2008 Presidential Candidates

[challenge_everything]

Did you guys forget that a large part of the American economy is predicated on the cheap labour supplied by illegal immigrants? I think it's double standards to oppose assistance to illegal immigrants and put them down for being freeloaders, when on the other hand a lot of you make money, either directly or indirectly (through increased business profits) through their presence. That's not to mention the massive amounts of money US companies have made by exploiting people in latin and South America, which contributes to them wanting to leave those countries in the first place.

 

[The Ozzman]

I don't mind if they come really, but they need to learn English if they plan on staying for a while.

Paying taxes would be nice too.

Luckily, I speak a little Spanish, so it wouldn't be that hard for me to communicate if I needed to do so.

 

[challenge_everything]

Incidentally, that poll is a pile of crap. Full of loaded questions.

"What's the best way the government can get more people covered by health insurance?"

Presumes you WANT more people to be covered by health insurance

Pretty much all the questions are loaded in one way or another.

And really, who cares whether the future leader has served in the Senate, military, whatever.

I would vote for Kucinich.

 

[cookiecutter]

Presumes you WANT more people to be covered by health insurance

Does anyone NOT want more people to have health care?

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Illegal immigrants do not pay taxes; taxes create the services they thrive on by working for them for cheap. It's not right.

 

[challenge_everything]

Does anyone NOT want more people to have health care?

Possibly, but that's not the point. I'm just showing how the question presupposes the answer.

 

[cookiecutter]

Illegal immigrants do not pay taxes; taxes create the services they thrive on by working for them for cheap. It's not right.

That's why we make it easier for them to become citizens and therefore pay taxes and integrate into the country

 

[The Ozzman]

Universal health care won't work unless both sides of the coin (doctors and politicians) are cooperative. Seeing as how the views between the two is like night and day, it will never work.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

1. Kucinich
2. Gavel
3. Richardson

As much as I'd love to vote for Kucinich I am voting Hillary because at heart I am pragmatic and she has a chance. I am more liberal than any candidate though. My perfect candidate would be irreligious, create national healthcare like Canada, legalize and tax drugs, reform the education and criminal justice systems, but that will never ever happen .

I originally liked Ron Paul, but besides foreign policy I find him foolish. Abortion needs to stay legal, and home schooling is not something I view as a good thing. I also think it's foolish to lower taxes when we can't even pay for our current expenses.

+10

Did you guys forget that a large part of the American economy is predicated on the cheap labour supplied by illegal immigrants? I think it's double standards to oppose assistance to illegal immigrants and put them down for being freeloaders, when on the other hand a lot of you make money, either directly or indirectly (through increased business profits) through their presence. That's not to mention the massive amounts of money US companies have made by exploiting people in latin and South America, which contributes to them wanting to leave those countries in the first place.

+10

I don't mind if they come really, but they need to learn English if they plan on staying for a while.

Paying taxes would be nice too.

Luckily, I speak a little Spanish, so it wouldn't be that hard for me to communicate if I needed to do so.

Why should they learn english? Americans do not bother to learn other languages when they live abroad. I was born and bred in NY but my family is from Costa Rica and alot of Americans live in CR and most do not speak spanish. Most people from other countries particularly in Europe speak 3 or more languages. If english is spoken in another non-english country it is mainly to accomodate all the americans there who don't bother to learn their languages. So again why should immigrants here learn english? (Btw it is usually the parents who do not know english or very little english, their children do learn though and subsequent generations like with the italians/chinese/jews etc. of the past)....

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

That's why we make it easier for them to become citizens and therefore pay taxes and integrate into the country

Yes, that sounds good, but what do you propose, how will you fund it, and what happens to the immigrants we depend on to undercut everything now?

Why should they learn english?

You didn't really raise a relevant point which illustrates why immigrants coming to America should NOT learn English, you merely provided an example of Americans emigrating or otherwise ending up in other countries and not speaking the native language there. This country works (and is) a lot different than Costa Rica, by the way.

 

[The Ozzman]

Why should they learn english? Americans do not bother to learn other languages when they live abroad. I was born and bred in NY but my family is from Costa Rica and alot of Americans live in CR and most do not speak spanish. Most people from other countries particularly in Europe speak 3 or more languages. If english is spoken in another non-english country it is mainly to accomodate all the americans there who don't bother to learn their languages. So again why should immigrants here learn english? (Btw it is usually the parents who do not know english or very little english, their children do learn though and subsequent generations like with the italians/chinese/jews etc. of the past)....

They need to learn to speak English so that they can understand how I want my lawn landscaped.

Seriously though, I think knowing English should be a requirement for citizenship. Many other countries (Switzerland and Germany, for example) require anyone who wants to become a citizen to speak at least two languages, one being a national language (there are 4 national languages for Switzerland, for example)

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

That's why we make it easier for them to become citizens and therefore pay taxes and integrate into the country

+10 . Love your views. Same as mine. You should really run for Prez here. I would vote for ya. Canada as far as i see lately have better solutions for the same problems. Perhaps that is why their dollar is stronger then ours lately while the U.S. dollar is in the crapper lately compared to all currencies around the world. The major ones at least. Even models rather get paid in Euros then Dollars lol

Universal health care won't work unless both sides of the coin (doctors and politicians) are cooperative. Seeing as how the views between the two is like night and day, it will never work.

Has worked in other countries just might not work with ours because of greedy politicians and doctors.

 

[Valerie]

If english is spoken in another non-english country it is mainly to accomodate all the americans there who don't bother to learn their languages. So again why should immigrants here learn english? (Btw it is usually the parents who do not know english or very little english, their children do learn though and subsequent generations like with the italians/chinese/jews etc. of the past)....

Very untrue. English is spoken in many countries because it's mandatory learning in schools, because it's pretty much the de facto international language (which used to be French). And in case you didn't know, second languages in America are also high school graduation requirements, as well as college/university entrance requirements.

 

[cookiecutter]

EDIT: This was in response to V5

I'll let someone less ideological deal with that!

Seriously though, funding comes from taxes that we don't cut as well as the reduced cost of not deporting people and not building a giant fence (that totally worked in Berlin!). I really don't think we depend on exploiting illegal immigrants and the people doing the exploitation are just going to have to deal with paying people enough to survive on.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

They need to learn to speak English so that they can understand how I want my lawn landscaped.

Then learn their language you ugly lazy american!! jk

 

[The Ozzman]

Then learn their language you ugly lazy american!! jk

Read my other amendment to my post

Also, if you read my other posts (which you obviously didn't), I mentioned that I speak a little Spanish

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Very untrue. English is spoken in many countries because it's mandatory learning in schools, because it's pretty much the de facto international language (which used to be French). And in case you didn't know, second languages in America are also high school graduation requirements, as well as college/university entrance requirements.

It's not learned in many countries because it's mandatory in schools. It is learned because of economics. Is it mandatory in their schools? yes. Do they actually learn english from school? not really. Most people imo learn it due to their careers. As for it being the de facto international language. We'll that can change in the near forseeable future due to economics. Our dollar, economy etc. is going in the crapper and were bowing down to China like all other countries in so much so that China will be the biggest influence in the world and therefor it will be "mandatory" to learn Mandarin or any other emerging country. It could be the future "de facto" international language as English and French once were. Remember also the Chinese population around the world is also growing outside of China lately. Btw... Ni hao? ... Ni hao ma? (yes i like to study languages on my own but not because it is "mandatory", "requirement" or due to economics).

As for languages in our HS and colleges. Yes they are "mandatory" or are "requirements" but how many americans who do not have families that speak other languages do speak 2, 3 or more languages in the U.S. as compared to multi-lingual speakers in other countries excluding english? I would bet we fall way behind in that respect.

 

[challenge_everything]

They need to learn to speak English so that they can understand how I want my lawn landscaped.

Seriously though, I think knowing English should be a requirement for citizenship. Many other countries (Switzerland and Germany, for example) require anyone who wants to become a citizen to speak at least two languages, one being a national language (there are 4 national languages for Switzerland, for example)

No that's the kind of attitude that gives Americans bad reputations around the world. I've done lots of travelling and Americans are pretty much held in disdain by the many, many cultures and many, many fellow travellers, because they have little to no awareness or sensitivity to other cultures and expect things to be done the way they are in the US.

This attitude problem is part of a larger issue which shapes your foreign policy (cultural and economic imperialism) and it's this imposition that breeds resentment and fuels things like anti-American terrorism.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Read my other amendment to my post

Also, if you read my other posts (which you obviously didn't), I mentioned that I speak a little Spanish

I did read your post about speaking a "little" spanish. I speak it fluently pretty much. But those immigrants speak a "little" english. So your even. Also your "which you obviously didn't" comment was false. I just ignored what you said because you don't speak it fluently yet want others to. :Smug:

 

[Valerie]

Uh, they learn it because they're forced to in primary school. In case you don't know, primary school = elementary school in America. Thus, these are children that are being taught English, not adults who learn it in their career; they get a much earlier start on it which means it's easier to learn.