I spent the weekend in Palm Beach county working with a very dedicated group of
volunteers and staff as part of a get out the vote campaign. Though I've tried
to keep this blog largely technical and topical while avoiding the political,
this election is too important to let go by without some political endorsement.
Amendment One
No. In all other ways minors carrying children are emancipated with respect to
the pregnancy. Parents should be involved, but legislation enforcing this is an
example of the government overstepping its bounds in the wrong direction. This is ignoring the fact that
in some of these cases, the parent or step-parent of the minor may in fact be
the other parent of the fetus. How humiliating would it be for a minor to be
forced to go before a judge in order to obtain a waiver for termination of her
pregnancy in the case of incest. If this is the case, traditional parenting has failed and the
government should step in to protect the minor in any way.
Amendment Two
No. Florida has no method for citizens to enact statutes besides the amendment
process, and this amendment would severely limit the actions of grassroots citizen
organizations while preserving hold of the well-funded special interests and the
legislature.
Amendment Three
No. This one is out of hand, it's hard to get to the bottom of any of these issues.
There are already professional caps on the fees that lawyers can make, and these
are more than adequate. Limiting fees would make costly malpractice suits less
worth the respective attorney's time and will ultimately hurt the consumer.
Amendment Four
No. A tough decision to be sure. There's no guarantee that this income will be
taxed to help education at all. The last thing South Florida needs is to
become an even greater tourist attraction. If you like gambling, try the stock
market.
Amendment Five
Yes. Though there are convincing arguments on both sides of this issue, I side
with this proposed amendment. I don't see how anyone can live on $5.15 per hour.
Some cite a potential wage-price spiral, but the truth is that the price has
been spiraling for some time, with no compensation on the wage end. At 33% of
the average wage, minimum wage is now the lowest it has been since 1949. It's
time that the minimum wage caught up.
Amendment Six
No. I used to be in favor of repealing the earlier amendment. In truth, it
doesn't belong in the constitution. But if the people building newer, wider
roads have the legislature in their pockets, the only remaining option the
voters have is to amend the constitution. What is more necessary is a method by
which citizens can vote directly on statutes. The voters approved high-speed
rail last time, let's assess this realistically and make it a reality.
Amendment Seven
Yes. Generally useful technical information should be as readily available as
possible. We're not going to drive doctors away with this, but an informed
patient is a more comfortable patient.
Amendment Eight
No. Medical practice is never cut and dry, and driving doctors away won't really
do much to help patients. Preserving choice is more important.
For the presidency, if it wasn't obvious: John Kerry with running mate John
Edwards. Everyone from
Kofi Annan
to
Scott Ritter
acknowledges that a policy of pre-emptive imperialism without firm and
irrefutable evidence is a threat to the relatively stable peace that the world
has enjoyed since the inception of the UN. If this reason isn't enough, there
are plenty of issues that act like prisms for the public. Overall, a man who
imposes his personal moral ideology on a nation and on
the world is
not a man who should be leading a free society as a superpower of the free
world.
For Senate, Betty Castor is the one for the job without a doubt. Mel Martinez
has done nothing but play dirty during this election, both against his
opponents in the primaries, and against Betty during the general election.
Unlike others I could mention, she's not out to criminalize abortion or limit
access to or education concerning effective birth control. She led USF through
a particularly muddy period of its history, moderating debates concerning tough
issues such as academic freedom, civil liberties, and terrorism.
Finally, to refresh everyone's memory: Dick Cheney was still of the opinion in
1986 that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. He has since rescinded such views.
The vote in 1986 was 245-177. Cheney was in the minority.
[/politics]permalink
