The problem is the media and the punditry have created a false narrative. Conservatives have bought it. Voters have been told that there is a clear choice. On one side is a Democratic party that believes government should take extraordinary measures to stimulate the economy and alleviate the effects of unregulated greed among the big Wall Street banks. On the other side is a Republican party offering radical free market policies that would cut government spending to the bone and take us back to gilded age of robber barons and sweatshops.
The portrayal of the Democrats is for the most part accurate. They really do believe that government should act despite the fact that every time such policies have been enacted they have failed. One only has to compare the responses to the depression of 1920 and 1929. One resulted in a quick recovery, the other lead to fifteen years of stagnation that was only relieved by the demobilization at the end of World War II and the explosion of prosperity in the 1950s brought about by the reduction of federal economic management.
It is the image of the Republicans that bothers me. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are being portrayed as champions of free markets. Nothing could be further than the truth. Ryan's proposed budget has been criticized as “drastic.” The truth is even Fox News recognizes that Ryan's budget plan doesn't actually slash the budget. Even the “cuts” are pushed out years from now, when Ryan and company are long gone. In reality, the Republicans wouldn't know a real budget cutting plan if it bit them on the anal sphincter, and would not vote for it if they saw it. Further, there is NOTHING “free market” about Mitt Romney. He is pro-big business, corporatist and state union with business, but “free market” is nothing that even comes close. I said six years ago that Romney would NEVER get the nomination of Republicans,as he was a socialist. He still is. Hasn't moved. The republican party has. The so called “conservatives” show what the libertarians have said all along. You have no principles when it comes to seizing power and will sell out anything. You are just statist power freaks, like the left. The only thing Romney has going for is that he is not Obama. This will result in a victory which winds up being an unmitigated disaster for those who think they are “saving the country.”
How can I say this? Well, Romney is going to win the WH, due to the horrific ineptitude, muddleheaded leftism, and general incompetence of the current resident. All the freepers are going to cheer and congratulate themselves that “disaster has been averted.” Hooray!
The problem is that the policies of Romney will only hasten the coming collapse. Perhaps the stupidest hope of conservatives is that they are “buying time” with Romney. FOOLS AND DUNDERHEADS!!! THERE IS NO TIME. The state of bankruptcy is HERE.... NOW. The next president is going to preside over an economic catastrophe that is going to make the great depression look like a happy picnic. There is no avoiding it. The worst is yet to come. There will be a collapse worse than 2008 and if Romney is President what the majority of the people will believe is that his “free market” plan did not work. All they will know is Romney's “radical capitalism” caused a disaster and the very idea of genuine free market solutions will be set back for decades, if not generations.
This is foolishness in the extreme.
You think you are saving us. In fact, you may be destroying a belief in free markets for generations.
Enjoy your victory, suckers.
Folks who talk about voting “the lesser of the two evils” need to learn to think past the next election. You are in fact voting for the GREATER of the two evils, no matter how much you protest to the contrary.
Is reassuring Obama’s re-election the best scenario for the USA?
Voting is a civic duty is it not? How does throwing a tantrum and taking your ball and going home because you didn’t get your way beneficial to the country? I thought that part of being an adult or a good citizen was sometimes having to make decisions out of less than perfect options.
Yes, I have heard all of the arguments. NO MORE!! blah, blah blah. Or the better one, someone Romney will make things worse and then it will get blamed on the GOP.
Those are all strawman arguments. One, I do not think that Romney could be worse than Zero. I definitely didn’t support him in the primaries. But if given the choice between him and Zero, I choose Romney. At least with him there is a snowball’s chance of getting something done to fix this mess, even more so with a GOP House and Senate. With Zero, there is no chance, no matter who controls the House and Senate. Not to mention the fact the we WILL lose the SCOTUS for a generation or two. And we know that Romney is a US citizen and does not hate this country. And to think that he and Obama are the same in their views of how to run an economy and their qualifications is ignorant at best.
Obviously, we all needed to support our candidate in the primaries. But in the general election, we MUST be rid of Obama. If not, we can all pat ourselves on the back and gloat about how “principled” we are as the country we love circles the drain.
Besides, I do not know why sitting out the election because the “right” candidate (whatever that is)was not nominated is considered the only position of principle. My position is also one of principle, defeat Obama. When I vote against Obama, I will be doing so with just as much principle as the person who withholds their vote because they didn’t get their way.
This is nothing personal towards you, it is just so frustrating to see this sentiment so prevalent on this site. Do you think the average voter thinks this way? They will vote one way or the other. If true blue Conservatives won’t support the GOP candidate, why should they? In the end, politics is the art of the possible.
You have to hand it to liberals and Fabian Socialists for one thing. They understand incrementalism. They seem to be smart enough to understand that in the real world you usually don’t get everything that you want in one fell swoop. Why can’t Conservatives understand this?