Originally posted by Achtung Bubba:
Whortense:
So, you mean the typical Republican has an "ugly personality" rather than an ugly appearance. That's *so* much better.
i've talked to enough republicans that i've formulated this opinion. their self-centered, cutthroat demeanor is enough to make me gag.
Historically, conservative Republicans *do* want to cut back on spending
in practice, it's not true. clinton spent less than reagan or bush.
(with the possible exception of defense spending which, not so shockingly, actually appears to be necessary).
well, now, yes. before, no. but you pass off "war spending" as almost a drop in the pan. not only do they spend less on the domestic front, not only to they deregulate business practices often beyond comprehension, but they make up + more on what they "save" in increased military spending. in the case of reagan/bush, they decided to neglect the transportation infrastructure, while blowing trillions on weaponry and unproven technology (star wars anyone?).
It is, if you can recall with any degree of accuracy, why the federal government got surpluses to begin with: the Republican Congress rejected Clinton's pork-barrel stimulus package and forced him to agree to a balanced budget.
no, it was caused by an incomplete tax package riddled with legislative gridlock. clinton's tax plan of 1993 likely paved the way for the huge amassing of surpluses. and the legislature? well, a do-nothing congress can't spend, now can it?
Your arguments are flawed on several points:
1. Conservatives do not believe in raising some taxes to lower others. Looking at the current tax burden, most conservatives think that all taxes should be lowered. Those Republicans who think and act otherwise have done so in good faith that decreased spending would follow a tax increase (as the Democratic Congress promised the elder Bush in 1990), or have done so in opposition to the party.
please. did you ever read the flat tax proposal when that was in-vogue? it set the flat rate at 18%. it lowered the taxes of the wealthiest by 18%, while actually raising the taxes of the poorest by 2%.
2. LOWER TAXES DO NOT NECESSARILY LEAD TO DECREASED REVENUES. In other words, as the 1980's demonstrated, Reaganomics works. You lower taxes, people have more money to spend or invest, the economy improves, more wealth is generated. Often, even when each dollar is taxed less, as more wealth is generated, the NET revenue for the government increases.
omg....bathtime fun whortense? is nearly about to gag in her bathtime fun purse?. reaganomics was the ultimate instrument in our social chaos. not only did it shift the tax burden from businesses to the working classes (i.e., YOU) (during the 1970s, it was 70% of all tax revenue came from businesses, 30% on individuals; during the 1980s, it was 70% taxes on individuals, 30% taxes on businesses).
secondly, lower taxes for individuals don't amount to shit when you have less wages!!!1111 i want you to grab a microeconomics book and look at a few stats on real wages and adjusted wages--real meaning the actual literal dollar amount, with the adjusted being gauged on inflation. in 1972, the working class (i.e., YOU) was at it's highest buying power. now our wages are, adjusted for inflation, down to 1950s buying power.
what went wrong? reagan couldn't solve the inflation problems that first arose during the carter era. as traditionally indicated early in his term, inflation was determined by rising consumer prices for goods. in other words, if prices for our items got much higher, it meant inflation. but to rid inflation using these indicators, it would hurt his big business backers. so, rather than solving inflation, he just changed the definition of inflation to be gauged primarily on
worker wages, meaning the higher our wages go on average, the more "inflation" we have. hence, not only did reagan shift the tax burden heavily on the working class, he set in standards that encourage businesses to lower our wages. if we go by the old standards that vilified carter, we are still in severe inflation. reaganomics is the ultimate scam on society.
you really want to fix our society? 1) change the inflationary indicators back, 2) raise wages, and 3) restrict credit. i'd gladly pay higher taxes if i were a fucking billionaire. they need tax cuts like mr. burns needs an ivory back scratcher. perhaps you bought into rush limbaugh's crap about "protect the wealthy, because, someday, you might be wealthy too." i don't see how our prior tax systems were somehow making them poor, now were they?
as for restricting credit, credit only serves to knock the supply and demand checks and balances out of whack. credit is an artificial inflator of the income curve, and only serves to make things more expensive. did you know that my grandparents bought a very nice house with cash in the early 1950s? we surely can't do that anymore. did you know that my parents paid cash for brand new cars? sadly, we can't even pay cash for newer leased cars anymore! you call "reaganomics" good? you need your head examined!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111
3. Tax cuts for the wealthy isn't a bad thing. Why? First, they share a disproportionate burden of the taxes, if you look at the percentage of income that is confiscated.
let's all cry for the walton dynasty now. if they pay taxes, grandma walton might not get 10 new rolexes for christmas.
Conservatives believe (correctly) that such a tax scheme is a disincentive to economic prosperity and is morally wrong.
please. what a load of bull. "morally wrong"? now i know why religion is fucked up in this nation.
Also, when you offer businesses tax incentives and lower loan rates, businesses (including small businesses that are NOT run by billionaires) can afford to spend more and hire more, thus spurring the economy. It's simple econimics.
republicans treat small businesses like they treat farmers: like stupid, inane cattle. first of all, their policies only help large corporations to buy up smaller ones. i don't know how corporate buyouts serve to help small business. it surely only eliminates it. republicans, not only, contribute to eliminate competition in the business world, but it's against the spirit of true capitalism. what we have now is bastard capitalism.
And I would challenge any company to run their business like liberal Democrats. With 40+ years of the government being run mostly by Democrats, we've got ourselves trillions of dollars of debt by spending increases of upwards of THREE TIMES the rate of inflation.
oh you are just deluded now. your demi-god reagan gave us nearly a $7 trillion debt, compared to only about $300 billion before he came into office. if bush ii stays on track with his spending, i'm sure we'll reach $10 trillion if he gets reelected.
I find it amazing how you've protrayed Republicans as the tax-and-spenders and you've ignored the social programs of FDR, LBJ, Clinton and other Democrats.
and i find it amazing how you brush off excess military spending as "necessary." likewise, i think social programs are far more necessary and a better usage of my tax money than $200 billion on fighter jets. likewise, if republicans were consistent in their desire to repeal welfare, i'd perhaps see your point, but it's hypocritical. while ready to ax welfare for people, they haven't touched corporate welfare. but that's right. big business needs government money to fuck the world.
Finally, I jokingly suggested that you accuse us conservatives of being "sexist, racist, homophobic, etc." to complete your laundry list of false, but typical, accusations.
AND YOU DID!
You AGAIN prove my point.
sexist = clarence thomas, bob packwood
racist = jesse helms, strom thurmond
homophobic = justice scalia, many more
so are we supposed to lie now and sing the praises of republicanism?
rush limbaugh, if we were alive during nazi germany:
"now, you know, those liberals are gonna come up one day and say that we've killed all the jews..."
My point is not that the accusations are false because they are predicted. It is that liberals resort to these accusations when they have very little to say of any real substance.
whether you like it or not, prejudice most certainly dictates political policy. if your senator is sexist, how can you expect them to uphold women's rights? if your senator is racist, how can you expect them to uphold minority rights? if your senator is homophobic...well, we've already seen the fruition of that statement.
The accusations are false because they are not at the core of conservatism -- and because conservative Republicans aren't the only group housing a small minority of bigots.
not only does the republican party house a "small minority" of bigots, they champion their causes. no, i don't think a majority of americans are as sick as the republican legislature, but this minority is given an inequitably high proportion of the attention.
First, the core beliefs of conservatism involve limited government, personal liberties, and personal accountability. Nowhere is bigotry implied.
oh yes. i see. here's what happens in practice:
"limited government" = let business get away with murder
personal liberties is a lie. the fcc, for instance, which is run by colin powell's son (nepotism, anyone?), has taken a laissez-faire stance on business regulation, while tightening content regulation. not only does the republican party wrongfully interject the religious values into their legislation, but they use these values as the basis to restrict personal liberties. everyone knows this is true: conservatism is against business regulation, but is for social regulation. what you define above is not conservatism, but libertarianism. try again.
"personal accountability" = send teenagers to life imprisonment without parole; increase the death penalty. only ironic that most of these cries come from the "christians" in the republican party. in fact, it was a conservative protestant religious leader who was instrumental in getting teenagers tried and sentenced as adults.
Second, while the extreme right admittedly has a few racists, the same is ALSO true of the extreme left -- those who suggest that the U.S. Constitution is illegitimate for the SOLE reason that it was written by white men.
you will always have your extremists in either party, granted. but the difference is that, while democrats have turned a blind eye to extremists, republicans still embrace them. perhaps it is not at the same level as during the 1940s-1960s, but it is still a problem. fiscal conservatism is not my enemy. in fact, the jesse ventura wing of the reform party fascinates me. now he's a great fiscal conservative who has truly reduced taxes and spending. hypocrisy (appearing to spend less, when you're really spending more on military schemes), deception (redefining inflation, because you can't fix it), and social conservatism (denying homosexuals anti-discrimination rights on stereotypes [justice scalia thought rights for homosexuals would be giving rights to a "disproportionate and wealthy minority"] and conservative religious bases) are.
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~whortense wiffin
walla walla, washington