Laslo Weger - Politics

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Accused terrorists should be tried in civilian courts. I consider killing for religion or politics to be a crime, just like killing for jealousy, money, or whatever other reason people do it. Crimes are tried in civilian courts. The end.

The U.S. military should not maintain its "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Being or not being a gay should be of no consequence with respect to the military.

The U.S. should not use a flat tax system. Taxes should be lower (which means federales need to spend less!), and everyone should pay the exact same amount of dollars. So-called "flat tax" is really progressive, where people earning more (or spending more, if we talk about sales tax) pay more in taxes.

The U.S. should suspend military aid to Israel. As we should for any foreign country. We should be selling arms, not giving them as gifts.

Elected officials should be allowed to change their political affiliation between elections. In my dreams I see politicians serving the Nation, not their party... They should be voting their conscience, not the party line, and they should belong to any party/organization whatever. Then it would not matter if they switch or not their affiliation. In my dreams...

Sarah Palin should not pursue political office again. As they say, with politicians like that, who needs enemies.

The international community should not recognize the Iranian election results. Yes/No/Maybe so. Who cares. Iran is ruled by a Supreme Ruler, and whichever figurehead is "elected", fraudulently or not, makes no difference in any way. What _does_ make difference is that Iranian people are starting to realize that maybe it is time to change things a bit. Good luck!

Guantanamo Bay detainees should not be moved to U.S. prisons. I think most people doesn't get the idea that it doesn't matter. The issue is not _where_ are the detainees, but _why_. If they are charged, convicted and imprisoned, who cares if they are in Guantanamo or San Quentin. What matters is putting an end to arbitrary imprisonment of people whose only (proven) guilt is that someone pointed a finger at them and shouted "These look like terrorists to me".

The U.S. should not institute a national ID card system. Less power to the central government, more to the state/local.

Bill O'Reilly should not bear responsibility for the murder of Dr. Tiller. I always advocate only one degree of separation between action and responsibility. The shooter is guilty, not those who sold him the gun, not those who gave him ideas. On the other hand, he is not relieved of the responsibility by his undoubtedly difficult childhood or by his - certainly good - intentions.

There are not persuasive non-religious reasons for prohibiting abortions. Or rather, there _could_ be for a particular person (e.g., I could think that women duty is to bear as many children as physically possible for economic reasons); but for our nation at this moment of time, no, there aren't.

The government should always permit late term abortions. Government should have no authority to permit or prohibit abortion, just like it should have no authority to permit or prohibit any other medical procedure on merit.

Sonia Sotomayor is not a good choice to replace Justice Souter. This opinion is based on what I learned about her decision in Ricci v. DeStefano case.

The Guantanamo detention center should be closed. US should not operate concentration camps. If someone is a prisoner of war, treat him like one (Geneva Conventions, anyone?). If someone is a criminal, treat him like one (due process, lawyer, sentence). But Guantanamo is a symbol of the three major abominations: arbitrary detention without charge, torture, and indefinite detention without a sentence.

President Obama should release new photos depicting U.S. detainee abuse. And then prosecute those who enabled the abuse and those who actually abused.

A world free of nuclear weapons is not achievable. Pretty much the same as world free of weapons, or world free of greed, intolerance and stupidity...

The U.S. should not provide economic aid to Pakistan. It is a rather ineffective way of influencing policies of other countries.

Assault weapons should not be illegal. "Who pound their swords into plowshares will farm for those who did not." --found on the internet

Federal judge Jay Bybee should be impeached for authoring memos that justified Bush Administration interrogation techniques. If he indeed authored, or approved them. A blatant disregard for the Constitution, the international obligations and the reputation of the US, and bringing our country back to the barbarism of Dark Ages is enough to show that he is not fit to be a judge.

Memos about CIA torture techniques should have been released by the Obama Administration. I vehemently oppose torture in my name. No terrorist ever will do as much damage as a government that feel it can trample any laws or standards in the name of "security". Release of these memos should be now followed by investigation, and punishment of those who ordered and carried the torture.

The Department of Justice should prosecute CIA officials who carried out Bush Administration interrogation methods. "I was just following orders" was the most common defense of the war criminals during the Nuremberg trials. Not flying then, should not fly now.

Congress should investigate the Bush Administration's interrogation policies. But only if they are determined to actually punish those who brought my country to the level of barbarism that should only be found in dusty history books.

The U.S. should not hire private contractors to combat piracy. This is a tough one, since private solution to a problem that does not involve another state would be preferable. Unfortunately, the likes of Blackwater made it clear that mercenaries create more problems than solve.

Paying taxes is not patriotic. Forced support for overbloated government where waste and corruption is a norm rather than exception is not patriotic, it is actually anti-american.

The Justice Department should prosecute the captured Somali pirate in a U.S. Court. That is, I believe, a point of the US law that any crime against US interests can, and should, be prosecuted in US courts. Hello, Manuel.

President Obama should have authorized the use of force against the Somali pirates. And I hope he will continue the policy of killing any and all hostage takers (if they do not surrender themselves).

The U.S. should take military action against Somali pirates’ land bases. However, only in the case they did not pick the hint and continue harassing our ships.

Pirates should not be officially labeled as terrorists. Nowadays the word 'terrorist' means a person using non-state sponsored violence for political reasons (note that a person using state-sponsored violence for political gains is a 'soldier'). The pirates are simple criminals using violence for money.

Rod Blagojevich should have been impeached. And all the lying and thieving politicians together with him.

The U.S. should negotiate with the Taliban. That is my default position: negotiation first. If we do not get what we need, other options are always available. Usually, 'negotiation' means 'compromise'. In this case though there should be no compromise; Taliban is one of the few groups that need to be be eradicated. Luckily, they are not known for their capacity to compromise, thus it does not really matter whether we negotiate or not. At the end there will be war in any case.

Timothy Geithner should remain Secretary of the Treasury. Even though I do not like his actions, I believe that the stability of the cabinet at this moment is more important. Maybe in a few months he could quietly resign...

I support President Obama's plan to raise taxes on households earning over $250,000 a year. Even though I am generally very much for tax CUTS (but only if offset with cuts in spending), in current situation it may be beneficial to increase the federal income a bit, as there is no hope whatsoever the politicians will curb spending. Better to tax than to borrow from China.

All troops should be removed from Iraq at the end of President Obama's 19-month timetable. Or earlier. It was a costly folly, time to end it as soon as possible. And prosecute the gang (Bush & Co.) that got us there.

The U.S. should not provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Gaza. If private charities from US want to do so, no problem. But no government outlays. And no more aid to Israel, either.

Both parties are equally responsible for the federal deficit. Republicrats or demoblicans, who cares, they are all the same band of incompetent, brazen thieves. How you, people, can vote them in term after term, is the greatest mystery of the universe. A politico breaks his promises? Vote him out! Raises taxes? Vote

Vacant U.S. Senate seats should not be filled by popular election. NO Senate seat should be filled by popular election. The original way envisioned in the Constitution was there for a reason.

Senator Roland Burris should resign. Guilty or not, he is tainted beyond repair.

President Obama should not push towards a bipartisan approach to governing. There is nothing that the current Republican party has to offer, thus there is no reason to bother with them. Moreover, he should push towards speedy undoing of everything FUBARed by the previous administration and previous, Republican, congress. Alas, h

Citizens should not be required by law to vote. People will do even more abysmal job of voting if they feel they are compelled to vote.

The government should not regulate population growth. While it is important issue, we do not really know if we need more population growth or less. And I really feel the government is already regulating way too much of our lives.