A Conservative Case for Voting Democratic

Fortune ^ | April 26, 2004 | Fortune

[ejdrapes]

A Conservative Case for Voting Democratic

Give either party complete control of government, and the vaults are quickly emptied. By Doug Bandow

Republicans have long claimed to be fiscal tightwads and railed against deficit spending. But this year big-spending George W. Bush and the GOP Congress turned a budget surplus into a $477 billion deficit. There are few programs at which they have not thrown money: massive farm subsidies, an expensive new Medicare drug benefit, thousands of pork-barrel projects, dubious homeland-security grants, expansion of Bill Clinton's AmeriCorps, even new foreign-aid programs. Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation reports that in 2003 "government spending exceeded $20,000 per household for the first time since World War II."

Complaints about Republican profligacy have led the White House to promise to mend its ways. But Bush's latest budget combines accounting flim-flam with unenforceable promises. So how do we put Uncle Sam on a sounder fiscal basis?

Vote Democratic.

[So Cal Rocket]

Yup... running with scissors is dangerous.

Soooooo... in order to keep your balance, put a pair of scissors in each hand before you run!

[goldstategop]

If Kerry were elected, we'd have four years of gridlock to look forward to. And this Republican looooooooves gridlock!!!

[Prime Choice]

Voting Democrat to teach Republicans a lesson is like dating an ugly girl to teach the pretty ones a lesson. You only wind up looking like a desperate loser who a pretty girl wouldn't hang with anyway.

[DB]

Ya, voting dim will fix everything...

How stupid do these people think we are???

These days there's a little more at stake than deficit spending.

[stylin_geek]

If I'm not mistaken, the so-called "budget surplus" of 1999 was created through creative accounting by the GAO.

[FreedomFlynnie]

Fiscal restraint is good, and sorely needed, but what about the war on terror? That's not something Kerry would handle effectively (actually, I don't think he wants to handle it at all, with his belief that antiterrorism efforts should be a "police action").

Also, with a Congress that's shown a proclivity to spend lots of money, and a Kerry campaign pledged to spend even more than Bush wants to, I fail to see any real impetus to save even with partisan "gridlock."

My "better" plan, since I don't know for sure where I'll be living in November, is to vote for Bush if I'm in a battleground state to avoid the disaster of a Kerry presidency and to vote Libertarian if I'm in a "safe" state to help send a message without actually endangering a Bush win. Others are free to adopt my strategy...or not.

[New Horizon]

This Republican will vote Republican. Just the thought of voting democrap makes me physically ill. The democratic party stands against everything I stand for.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Under Clinton, some good things happened like Welfare Reform. There was a lot of gridlock, and profligate spending slowed down, I guess. But under the covers, the Culture War was advanced for the bad guys, and the military and intelligence were weakened.

We've got to elect George W. Bush. And we've got to put pressure on the Congress (and the President!) to slow entitlements and domestic spending.

[Iron Matron]

Congress turned a budget surplus into a $477 billion deficit

SO WHAT?

I'd rather be FREE and SAFE than have the deficit paid down on the taxpayers backs. Whoever we owe, can darn sure wait. They can wait the way WE wait for other countries who never pay their bills.

[VadeRetro]

Vote Democratic.

Or just vote Communist and get it over with.

[Hollywoodghost]

I am not pleased with Bush. Republicans don't start wars (Even Lincoln waited till the Rebs fired on Fort Sumter)--Republicans don't rack up the Government like Bush Has. I'm beginning to think Bush is a Closet Demiocrat. I wish we had a real Republican to Vote for. (But, I will never vote for a double talkin' dim wit like Kerry)

[Conspiracy Guy]

Yep. A balanced budget and millions of Americans dead on US soil seems to appeal to the koolaid crowd.

They started with the unborn but now they want a little more sport.

[stands2reason]

Can you guarantee a Republican congress?

[LibLieSlayer]

What a crock of Bovine Excrement!!!! Elect the dims, and add a sweet 2.7 TRILLION $$$$$$$$$$$$$'s to our national debt.

If President Bush were to lose the coming election, the mass attack that would result from the dim's policy of capitulation would require us to change life in America as we now know it. This would be a price that would be paid over decades, not years!

Vote dim? Only when they pry the ballot punch tool from my cold, dead fingers!!!

LLS

[ThinkDifferent]

I'd rather be FREE and SAFE than have the deficit paid down on the taxpayers backs.

False dichotomy. The deficit could be substantially reduced without touching defense, if Bush and Congress would stop trying to out-pander the Democrats on domestic issues.

[Proud_texan]

"Or just vote Communist and get it over with."

They aren't one in the same? (with apologies to the likes of Zell Miller who's party has left them).

[Onelifetogive]

This Republican will vote Republican.

I am uncomfortable with being a "Republican", although I am a member of my local Republican Party Executive Committee...

I would prefer that we were all Conservatives (or Constitutionalists) and supported the GOP as long as it supports limited government and individual freedom.

The Dim party gets away with anything because it knows that all of its various constitutancies vote Dim no matter what (i.e. Al Gore has a "low-Negro tolerance" and still gets 90 of the black vote). I want the GOP to know that we are here IF, AND ONLY IF it defends our core beliefs. If we allow them to take us for granted, THEY WILL.

[VadeRetro]

I was joking. There's almost no Communist Party in this country.

With Democrats like these, what would Communists do? Who needs them?

[nopardons]

This is one of THE stupidest,irrational,ridiculous things posted to FR!

Voting Dem,in the hopes to calm down government,does the opposite.Just look at what the Senate (yes,a supposed GOP majority,but not really!)has done and still plans on doing to President Bush's judiciary nominees.

Political naifs should stick to writing about what they know;which isn't politics,nor how government works.