What´s your MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE?

[Angela Shelley]

In your honest opinion, please.

Which "issue" is the one which has crawled under your skin, which "issue" keeps you awake at night, which headline are you waiting for?

What bothers me the most: Military Torture Facilities outside of the USA

(edited for spelling)

[laylah]

1. For me,

it is the economy. If it gets much worse, I will definitely be living in my van and that scares the bejesus out of me. There are many other important issues but, unfortunately, my financial safety is first and foremost in MY mind.

A belated welcome to DU.

[screembloodymurder]

2. Patriot Act Repealed!

Bush/Cheney Await Sentencing.

[Echo In Light]

24. Precisely! Abolish the police state infrastructure, and impeach n/t

[ulysses]

3. there are 15 or 20.

[Angela Shelley]

6. Go ahead, give us just one of them

and then we´ll leave you alone for a while

[ulysses]

8. education.

And I wouldn't be on DU if I wanted to be left alone. :)

[Angela Shelley]

10. Now that comment made me laugh

thanks!

[ulysses]

12. my only point was

that I think we do narrow our focus too much at times. Unless we find our way to a more comprehensive approach, they'll keep nickle and diming us to death. "If it's Tuesday, it must be abortion."

[blondeatlast]

76. Wow--how'd you narrow it down? It's killing me!

:rofl:

[emanymton]

4. Torture

.
Torture by USA within USA and without. Torture is as mainstream USA value as there is. USA _does NOT_ torture.

How did it get to the point the people in government ever thought it was an American value to torture?!

(Go ahead someone try to parse the issue of torture.)

[Angela Shelley]

5. Why I said "outside"

was because if they would stop "outside" torture, that would be a small first step.

[emanymton]

9. Welcome To DU. - Torture Is One Issue That Can Break My Vote.

[bluestateguy]

7. Health care

but I am not a single issue voter.

[PDittie]

20. Likewise n/t

[kineneb]

67. single-payer universal healthcare

so other folks won't have to go broke and bankrupt to get healthcare.

[pdxmom]

11. The loss of our rights. I'm not a single issue voter, either, but the thing

that keeps me up at night is how our Constitution has been attacked and eroded under this administration and the road that is taking us down.

[Angela Shelley]

14. Have you read the book

"The End of America"?

I understand your issue. I wonder what we´ll be writing a year from now ??

[KharmaTrain]

13. Management Skills

Whomever takes over on 1-20-09 will have major messes everywhere to clean up. There's not just Iraq (very, very important), but also our ruined State Department, depressed economy, health care, education and the politicization of virtually every branch of the government. While I'd love someone who could make every Progressive wish come true, this job calls for someone who can deal with these problems and work with the "establishment" to get things done. A strong Democratic wave in the elections can give the President some breathing room to achive a lot of things but this person must be able to not only reach across and work with moderate Repugnicans (marginalize the far right wing) and also with the various factions of the Democratic party.

[ThomWV]

15. IMPEACHMENT. Nothing else happens without it.

[Angela Shelley]

18. Would impeachment be enough "shock"?

Or would "Mr. Next in line" just get back to business?

[ThomWV]

22. Yes, I think it would have a deterrent effect on future criminals who occupy the White House

[NorthernSpy]

16. the prospect of genocide...

America is in decline, and it's anyone's guess how far we'll fall. I fear that certain minority groups will end up getting scapegoated. And I fear that under certain circumstances, this could develop into ethnic cleansing.

[demnan]

17. Impeachment

impeach them both now - or face the consequences. Unprovoked wars, Habeas Corpus, torture, illegal wiretapping all these issues demand impeachment.

[RDANGELO]

19. Halting imperialism.

Stopping the US from being an imperialist nation. It is immoral and will eventually lead to WWIII.

[H2O Man]

21. The war policies.

Just as the war in Vietnam was at the intersection of the most urgent of social/political problems in the 1960s & 70s, the war in Iraq is at the center of the majority of our problems today.

The executive office's unconstitutional grab of power is rooted in the war. The primary reason to impeach Cheney (and Bush) comes from the lies that led to the war, and the abuses of power of their offices to punish those who question their lies. The Patriot Act and the torture policies are connected to the Bush war policies.

LBJ told his closest friends that he was angry that he could not fund his Great Society programs at home because of "that bitch of a war." When we consider the price tag for the war, it should be obvious why domestic programs are not getting the funding they require. The most obvious example is that the veterans returning from Iraq/Afghanistan are finding the government is not invested in meeting their health-care needs.

In the days after 9/11, this country had the respect and support of the global community. Today, we are more hated than at any other time in our nation's history. We are regarded as was Rome or Great Britain or any other empire.

Our inability to focus on issues ranging from the environmental crisis to the energy crisis to poverty and disease is also a result of the war policy of the ruling class of this empire.

[natrat]

23. corrupt vichy democrats-ried pelosi harmon basically 80% of them

[Telly Savalas]

25. I'm torn

It's a toss-up between deconstructing the myths of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special or discouraging people to buy things when they are on sale.

[sam sarrha]

26. stopping Chaney's wet brain alcoholic puppet from attacking Iran

[MissDeeds]

27. Two are tied for first place

For me, ending this illegal, unnecessary, murderous war in/on Iraq is first. The impeachment of Bush and Cheney is second.

Along with all that, restoring the Constitution would be nice.

[HughBeaumont]

28. Stopping unbridled corporatism on ALL fronts.

You want the root of almost all large-scale problems we face today, there you have it. Economy. War. Wealth inequality. Health care. Election fraud. No accountability. Waste. Consumption. Environmental destruction. Media with a Republican, pro-corporate message. All education issues. Mainstream culture that gets more vapid and empty-headed by the year.

It all comes back to unbridled corporatism. We have a government dictated by the corporations, for the corporations that benefits solely the wealthy that run them and that shit has to stop at ONCE.

[Vinca]

29. Healthcare, healthcare, healthcare.

It literally keeps me awake at night because I can't afford it and I have a painful torn muscle in my leg. I don't know how this country expects its citizens to be productive and happy when 47 million (probably a low number) don't know if they'll be dead or alive if illness strikes and the rest worry about losing their homes from uncovered medical bills.

[porphyrian]

30. Representation.

I'm sick and tired of having to choose who I hate less to vote for. I want to vote FOR someone. And now, thanks to the Florida and National Democratic parties, my primary vote won't matter at all. If my civic participation doesn't matter to the powers that be beyond my ability to give them money then I say we trash the whole fucking system and fire all of them, but that may just be the anger at being disenfranchised along with every other Democrat in Florida talking.

[rndmprsn]

31. IMPEACHMENT - CONVICTION - HAND OVER TO THE HAUGE

dimson and cheney..

[NuttyFluffers]

32. Love. oh shit, no, wait! um, i guess i'll settle for the Constitution?

yeah, i think i'll go with that for now. i got kinda attached to that piece of paper (something to do with a bit of my #1 issue).

[madokie]

33. what bothers me most is all the killing for oil going on in Iraq

if its not killing for oil then please someone explain to me what it is, bloodletting is bloodletting, dieing is permanent. All the other issues take a back burner with me I want the killing to stop, now not next month or next year, just stop it now.

[rug]

34. Pearls or diamonds.

[Toots]

35. Accountability

No more nor no less...Hold the bastards accountable no matter what Party they belong.

[dysfunctional press]

36. income disparity

nt

[trotsky]

94. Seconded.

So many of our problems flow from it.

[slackmaster]

37. Energy independence and development of renewable energy sources

Call it "energy policy". Our dependence on foreign oil is the root of many of our worst problems.

[treestar]

38. Getting rid of imperialism and the Patriot Act

And then turning attention to the economy and healthcare - having the nation be about us again and not about running the rest of the world.

[11 Bravo]

39. Judges

Another repuke provided an opportunity to pack the bench with lifetime appointments for more of the likes of which Bush has already given us, just plain scares the shit out of me.

[MedleyMisty]

40. Hmm - maybe corporate personhood

I think most things I have a problem with stem from all-powerful corporations.

[WilliamPitt]

41. Winning.

Sorry.

[tuckessee]

42. The Police State/Rampant Militarism/the Drug War/War in Iraq

There are only two candidates out there who address this issue, one from each party, and they are dismissed as anti-American loons by the Yellow Dogs & MSM.

[lame54]

43. The Dem's complacency - and this REALLY pisses me off...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hr8k8WHTzN0

[Kip Humphrey]

44. Regaining the integrity of our votes - without which all else is FUTILE!

Followed closely by:

• holding a national citizens tribunal to hold those responsible for destroying our Democracy (it can't EVER happen again!)
  
  
• Expanding libel laws to outlaw the use of modern psychological manipulation techniques that target individuals or groups of individuals to the benefit of the perpetrator(s) at the expense of the interests of those individuals or groups so targeted
  
  
• outlawing unilateral, pre-emptive war, and criminalizing the manufacture and use of depleted uranium and nuclear weapons
  
  
• replacing the march to American world empire with Kucinich's Dept. of Peace model
  
  
• re-establishing the sanctity of human and civil rights in America, establishing a model for a global Declaration of Human and Civil Rights that becomes the basis for all bilateral trade agreements and all diplomatic missions
  
  
• replacing corporate person-hood with a decentralized, distributed capitalism model based on social accountability/responsibility and worker-based/investor-based (with mandatory ownership constraints of 51% min. worker/49% max. investor ownership) prosperity sharing though annual dividend distribution
  
  
• replacing the fossil fuel economy with a decentralized hydrogen/solar/wind/wave energy-driven economy
  and saving the planet from mankind's destruction of same
  
  
• replacing "free trade" with bilateral trade agreements that reward human/environmental/social/economic rights and penalize "robber baron" activity that currently distinguishes corporate globalism
  
  
• replacing our broken greed-based health care system with mandatory, single payer, non-profit, universal health care subsidized by uncapped income-based deductibles (0% to 100%) for service (private supplemental insurance to cover deductibles thrive for the wealthy)
  
  
• decriminalizing drug use, establishing addiction treatment (under the new universal Health-care) in its place
  
  
• embedding ALL personal taxes into our economy by: taxing ALL financial transactions at a rate of somewhere between 1.5% and 3% per transaction (estimate based on the actual monetary turnover rate falling between 3-6 times); and by taxing carbon footprints
  
  
• refilling the social security coffers by diverting military/industrial funding to repaying federal IOUs that presently fill those coffers (re-payed with interest, I might add!)
  
  
• providing cradle-to-grave equal opportunity education to all citizens, extending 1-12 mandatory education to preschool - Associates degree, paid by taxing corporations and businesses per employee and contractor (by example, corporate tax of $1,600 per employee/contractor per year)
  

WE CAN'T REALIZE ANY OF THE ABOVE WITHOUT FIRST REGAINING THE SANCTITY OF OUR VOTES!

[Angela Shelley]

48. Thanks

[Subdivisions]

45. Oil supply depletion.

We have lots of oil, but what good is it if we can't get it out of the ground fast enough?

[baby_mouse]

46. The absence of useful political thought.

It's a bit, high-brow, I know, but really I wish people would just think a bit harder. Pretty much all the other issues I have stem from that.

[Greyhound]

47. The American corporatocracy, for it is the cause from which almost all the other issues spring.

Economy, substandard and non-existent health care, workers rights, war(s) in the ME, criminalization of poverty, oil dependence, decimated standard of living, and on and on and on...

[Solon]

49. Fairness and equality for all human beings...

Too bad there isn't anyone except a few people who actually advocate for that.

[seemslikeadream]

50. Restoring Democracy

[Perry Logan]

74. Seconded.

[flashl]

51. Ending "get back to you" politics. n/t

[insleeforprez]

52. Gay rights

With energy independence a close second.

[tomreedtoon]

53. Megacorporate control of America.

As long as we're kept down economically, we'll be kept down in every other aspect - our popular entertainment, the safety of our food and toys, our politics.

By the way, why am I the only person to recommend this thread? What's wrong with the rest of you? Wal-Mart got your tongue?

[Kansas Wyatt]

86. I second that

People cannot see that we now have a Corporate Government, and we are only subjects to it.

[Kazak]

54. Hands down, environment.

As in, I want my daughter to have one.

[balantz]

55. I have a long list.

On the top is I want us to stop killing and inflicting sorrow on children in Iraq and elsewhere. That to me is so sad and disgusting I have a hard time relating to being an American whose country hasn't risen up to halt this sickening karmic disaster.

But that is equal on top of my list with IMPEACHMENT! The simple act by Congress of Impeachment appears to be the first order of business.

The frustrations I have are that this country doesn't stand up and scream loudly and strongly enough; and both the media, and especially, Congress seem to be complicit with the traitorous administration in their inaction to put these things out in the light and move at resolving them.

[Individualist]

56. Restoration of a government of checks and balances

An opposition party which will oppose wrongdoing.

[trashcanistanista]

57. Republicans

I want them out or better yet in jail. All of them. They have single handedly ruined this country.

[LWolf]

58. Of equal concern, imo:

The health and integrity of the constitution
Election and campaign fraud and corruption
the corruption/control of mainstream media
War
Health Care
Public Education
NAFTA
Global overpopulation



These are at the top of my list, but there's at least another 25 or so to go with them.

[Initech]

59. ENDING THE WAR!!!!!!

End the war, repeal the Patriot Act, impeach and imprison these motherfuckers!!!

[Basileus Basileon]

60. Healthcare.

[femmocrat]

61. Universal health care.

I worry about that one the most because it affects so many people I know.

[Quixote1818]

62. Ending Special Interest and corruption nt

[Stinky The Clown]

63. The media

With an honest media, this country would be up in arms like the townsfolk with torches and pitchforks, going after the balls of the dauphin.

http://vwt.d2g.com:8081/vwt.jpg

[Raine]

64. The ENVIRONMENT...

how can ANYTHING else matter if the earth doesn't survive??? :wtf:

[Mind_your_head]

65. CONSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY

If we follow the Constitution, EVERYTHING else will fall into its rightful place (the so-called Patriot Act :eyes:, the 'war' in Iraq :eyes:, Impeachment of our highest placed 'servants', etc.)

Nothing is new under the sun....our very wise founders knew/understood human nature and the evil that lurks within. Sure, the founders couldn't have guessed/imagined today's technology, but they probably knew that too....they couldn't imagine the future. But human nature, goodness, evil.....it doesn't really change. It's timeless (and predictable for the most part).

Demand Constitutional Integrity of those who SWORE to uphold & defend it!

Peace,
M_Y_H

[magellan]

66. Government corruption

...and all that entails, from the corporate influence that silences the will of the people, to the cronyism, moral bankruptcy and criminality that leads to things like Katrina, the Patriot Act, torture, wars for profit, private mercenaries who operate outside the law on OUR DIME, and the general delinquency and unaccountability that infests all branches of our government and permits these things to go unanswered!!

[Evergreen Emerald]

68. ending the war

[Duppers]

69. GLOBAL WARMING

There will be major issues with water and food; and there'll be anarchy and more death than we can imagine if it is not stopped.

All other issues will be subordinate to our actual survival.

[Richard Steele]

70. TRUTH. Every other "issue" would fall into place if TRUTH had a place at the table. nm

[goodgd_yall]

71. Keeping the republicans out of power n/t

[area51]

72. Single-payer healthcare ...

... so people will stop dying needlessly. Second, stop the Iraqnam/Afghan wars.

[timtom]

73. Here's my list

Get the hell out of the Middle East -- NOW!!!

Repeal the Patriot Act -- Immediately! (And all ancillary legislation thereto related and all "signing statements" and all executive orders of an illegal and diseased president.

Health reform, a la Dennis Kucinich.

[Perry Logan]

75. Getting the Republicans out of our country.

[blondeatlast]

77. There are too many deal makers and breakers for me. That's why I remain defiantly undecided... nt

[Squatch]

78. Believe it or not, GAY RIGHTS

I'm straight as the day is long, but nothing pisses me off more than how the State treats our GLBT folks. Our laws that deal with GLBT people have created an entire subclass of American citizens, not entirely accessible to the same rights that I can freely practice.

I think that the new President's first order of business would be to repeal DADT and allow gays to serve openly and with pride in our armed services.

[Ganja Ninja]

79. Bringing the treasonous Bush administration to justice.

I want these people charged for the crimes they committed and jailed.

[quiethm75]

80. Restoring the Constitution

Ending corporate control of the government and the media, ending the war, impeaching and imprisoning the guilty

[bdamomma]

89. welcome to DU!!

:hi:

[Orsino]

81. Global warming or the war/torture. Not sure which. n/t

[madokie]

82. quit killing the Iraqi people and blowing their country back to the stone age

the rest of the problems we have as a country I can deal with but this killing of innocents has to stop, must stop

[OzarkDem]

83. Health care reform

If not dealt with soon, it will destroy our economy as well as our health.

[babydollhead]

84. water and air

[Larry Ogg]

85. There is one issue that encompasses all others...

Saving the human race from certain and total extinction by liberating the U.S. government from the hands and influence of psychopaths, no mater what party they belong too. If we can not do this, nothing else will mater…

[1932]

87. The reallocation of political, economic and cultural power down to a broader base of Americans.

[Larry Ogg]

91. You are absolutely correct, the more power is concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.

The chances of it’s misuse and of it’s falling into the wrong hands increase exponentially. One need not look any further for a more perfect example than the Bush administration. Concentration of power and immeasurable corruption.

[babydollhead]

90. kick because we Must Not Rest

[Larry Ogg]

93. Agreed babydoll there is no time to rest although I grow weary,

it seems as though there are to many who refuse to wake up, for them "the hard way" awaits…

[bdamomma]

88. there are many important issues

but most important issue is to get these thugs out of the WH.

[GliderGuider]

92. The convergence of Peak Oil and Climate Change

Specifically the effect this convergence will have on the world's food supply. The world is going to be a very different place in 15 years. I call it The Revenge of Malthus.

[LeftishBrit]

95. Globally: world poverty

As regards American politics: the war, and foreign policy in general (as that's what most affects the rest of the world).

As regards my own country: preserving the public services, and anti-racism.

[RB TexLa]

96. Unified free Ireland, removing trade barriers worldwide, opening markets in developing

areas.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

97. Fixing the Executive branch.

Getting rid of all of the political cronies Bush has installed in what should be non-political positions.