Homeless in Arizona

This editorial also points out a lot of the problems I have with Jennifer White and the other gun grabbing, atheist Democrats at HSGP (Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix), AU-GP (Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Greater Phoenix), FFRF (Freedom From Religion Foundation, Phoenix Chapter) and Secular Coalition for Arizona.

Personally I am skeptical that global warming exists. I haven't written it off, but I'm not too convinced that the evidence says it exists.

But Jennifer White and the other gun grabbing, atheist Democrats at HSGP, AU-GP, FFRF and Secular Coalition for Arizona seemed to treat me as a brainless Luddite because I am skeptical of global warming.

I am not gay, but I support gay rights 100%. But I also support people's 1st Amendment right to pick any religion they want. Even if that religion is a barbaric religion, that hates gays, like many Christians claim their religion does.

Last I don't think government has any business telling a person who can or can't get married. If gays want to get married let them.

While Jennifer White and the other gun grabbing, atheist Democrats at HSGP, AU-GP, FFRF and Secular Coalition for Arizona claim to be for "separation of church and state", they also seem to think that the government should force Christians who think being gay is a sin to love gays.

I disagree with that 100% and ashamed that my fellow atheists want to shove our atheist views down the throats of Christians at the point of a government gun.

I suspect that the Republicans are right that the Constitution allows state governments to decide if gay marriage should be allowed. Again I disagree with that and don't think the government has any business saying who can or can't get married.

While I am a Libertarian I agree with the Republicans that Obamacare is a complete failure and disaster. In addition to being unconstitutional.

I also think it's morally wrong for the government to force you to buy anything.

But Jennifer White and the other gun grabbing, atheist Democrats at HSGP, AU-GP, FFRF and Secular Coalition for Arizona seem to think that Obamacare despite being a complete failure is the best thing since sliced bread.

Source

Allhands: Republicans and Democrats leave the rest of us stranded

Joanna Allhands, The Republic | azcentral.com 4:52 p.m. MST August 17, 2016

The difference between Democrats and Republicans

Check out how far apart the two political parties are on major issues, according to their official platforms. azcentral.com Wochit

Independents outnumber Republicans and Democrats in Arizona, and the number of defectors continues to grow.

Why?

It's not just because we think the candidates suck (though that's part of it). It's also because neither party comes close to representing where we are on the issues. Republicans continue to move right; Democrats continue to move left, and increasingly, there's no place for the growing number of us stuck in the chasm between them.

On one hand, voters have easy choices to make, because the parties are basically at polar opposites. But the choices are either/or when most people want and or none of the above. How exactly do options like that move this country forward?

To show you how badly out of touch both sides are, let's compare the recently approved Republican and Democratic platforms with what most Americans think about those issues, according to opinion polls:

Climate change

Democrats consider climate change to be a "real and urgent threat" and want to take Obama's emissions ideas even farther by requiring utilities to generate half of their power with renewable sources in the next decade.

Republicans don't think climate change is a pressing issue. They would back out of international climate-change agreements and strip environmental regulation authority from the EPA, leaving states to set their own rules.

The rest of us are worried about climate change, according to Gallup data, just not super worried about it affecting our lives now. We want to see sources other than gas and oil powering the country, and we think the federal government is doing too little to protect the environment.

Translation for the parties: The EPA is fine as is, guys. And there's no sense in backing out of agreements. But we don't have to snap our fingers and make everything solar all at once. Don't abandon renewable energy. But don't force it on everyone overnight, either.

LGBT rights

Democrats applaud rulings allowing gay marriage and policies protecting transgender students at public schools, and urge government to do more to protect the LGBT community from discrimination.

Republicans denounce those rulings and call for more religious-freedom laws, which allow businesses to not serve LGBT people because doing so would violate their religious beliefs.

The rest of us think gay marriage should be legal — like 68 percent and growing, according to Gallup. But the results are less clear when it comes to transgender bathroom use. A recent CNN poll suggested six in 10 Americans were against transgender bathroom laws. But a similar Gallup poll showed respondents more equally split.

Translation: Republicans are beating a dead horse on gay marriage, but the verdict's still out on transgender bathrooms. The polling is too new, and lots of Americans simply don't know enough about what being transgender means to make or analyze policies. Both sides are moving too fast on that one.

Health care

Democrats praise the Affordable Care Act and want to extend public coverage to more people, vowing to fight Republican attempts to privatize Medicare or give states more power to administer Medicaid. They say health care is "a right, not a privilege," and that providing universal coverage is a core function of the federal government.

Republicans think ACA was a disaster and vow to repeal it. In their view, the federal government has turned the health-care system into a bloated, bureaucratic nightmare, and they believe the states – or even better, private interests – could handle it much better.

The rest of us don't like Obamacare (dozens of polls have shown it over the years), but is the fix better in government or private hands? And do we really want universal coverage, as a Gallup poll suggests? Or do most of us just want our premiums to go down, as Rasmussen Reports indicates? Pick your poll, and you've got your answer.

Translation: Our health-care system is complex, and Americans really don't know what they want (other than lower costs: Everyone, even Republicans and Democrats, agrees on that). But because the parties are so split on how to do it, expect more heel-digging and little action.

Higher education

Democrats say the federal government should spend more to make community colleges and public universities tuition free.

Republicans say the federal government needs to get out of the student-loan business and encourage other options, like trade schools.

The rest of us are equally split on the idea of free college, according to Gallup, but there's little polling to know where most Americans stand on nixing federal loans. A healthy majority says college is too expensive (something both parties agree on, as well).

Translation: Maybe – maybe – if Democrats can do a better job of explaining how they'd pay for free college, it might get more traction. But this one is like the health-care debate: Even if we agree on the problem, there appears to be no middle-ground solution.

Wages and taxes

Democrats say the keys to a strong middle class include a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage and heavier taxes on the wealthy.

Republicans don't mention the phrase "middle class" in their platform but say that minimum wage laws should left to states. They want to simplify and lower taxes for everyone, noting that "we will not divide the American people into winners and losers."

The rest of us want to see a higher minimum wage, but support is tepid for a $15-an-hour minimum, according to a recent Rasmussen poll. A majority of Americans has said for decades that the rich should pay more in taxes, and 52 percent said in a recent Gallup poll that government should "redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich." But other Gallup polling shows a majority of Americans think they personally pay too much in federal taxes.

Translation: Is anyone really surprised that Americans want someone else to pay more while we pay less? In this case, maybe we're the ones being unreasonable. But what incentive does that give parties this far apart to compromise and fix a system that we all agree is out of whack?