Obama lies:

Reasons to agree:

1. Under Obama's plan, middle-class families would see their income taxes cut, with no family making less than $250,000 seeing an increase. However, he did vote for a budget in June 2008, that would raise the taxes on single people with a taxable income of over $32,000 by pushing up their tax bracket from 25% to 28%.
2. On January 24, 2007, in reference to his stated plan to take public financing should he procure the nomination, he said, "I think that for a time, the presidential public financing system works." On November 27, he said, "I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election," and on February 28, 2008, he wrote that he planned to "aggressively pursue" a publicly financed campaign, later promising to sit down with John McCain to ensure "a public system" of campaign financing is preserved.[75] However, on June 19, 2008, he opted out of public campaign financing.
3. He originally opposed efforts to include any legal immunity, especially retroactive immunity, for government officials and telecommunications firms alleged to have taken part in the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program as part of legislation to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[108] However, on June 20, 2008, Obama issued a statement saying that he would support the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 passed the previous week by the House of Representatives
4. "Every dollar I’ve proposed, I’ve proposed an additional cut that it matches." (2008 third presidential debate against John McCain Oct 15, 2008 )
5. In Iowa Obama promising to lead “not by polls, but by principle”. But that was just to win the election. According to Politico Obama governs by polls. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20852.html
6. Obama promised to get us out of Iraq.
7. Promised to close Gitmo.
8. Obama says that he has not supported cutting funding to the war as a way to end U.S. involvement in the conflict. He stated that, "Once we were in, we were going to have some responsibility to try to make it work as best we can".[170] Obama was however one of 14 senators who voted against the successful passage of H.R.2206 in May 2007, a bill meant to provide continued funding for the Iraq war free from any withdrawal deadlines.[171]
9. "The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system. The proposal is politically problematic for President Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as 'the largest middle-class tax increase in history.' " -- New York Times, 3/14
   
10. After saying he wouldn't have lobbyists in his administration, Obama made 17 exceptions in the first two weeks in office. ...including Tom Daschle, who worked as a top lobbyist yet was going to be appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services -- until his failure to pay income taxes derailed his nomination.
11. "Chicago has yet to recoup the $1.74 million cost of President Obama's victory celebration in Grant Park -- despite a burgeoning $50.5 million budget shortfall that threatens more layoffs and union concessions." -- Chicago Sun-Times, 2/20
12. Obama quietly announced that he would not press for new labor and environmental regulations in the North American Free Trade Agreement, going back on a campaign promise.
    

Reasons to disagree:

1. Every campaign promice that is not followed through is not a lie. People should change their minds. The flip-flop charge is stupid. You have to look at the "lie" and try to figure out if it was made in good will. You also should count the number of promices that have been broken, and see who lies the most. Because every politician has gone back on promices. George Bush said no new taxes. Clinton said, "I did not have sex with that Woman". Every politician lies. That is why we need to hook them up to lie detectors. Real lying, when they know they are not telling the truth is a problem, but changin your mind is not a lie.

Webpages that agree:

1. http://obamalies.net/

You may say these changes aren't a big deal. But it wasn't just Obama changing his mind. He domogoged the issue, lecturing Bush on how wrong he was, and making a big deal about how he was going to be so much better. He made all these big deals, and then very quitly changed his opinion.

Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
   
2. Racism (critisizing a minority, Obama, because he is a minority)

Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is right):

1. Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
2. Liberal guilt (defending a minority, Obama, because he is a minority)

It is pretty messed up for Obama to have voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions

Reasons to agree:

1. This bill deals with how young girls are being secretly taken across State lines for the purpose of abortion, without the consent of their parents or even the knowledge of their parents, in violation of the laws of the State in which they live. 45 states have enacted some sort of parental consent laws or parental notification law. By simply secreting a child across State lines, one can frustrate the State legislature's rules. It is subverting and defeating valid, constitutionally approved rights parents have.


2. Getting pregnant takes a series of choices. If you get pregnant, and you are a child, you are not providing for your own food, or shelter, if you get these things from your parents, these parents who are providing for you, and you live in a state that requires their knowledge of an abortion, it should be wrong for someone who is not caring for the pregnant child, for someone who is not providing food, shelter, to take these children, and assume they know what is better for someone whom they haven't raised from when they were children, and perform an abortion on them without even telling their parents.

This is very difficult stuff to discuss, and I think I could make people hate me for bringing up either side, but I want to word stuff better, and need your help in explaining both sides.

Webpages that agree:

1. http://www.moralaccountability.com/obama-on-abortion/

This bill prohibits taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions (how messed-up is it that you can take someone else's kids across state lines to get an abortion, so you can BREAK the law, and it is not against the law?). Makes an exception for an abortion necessary to save the life of the minor. Authorizes any parent to sue unless such parent committed an act of incest with the minor. Imposes a fine and/or prison term of up to one year on a physician who performs an abortion on an out-of-state minor in violation of parental notification requirements in their home state.

Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
   
2. The desire to criticize something that a minority has said, no matter if it is right or not. Racisms. Attacking a minority because he is a minority.
3. Making themselves feel better about decisions they might have made.
4. Protecting the rights of parents.
5. Limiting the rights of the government to do bad.

Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
   
2. The desire to defend something that a minority has said, no matter if it is right or not. Liberal guilt (defending a minority because he is a minority)
3. Making themselves feel better about decisions they might have made.
4. Weakening the rights of parents.
5. Expanding the rights of the government to do good.

Obama is wrong on abortion, but takes a good approach

 

Reasons to agree:

1. [An abortion protester at a campaign event] handed me a pamphlet. “Mr. Obama, I know you’re a Christian, with a family of your own. So how can you support murdering babies?”
   I told him I understood his position but had to disagree with it. I explained my belief that few women made the decision to terminate a pregnancy casually; that any pregnant woman felt the full force of the moral issues involved when making that decision; that I feared a ban on abortion would force women to seek unsafe abortions, as they had once done in this country. I suggested that perhaps we could agree on ways to reduce the number of women who felt the need to have abortions in the first place.
   “I will pray for you,” the protester said. “I pray that you have a change of heart.” Neither my mind nor my heart changed that day, nor did they in the days to come. But that night, before I went to bed, I said a prayer of my own-that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that had been extended to me.
   Source: The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.197-8 Oct 1, 2006
2. Obama is right to reach across the isle for common ground on abortion
3. Obama was wrong to have voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
4. Obama is wrong on embryonic stem cell research

Webpages that agree:

1. http://www.moralaccountability.com/obama-on-abortion/

Obama is a good dad

 

Reasons to agree:

1. "It's not good enough for you to say to your child, 'Do good in school,' and then when that child comes home, you got the TV set on, you got the radio on, you don't check their homework, there is not a book in the house, you've got the video game playing... So turn off the TV set, put the video game away. Buy a little desk or put that child by the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework. If they don't know how to do it, give them help. If you don't know how to do it, call the teacher. Make them go to bed at a reasonable time. Keep them off the streets. Give 'em some breakfast... I also know that if folks letting our children drink eight sodas a day, which some parents do, or, you know, eat a bag of potato chips for lunch, or Popeyes for breakfast [...] You can't do that. Children have to have proper nutrition. That affects also how they study, how they learn in school."

Reasons to disagree:

1. Its easy to say that you should be a good parent, when he got to ignore the kids all day, and be a senator, a state senator, and president. It is a lot harder when you actually have to watch the kids, change the diapers, 24x7.

Obama was right to o ensure that only those embryos that would otherwise be discarded could be used for Stem Cell Research

Obama introduced legislation in the Illinois Senate to ensure that only those embryos that would otherwise be discarded could be used and that donors would have to provide written consent for the use of the embryos.Source: Campaign website, BarackObama.com, “Resource Flyers” Aug 26, 2007Reasons to agree:

Obama Backs Off Campaign Promise to Rapidly Withdraw from Iraq

This is my initial blog here at Mike's new site and I wanted to start off my segment by saying that I agree with Obama's decision to go slow on the troop withdrawals from Iraq.

During the campaign I visibly winced every time Obama would promise his minions on the left to precipitously yank the troops out of Iraq, thereby snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.

His decision to slow the troop withdrawals has no doubt caused untold anguish in the precincts of the left, but much relief amongst those of us who believe that it would be a tragedy to have invested so much blood, so much human suffering and exhausted so much treasure, just to see victory slip through our fingers at the last moment!

Now, on the points where I disagree with Obama............just about everything else! Wait, I have to be more open minded that that. Well, I'll have to spend some time on that one. When I think of something, I promise that you, the faithful readers of this blog, will be the first to know.

~~John Cronin~~

Obama was right when he challenged "so-called leaders of the Christian Right" for being "all too eager to exploit what divides us."

 

Reasons to agree:

1. Sometimes it seems like some pro-life republicans don't really care about life, but they care about using life as a wedge issue to get themselves elected. For instance they keep sending up all these bills that don't have any provisions for rape, or the parents life. They don't reach out for compromise. They take an absolute position, and demand their way or nothing. It is better to agree on those things that we agree on, and then make arguments to go further... Even though I disagree with Obama on many life issues, I greatly appreciate the respect that he shows my side, and his willingness to move forward on such things as restricting late term abortions.
   

Obama is right to supports civil unions

Reasons to agree:

1. Governor Romney agrees with Obama and said, “Preserving the definition of marriage should not infringe on the right of individuals to live in the manner of their choosing. One person may choose to live as a single, even to have and raise her own child. Others may choose to live in same sex partnerships or civil arrangements. There is an unshakeable majority of opinion in this country that we should cherish and protect individual rights with tolerance and understanding.“ Governor Mitt Romney, 06-22-2004 Press Release
   

Obama is right to oppose gay marriage

 

Obama has said, "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.

Reasons to agree:

1. It depends on what you mean by gay marriage. If it means, like what happened in Massachusetts, that parents no longer had options of limiting 2nd graders exposure to pro-gay material, then even some very open minded gay people would feel strange about taking away parent's rights to address discussions about sexuality as they see fit. If it becomes very oppressive, like it did in Massachusetts were catholic charities were not allowed to participate operate in Massachusetts as long as they did not place children into gay families, then more reasons for opposing it become apparent. 
   
2. Some people could care less about giving gay people the right to marry, but worry about judges just deciding to write their own laws.
3. Mitt Romney said, “This is a subject about which people have tender emotions in part because it touches individual lives. It also has been misused by some as a means to promote intoleranceand prejudice. This is a time when we must fight hate and bigotry, when we must root out prejudice, when we must learn to accept people who are different from one another. Like me, the great majority of Americans wish both to preserve the traditional definition of marriage and to oppose bias and intolerance directed towards gays and lesbians.” http://myclob.pbwiki.com/06-22-2004
4. Governor Romney agrees with Obama and said, “Preserving the definition of marriage should not infringe on the right of individuals to live in the manner of their choosing. One person may choose to live as a single, even to have and raise her own child. Others may choose to live in same sex partnerships or civil arrangements. There is an unshakeable majority of opinion in this country that we should cherish and protect individual rights with tolerance and understanding. “Governor Mitt Romney, 06-22-2004 Press Release 
5. Mitt Romney said, "Marriage is not primarily about adults. Marriage is about the nurturing and development of children. A child's development is enhanced by the nurturing of both genders. Every child deserves a mother and a father."
   
6. Mitt Romney said, "We're asked to change the state birth certificate. To prevent "heterocentricity," mother and father would become "Parent A" and "Parent B."
   
7. Mitt Romney said, An elementary school teacher reads to her second graders from a book titled "The King and the King," about a prince who marries a prince -- and a second grader's father is denied the right to have his child taken out of that classroom while the book is being read.
   
8. Mitt Romney said, "Massachusett's most difficult-to-place adoptive children may no longer be placed by Catholic Charities because they favor homes where there's a mother and a father."
9. Mitt Romney said, "The price of same-sex marriage is paid by the children. Our fight for marriage, then, should focus on the needs of children, not the rights of adults."
   
10. Mitt Romney said, "As Americans, I believe that we should show an outpouring of respect and tolerance for all people. I believe God loves all of his children, that no one is abhorred -- that regardless of the differences and different choices, we should show that same respect. As Americans, we must vigorously reject discrimination and bigotry."
    
11. “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman but I detest the bashing and vilifying of gays and lesbians. Most gays and lesbians are seeking basic recognition of their rights so they’re not discriminated against in employment or renting a house, so they can see their partner in a hospital. These are rights for everybody, not just some people.” Source: Illinois Senate Debate #3: Barack Obama vs. Alan Keyes Oct 21, 2004
    

12. One of Obama’s pragmatic stands troubling to progressives is on gay marriage. In the Senate debate, Obama opposed the right-wing Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage nationally and said: “I agree with most Americans, with Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Cheney, with over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage, as they always have, should be left to the states.” However, Obama also declared, “Personally, I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.” At the same time, Obama has strongly supported civil unions, arguing that it is a way to protect equal rights without taking the politically risky approach of gay marriage. Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.114-115 Oct 30, 2007

Reasons to disagree:

1. If heterosexual adults can marry, then homosexual couples have to also be able to marry to have equal rights.
   

Obama is right to reach across the isle for common ground on abortion

 Reasons to agree:

1. Obama said, "...there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, 'We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby'. Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that's where we can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation. We should try to reduce these circumstances."
2. Sometimes it seems like some pro-life republicans don't really care about life, but they care about using life as a wedge issue to get themselves elected. For instance they keep sending up all these bills that don't have any provisions for rape, or the parents life. They don't reach out for compromise. They take an absolute position, and demand their way or nothing. It is better to agree on those things that we agree on, and then make arguments to go further... Even though I disagree with Obama on many life issues, I greatly appreciate the respect that he shows my side, and his willingness to move forward on such things as restricting late term abortions.
3. [An abortion protester at a campaign event] handed me a pamphlet. “Mr. Obama, I know you’re a Christian, with a family of your own. So how can you support murdering babies?” I told him I understood his position but had to disagree with it. I explained my belief that few women made the decision to terminate a pregnancy casually; that any pregnant woman felt the full force of the moral issues involved when making that decision; that I feared a ban on abortion would force women to seek unsafe abortions, as they had once done in this country. I suggested that perhaps we could agree on ways to reduce the number of women who felt the need to have abortions in the first place. “I will pray for you,” the protester said. “I pray that you have a change of heart.” Neither my mind nor my heart changed that day, nor did they in the days to come. But that night, before I went to bed, I said a prayer of my own-that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that had been extended to me. Source: The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.197-8 Oct 1, 2006

Reasons to agree:

1. In 2005 there were 1.2 million abortions performed (The Guttmacher Institute). That is 1.2 million hearts that were stoped because of 1.2 million brains being sucked out. When 1.2 million brains are sucked out of 1.2 million skulls, there is no room for compromise.

Webpages that agree:

1. http://www.moralaccountability.com/obama-on-abortion/

Obama was wrong to have voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act

Reasons to agree:

1. A baby that is born is no longer a fetus, it is a baby. It is wrong to kill babies. It is especially wrong to kill babies when the baby no longer requires his or her mother to provide life. Once a baby is born, it no longer requires it's mother and could be given up for adoption. We can agree to disagree on abortions during the first few months, but partial-birth abortion is the way that lawyers, like Obama, allow a mother to kill a baby, before the feet come all the way out. By leaving the baby partially inside the mother, lawyers will say that it is not a baby. This is disgusting, and is an example of why people should specifically hate Obama, and lawyers in general.
2. Obama said that he would have supported the act, if it provided for exceptions to the mother's life. This is a lie. John K. Wilson, an Obama Supporter said; "Although these bills included an exception to save the life of the mother, they didn’t include anything about abortions necessary to protect the health of the mother. The legislation defined a fetus as a person, & could have criminalized virtually all abortion." This is a straw man argument. The bill would not have criminalized virtually all abortions. This is a bold-faced lie. John K. Wilson is making a slippery slope argument, saying that if a fetus is truly defined as a person, then some day other people could use that definition to write another law that outlawed virtually all abortions. However, the bill that Obama voted against only had anything to do with partial-birth abortions, and it is a scare tactics and lies to say that it had anything to do with anything else.
3. An "On the Issues" article says, "In 1997, Obama voted against SB 230, which would have turned doctors into felons by banning so-called partial-birth abortion". This uses very misleading wording. It says the bill would have "turned doctors into felons". This is stupid. The bill would have made it a felony in Illinois to perform "so-called" partial-birth abortions. First of all, the guy, John K. Wilson, p.147-148, uses the words "so called" partial-birth abortions, as though it is inaccurate. What happens in a partial birth abortion is the woman goes through labor, and the baby comes partly out of the womb. The baby is then killed, while the baby has been partially born. The baby is killed before it comes all the way out, because if the baby was born all the way, it would be illegal to kill it. So I don't know what John K. Wilson is complaining about by calling it "so-called" partial birth abortion, but yes the bill would have made those doctors who committed felonies, into felons. But it is not like doctors would not know that partial birth abortions were illegal. It’s not like we would surprise them, or trick them. The wording is stupid. If you made a law that said doctors can’t juggle babies, that would also turn doctors into felons. But only those doctors who ignored the law and continued their baby juggling ways.
4. Obama says that we should trust women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion. Weather you believe partial-birth abortion is right or wrong, you can’t use that sort of logic. Obama is too smart to have used this kind of argument without knowing how stupid it is. He knows that it is a sham, but he uses this sort of logic, because stupid people agree with him. That sort of logic is exactly like saying, that we should trust men to make their own decisions about tax evasion. When you start something with the words, “Lets trust women to make their own decisions”, you are ½ the way to convincing stupid people, and you get to avoid making any decisions about something being right or wrong yourself. Q: What us your view on the decision on partial-birth abortion and your reaction to most of the public agreeing with the court’s holding? A: I think that most Americans recognize that this is a profoundly difficult issue for the women and families (and politicians) who make these decisions. They don’t make them casually (no one makes them casually? A lot of teen boys don't use condoms because they don't like the way they feel. A lot of teen age girls don't force their boyfrinds to use condoms because they don't want to make them mad. A lot of people make life decisions very casually. 1.2 million abortions in 2005. A lot of those were decisions made casually). And I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy (yes, withing the first months of pregancy, but partial birth abortions are full term). And I think that’s where most Americans are. Now, when you describe a specific procedure that accounts for less than 1% of the abortions that take place, then naturally, people get concerned, and I think legitimately so (so we should legalize aeverything that is rare? I could make ridiculus examples, like canabalsm, to make a point, but then people would say that I'm crazy, or that I'm comparing the two. No. I'm attacking the logic. We shouldn't legalize everything that is rare). But the broader issue here is: Do women have the right to make these profoundly difficult decisions (no the broader issue is you were asked about partial birth abortion, and your trying to change the subject)? And I trust them to do it (so I'm not going to answer the question). There is a broader issue: Can we move past some of the debates around which we disagree (not if you don't answer the questions honestly) and can we start talking about the things we do agree on (oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Can you stop asking me difficult questions)? Reducing teen pregnancy; making it less likely for women to find themselves in these circumstances (just because Obama wants to ignore this practice doesn't make it go away. Ignoring it will allow it to keep happening). Source: 2007 South Carolina Democratic primary debate, on MSNBC Apr 26, 2007

Reasons to disagree:

1. Obama said that he would have supported the act, if it provided for exceptions to the mother's life. He said; "On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that." http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm

Webpages that agree:

1. http://www.moralaccountability.com/obama-on-abortion/
   

Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
   
2. Racism (critisizing a minority because he is a minority)
3. Making themselves feel better about decisions they might have made.

Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
   
2. Liberal guilt (defending a minority because he is a minority)
3. Making themselves feel better about decisions they might have made.
   

Obama is right to try to bring more educated english speaking people to America

 Background: Obama said in an interview with IANS he would support "comprehensive immigration reform", including the H-1B visa program "to attract some of the world most talented people to America". "We know that we cannot and should not put up walls around our economy."^[147]

Reasons to agree:

1. America is like a baseball team. If we are going to beat other countries, we have to recruit the best players. We need to make America attractive to smart people. Smart people should be attracted by our freedom, rule of law, free press, and fair system.
2. Immigration has been an important part of our nation's success. The current system, however, puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory biometrically enabled, tamper proof documentation and employment verification system, and increase legal immigration into America.
3. "We need to make America more attractive for legal immigrants -- for citizens -- and less attractive for illegal immigrants. I want to see more immigration in our country, but more legal immigration and less illegal immigration." ~ Governor Romney, AP, June 23, 2006

Reasons to disagree:

1. Business people don't want to pay American scientist and engineers very much money and so they want to bring in foreign scientist and engineers. Instead we should turn the tables, and bring in people with MBAs from India, so that American businessmen don't make as much money. Some people with MBAs walk around talking about motivation, and team building, as if it wasn’t just all stupid crap that they make up to make themselves feel important. We should bring in low wage business people to run our companies, and not bring in low wage scientist and engineers.
   

Obama is right to call for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide

Reasons to agree:

1. You should call a spade a spade.

Obama is right to give the director of National Intelligence a fixed term independent of Presidential control

 

Reasons to agree:

1. This would be one means of depoliticizing the intelligence process

Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
   
2. Racism (critisizing a minority because he is a minority)

Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is right):

1. Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
   
2. Liberal guilt (defending a minority because he is a minority)

Interest

Please help me brainstorm the most probable interest of those who agree or disagree with President Obama on each issue. Just leave what you think motivates each side in the comment section, and I will add it to the list. Also, tell me the percentage of those who agree with Obama you think are motivated by each motivation. I will try to put the most likely motivation towards the top of the list.

The book Getting to Yes, tells us that we need to focus on interest instead of positions. To understand why someone believes something we must understand their interest. What are their values? Different interest or values lead to different positions.

Of course it is best when the author of an idea submits their interest. However others users of the website could submit and then vote on the most likely motivations of each side.

We need to also classify interest as opposing interest or mutual interest.

Businesses interest might include low taxes and good infrastructure.

Typical Format

Thesis #1

Interest...

...of those who agree with Thesis #1	...of those who disagree with Thesis #1
1. IOTWA#1	1. IOTWD#1
2. IOTWA#2	2. IOTWD#2

Explanation

A technique taught in Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury, is to focus on interest not positions. In addition to having a place for listing pros and cons, I would like to have a place for the listing of interest. If we are going to make progress sometimes we have to stop listening to the stupid things people are saying, and try to figure out what their motivation is, and what makes them want to say those stupid things. It will often turn out that the real reason someone supports something has nothing to do with the arguments that they try to use to advance their ideas.

Members of a country, business, or trade organization could list their interest. Businesses could list their interest of low taxes, and good infrastructure. Psychologist could compile a list of all of the interest of a family. A slight variation on this would be to allow people to list their goals.

These list of solutions, interest, and goals would become pretty long. If written on paper they may become a big mess. However the internet offers great opportunities in the organization of data. People could be allowed to vote on weather or not they think certain interest or solutions to a problem are valid. The interest that are the most valid could rise to the top. This would make the site more user friendly. However those interest that are not generally accepted will still be presented on the site, for those who are concerned primarily about the interest of the minority.

The technology behind the internet will will make such things as responding to a specific solution, interest, or goal will be possible. The evaluation process could be used to let the site users evaluate the responses that people make. This will allow a truly dynamic give and take between different positions. If the evaluation process thrives then this dynamic give and take will constantly get better. Those positions solutions, interest, and goals that are described clearly, and are truly valid and logical will get the most acceptance.

However traditional problems may arise between people as the work their way to the real issue, and deal with road blocks in the dynamic exchange of ideas. On advantage of this web site is the natural way that the people are separated from the problems. You are not arguing with a person you are arguing with an idea. Hopefully you will not be arguing with a slopy idea, with lots of road blocks, you will be working the best but most valid idea.

One way that we could direct people in the way of evaluating solutions, interest, and goals in the best way. We could ask people if the way the solution, interest, or goal was worded might cause people problems. Perhaps someone worded their position in a partisan way, or maybe used hostile emotions. Each of these separate issues could be a plus or minus, that sends your idea up or down the slide. Questions could be asked such as, is this action consistent with principles? Yes or no.

I would also have a section of my web site designated to the hottest issues. This issues would be the ones in which violence is taking place. This would help focus interest on the issues that need the most help.

One of the principles of Getting to Yes to to work together with your advisory on the problem, instead of working against each other. For this purpose we will rarely frame conflict of group a vs. b. However there are some things that could be done in this method that may help people resolve conflict.

Assuming that on the web site we have already listed all of the interest of every party, we can go forward with specific conflicts between groups. For instance in the case of the Israel and her Palestinian neighbors we could have a section on the site specifically about that conflict. This enable people to list such things as common goals. Both the Israelis and the Palestinian people want economic security, and other fundamental needs.

Some typical motivations are listed below:

1. Financial gain


2. Groupism


3. Racism


4. Liberal guilt


5. Moral clarity


6. Party Affiliation Groupism


7. Political laziness and issue crossover


8. Self delusion


9. The desire to be seen as unique

I took a conflict resolution class, that taught mediation techniques. I highly recommended "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without giving in" by Roger Fisher and Willium Ury. Chapter 3 is called "Focus on Interest not positions". I don't want to repeat their arguments, but just want to state that we will never make progress until we get to the root cause of a conflict. From the book, "Interest motivate people; they are the silent movers behind the hubbub of positions. Your positions something you have decided upon. Your interest are what caused you to so decide."Again, whenever their is disagreement we have to get at the root cause of the disagreement. To do this we have to understand common, and opposing interest. If we just give a place for people to try and brainstorm, and understand these interest, we will make a lot of progress.Please tell me what you think! Should we have additional categories for "common" and "opposing" interest?