re: I finally got a response from a TD white male liberal re political beliefs

Shallow buzzwords as Stout and others said. So shallow they can be manipulated to suit either side. If he meant something along the lines of the following, then we're not too far apart...

-Helping people in need

Welfare should be reduced, but if veterans (for one example) were prioritized over illegal immigrants, and handouts without incentives to improve ones lot were modified into work-for-welfare type programs with stricter accountability, helping people becomes more reasonable.

-Taxing billionaires

This is the most complex issue... Raising income tax always hits the middle and upper middle class hardest, never the billionaires, who don't generally take a straight income. To the extent anyone has to pay, billionaires should, too. A flat tax might help, and capital gains should be the same rate as income tax. Executive compensation (through stocks, etc) should always be taxed once immediately without deferments based on fair value of assets. Tariffs and sales taxes are a potentially interesting way of reducing personal income tax for the middle class while ensuring the economic activity of billionaires and corporations (who hide taxable profits offshore) gets accounted for.

-common sense immigration reform

Strict enforcement of existing laws and aggressive deportations is common sense. Common sense also dictates that handouts that incentivize migrants to come here and fraudulently claim refugee status should be eliminated. And NGOs and charities that work to promote immigration should be scrutinized and absolutely should not get a government penny.

-a return to normalcy

Getting rid of DEI and other pro-Marxist constructs would help return society to normalcy.

-environmental regulation and protection

Carbon capture is rubbish. But there is some importance in making sure industries handle contaminants / waste responsibly (to not give everyone in a given town cancer or pollute hunting and fishing lands).

-protecting public school funding

Any funding should be directed towards students and the classroom, not bloated bureaucracy and bizarre social programs (as has been happening not only in K-12, but in colleges as well).

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Taxing billionaires

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I’m old enough to remember when the talking point was tax millionaires

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I hope the PT beat down don’t destroy her altruistic spirit. Hell, I hope reality don’t destroy mine.

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I hope it does. Yours, hers, and all other progressives.

This country is too soft. It will cease to exist if it continues to be run by the suicidal empathy types.

But I honestly think this is just the natural order of things. Weak men create bad times and all that...

Bump for anyone curious about the current Dem platform

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I want my government run on vibes

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Not an option on the liberal buzz word hierarchy chart.
Could we offer you some "Joy"????

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a return to normalcy

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Democrats consider 1996 “normalcy” to be fascism in 2026.

Do you agree with aggiedub14?

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When was the great era of American “normalcy”?

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Pre-Obama

Could you help him out? Maybe you’re privy to some further details the public is not?