Scott Brown
Hooray! Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts! Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the attempted Leftist takeover of the country. Woo hoo! Now let’s get back to some common sense, personal responsibility, fiscal responsibility, smaller government, and all that good stuff.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
I assume that no one who reads this blog is a Leftist?
January 20th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I dunno, are you?
January 20th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Gosh, now you’re going to *out* me? Not cool!
I love common sense and responsibility. Does that help? Also, I love you guys.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I think the world would be better if everyone looked at themselves as a Republican (with emphasis on personal responsibility) and at others as a Democrat (with emphasis on the social safety net and grace).
Problem is, I think a lot of people have that reversed. And if that makes me a Leftist, I’m a Leftist. Actually, my voting record probably does that–that, and being an academic.
I confess that this election left me sad… but then this president and Congress haven’t done anything I wanted them to do. Pass health care? Nah. Close Guantanamo? Nah. Close tax loopholes for businesses? Nah. Oppose telecom immunity? Nah. Cut defense spending? *No*. No no no no no no no.
Honestly, y’all, I don’t know what you’re upset about! We had friggin’ 60 votes in the Senate, a huge majority in the House, a President… and did NOTHING. You have nothing to be scared of from Democrats. They’re cowering in fear already and unwilling to make the bold moves that they promised… the ones that got them elected. This makes *me* sad, but y’all should be pleased.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:15 am
Well, we love you guys, too.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:24 am
Well, it is fortunate from our perspective that the Democrats have been able to accomplish as little as they have, but yet we must remain vigilant… against Democrats and Republicans slipping away from principle. Frankly, plenty of damage has been done by all the spending. We watch in dismay as Agent Murphy’s future is mortgaged away, often by both parties. Honestly, with 40% of tax collections going simply to service debt, we are beyond needing simply to curtail new spending. We need to be looking at serious cuts to the federal budget, being much more disciplined about what is and isn’t the appropriate role of the federal government. I’m hopeful that the strong feelings that have been stirred up against health care “reform,” the stimulus package, etc. through the Tea Party Movement, various marches on Washington, and so forth (and I think probably embodied in the election of Scott Brown) will bring about a new breed of Republican with the backbone to really stand up for conservative principles about small government, lower taxes…
January 21st, 2010 at 9:58 pm
I can agree with the need to cut spending, actually (although I know we wouldn’t agree on where!). But I would also note that the last Republican president entered office with a budget *surplus* carefully obtained over 8 years of budget cutting after 12 years of Republican administrations which had raised tons of deficits–which is simply to say that I’m not sure the Republicans deserve the title of fiscally responsible… Reagan/Bush –> deficit. Clinton –> surplus. Bush II –> MASSIVE deficit. Obama –> inherited a royal mess, which he hasn’t done much to fix IMO.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, interest amounted to about 8 percent of the US budget in 2008. Social security was 21 percent, Medicare and Medicaid were 23 percent (the gov’t's been in the medical industry for a while now), and defense was 21 percent (slightly more than social security). As an aside, less than one percent of the US state budget is spent on foreign aid, although Americans guess on average that it’s 24 percent (Center for Global Development)!
I would start, in short, by seriously looking at the defense budget. The stories of hundred dollar hammers and thousand dollar toilets are legendary and generally associated with the military. I believe that corruption reached high levels under the prior administration, with the former vice president’s ties to Halliburton, which received a $7 billion no-bid contract to work in Iraq… well, there are plenty of places where abuse has been pretty well documented such as secret, no-bid projects and overcharging (Bunny Greenhouse, former chief contracting officer for the US Army Corps of Engineers).
I would be wary of cutting the budget for medicare/medicaid. The question is this: is health care a basic human right? I would argue yes. If you would argue no, then of course you’d want to start there with cuts.
January 21st, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Oh, yes, and much love, blah blah blah.