Big Government Conservatism

Town Hall ^ | July 31, 2003 | Doug Bandow

[TBP]

This is why I am no longer comfortable in the Republican Party. It is as much a Big Government party as the Dimmycraps and conservative principles and limited government are much more important to me than any party label.

[Sangamon Kid]

Unfortunately, many members of the statist goon squad will surely find their way to this thread and box yours ears but good. How dare you question "Conservatism according to George"!!

[My2Cents]

The Republican Party is still the predominant conservative party in American politics. George W. Bush, at best, is nominally conservative. And he's conservative in his values, not necessarily in his political ideology.

Why should conservatives vote Republican? Consider the alternative (and there's only one).

[Commander8]

I'm a registered Republican, but my partisan affiliation means as much to me as marriage vows do to Gary Condit. I vote third party more often than not.

[jlogajan]

I don't think it is allowed on this forum to suggest we shouldn't drink the GOP KoolAid.

[breakem]

The Republican Party is still the predominant conservative party in American politics.

DuuuuuuuuH! Let's see the predominant parties are the democrats and the republicans. Now which is more conservative the socialists or the socialist lites?

[Alberta's Child]

The issue has nothing to do with GOP vs. Democrat. The real solution to the problem of big government is to have divided government, regardless of party affiliation.

[TBP]

Why should conservatives vote Republican? Consider the alternative (and there's only one).

Read the article. The Republicans are just as much a Big Government party as the Democrats. Maybe more so. It is not "the predominant conservative party in America" because it is no longer conservative in any way.

The premise of teh two-party system is that the two parties provide meaningful alternatives. When that premise is violated, then the two-party system is not doing the job it is supposed to do and it is time to seek alternatives.

Yet under Republican governance, the size, cost, and iintrusiveness of government grows even faster than under Democrats! That is no alternative.

What ever happened to "a choice, not an echo"?

[Ken522]

When I was a kid the big news was that this date came in late April, then early May - now it's the last of July??! Whisky-Tango-Foxtrot, Over!!

[Quick1]

Maybe it's time for another option. There are more than two parties out there, and if a ton of people start voting for more than Rs and Ds, we can make it viable.

[TBP]

Exactly. When you vote for socialists of either major party, you waste your vote if your goal is to preserve Consitutionally limited government.

[NittanyLion]

Just remember that - no matter what this article says - all the increases are due to defense spending, all the increases are only to spur the economy, if you're complaining you never voted for Bush in the first place and you're helping elect Howard Dean by carping at this president.

It also helps to remember that whenever the White House endorses liberal legislation they're compromising, but whenever Democrats endorse conservative legislation they're lying cheats bent on stealing more of our money.

[Edit35]

I have always thought that conservatism, contrary to the popular belief, does not really mean the government must spend less.

Conservatism is really about social issues and attitudes, and the way we as a society live our lives.

If the GOP, under Bush, spends more money than the year before, but spends it on non-frivolous programs such as new roads, bridges, the country's defense, oil exploration, etc., then that is OK.

But when the government, usually under the Dems, tries to spend more and more on frivolous things like quota programs, the EEOC, abortion awareness programs, midnight basketball, self esteem classes, etc. --- then people should get upset.

Spending money is not wrong. It is WHAT that money is spent on which makes one a conservative or liberal.

DS

[NittanyLion]

Spending money is not wrong. It is WHAT that money is spent on which makes one a conservative or liberal.

Where would the Education Bill, Farm Bill and Prescription Drug Benefit fall in your conservative vs. liberal continuum?

[dmz]

LOL.

[My2Cents]

Then go ahead and vote Democrat. I suspect you've never voted Republican in your life anyway.

[My2Cents]

I will concede that your point is worth considering. But let's win the war on terror first, and as a side objective, let's throw the Democrat Party onto the ash heap of history, like the Whigs. They've become nothing but a corrupt institution anyway. Once those objectives are achieved, we can debate the emergence of a new conservative party.

[TBP]

You lose, sucker. I voted for a Republican for governor just last year. When the Republicans nominate an acceptably conservative candidate, I vote for him. When they don't, I vote for the most conservative person available.

Do you think it advances conservatism somehow to vote for Arlen Specter, Connie Morella, Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, and RINOs like that who just go to Washington and vote like Democrats? I don't.

[My2Cents]

Listen, pal, anyone who votes ONCE for a Republican has no right to throw around that "RINO" term. FYI, Olympia Snowe had an American Conservative Union rating last year of 65, while Barbara Boxer had an ACU rating of 5. Don't you dare tell me that folks like Snowe go to Washington and vote like Democrats. You're showing your mental laziness with that paintbrush.

[TBP]

So you cite one example from my list (and for ONE year.) The point remains the same: Contrary to what you GOP/Bushie KoolAid drinkers would like to have be true, these RINOs go to Washington and they vote just like Democrats.

Look at the objective results of Republican governance: bigger government, vastly increased spending, new entitlement programs. Do you call this conservatism? I don't. If that is what you think conservatism is, I think you may be on the wrong website.