Posted on 08/24/2026 4:52:49 PM PDT by TBP
I'm getting a lot of scathing pushback calling JD Vance a leftist so I'm laying out why it's true in a straight-forward, semi-nuanced way. It is not me making the claim, the following is what Vance has personally stated he believes in.
1. Vance calls himself a post-liberal. Post-liberalism rejects free-market capitalism and individualism in favor of the government securing economic and social well-being (social welfare). The counter-argument is to recognize the responsibility of individuals for their own welfare (food, shelter, well-being).
2. Vance says he believes in Hamiltonian economics. Hamiltonian economics has shared commonality with modern left-of-center ideology primarily through its advocacy for an active, interventionist federal government that shapes the economy rather than letting the free market determine the direction of markets.
3. Vance has stated he agrees with the politics of Huey Long, Louisiana's leftist governor of the 1930's. Huey Long functioned as a left-wing populist whose economic policies focused heavily on wealth redistribution, even to the point of proposing heavy-handed capital taxation on personal fortunes in order to distribute individual earnings to those who hadn't earned what they received.
These 3 points are objectively accurate about what JD Vance believes and what conservatives fight against. To protest the reality of Vance's beliefs is to reject stolid truth.
“Vance says he believes in Hamiltonian economics.”
You say that like its a bad thing Hamiltonian economics is a large reason why the US became an economic superpower.
Versus “free trade” which came from the British Empire and is designed to keep nations weak and merely consumer nations and exporters of raw materials to the manufacturing nation. In the modern world it is China instead of the British Empire.
We’ve seen the damage that the Bush, Clinton, Obama policies did to our nation and we’re not going back.
I’ve read a couple of articles indicating that the donors are already moving to Rubio. So I guess he’ll be looking to Peter Theil to bankroll him.
“The donors are already moving to Rubio.“
What a surprise!
I agree 100%
You utterly mischaracterize free trade, both in its history adn effects. Protectionism always makes economies weaker.
I was VERY accurate in describing “Free-Trade”.
Is the US stronger or weaker since outsourcing much of our manufacturing base to China? Can we make our own medicine? computer chips? Were we better off outsourcing our energy production to the ME until recently?
Not to mention the devastation these policies caused working people who traded good jobs for low paying service jobs. (If they can even find those).
It’s the governments job to look out for the interests of both Capital and Labor. Free Trade is really just cheap labor.
Those policies are dead at the ballot box.
No, you got it wrong. We trade because we hvae something they need and they have somethign we need. That raises the standard of living in both countries.
It’s not free trade that has caused the problem. The requirements and obligations our stupid government has put on manufacturers and other businesses, plus the way unions hold htem hostage, have made making things in America unsustainable.
Protectionism just makes that worse. It makes the raw materials (like Taiwanese minerals for silicon chips) more expensive, whcih drives up the price of the good manufactured with those goods. All that happens whan you make those more expensive is that the domestic goods increase too (though perhaps not as much.) Instead of protecting jobs, it makes goods less affordable.
This is what has happened through out history.
You hve been soled a bill of goods by power hungry politicians, bureaucrats, and corportaists who think they can run your life and your business better than you can.
Nope.
Free Trade made Communist China a superpower. You OK with that?
We have had to increase our military budget by hundreds of billions of dollars to account for that. Where are the savings.
Our Middle class has been shrinking and under stress for generation partially because of free trade policies.
To the point that young people can’t afford to have kids. What is the cost of that?
I trust Hamilton, Clay and Lincoln had the right policies.
The evidence is right tin front of you. What do you think this kefuffle with Canada is about? We raised tariffs on them, so they raised tariffs on us. This is going to raise prices in both countries and cause working people in both countries to lose their jobs.
We should be increasing our military budget anyway.
I explained to you why the things you’re complaining about are occurring, but you just keep doubling down on your wrong ideas.
You must hate the tariffs that Trump has imposed and the 18 trillion in investments he is bringing into the US.
Canada is no friend of the US and Trump is correcting unbalanced policies.
The obvious evidence that you ignore is that the standard of living for most Americans has been declining for generations.
Free Trade lowers the standard of living for all but the very wealthy.
I am not ignoring it. I explained it. Try reading before posting.
I know this thread has run its course, but to respond to your question,,,,,
I must honestly say that in some cases he is.
Trump has never been a true blue conservative. While I voted for him 3 times, I will never claim he is conservative.
However, I’m not sure true conservatism will ever win in America anymore, because true conservativism is only shared by maybe 30% of our population.
Go ahead and try to get into a debate with anyone on who claims to be a true conservative, and you will sadly learn that almost 70% of those who claim to be conservative, are actually more liberal in many ways.
A result of 60 years of social engineering in our education system from preschool to graduate college. Add in Hollywood’s influence, along with major leftist’s newspapers that dominated America up until the internet stole the limelight, and now the internet, and you will find that even some who claim to be strong conservatives have some fairly liberal beliefs.
Me???? I m and always have been somewhat to the right of Atilla the Hun.
But then I am a pessimist, in that the country if a screwed, and all the bantering about on the facts and politics will never bring America back to where it needs to be to even get close to what it was before FDR gained power.
It also supported slavery, removal of Indians from all the lands we want, and the elimination of any and all who defied his power.
On the last part I would tell you to ask what Jackson did to Davey Crocket.
The princables of American First are Jacksonian.
I agree with what you posted. I believe many are confused about what is considered conservative anymore.
I am also pessimistic because I believe we are too far gone to ever get back to what America was in my youth.
A lot of damage has been done by both parties and we have gotten fat, lazy, and distracted by things of all types. We quit being vigilant as our freedom has been whittled away by the greedy ones we elect. None of them seem to care about the citizens who they were supposed to represent, but instead, they lie and ignore them.
Very sad to see.
groan....we’re going to have this nonsense from the Never Trump/liberal crowd for 2 years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.