I am a minor league amputee. It does not make me one bit more or one bit less correct in my views or deserving as a human being. The movement has cut your marginal taxes by nearly two thirds and you have a life to enjoy it which is more than 50 million slaughtered babies can say. Try to maintain a little dignity and to remember that it is NOT all about you and your bankbook. If Nancyboy is defeated, I will be proud of that fact and that is justifiable Republican and conservative pride. If we are going to have babykilling, gungrabbing, marriage destroying slime in the US Senate, by all means let it be Demonrat slime. I never urged anyone to vote for Labno although that would certainly be better than voting for Nancyboy. Best is to destroy (not merely defeat) Nancyboy.
Again, I am awaiting your conservative resume. I guess I wait in vain.
Try to see your taxes held in check or lowered without the votes of SOCIAL ISSUE conservatives or conservatives, for short. What percentage of the people who vote in this country do you suppose actually give a rat's patoot whether your taxes are raised by 4.6% on that income above $250,000. Social issue conservatives will generally support restraint on your taxes but, frankly, you should be honest enough to recognize that the group of big earners to whom you belong constitutes an albatross politically and our support of your desires on taxes costs us big time with the general electorate. Money is only money and in politics it is not as valuable as votes.
Don't give me this gas about how tax arguments somehow determine who is a Republican. There is an awful lot of issues that define conservatism and taxes (particularly when the consensus Demonrat and Republican alike is to leave the rates alone at a level of about 1/3 of what it was pre-Reagan on that marginal income until one earns marginal income above $250,000). Social conservatives carry your water and don't you ever forget it. Your reciprocal obligation is support of the babies, marriages, guns, military, etc. If you don't want to meet those obligations, then depart for the Demonratic Party where you belong. With modified tax policies, we can recruit ten Democrat social conservatives to replace each departing materialist obsessive.
That having been said, no one deserves your money more than you but not one baby's life should be offered on the altar of Moloch for Nancyboy even if he could get you a lifetime pass on all taxes.
BTW, Marxism is also called dialectical materialism. That is only one form of materialism but it IS a form of materialism. Conservatism far transcends mere materialism, respectable or otherwise.
With the exception of the income tax rate levels, Elk got everything else right. (FYI: Rates went from 90% to 70%, in the 60’s down to 50% under Reagan’s first term, and then dwn farter under TEFRA in ‘86)
Since BlackElk covered so much ground, I am going to make two points.
POINT #1
Conservatives are against higher taxes for families, and against higher taxes for businesses. In CT, we were stabbed in the back by CBIA (CT Business and Industry Association) when they supported the imposition of CT’s state income tax. That support was key, as it gave cover to the pro-tax votes.
When I ran for state rep in CT in ‘96, I attacked my Dem opponent for accepting the endorsement of such a pro-tax organization. She, of course, basked in it.
I move to Illinois, and find that the local realtors, the RAAR, never saw a property tax refereendum they didn’t like, and spnsored radio ads and billboards pushing property tax hikes. I sold my last house in Illinois WITHOUT a realtor, as I did not want part of the 6-7% fee working against me.
The lesson? Business interests are eager to sacrifice the interests of indivduals and families in order to save themselves. They are like Lost in Space’s simpering Dr. Smith, yelling, “The pain ... the pain!” as they willingly betray those who have saved them time and again. They also are not shy in asking for subsidies that are paid for from those same income taxes and increased property taxes.
Can we form alliances with them from time to time? Sure, but they are not our friends, and you’d best not turn your back on them.
POINT #2
For those who stated that those of us who say, “Don’t vote for Kirk” or “Vote for Giannoulias” are Paultards or Dem plants ...
You should have been at the Giovanni’s Restaurant in Rockford, Illinois, when Roger Hedgecock came into town to promote and broadcast his show several weeks ago.
When Kirk was announced as a guest, about ONE-THIRD of us booed. If you listened to the program, it might have been audible. Hedgecock had to calm us down. Hedgecock, for his part, was pushing both Castle AND Kirk for many of the reasons listed in these posts.
Well, we know what happened to Castle. VERY few of us FREEPers regret it, even if it means we have an obnoxious DEM instead of a DIABLO if office.
Guys like Kirk, Romney, Schwarzenegger, Rowland/Rell, George Ryan, Castle get status in blue states, and proceed to spay/neuter the Republican operation, placing flaming social liberals (in the case of CT and Massachusetts, often real-life Republican Barney Franks) and playing whack-a-mole whenever a socially conservative Republican (like Peter Fitzgerald) tries to make a move. There is a reason why the Christine O’Donnells are under-credentialed. It is to her credit that she fights the good fight with no real support from the Republican machinery in the state.
We can fix things, somewhat, but there will be pain first. The root canal of Carol Mosely-Braun was worth getting rid of Chuck Percy, as she was in turn replaced by a good man, Peter Fitzgerald.
The Republican Party is in a fight for it’s soul. Mark Kirk is an ocasion of Mortal Sin.
Darn good post.
So you don't care if the Bush tax cuts are extended or not. You said it right there. You want Giannoulias to win and you don't care if taxes go up.
And YOU hold yourself up as a better conservative than anybody else??? Don't make me laugh. You are just a petulant child who, if he doesn't get 100% of what he wants, takes his ball and goes home.
Ronaldus Magnus was a lot more mature than you are -- thank God. He knew he needed Mark Kirk-type Republicans to make a Republican majority and he campaigned for plenty of them. If Ronaldus Magnus were alive today, he would tell you you should be ashamed of yourself.