while most of the nepalis in usa can't vote in the elections, i'm interested to know whether more nepalis are liberals gravitating towards the democrats or conservatives rooting for bush to win the white house again. what is your political alignment and why?

personally i prefer the republicans. most of the core issues dividing the two parties do not affect me. i do not care about the war on terror, gay rights, abortion rights, etc. the problem i have with the democrats is their tendency towards socialism - that the government should create jobs and provide healthcare and other benefits to all citizens. it will never be possible in a country with such a large population. they also think outsourcing is evil and the government stop it. i prefer to let the market decide the beneficiaries and have minimal government involvement.

what do you think? your thoughts...

I guess we agree that there should be government intervention to provide checks and balances to a capitalist economy. We'll probably disagree on how much intervention. My major problem with the Democrats is their socialist tendencies - I simply do not believe that the government should be as involved as the Dems want to be. Socialism will never work in a country as large as the United States.

As for illegal immigration, it should be stopped immediately. I'm not so worried about the Mexicans coming in as much as I am about how easily they seem to cross the border. Its scary if you look at it as a security issue. I understand how important illegal labor is to the US economy. But if the Mexicans who are already in the US are to be legalized, the influx has to be stopped, because it will only encourage a mass exodus from Mexico. The US hegemony over Mexico is barely an issue here. People would migrate regardless, as long as the US is perceived as a land of opportunity and dreams.

Well! Truthfully I am not voting for Bush or Kerry evethough I am fiscally conservative democrat. The pair of Kerry-Edwards is not attractive. My best bet is stay out of it and accept whatever happens. As long as I do not put my head out on politics, I could be happy either way.

Just my opinion hope not to offend anyone.

I hope Kerry wins cuz he is a hottie.

haha ok ppl, there is no point in disscussing this..there is no benefit..the vote that counts are the electorial vote, which is not an individual vote, and i dont think any of those candidates is nepali, so it doesnt matter how many nepali individual vote for bush or kerry..UR VOTE WONT COUNT..GET OVER IT..:P u know what happened last election right?? haha, so if you are a minority, just quit complaining and learn to shove IT!...jk jk jk ..IT WAS A HUMOR..sorrry if i offended anyone..

^ No point in dicussing this, huh?....Then why dont YOU shut up about it....You really are confused, aren't you?

^jk jk jk.....IT WAS A HUMORr...sorry if I offended you..

dude, u are lame pathetic, u didnt offend ur self, u offended me, so that post sud have been below my post..haha..anywaz..apologies accepted..only and only because i am a nice guy...

republican,
"i do not believe that the government should not be as involved as it should be".
Do not sound like the words of a republican to me. This administration has stripped its citizens off of more civil liberties than any past governments. They meddle with virtually everything if that gives them more control of the people's lives. And oh, it is indeed Patriotic.
I do not understand the stigma on socialism. Why wouldn't socialism "work" in america? America is the wealthiest nation in the world. I think it's a shame that there are over 3 million are homeless and over 42 million are uninsured. And yet the administration fights unjust wars that cost over $200 billion. If this country will stick to hating socialists because they are taught to hate communists and communists = socialists, the poor in this country will be the cause of its fall. Countries that are lot less rich than america enjoy better health care, better longetivity and better air/water because they know better than exalting the few. Too bad majority of americans are too busy waving their flags and forming xenophobic organizations to see this.

On the "illegal immigrant" influx.
think about it. If india took nepal's fertile lands, forcefully claimed these lands were now indian territories, built a huge wall, militarized the border and the indian army is given the authority to shoot any nepali who tries to gain entry to what used to be their land. Then, as india is so much bigger and richer than nepal, nepalis will want to go and work there right? And as so much of our land is taken by india, you'll think it is justified to cross over. Yes, replace nepal with mexico and India with America and you will get the picture. It's sad that the voice of the mexican people is shut out by the xenophobic outcries of the rich american patriots.

I have a lot of criticism for Democrats too but Replublicans are just no good.

kaag lai bel pakyo aunsi na purne

Very good points...... maximum20! BUSH's got to go! Some partiotic people here sooooooo partiotic that they don't care what BUSH does....either kill innocent people or drain the whole budget.......they just follow him thinking whatever he's doing is right and to go against him is considered as being a communist. People here can exercise free speech rights but there is a stigma of being casted as a communist! IT's SAD!

Although it is true that both parties are controlled by big business and their lobbyist, and that democrats are more of a centrist party than a leftist party, this time around it more than ever important to vote for Kerry against Bush. Our civil liberties, and our social liberalism that we have gained in the last 40 years are in a crash course against Bush and his fundamentalist "born again" and anti-intellectual values. Just consider for example ban on stem cell research and the denial of global climate change, which the scientific community has been fighting with the Bush administration for the last 4 years. (check out this week edition of science mag (www.sciencemag.org))Furthermore, if anybody truly believes that America is a free-market capitalistic country, should think twice about the government subsidies that we give to the military-industrial complex. Think about it, it takes them millions of dollars to drop one bomb, and building of that bomb is contracted out by American government, it pays the fat cats very well to wage war. America is not a capitalistic country; it is full of favoritism of the certain groups by the people in power.
I say we should go on a NO CARB diet,


Cheny
Ashcroft
Rumsfeld
Bush

Along with Zmag form sweetiepie, checkout www.democracynow.org

"these soldiers fighting in petroleum wars/ thinking that they are dying for the holiest cause"

Thank you "beautiful struggle"......... I checked "democracynow.org". It's great!!

I was wondering when someone would post some left-wing rhetoric. Sweetiepie, while you're at it, check out moveon.org and subscribe to the Nation.

Maximum20, judging from what you said, I assume your stance on illegal immigration is to allow everyone to cross the border into the US. Let me assure you that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats will support that. Let's talk about managing the problem instead of justifying it on history. For me, this is more of a security issue than an economic/social one right now. Like I said earlier, the billions spent on securing the airports will do no good if terrorists can sneak into Mexico and then enter the US through the porous southern border. If the right-wing conservatives are accused of scaring up the public about terrorism, then the left-wingers are as guilty of playing down the threat of terrorism.

I'm voting for John Kerry, plain and simple. The reasons are:

-- War in Iraq: Some might say that Bush should be allowed to clean up his own mess at least this one time, given that all his business ventures have ended up as failures, due to which the problems he created had to be cleaned up by the next big honcho. I beg to differ. The chimp is incapable of cleaning up after he's done. What else can you expect from a failed businessman? Richard Clarke and the rest of the CIA people, with the exception of George Tenet(the "slam dunk" guy), were warning Bush that links between Saddam and Al Qaeda were more than murky. Yet, he makes another decision. Guess he doesn't learn from his failures, after all. The neocon chickenhawks are making all the decisions in the White House, and many of them are Israeli citizens as well. So it wasn't exactly America's security they had in mind when they made the erroneous decision of deposing Saddam Hussein. The mustachoed leader of Iraq, albeit a dictator, was a secularist and at at least had Al Qaeda in check. 1000 Americans are dead, with almost 7k injured, and the numbers are sure to rise. Estimates show that the insurgents are 20000 strong, as opposed to only 5,000 a year ago. This is all Bush's doing. More than 4000 Americans have died under this presidency, yet Bush has managed to trick Americans into believing that America is more secure under him.

--The economy: It's been heading on a downward spiral ever since daddy's boy took office. With no opposition from the democratic party, the Republican party has free rein to wreak havoc and forward their own agendas without ever having to think of the ramifications. America works best when there is an opposition that can challenge the incumbent, as has been the case historically. The republican party has played the politics of fear to make credulous citizens toe the conservative party line. Furthermore, as one recent poll elucidated, many Americans still think Saddam had something to do with 9/11.

--Immigration: Who has more to gain with illegal immigration? Corporate bigwigs of course. Ergo, amnesty will more likely be a republican doing. Border security guards are so thinly spread that even one hundred sombrero-wearing chicanos could pass by with ease, and the guards wouldn't have a clue. Latin America is quickly becoming Al Qaeda's new enclave. So, if the government keeps turning a blind eye on this problem, we can sure as hell expect another 9/11. It's the Reagan administration that provided amnesty to illegals. John Kerry is pushing amnesty also, but given that it's a republican controlled senate(and will be so even after the election), the chances that his amnesty bill will pass are slim to none.

--Healthcare: Almost 40 million Americans are without healthcare. That's a 10% increase since the Clinton era. Maybe it's true that spoon-feeding isn't the way to go, but whatever Bush is doing sure ain't working.

--No Child left behind has left all children behind: The idea sounded good on paper, but since it's very ill financed, it's not working.

--Erosion of Civil liberties: The FBI can pick you up and lock you in jail as an enemy combatant without attorney privileges. Now that's scary. There have been instances when people have been interrogating only for calling Bush an a$$hole, which by the way he is, given his tract record.

--Gay rights: Once upon a time, when we were living in caves, marriage was a novel concept, and I have no doubt in mind that the idea was met with resistance by those who peferred the status quo. Now, we're at another juncture of history, where we have a chance to move forward. But oh no, Bush plays politics with it. In 2000, on Larry King Live, the then-governor of Texas said that it was up to the state to decide gay marriage. Nobody is a bigger flip-flopper than Dubya in my mind.

--The religious right: Bush is clearly in bed with the religious right. I don't want Christian fundamentalists to spread their bigotry and hatred for other religions as much as I don't want Muslims to do the same. Secularism is the key. I don't want no theocracy in America. The idea is so passe.

--Bush is anti-science: Stem-cell research clearly is the future, and could in fact create numerous jobs in the biotech sector. For Bush, Bible is Science and modern Science is Satanism. Embryonic stem-cell lines are almost exhausted. Stem cells can differentiate into any cell types. It has one hell of a prospect, if only it were funded well.

--Affirmative action: Bush opposes affirmative action, yet he went to Yale due to his dad's legacy. Talk about hypocricy. He's almost like one of those white trash homeless losers addicted to crystal meth incessantly berating niggers for moral decadence in America. I don't like people who look for scapegoats.
and finally(drumroll please)

--Bush is a bumbling nincompoop: It's clear folks, Dick Cheney is the real President. I don't want a balding, weak-hearted sap on pacemaker to make executive decisions. I want someone stronger.

These are some of the reasons why I'm voting for Hanoi Kerry. I'm really not voting for Kerry. I'm just voting against Bush. I would vote for McCain in a heartbeat if he was on the Republican ticket.

Hey "republican" thanks for the "moveon.org".....looks like it is more public opinion related website! We need more public related parties like GREEN instead of these republicans and democrats! Not to offend u republican, but I do agree with maximum20 about his views on mexican immigrants. The only reason they come here is because they are extremetly poor and can't find work there....... they have to feed their children. Yes, they don't want to do that but they have to. Have u heard that lot of mexicans are dying because they choose to come through desert anyway to avoid being caught! They do that because they are desparate like any other ..example chinese immigrants(they were smuggled through a ship)! Like any other immigrants from all around the world, I think they have the right to come and earn a buck or two! They have been working here since forever.......every low paying job that nobody wants! So why now they are getting rid of them? Yes, it's because of the phobia of white people. They say these immigrants snatch their jobs but there is a different strategy going on inside politically. America was made of immigrants so there is immigrant rights!

And yes u are right that it's a waste of money to blow billions in a security. Terrorists are smart enough to do anything if they like! Instead of this, we have to look at why are the terrorists attacking USA in the first place...... american foreign policy sucks that's why!! all they want to do is okay protect the country by all measures of security but the real problem is being ignored. It will led to more and more threats and insecurity obviously!The right wingers are scaring public to get the vote...... it's the only way they can survive after all the criticism from the IRAQ WAR! Why nobody brings out the fact about why America is a target and why it's been hated so much!!

Between Bush and Nader, Kerry is TOAST, and all the 527s the dems put up in his defense won't do squat to change that simple fact. You can already smell the fear emanating from Mary Beth Cahill and the gang at DNC HQ. Gotta love it!

republican,
My stance is not to allow everyone in the country. the Militarized US-Mexico border is not to stop terrorists. The army deployed there has the right to shoot anyone. The stretch of deserts has killed a lot of people. And, you cannot ignore the importance of history in issues like immigration when you are talking about a country like america. This country is a country of immigrants. They took the land from the natives, took the land from the mexicans and built an empire exploiting the natives and slaves. that's what makes america different and, ironically, wealthier than all other countries. Even Bush mentions it in his speech every once in a while. Americans cannot say, ok we're in, now lets close all borders.
And you are right how both Bush and Kerry do not touch on issues about finding and uprooting the REAL reason why people are ready to die to illegally get into america. Just another reason why i do not think either party is worth supporting.

Bush Admits He Doesn't Know Why We Invaded Iraq

heeee

:D