Saturday, September 24, 2016

YOUNG PEOPLE BEWARE.

blog_gary_johnson

According to the latest New York Times poll, Gary Johnson is supported by 26 percent of young voters.
Here are, in my opinion, the questionable points of his platform:
  • He supports the TTP.
  • He supports fracking.
  • He likes Citizen's United.
  • He doesn't want to raise the minimum wage AT ALL.
  • He opposes any measure that  will make college more affordable or help student debt. He thinks student loans should be abolished completely.
  • He favors a balanced-budget amendment and has previously suggested that he would slash federal spending 43 percent in order to balance the budget. This would require massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and social welfare programs of all kinds.
  • He opposes net neutrality.
  • He wants to increase the Social Security retirement age to 75 and he's open to privatization.
  • He opposes any kind of national health care and wants to repeal Obamacare.
  • He opposes practically all forms of gun control.
  • He opposes any kind of paid maternity or medical leave.
  • He supported the Keystone XL pipeline.
  • He opposes any government action to address climate change.
  • He wants to cut the corporate tax rate to zero.
  • He appears to believe that we should reduce financial regulation. All we need to do is allow big banks to fail and everything will be OK.
  • He wants to remove the Fed's mandate to maximize employment and has spoken favorably of returning to the gold standard.
  • He wants to block-grant Medicare and turn it over to the states.
  • He wants to repeal the 16th Amendment and eliminate the income tax, the payroll tax, and the estate tax. He would replace it with a 28 percent FairTax that exempts the poor. This is equivalent to a 39 percent sales tax, and it would almost certainly represent a large tax cut for the rich.
  • Okay, so he supports legalizing marijuana.
  • He's good on civil liberties and wants to cut way back on overseas military interventions.
  • He's moderate on immigration.
  • He supports gay rights and a woman's right to choose.
It would disenfranchise young people in more ways than it would help improve their lives. Do they not realize that positions like his have a negative affect on their lives?  People often vote against their own best interests.

Information came from Kevin Drum, who is a political writer for Mother Jones, a non-profit magazine. You can catch him on-line on FB and other venues.
 

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