[Finalapproach29er]

Limited goverment= more individual liberty.

I'm glad this has entered the bloodstream of the political right. Cutting goverment is how I judge politcians. Most are failing.

[citizenK]

how in the world $50 billion in tax cuts so far equals a $400 billion deficit, yet spending $2.3 trillion somehow has no role in it -

Partly because people are mislead into thinking that they are paying for valuable "services" without which we would be an impoverished people.

Folks, the opportunity costs associated with high taxes and expansive government are real - we are inflicting harm upon our progeny by taking away the potential for future economic expansion.

[Vince Ferrer]

I really liked these calls and Rush's response (in that he didn't defend the Republicans) The important thing is that the Democrats are not an obstacle, they are just an excuse. Besides spending cuts, which would be fought loudly by Democrats, there are two other ways Republicans can reduce government.

The first is unfunded mandates, which was a big part of the Contract with America. Unfunded mandates are obligations on businesses, but not paid for by government. If no money is spent by government, eliminating them doesn't cost the governemnt revenue, but reduces the burden on business.

The second is the regulations in the federal register, which isn't even voted on by congress, they are entirely part of the executive branch. "Stroke of the eraser, law of the land gone. Kind cool." should be Bush's motto.

[Ford Fairlane]

most conservative pressure ends up as simple cheerleading for the White House

And there has been an awful lot of that here at FR

Any politician (or anyone else for that matter) that does not support limited government is not conservative

[manic4organic]

God bless Rush.

[Agricola]

The link didn't work? I listen to Rush and haven't heard him criticize Bush barely at all for months. Is this an essay on his website or a transcript of his show?

[FreedomCalls]

If I were President, I would:

...eliminate the Department of Education;
...eliminate the Department of Agriculture;
...eliminate the Department of Energy;
...eliminate the Department of Homeland Security;
...impose a flat tax on income;
...means test Social Security payments;
...eliminate extensions of unemployment benefits;
...eliminate the Border Patrol and have the Department of Defense patrol the U.S. land borders instead;
...and numerous others.

Which is why I'm not the President, I guess ;-)

[Vince Ferrer]

Another way to cut the size of government - Executive Branch hiring freezes. Democrats can't prevent the heads of various agencies from implementing a hiring freeze, publically announced as such, or not.

[Ken H]

I have said that the more of our money the government spends, the less money we have to spend and reminded everyone that CFR is an attack on the First Amendment and that the Constitution limits what government can do, not what individuals can do.

Well said, Rush.

[nunya bidness]

Rush, feeling a paradigm shift, adjusts his message.

Same as it ever was.

[Digger]

He cites conservatives who urged Bush to fight for Senate confirmation of judicial nominees, even those "moderates" from the Clinton administration.

At least once an election period I hear a sound in the wilderness that I can relate to. Not much has changed in Washington from the Klintoons. Many of his rascals are there awaiting their time to pounce on my types. This president had a chance to rid us of these types & also the bag lady & her impeached so-called husband but that apparantly was too radical for him & Rove etc. So now we must contend with these anti-Americans who reached the portals of the senate spewing hatred for Judeo-Christian values no less our Constitution. But his father had NO problem ridding Washington of the Reagan era. Two years & that was totally gone. No, my friends here at FR I believe you have gotten the biggest snow job with Dubya. He seems a good man & good American & did the correct thing in Iraq but other than that he is as big of a disappointment as his daddy was to true conservativism. Sadly this is the best this old Goldwaterite will ever see again in his lifetime & pity the poor sheeple in the next few decades.

[TLBSHOW]

fyi

[RJayneJ]

Quote of the Day by Teetop

[poet]

Don't forget that Bush put 60,000+ new employees ( airport)on the backs of the taxpayers, in addition, he has spent close to a Trillion$ of New spending. That does not spell limited government.

As for his tax cuts, just don't be surprised if those "cuts" will be negated by additional taxes on gas and other items. Smoke and mirrors.

[mdwakeup]

I have said that Republicans are spending right along with Democrats, and that the president has gone along with them. I have demanded to know how in the world $50 billion in tax cuts so far equals a $400 billion deficit, yet spending $2.3 trillion somehow has no role in it - especially when tax cuts increase revenue. (See: dynamic scoring)

Rush should know that they're doing dynamic scoring now, but unfortunately it doesn't show that tax cuts would increase revenue. Both the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation have done macroeconomic analyses of the proposed tax cut, and not one of the many economic models they use shows that the tax cut would result in increased revenues. All show some positive macroeconomic feedback, but all conclude that the tax cut loses revenue over time.

If you dig through Cato's website you will find a piece from the mid- to late-1980s by William Niskanen and Stephen Moore (no less!) that acknowledges that the 1981 tax cut did not increase revenues to the federal government. Also, check out Bruce Bartlett's archive on townhall.com for his December 31, 2002 column on the same mythology.

[Uncle Bill]

Is the Tax Cut for Real?
"The Bush administration inherited a federal budget of $1.86 trillion, and now proposes to spend $2.3 trillion in 2004, for a whopping 23.6 percent increase in federal spending in this short period. The Bush presidency has far outspent Clinton's in every category. As Cato's Chris Edwards says, "[B]ased on his first three budgets, President Bush is the biggest spending president in decades." To close the gap between spending and revenue, said a report commissioned by the US Treasury, would require an "immediate and permanent 66 percent across-the-board income tax increase."

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LIMITED GOVERNMENT

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President George W. Bush - Biography

SOURCE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html

"George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. Formerly the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, President Bush has earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shapes policy based on the principles of limited government,..."

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DON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN