Question: What is the most important issue facing the country?

[JamesA1102]

And what issue should be the President's top priority?

I have to say the economy and then healthcare reform.

[elehhhhna]

1. Economy, ending Iraq & Afghanistan ops,, healthcare -- not insurancecare, btw -- & tax reform..

the second 3 are not optional if we're going to repair the first one.

[Wwagsthedog]

19. While war(s) are most important to my way of thinking,

I'll go along with what you say because they're all of huge importance.

[MadMaddie]

2. Internal National Security, Economy and then Healthcare reform

in that order. The rise of fanatical groups in this country are a danger to national security.

If people do not feel safe to go shop or in general feel safe to take their families anywhere then they are not spending money. If they are not spending money then they are not buying anything.

Now we can reverse Economy and National Security, if we get more jobs filled with Americans this lowers the anger among the right wing nuts (they will still be angry)and then the economy will pick up.

These recent shootings are only the tip of the iceberg if these lunatics are not clamped down on we will see more Ok like crimes.

[Day And Night]

3. Freedom

I'd have to say freedom above all else. The courts have slowly been chipping away at our civil liberties, the drug war is still continuing, people can't live their lives as they see fit. It's like the Government doesn't acknowledge that people are rational actors and free to act as they see fit provided that it does not infringe on the liberties of another person. I'd have to say the Controlled Substances Act reform is the most important since it's a huge tool for law enforcement to impose their fascism upon people and fund their activities via property seizure. Legalize it. Besides, it's an unconstitutional law under the 9th and 10th respectively, IMO. Yeah, states rights. I said it.

[TomCADem]

37. Then How Do You Explain CA Prop 8?

In that case, the court had found that gay marriage was constitutionally mandated under the State Constitution, but then the people voted to ban gay marriage. This strikes me as the opposite of courts chipping away at liberty.

[Cleita]

4. Corruption at the highest levels of government. Until the corruption

is purged, none of our problems will be solved.

[DrToast]

21. Word. The biggest issue is the excessive influence of special interests on our government

That is what prevents problems from being fixed.

[slackmaster]

5. Our ongoing refusal to fully adopt and embrace the Metric System

That and our failure to switch to a 30-hour work week are really the only things holding this country back.

[JamesA1102]

14. Seriously? nt

[krispos42]

25. If we went to a 10-hour day...

... we'd only have to work 12.5 metric hours (decidays) a week.



Hmmm... unless we metricized the week, then we'd have to work 17.86 decidays per decaday. We'd probably have to round up to 20 decidays per decaday. Hmmm, or 21 decidays per decaday... work 3 decidays a day for 7 days and have a 3-day weekend every decaday.

Ta-da!

[Birthmark]

6. Global Warming

GW is clearly the most important issue for all of humanity. So far, the problem is being addressed in a manner that is almost totally useless. We don't have a lot of time to play with, either.

[panader0]

7. End the wars, bring the troops home.

When the US stops fucking with other countries, then we can focus on our own problems. How can we go down the right path on anything while we are killing and being killed for nothing?

[Arkana]

8. Economy, Iraq/Afghanistan, and healthcare reform.

In that order.

Yeah, that's right--I said it.

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. reducing the risk of catastrophic war

The real consequences if America finding itself in such a situation make all other issues pale in comparison. Progress on the economy, health care and certainly civil rights would be set back decades, at least.

[JimWis]

10. End the wars, health insurance, and the economy. Single payer

will fix my 2nd and 3rd items.

[Turbineguy]

11. Gay Marriage.

[Kaleva]

12. The economy

[argonaut]

13. The economy, security, healthcare reform and energy

Although I guess that's five issues. The economy's #1, obviously.

[asphalt.jungle]

15. the economy

that's always the most important thing. without a strong or improving economy a president has no credibility to advance his other agenda. bush was his most destructive when we had the illusion of a good economy.

[JamesA1102]

18. Great point nt

[ZombieHorde]

16. War and civil rights followed by the economy. nt

[Catshrink]

17. The feud between Palin and Letterman

judging by the number of threads on this idiocy the past couple of days. Couldn't count 'em now because I've been hiding them.

Really, do we need that many threads about this? Believe it or not, there are more important things going on in the world than a manufactured slight exasperated by an attention-seeking politician with nothing else to talk about.

[grantcart]

20. Reducing international tensions

By establishing bilateral relations with all countries based on mutual respect and not sabre rattling we will be able to establish better security through more mutlilateralism, the basic philosophy of both parties from Truman through Bush I.

We can then stop pouring huge amounts of money into antequated weapon systems and futuristic weapon systems that are not needed, provide a false sense of security, and will never be used.

Just as pilotless drones will replace expensive fighters, inexpensive buoys will replace submarines, and so on.

This reduction in defense waste makes it possible for us to fund single payer health care.

Single payer health care makes our economy more efficient, especially the manufacturing sector.

Increase in economic performance gives us additional capital to invest in a new green economy with renewable energy.

Increased economic performance from the green economy will create more employment and higher tax revenue which can be used to reduce the national debt.

Reduced importation of oil will bring our balance of payments into line.


There all solved!! lol.

[JamesA1102]

22. Well said

We spend twice as much on defense as Russia and China combined. We could cut defense spending by 20% and still be spending more than them plus provide Healthcare for all and balence the budget.

[grantcart]

26. and like the Maginot Line they provide a false sense of security and

actually undermine our security.

Our security is better solved by actually getting people to like us.

[JamesA1102]

29. Very true nt

[krispos42]

23. Repealing the Reagan tax cuts...

and adjusting the old tax brackets for 2009, not 1982.


That would help the economy quite a bit and empower the middle class, which would lead to healthcare reform, getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and getting off of foreign oil.

[Zynx]

24. Stabilizing the economy and reforming the financial system.

If those goals aren't achieved, societal order will start to break down and political extremism will rise on both the left and the right.

[Clear Blue Sky]

27. Economy. If that fails, then there is no money for anything else.

[Phx_Dem]

28. #1 Economy/health care (go hand-in-hand), #2 Pakistan/Afganistan. n/t

[Orsino]

30. Creeping corporate fascism.

Even Obama is afraid to do more than allude to it, and fights it only indirectly.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

31. That would be my opinion as well

It seems like right now that is where most of his focus is. I LOVE that President Obama is taking on health care reform as an "economy issue," which is something that is not only desperately needed by nearly everybody, but also (correctly) linked directly to the state of the economy. If people didn't have to spend so god-awful much on medical bills alone, maybe fewer people would go into massive debt, lose their homes, jobs, and lives- helping take the economy with them. Not only that but we'd all have more discretionary money to pump into the economy thus creating jobs and, well, strengthening the economy. It's kind of stupefying that corporations fail to understand the interconnectedness of everything and that people might be more willing and able to buy their products, not to mention be more productive workers, if they were better taken care of healthwise. Michael Moore, in his tome, "Stupid White Man", makes some excellent arguments for better employee benefits such as better health coverage and childcare.

[emilyg]

32. Economy and Washington corruption.

[treestar]

33. It is clearly the economy

without that, the rest goes to hell anyway

[Top Cat]

34. Economy...

[leftofthedial]

35. campaign and election reform

[fadedrose]

36. Easy - California lady losing the Miss America title...

or whatever title it was...I forget her name, pretty girl, white teeth, false boobs, very moral...pity...