Anonymous wrote:Taxation is the ultimate attack in liberty.

Yes, the Bill of Rights ranks way below money. Taxes are why we fought WWII.

Wouldn't this be the Libertarian Party?

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still for the life of me can't understand why the simpson-bowles suggestions were not acted on - other than no one really wants to be the first one to start making those cuts that frankly are LONG overdue.

Cowardice from our elected officials is just digging the hole deeper. And I say this as a liberal.

The Simpson-Bowles final report failed to achieve the required supermajority vote in favor. Voting against it were Max Baucus (D), Xavier Becerra (D), Dave Camp (R), Jeb Hensarling (R), Paul Ryan (R), Jan Schakowsky (D), and Andy Stern (not an elected official). As such, exactly the same number of Republican elected officials voted against the report as Democratic elected officials. I think it is safe to say that the Republicans would have been more than happy to make the cuts. However, they voted against because of the included tax increases.

I emphasized the fact that Paul Ryan, the "most serious man alive regarding the budget", voted against Simpson-Bowles.

thanks for responding to my post.

And when I said cuts, I obviously am not a proponent of "slash it all" There were some modifications suggested to some programs, some cuts suggested, as well as reform of tax codes and such. I felt like it was all pretty common sense stuff that wasn't weighted one way or another, politically. Each side was going to have to give....and it was DOA because no one wants to have a vote for their pet programs being cut on their voting record. But dammit, have some balls. We elected you to make the hard decisions. This is hard decision time - we don't get to keep everything. Some things have to change.

Republicans need to weed out the extreme elements of their party especially the bigots, racists, and anti-gay crowds.

As a black guy, I know that not every living breathing republican is racist or part of the above crowd. I do believe though that they cater to the fears and sentiments of that crowd and go way out of their way to "defend" them to a fault.

And yes there are crazies on the dem side. you dont need to remind me. Nevertheless, with polls showing the country as a whole leans middle right (not all out right), republicans have an opportunity which they dont take advantage of because they want their silly crowd to stay put. whats funny is that crowd isnt going to run to dems so whats the big deal if you lose their vote but gain that same percentage of the minority block?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smaller gov makes you a republican. It's liberty that dems hate. They choose centralized control over every other issue.

I'm a Dem and it's greed that I hate. The liberty "argument" is intellectual laziness. Too bad such an important tenet of our nation has been reduced to a talking point. It's plain un-American.

Republicans are great at talking "Liberty". They start mumbling when you actually start mentioning liberties. They start strong with "guns!" and "EPA regulations", and then it's all downhill from there. They end by shouting about "big government" and then stomp out.

There's a reason that they hate the ACLU.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:p.s. And I think the 2nd Amendment is out of control. Hunt? Fine. Assault rifles? No. Limits on the number of guns any one individual can one, background checks, purchase wait periods? Hell, yeah.

. Amend the constitution if you feel so strongly. If you can't then you have to accept it as is. By the way the states with the most armed citizens have the lowest violent crime rates.

The Constitution already provides for a well-regulated militia.

Back in 1776, Crazy Jebediah wasn't allowed in the militia and probably wasn't allowed anywhere near a gun. So why are we allowing the modern equivalents of Crazy Jebediah to buy guns at gun shows?

Agree with 20:41, we need to consider means testing as a first step in SS/Medicare reform, SS/Medicare shouldn't be spent so much on comfortable union pensioneers or retired hedge fund managers.

Maybe move out of the country.
Have we outlived the ideas that founded our country?

Anonymous wrote:I still for the life of me can't understand why the simpson-bowles suggestions were not acted on - other than no one really wants to be the first one to start making those cuts that frankly are LONG overdue.

Cowardice from our elected officials is just digging the hole deeper. And I say this as a liberal.

The Simpson-Bowles final report failed to achieve the required supermajority vote in favor. Voting against it were Max Baucus (D), Xavier Becerra (D), Dave Camp (R), Jeb Hensarling (R), Paul Ryan (R), Jan Schakowsky (D), and Andy Stern (not an elected official). As such, exactly the same number of Republican elected officials voted against the report as Democratic elected officials. I think it is safe to say that the Republicans would have been more than happy to make the cuts. However, they voted against because of the included tax increases.

I emphasized the fact that Paul Ryan, the "most serious man alive regarding the budget", voted against Simpson-Bowles.

I still for the life of me can't understand why the simpson-bowles suggestions were not acted on - other than no one really wants to be the first one to start making those cuts that frankly are LONG overdue.

Cowardice from our elected officials is just digging the hole deeper. And I say this as a liberal.

Anonymous wrote:Smaller gov makes you a republican. It's liberty that dems hate. They choose centralized control over every other issue.

I'm a Dem and it's greed that I hate. The liberty "argument" is intellectual laziness. Too bad such an important tenet of our nation has been reduced to a talking point. It's plain un-American.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:p.s. And I think the 2nd Amendment is out of control. Hunt? Fine. Assault rifles? No. Limits on the number of guns any one individual can one, background checks, purchase wait periods? Hell, yeah.

. Amend the constitution if you feel so strongly. If you can't then you have to accept it as is. By the way the states with the most armed citizens have the lowest violent crime rates.

The Constitution WAS amended by the Supreme Court. They essentially erased the limiting "well-regulated militia" clause of the Second Amendment.

Anonymous wrote:The government needs to cut everything across the board by 10%. Not the rate of growth but spend 10% less next year than this year. 10% cut in all salaries / pensions / benefits / purchases everything. Everybody in the same boat gets a 10% cut. Totally fair. Every business in the country knows how to deliver the same product for 10% less. What makes the government so retarded that it can't work harder for less like any normal productive person or business.

Ok if you are so smart, what 10% of Medicare do you cut? Heart bypasses? Chemo? Or do you pay doctors 10% less? How about the troops? Do they get a 10% cut? And does that mean you cut social security payments 10% too?

The government needs to cut everything across the board by 10%. Not the rate of growth but spend 10% less next year than this year. 10% cut in all salaries / pensions / benefits / purchases everything. Everybody in the same boat gets a 10% cut. Totally fair. Every business in the country knows how to deliver the same product for 10% less. What makes the government so retarded that it can't work harder for less like any normal productive person or business.

Anonymous wrote:p.s. And I think the 2nd Amendment is out of control. Hunt? Fine. Assault rifles? No. Limits on the number of guns any one individual can one, background checks, purchase wait periods? Hell, yeah.

. Amend the constitution if you feel so strongly. If you can't then you have to accept it as is. By the way the states with the most armed citizens have the lowest violent crime rates.