What is your top political issue right now?

[mvd]

Mine is the war, though health care, civil liberties/equal opportunity, and tax fairness are very close behind. After those, I'd work on abolishing the death penalty and lobbying influence/corruption.

[LSK]

1. Iraq Occupation, Global Warming, Health Care, Civil Liberties, Budget deficits, voter fraud

Theres just so much going on.

[blm]

20. Open government would fix media distortion and election fraud problems, too.

Or at least go a long way to fixing those problems.

[NMDemDist2]

2. the Climate Crisis, then the war n/t

[mvd]

4. Oh, I should have put climate crisis in

I think it's too late to edit.

[sakabatou]

3. My own health

[Mz Pip]

5. The Supreme Court

The next appointment to the bench will be crtical and will have an impact on neatly all of the issues listed. That's why a Democrat must win in 2008.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[blondeatlast]

14. I must agree, though UHC and the war are neck and neck and just behind.

W's SCOTUS appointments have nearly decimated the Constitution.

[doggyboy]

6. Health care

Just one of bush's policies (extending the Medicare "look back" period from 3 years to 5) is going to cost my family at least $200,000

[no_hypocrisy]

Habeas corpus, Posse Comitatus Act, Presidential Directive to take

control of the county at any undefined and unspecified "castrophe".

Number Two: Crushing federal debt who bill is due soon.

Number Three: Iraq War

Number Four: Paper Trail Voting Machines

[Buzz Clik]

7. OTHER! I am trying to get polls banned forever from DU.

[mvd]

29. LOL

I can forward that message to admin. :-)

Personally, I love polls.

[Buzz Clik]

43. Lots of people love polls.

I ignore them, except for the occasional jab.

[mike_c]

8. lots of the ones you mention are important to me, but the war against Iraq...

...is the overwhelmingly MOST important right now. If I was to choose one MORE important than the war, it would be changing the broader imperialist U.S. foreign policy which the war against Iraq is a part of.

[michreject]

9. Gun control

Leave it alone.

[Zodiak]

52. with all that is going on

you pick gun control?

Wow....you're perspective is waaaay different than mine.

[razzleberry]

10. end the occupation of Iraq .n/t

[H2O Man]

11. The war.

It is terribly wrong in and of itself, and it creates a stumbling block that keeps us from being able to deal with the other problems.

[Cant trust em]

12. This war is driving me crazy

I feel like I can't work on this anymore. I've reached the mental saturation point and I'm willing to let others think about this. I've got a local election coming up and I'm going to spend my energy thinking about homelessness, health care, and stopping illegal evictions.

[cally]

13. Global warming

We are facing the biggest crisis of any civilization.

[nini]

51. agreed.

>

[CTD]

15. Other - Restoring our Constitution

Habeas corpus, protection against unlawful search, checks and balances, separation of powers...

[blm]

16. Government Corruption is behind EVERY other issue. Open government is the ANSWER.

and driving need to deal with any other issue.

[Lorien]

17. The Environment

none of the others will matter when we can no longer live on this planet.

[uppityperson]

18. OCCUPATION of Iraq. It is an occupation, and that is highest for me.

Though there are many others, civil liberties and Supreme Court are way up there.

[Demeter]

19. Until the Corruption Problem Is Addressed, No Other Problem Will Get Solved

because corruption hides the other problems under the rug.

[InvisibleTouch]

21. Environment/Climate Crisis/Endangered Species. n/t

[Individualist]

22. Corruption, specifically complicity with neocons

DLC is the elephant in the room.

[TechBear_Seattle]

23. Until I, as a gay man, have access to ALL the priviledges and benefits of human civil rights...

Nothing else matters as far as I am concerned. Until I am fully human before the law, I do not have the time or energy to worry about anything else.

I will be (temporarily) satisfied if and when I see our "leaders" taking steps towards those ends.

Edited for clarification.

[TahitiNut]

24. The (so-called) "War On The Middle Class" ... most of the choices are part of this.

What I'm seeing is an increasing plutocracy - a cancerous expansion - elevating the narrow self-interests of the "(global) ownership class" above the basic human rights of the "bottom 99%." The invasion and occupation of Iraq is, imho, subordinate to this wretched and perverted ideology - the ideology of "might makes right." Let's make no mistake: it's economic might. The ONLY people benefited from the invasion and occupation of Iraq are the 'ownership class' - those who believe their entitlements should transcend national boundaries and be secured by the lives and liberties of millions of 'lesser' people.

Health care is about the impoverishment of the 'bottom 99%' for the sake of feeding a huge industry benefiting a very narrow few. 'Life' to those who can buy it. It's about 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' being solely accessible to those who have the wealth. Without exception, every human right is being increasingly subjected to the politics of scarcity and the corruption of the 'free market.'

[nevergiveup]

25. Health care

I have a small business (32 yrs) and health costs are about to put me out of business. This concern is followed closely by the war in Iraq.

[bamacrat]

26. Abolishment of the War on Drugs

Legalization of Marijuana

[alkaline9]

27. OTHER: the indefinite detentions at Guantanamo

What BushCo has done to lower and middle class Americans in shameful. Stacking the supreme court has hurt American values. The fiasco in Iraq is horrendous, and will haunt our foreign policy for years to come... but holding people indefinitely, force feeding them, limiting their access to counsel, and not bringing charges against them is the worst thing we could be doing right now.

[El Supremo]

28. Election Reform is #2

Just like the silly polls I get from the DNC and DNCC you have left off election reform. This issue is why we get such lousy representatives who are leading this country to hell.

[Guaranteed]

30. Alternative energy. nt

[helderheid]

31. ALL of it is important... and we get nothing if our votes are eaten by a machine

[Dawgs]

32. How can you not put CLIMATE CHANGE as one of your options?

Climate change and outsourcing of jobs are my top two.

[mvd]

35. I can't believe I forgot that one

It's virtually tied with the war IMO.

[porphyrian]

33. Other: A representative govt. that can't or won't deal with any of those things effectively. - n/t

[Az]

34. Restoring reason to the process

Our political system is rotten right now. Without restoring reason to the system little else matters. Facing down this conflict is meaningless without having a system in place that is not susceptible to the very same irrational motivations that lead us here.

Without reason we are rudderless and have no affect on our course.

[Cabcere]

36. The Iraq fiasco

has always been my top issue with this administration, ever since it started. And it just gets worse every day, although that's not to say that the other issues aren't important, because they certainly are. There's so much wrong here...

[leftofthedial]

37. If I don't get a good job soon

none of the rest will matter

[greendog]

38. The Class War n/t

[Tsiyu]

39. The growth of poverty in this nation is a warning to us all

I am issuing this warning and you can ignore it or laugh it off or call me crazy. Your choice, but I'm asking you to pay heed to the truth:


There are a lot of uber-wealthy, ultra-greedy, extra-bloodthirsty people running the show.

They do not care how hard you've worked for what you have.

They do not care whether or not you live in a safe nation, if you are earning a decent wage or if you are able to access health care.

They do not care about your rights, justice, fairness or morality.

They do not care how many soldiers die, how many poor young people are in prison or how high our infant mortality rate is.

If you open your eyes, you will see that they have started their dismantling of America by targeting the poor first.

Who lost their chance to vote last time? Poor people.

Whose kids are fighting their wars? The children of the poor.

Who is suffering without a decent health care policy, without a a decent minimum wage, watching the destruction of workers' rights and unions? Who has suffered under high energy/fuel costs in a piss-poor economy? The poor.

Who died in a hurricane in New Orleans? Who was left to die after they survived a hurricane in New Orleans?

Who makes up the majority of our prison population?

The poor are pretty much incarcerated or in Iraq by now or dead from untreated illness and social neglect or paying through the teeth for medication and court fines for all sorts of ridiculous reasons, and they are about tapped out, money-wise.

Who do you think they'll come after next?

They will just move up the food chain. I expect a lot more lost jobs, homes, careers, illness and expensive drug charges to start hitting the middle class real soon. And all of those "safe" Americans who ignored what was happening to the poor will have a taste of what they choose not to see.

I wish it didn't have to be that way, but humans seem never to learn from their mistakes, and they are gullible and believe they have some protection if they just "don't associate with the lower classes" and if they turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.

They're coming for you next. I hope you have as much fun dealing with them as I've had.....

[enigmatic]

40. I'm going to second this

great post.

[Tsiyu]

41. Thanks, and good to see you around

:hi:

P.S. Play some Dylan for me - maybe Hard Rain's Gonna Fall would be appropriate....

[TwilightGardener]

42. Foreign policy, which includes the wars.

[mdmc]

44. ending the drug war = civil liberties

:kick:

[Swamp Rat]

45. BETTER LEVEES!

and all that other stuff you mentioned.

[ElizabethDC]

46. The environment.

Education, our place in the world, and women's rights are also very important to me.

And, obviously, Iraq.

[Quixote1818]

47. The enviornment

[chaska]

48. Wow, didn't even mention corporate control of gov't or peak oil/global warming

[mnhtnbb]

49. We have to get out of Iraq before much of anything else can be done.

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

50. FREE TRADE

[Chemical Bill]

53. Election fraud!

When my vote doesn't count, none of the other ones can be changed.

Bill

[welshTerrier2]

54. major omission from the choices

how about democratic reforms including publically financed campaigns, electoral reform, lobby reform and the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine??? until real power is restored to the American people and taken away from the rich and the powerful, none of the other issues will be addressed in a meaningful way.

Iraq is by necessity, imminent and critical. Democratic reform is the top issue overall though.

without it, the next Iraq is just around the corner.

[Fox Mulder]

55. War in Iraq, then healthcare and environment.

[Buns_of_Fire]

56. Since both my son and his fiancee are in the military...

my choice for the moment is clear. For the time being, any other issues (like a mandatory life prison sentence for politicians who intentionally put our troops in danger for their personal political ideology) are going to have to wait in line.

(Yes, I single-thread. But I single-thread real fast.)

[WiseButAngrySara]

57. IMPEACH THOSE CROOKS AND TRY THEM IN THE HAGUE! ..n/t

[Poiuyt]

58. Iraq #1 of course, but energy/environment is close behind

I feel that finding alternatives to Mid-East oil to be vital for our national interests. Just think how nice it would be if we didn't have to go in there to keep our economy going.

Finding alternatives to fossil fuels would also have major benefits to the environment.

[MedleyMisty]

59. Other - I don't have a top priority.

I want to learn about everything, and talk about how to improve everything.