to numbers all you like but the fact is, there are literally MILLIONS of every kind of gun ever made out there. FOUR HUNDRED MILLION of them.
You can ban ALL guns and there will STILL be four hundred million guns in private hands in this country.
It is mathematically and logistically impossible to get rid of that many guns without bankrupting ourselves because the cost of paying enough people to actually enforce such a thing is unimaginable and incomprehensible, the figure would be that large.

We need to better enforce laws which are already on the books and do a better job checking out prospective gun buyers and owners.
We need to heal the systemic issues in our society that make violence worse. We need an all hands on deck effort in those areas.
Our society, and the global society, is very sick, and in the end it can be guns, or it can be bombs, vehicles, chemical attacks, biological attacks, it can be a lot of things, because the sickest people in our sick societies WILL find a way to act out regardless of whether guns are available or not.

Abortion.
Beyond twenty weeks, unless a birth defect is profound, or the life of the mother is in jeopardy, I support a ban on abortions after twenty weeks.

Trade.
I cannot stomach Donald Trump but aside from him, I do and have in the past, supported a good number of conservative positions on trade.

By the way, I may be wrong on this but I believe the conservative position with regard to splitting up the country is in opposition to such an idea.

Torus34 said:

I agree with the conservatives that we should begin reducing the national debt.

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I was going to say the same thing, and more generally, that I am "fiscally conservative", but I now realize this is a myth that conservatives want to reduce national debt any more than liberals do.

I am also pro-death-penalty but again, despite some circles thinking this is a republican side issue, apparently more liberals and dems are pro death penalty than not (though not to same degree as conservatives). (At least, as of 2004).

I don't support illegal immigration, but I don't think most liberals do either.

Geoist said:

Could a mod edit the title to include ‘the other side’? Thanks.

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Got it.

From my perspective there are three sides of relevancy - liberal/progressive, alt-paleo conservative, and Reagan-Goldwater heritage conservativism. I consider myself a member of the last side and have almost no views shared with the others that are contrary to the typical beliefs of the side that I identify with.

However, there are at least some nuances I don't share with my peers:

First, I have strong legal but not moral views regarding abortion.

Second, I have VERY strong views and feelings on judicial issues on procedures and protections for those accused and convicted of crimes. In particular regarding prosecutions, punishment, and determinations of innocence. These concerns more closely align with the now out-dated liberal views of the 1960s (no longer of major concern to liberal-progressives of the 21st century).

Third, I have a sensitivity to issues regarding conservation (as opposed to environmentalism) and, for example, see the utility to removing some dams and restoring habitats.

Last, I don't have the antipathy to public school teachers and unions that many have, and don't view charter schools as a panacea to far more intractable problems.

PS I am also an agnostic.

Slavister said:

I was going to say the same thing, and more generally, that I am "fiscally conservative", but I now realize this is a myth that conservatives want to reduce national debt any more than liberals do.

I am also pro-death-penalty but again, despite some circles thinking this is a republican side issue, apparently more liberals and dems are pro death penalty than not (though not to same degree as conservatives). (At least, as of 2004).

I don't support illegal immigration, but I don't think most liberals do either.

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I definitely do not support illegal immigration but the one thing that Republicans had the power to do, but didn't, was REFORM the LEGAL immigration system so that more people would be not only willing, but ABLE TO consider applying to come here legally.
In fact, Trump has done everything he could to even limit LEGAL immigration, with the result being EVEN MORE people just automatically decide to come here illegally.

I would even consider a MERIT based legal immigration system, if it actually WORKED.
We can HAVE a workable merit based system if we want it badly enough.

Truth: The ONLY thing Trump wants is to ACT LIKE there's too many illegals WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY GUARANTEEING even MORE illegals, so that his cronies in the private detention center industry can make a fortune.

NOBODY WHO SUPPORTS PRIVATELY RUN FOR PROFIT IMMIGRANT DETENTION can possibly claim that they want to stop illegal immigration, because illegal immigration is their bread and butter.

Like Kurtwood Smith says in the movie "Flashpoint"

"Think about it, whiz kid...your ****ing JOB depends on those wetbacks. And if we didn't have 'em, we'd INVENT 'em."

Kurtwood Smith - "the law of supply and demand"

So, put in a WORKING legal immigration system fer chrissakes. You want merit based applications? Fine, we'll make it a merit based system then.
But actually DO IT, make it happen...this is how much it costs, this is what you have to have, this is how much schooling you need, this is the language you need to learn, this is how you go about it, this is how long it will take, and these are the rules you have to follow and this is the test you have to take.
Fine, all fine and dandy but do it...just do it and create a system that is reasonable enough that a significant number of foreigners actually try to give it a shot.

And make it stick for longer than one presidential term for God's sake. Once we HAVE such a system - - KEEP IT.

I'm still going to agree with the right on the death penalty (I'm in favor of it most of the time) and low spending/small government, although they don't seem to have that in their platform anymore.

swing_voter said:

The biggest thing dividing left and right at the moment is free healthcare.

I don't favor free healthcare because the government will screw it up. Look at VA healthcare. Sometimes the VA does okay and other times they completely screw it up. You're gambling every time you use it.

We really like out health savings program were me and my employer both contribute to a health savings account and I can draw from it for health related issues. Why can't something like this that works be expanded instead of giving us a trillions of dollars a year program that's an experiment at best?

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Single-payer isn't free. Medicare isn't free. It is only free at the time of service. I don't know of anyone who is suggesting that a single-payer system be set up like the VA.

Do you not understand that your employer would also contribute to a single pater system ot didn't anyone bother to mention that very obvious fact? Why would you continue to pay for private for-net-profit health insurance iof we had a single-payer system?

Checkerboard Strangler said:

By the way, I may be wrong on this but I believe the conservative position with regard to splitting up the country is in opposition to such an idea.

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I suppose it depends on the conservative. In the past most conservatives would have been against it, but nowadays I hear more talk about secession from that side than the liberal side. It kind of goes with their ideas of 'small government.'