“I wish it mattered. There is nobody running that I could endorse. Democracy in the US is an illusion.”
ron paul. his social ideas are flawed, but at least he appears to be a constitutionalist.
in answer to the question… yes.
see, this question, money or social help is redundant. it takes money to pay for the programs, if you’re not down for the programs, you’re not down to spend money on them.
you will always be guided by your values in making such decisions. you can’t simply say “i’m republican because i dont want taxes”. you have to help pay for those functions that the government is suppposed to perform. it’s the decisions on which functions are necessary that guides the money. not the other way around, nobody is interested in simply throwing money aimless around… or hording it at their own expense.
the primary difference in ideologies is that conservative wants the past or status quo. the liberal is forward looking and trying to prepare. it’s framed perfectly by the global warming debate, conservatives are wait and see, liberals are study and prevent.
george bush’s adventurism, his pre-emptive attack on iraq is exactly a liberal position, one that makes him a neo-con, a conservative fraud.
the difference between tax and spend or borrow and spend is moot. taxation is borrowing, borrowing is taxation. at least, for governments. framing the difference between cons and libs in this light misses the fact that they’re still doing the same thing: spending your money on their toys.
