May 5, 2009

 

And now for my yearly political post


Here's the problem with people who get upset about "big government" such as those Fox News sponsored tea-baggers:

The government spends most of its money on three programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These are very popular and very useful programs politicians touch at their peril.

"Small government" politicians know that to actually shrink the government would mean cutting one of the three major entitlement programs. They also know they'd be (rightly) ridden out on a rail for doing so. So they talk vaguely about "waste" or "pork barrel spending" when pressed for details of their budget proposals. I've never seen anyone genuinely concerned about the size of government honestly put forward proposals that would really shrink it. In general, small government rhetoric is sophistry designed to inflame people's prejudices, not a philosophy of governance.

If all these so called conservatives were really serious about less government they would man up and become Libertarians instead of having supported Bush with his "tax cuts" that benefited the wealthiest .05% of the population.

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# posted by McDirty @ Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Comments:
I have slowly become one of the most apolitical political science degree holders in the world. The reason? I get so, so, so sick of the constant vague rhetoric going back and forth. What does "change" or "smaller government" really even mean? It means whatever you want it to mean...argh, it is frustrating.

P.S. I totally thought YOU were the dude holding the "Socialism: Not in My Country" sign.
# posted by Blogger Randi : May 5, 2009 at 6:56 PM
 
I've got a brother that is a libertarian . He holds fast to the ideal that people should make a difference and that government should step back. It is true what you say though, there is a lot of talk with little meaning.
# posted by Blogger Gage : May 5, 2009 at 10:48 PM
 
. . . . they also would have been out tea-bagging while Bush stood idly by, not vetoing a single spending bill for his first few years in office. Silly Sean Hannity acolytes.

Adam A.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : May 7, 2009 at 8:44 PM
 
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