Is the Economic Conservatism Dead?
I see a huge problem brewing for the Republican Party in the general election and the future. More than likely, McCain will be the nominee. I belong to one wing of the Republican Party, the fiscal conservative wing. There will be no candidate out there that will carry a tax less, spend less platform. I was inspired at a young age by Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich's conservative revolution. It centered around one theme... government isn't the solution, it's the problem. This libertarian viewpoint was adopted by the party and it carried us to many victories over the last few decades. There is more to this than fiscal responsibility. This was a message of freedom. Ronald Reagan envisioned a government where people are free to live their lives, and earn a decent living without the government taking most of it away. John McCain wants to tell me how I can spend my money in political races. John McCain wants to tell me that I have to pay more taxes on gasoline because some special interest group convinced him of this global warming hoax. John McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts not once, but twice. I hope and pray for all of you to do some soul searching. People said that Ronald Reagan could not win the presidency because he was too conservative. He showed the world that when someone stands up on strict conservative principles uniting the social wing, the economic wing, and the defense wing of the party, the republicans win. I witnessed in 1992 when someone runs on a moderate platform, a Clinton presidency. With a defense conservative, and economically and socially liberal John McCain, the base of the party will not be motivated to help. When Bush reached out to the whole coalition, I devoted many hours of my time to get him elected. That won't be happening this time. There is a reason that John McCain has yet to win among self-identified conservatives in the exit polls. If McCain is indeed nominated, the millions of economic conservatives and I are without a candidate.
Comments
Posted by: That's Funny
Posted on: January 30, 2008 08:32 AM
I would have thought Ron Paul is your candidate if you want someone that wants to balance the federal budget, eliminate deficit spending, get rid of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. He has never supported a tax increase. Dr. Paul has consistently been named “The Taxpayers’ Best Friend” by the National Taxpayers Union.
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: January 30, 2008 11:04 AM
I like ron paul's economic policy; however, I do not like his foreign policy. If it is McCain vs. Hillary or McCain vs. Obama... and ron paul is running... I will not vote for either. I will make a statement vote to the party. I will consider a vote for Ron Paul. I cannot abandon my principles for someone who doesn't have any principles (McCain).
Posted by: Good foreign policy needed
Posted on: January 30, 2008 03:10 PM
We do need to dial back our foreign policy. We would need to adopy a more strict interpretation of what threatens our national security. Remember what happened to Bush Sr. He got high ratings for his foreign policy against Saddam, but the economy is what ended his hopes for re-election.
Eventually, our troops in South Korea do need to come home, so do our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 700 military bases across the world...do we really need them all?
When will they stop making Iraq/Afghanistan a separate supplemental funding measure from the annual budget? You know that Bush does not include those figures as part of his deficit reduction plan... of course his plan to eliminate the deficit by half will not happen.