Rank These Challenges Facing Americans

[Fern]

Rank these in terms of which are most important to you.
Or, if you prefer, pick the 3 most important issues facing Americans today.
Or simply discuss one or two that you feel strongly about.

For me, 1, 9, 11, 14 & 16 are the most worrisome.

1. Rising cost of healthcare and prescriptions
2. Drug use and abuse
3. Illegal immigration and its effect on jobs and healthcare system
4. Sexua pedophiles
5. Violent crime
6. White collar crime
7. Loss of jobs overseas
8. Current makeup of the Supreme Court
9. Global warming
10. Clean air, water
11. Loss of environmental diversity, habitat, mass extinctions, overall degradation of the world around us
12. Human rights violations arond the world
13. Continued civil unrest, instability in many AFrican countries
14. Continued instability in middle east, eg Iran and Palestinians
15. Haiti
16. North Korea
17. Sexually explicit and violent images on the media (TV, video games, etc) and effect on youth
18. Homelessness
19. Federal budget deficit

Have i left anything out?

[sweeps]

Fern, you've left out the number one issue -- probably the root cause of many of these. Spreading of misinformation and fear, which goes hand-in-hand with poor education.

Unfortunately the Internet has allowed some of these people on the fringes to get a disproportionately strong voice. The voice of reason tends to get drowned out.

[jmjj215]

I don't like 19 at all.

[locolorenzo24]

The lies and misinformation that the media continue to propagate upon us....
You ever hear the whole "eyes to the upper left, they're lying" idea? Try watching your national news and pay attention to that...

[Bruce Wayne]

You've left out the energy situation, which could be of enormous importance over the next 50 years.

[PRICEPLUS]

We will have many problems and more will crop up. We and our children and their children will face them and overcome.

[Optsol]

My top three are:

#1. one you don't have -- trade deficit
Money pouring out of the country, being used to repurchase tangible assets inside of the country -- very bad...

#2 one you don't have -- household debt level
I'm ok, but I'm guessing (although I may be misinformed) most people are not. This obviously influences #1.

#3 19. Federal budget deficit
Currently understandable, too easy for it to continue though. I would prefer them to cut spending vs. raising taxes, but I'm ok with either to go surplus and reduce the debt.
We spend 160B a year servicing the debt (7% of outlay).... That's a lot of coin to put toward 1 through 18.

[gavinmccallister]

I don't like #19 either

19. Federal budget deficit

[Lemony]

I guess #11 scares me the most. The continued ignorance and obvious sloughing off of responsibility for the environment scares the beejeebers out of me. Why do we leave it to our kids to sort out?

[Bluezy]

4. Sexual pedophiles. I understand many pedophiles were themselves molested as children, but God help us to stop it from happening to other children.

1. Rising cost of healthcare and prescriptions. Lives are being lost due to lack of funds to pay for medicines and visits to doctors for treatment. This disgusts me as much as sexual pedophiles.

8. Current makeup of the Supreme Court. As Americans we should be monitoring this situation carefully and tread wisely. Judicial tyranny can silently destroy our precious rights as Americans and create human rights situations like third-world countries.

[katwoman]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

You've left out the energy situation, which could be of enormous importance over the next 50 years.

Which is why I liked Al Gore! The man had vision. He knew what this could mean for America on both the envirionmental AND political fronts!

Now the bozo we have in office is starting to get it.

[VJW]

No he isn’t.

It took “the bozo” less than 12 hours to renege on his commitment:

“One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America’s dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn’t mean it literally.”:

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Don’t pay any attention to what he SAYS, pay attention to what he DOES.

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