Can someone explain "fiscal conservatism" to me?

[Anonymous]

The way I see it (and please enlighten me if I am incorrect), Clinton was a fiscal conservative. He balanced the budget and reduced the deficit. He also cut welfare (socially conservative?). Bush #2 acted as a socialist by taking the "surplus" (38 billion, I think?) that Clinton left and redistributing it to the people in the form of $300 (-ish?) tax rebates to "stimulate the economy".

So please tell me- which party is conservative? It seems to me that the Republican party has become the party of religion, not the conservative party.

[Anonymous]

Troll, the lib's want to grow the government and increase taxes, the repubs of today are the opposite

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Troll, the lib's want to grow the government and increase taxes, the repubs of today are the opposite

Really? Then why did the repubs fight the payroll tax cut, and why are they screaming about defense cuts? And why don't theyl cut Ss or Medicare? And if they can't cut those things then how can they cut government?

[Anonymous]

OP here, not a troll. Please explain "want" vs what is actually accomplished. Decreasing taxes is not the definition of "fiscally conservative" (look it up). As far as growing the government, which party wants to infringe on personal liberty (i.e. same sex marriage, etc)? I believe Clinton also reduced business tax. How did Bush #2 act more fiscally conservative?

[Anonymous]

and furthermore, how does your candidate plan to act fiscally conservative? When you are worthy of an intelligent discussion, please return.

[Anonymous]

why did the repubs fight the payroll tax cut

Do you understand the connection between payroll taxes and social security? Furthermore, do you understand the precarious state of social security?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

why did the repubs fight the payroll tax cut

Do you understand the connection between payroll taxes and social security? Furthermore, do you understand the precarious state of social security?

Perhaps I don't. If the SS is cut from our taxes, is that "conservative", yes or no?

[Anonymous]

Clinton cut the budget especiallly military and intelligence way too much and we got attacked on 911, Bush had to counter the deep cuts to get us back to safety

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clinton cut the budget especiallly military and intelligence way too much and we got attacked on 911, Bush had to counter the deep cuts to get us back to safety

OK, but re: intelligence, what happened with the justification for the war in Iraq under Bush? The way I see it, either the government lied (they had WMD), or we had bad intelligence.

[Anonymous]

NP here, I have these same questions. Doesn't seem like you're getting any answers though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here, I have these same questions. Doesn't seem like you're getting any answers though.

Thank you, NP! I've been wondering this for years. Optimistic that on an anonymous forum I might finally get some answers. Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clinton cut the budget especiallly military and intelligence way too much and we got attacked on 911, Bush had to counter the deep cuts to get us back to safety

OK, but re: intelligence, what happened with the justification for the war in Iraq under Bush? The way I see it, either the government lied (they had WMD), or we had bad intelligence.

Uh, GW had received intelligence re: 9/11 in the weeks prior, but his team didn't pay it much importance.

[Anonymous]

9/11, you write, but what does that have to do with justification for the war in Iraq? But I'd like to get back to the topic of fiscal conservatism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

why did the repubs fight the payroll tax cut

Do you understand the connection between payroll taxes and social security? Furthermore, do you understand the precarious state of social security?

I understand that tax cuts reduce our revenue. I understand that the payroll tax cut costs us less per day than the Bush tax cuts, and that its benefit accrues more to working class people than the Bush tax cuts.

I also know that the tax cut extension used borrowing from the general fund, so that the social security balance sheet was not touched.

Lastly, I know that when people post objections in the form of a question, it is because they themselves do not fully understand the answer. Usually it means they "heard" something, but never really looked into it enough to speak with some confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clinton cut the budget especiallly military and intelligence way too much and we got attacked on 911, Bush had to counter the deep cuts to get us back to safety

Funny, Clinton handed Bush a defense budget that was exactly the same as the budget Reagan handed him. So did Reagan cause 911, too?