[DEBATE] Presidential Election - 2016 (closing Nov 22)

Taxes aren't theft.

I wholeheartedly agree with you there.

Theres obviously some way more creative ways of earning money. However, taxes are just a basic way for everyone to give something for what the government does for them. Just like you don't go and expect a new phone for free, you shouldn't expect your roads, power, water and security to come to you for free.

Obviously "free" healthcare uses money which you pay for with your taxes. However, allowances are made for taxes, tax free thresholds exist among other things. Healthcare is just such a basic right that governments shouldn't be charging extra for someone who is dying to get help. If you want better, more guaranteed care, then yes, go ahead and pay, but if a homeless person gets hit by a car, who's going to help them if they can't get into a hospital?

I don't believe tax is stealing people's money. I don't like them, but if they're being used in a good way I agree with, I won't complain. I'd rather have high taxes and a better life than my government cutting taxes and making places like the one I live in even bigger shitholes (like the Conservatives are now).

I know the NHS and Child Benefit aren't free. However, I'd rather pay a bit of my wages a month or whatever to pay for my healthcare. Healthcare is human right - as mba said, if you want better, you can pay for it yourself if you really want, but nationalised healthcare is a good thing, as long as a country's government don't cut taxes on it and overwork their employees (for example, people employed in medicine in hospitals are now about to have to work from 6AM - 10PM with no weekends over here, which is absolutely ridiculous), making people not want to work for it.

Child Benefit is just about 20-80 quid that gets 'given back to you' a month to help you support your child. Its pretty helpful to people who weren't expecting the child and decided to keep it, and just parents in general.

Joe Biden is officially out.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/21/politics/joe-biden-not-running-2016-election/

As much as some would like to see it happen, a 73-year old, openly socialist male politician like Bernie Sanders probably cannot secure the Democrat nomination. So... can you say President Hillary?

The Democrats have a huge electoral advantage in presidential elections these days. The reliable "blue" states of California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Delaware, and Hawaii along with Washington, D.C. provide them 232 electoral votes coming out of the gate. They only need to get to 270. Adding just the state of Florida alone brings them to 261.

Barring some sort of unknown future felonious scandal or crisis, it could be a very, very long time before the United States sees another Republican president based on just math and demographics.

I'd prefer Ted Cruz over Donald Trump or hillary clinton, hope you enjoy that video too

I would prefer bozo the clown reincarnated as a zombie in a suit to either of them lol. Ted Cruz is just another talking head but at least he doesn't munch on his own foot every time he opens his mouth like a clinton or the master of it: trump.

I just saw this and thought to myself.. "hmmm, I know the perfect place."

#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain
had to post it.... (watch from minute 17 and a half if you don't want to watch the whole video

Feel the bern

Trump better not win. My girlfriend is Mexican and her parents are immigrants but not her. If he wins there will be blood.

Trump want build a wall to keep them from coming in, not deporting them... But I still don't want him as president...

Trump and Bernie don't agree on a lot of things. They do agree on taxing the people, bombing the shit out of the middle east and maintaining corporate control over the masses. well, who cares what they don't agree on, might as well be of the same blood... oh wait.

Congrats on keeping the thread alive for so long. I failed at this . I hope you accomplish way more than I could with this. Everyone learns, we all unite, and we become free and strong. Oh while I'm here, bring back the gold standard (and other metals to help with liquidity concerns) and put the power of wealth and freedom from government snooping back to the people! If anyone quotes this, I'll defend this later lol. Tired. Anyway.... 'Merica!

Because he isn't in the running anymore.
To be fair, the poll wasn't the best. I wish it included Bernie Sanders, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Ted Cruz

As much as a I live in Canada so I can't really do anything. But trust me most of us in Canada think that Clinton and Trump are terrible. But if I had to choose I would pick Clinton though she's not good she is only a margin better than Trump and if Trump wins... Well I will feel bad for you all. Of course if you like Trump that's fine because really I'm iffy about all of your runners this year.
After reading all these comments I realized that Canada seems to have really boring politics also if you think you can escape Trump by moving to Canada well you're out of luck. If you didn't know we have strong relations with America.

As a democrat, I support Bernie over Hillary. I think he's radical enough to push this country into a better place, even if he isn't able to achieve everything he's saying he'd like to do. I also find it admirable that over his years as a politician, he has stayed pretty static in his focuses: civil rights, cracking down on big biz, etc. He really seems to care more about the lower and middle class. I absolutely voted for him in my state's primary (Michigan), and it made me really proud when he won this primary that everybody was saying he was going to lose.

Meanwhile, while I would prefer Hillary over ANY of the republican candidates, I just have a hard time trusting her. As much as I would love, love, LOVE to have a female president, I feel like she's not the right person to be our first female president. She flip flops a lot and she has lied a lot. I also don't really want to see another Clinton in the white house.

On the republican side of things, I'm absolutely terrified. Trump is a hateful, hateful, man and I'd hate to see what would happen were he to become president. I'm really hopeful for a contested convention (which they're saying is definitely going to happen), and I'm really hopeful that neither Trump nor Cruz win the nomination. While I think Kasich would be preferrable, I think Rubio is also a better choice than Trump and Cruz.

Overall, I'm paying real close to all of the primaries coming up to the general election. I think that Obama has done a lot of good things despite the lot he was given (a senate which did it's best to make sure that nothing he tried to send through passed, etc), and I'm really proud of how much our country has improved over the last few years, and I'd really like to see this upwards progress continue over the next few presidential terms.

on the republican side the only person running that would have a chance in hell of winning is jeb and who the hell wants another bush in office? not I. Bernie will likely win the presidency. that has been my thought for months. not that it really matters who gets elected.

I would vote for Bernie Sanders because he actually talks about healthcare for everyone and going after the bad guys. But Clinton and Trump would just waste everything. Did you know Clinton gave out classified information from the government?

Clinton never gave out classified information. If she had, she'd be in prison. What she did do, was use a private server to transfer information that is now classified (although it's not publicly known whether it was classified at the time). The big issue is that her server did not have the security systems it should have had in place.

Honestly, Bernie Sander would waste more than any other candidate from any party. His policies are too left wing, utopian. Don't get me wrong, it's good that he cares, but some of his policies are just unrealistic.