A friend of mine sent me this email.  The question is, “What am I?”.  The slant is toward politics.  For example, I am more libertarian, but I am not a true libertarian.  Now, I subscribe to much of what this person says, but this isn’t a debate about the statements he makes.  It’s a question of classification.

 So, here it is.

In this day of all Republicans being call the “Religious Right,” whether they
are or not, all Democrats being called “Liberal Democrats” whether they are or
not and and anyone you disagree with being designated a “Right Wing” nut or a
“Left Wing” nut based upon his/her pronouncement of his/her position on one or
two issues, I have lost my way. I need to find out what label should be
applied to me, especially since no one is apparently allowed to be a citizen
of this society unless he/she has a label. Please help me out. I have the
following positions on the issues:

1. An egalitarian belief that all persons are legally and politically equal
without regard to race, color, nationality, place of origin and sex.

2. A federal republic form of government governed by democratic principles. 
Universal adult suffrage except for convicted criminals and the mentally
impaired.

3. A federal government that is limited to only those powers granted to it by
the governed in a written constitution which can only be amended by a super-
majority (2/3rds) - the matters set forth in the US constitution and the bill
of rights or naturally implied by it due to the changes in society over times.

4. Abortion - the right of a woman to choose. It is a woman’s issue and men
should shut up about it unless an opinion is requested by the women in a man’s
life.

5. Church and State -  no government  money, facilities, property or policy
should be used to promote or aid any religion, nor to deter or hinder any
religion. This means all governments from the town and local school district
all the away up to the federal government. Governments take care the secular
world and religions take care of the spiritual world.

6. Immigration - strict enforcement of borders and laws that make it very
uninviting to come to this Country illegally including laws that severely
punish employers, landlords and those who make illegal immigration possible. A
change in the constitution to provide that simply because on is born in this
Country does not make on a citizen.

7.  The abolition of social security, Medicare, welfare and similar
entitlements. The freedom to choose one’s path in life includes the freedom to
fail. Charity is the province of the citizens, not the government.

8. A graduated flat income tax on all income from whatever source received.
Example, 10% for the lower income group; 15% for the middle income group and
20% for the upper income group. The abolition of all tax exemptions and
deductions, and all estate and gift taxes (inheritances and gifts are counted
as income to the recipient). For business, taxable income is the amount
received less the REASONABLE costs of producing that income. All salaries and
compensation in excess of of 300 time the compensation of the lowest paid full
time worker in the business can not be deducted as an expense. Any medical
insurance, profit sharing. stock options and performance bonuses must be
applied uniformly pro-rata to all employees of the business or they are not
deductible.

9. The death penalty, but not because of the morality debate but because it is
often the only way society can rid itself of a heinous or repeat miscreant.

10. The swift and permanent intervention of the government for the protection
of children, the elderly and the incapacitated who are abused or neglected.

11. Universal compulsory military service of all men and women with a similar
non-military service for conscientious objectors. Pensions and medical
services for those serving in the armed forces in times of combat.

12.  The person receiving the most votes becomes the president of the US and
the person receiving the second highest number of votes becomes the vice-
president, just as the founding fathers provided in the constitution  This
guarantees that the president of the US and the president of the senate will
always be from different political parties.

So, dear friend, what do you think my label should be? Republican; Democrat;
Libertarian; hopeless case; nut? I can no longer go through life without a
proper label so people will know how to deal with me. Thanks.