Politics As Usual

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by the Spartan
Slash. Slash. Slash. Next?

You and you high-paid, metrosexual, libertarian pals no doubt would love to do such things if -- come the Rapture -- most of the population of the country suddenly disappears, leaving you to play with the levers of power. Repealing the New Deal is the third rail of U.S. politics, and those who wish to get re-elected have discovered that saying such things is the political equivalent of what Oregon now lets doctors help you do.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
You and you high-paid, metrosexual, libertarian pals no doubt would love to do such things if -- come the Rapture -- most of the population of the country suddenly disappears, leaving you to play with the levers of power. Repealing the New Deal is the third rail of U.S. politics, and those who wish to get re-elected have discovered that saying such things is the political equivalent of what Oregon now lets doctors help you do.

I live a mile from where Dr Kervorkian set those standards, and I know how to avoid 'em.

If we go martial law Bush won't need those votes. just need to tie it to Nat. Security.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
If we go martial law he won't need those votes. just need to tie it to Nat. Security.

And we'll get rid of all that nasty porn and strip club stuff too, without him having to worry about being voted out of office.

Hallelujah Bush Admin!

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
And we'll get rid of all that nasty porn and strip club stuff too, without him having to worry about being voted out of office.

Hallelujah Bush Admin!

don't forget fat girls- Sorry Hillary

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
don't forget fat girls- Sorry Hillary

W isn't going to dispose of his mom so easily.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
In SlaveLand, Bush is a strong leader who nevertheless hasn't proposed balancing the budget yet because he's afraid of the consequences, but who will be freed, finally, to follow his conscience after November.

In the real world, Bush is a strong leader who is managing a war time budget, with necessary overruns. Knowing this, he and his cronies should however be killing other needless spending and pork. This, spending, no one other the side of the aisle seems to mind.

Not the GOP leadership, though.

No Ty, apparently they have - since they are giving the people guns AND butter AND tax cuts*

Whereas the Dems would just give us butter and handouts and more ethanol.

* In SlaveWorld, we cancel the butter

[the Spartan]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Seeing as he's an incumbent and all, I really need to see a good-faith effort at cutting stuff before the election.

Bush doesn't need your vote. Texas is a lock. thanks for playin' though.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by the Spartan
Bush doesn't need your vote. Texas is a lock. thanks for playin' though.

I may be moving. Thanks for making the assumptions, though!

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by sgtclub
He is being too clever. I don't know why Barlett takes spending cuts off the table. I wholly expect that we will see significant spending cuts proposed early in theh second term if Bush is re-elected.

Well, it is true that past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Where do you think the $400 billion of necessary cuts will come from?

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
In the real world, Bush is a strong leader who is managing a war time budget, with necessary overruns.

Yeah, that prescription drug benefit and the bridge in Alaska sure were necessary to fight terror.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
In the real world, Bush is a strong leader who is managing a war time budget, with necessary overruns. Knowing this, he and his cronies should however be killing other needless spending and pork. This, spending, no one other the side of the aisle seems to mind.

(1) There is no sign whatsoever that Bush is a "strong leader" in the sense that he is willing to make hard economic choices, like telling people something other than "you can have your cake and eat it too."

(2) Had Bush wanted to use 9/11 to force people to make these hard choices, doubtless he could have. He could have said, now that the country is at war, we're all going to have to make sacrifices, and that means cutting spending, among other things. However, to make this plausible, he would have had to scale back tax cuts. Instead, he leveraged the war (and the Dept. of Homeland Security thing) to get a GOP Senate, and then cut taxes ("our due," as Cheney put it) while increasing spending. This is the opposite of strong leadership.

No Ty, apparently they have - since they are giving the people guns AND butter AND tax cuts*

You and I agree completely -- the GOP understands that people want inconsistent things, and have found a way to not only promise this to them, but to give it to them too. Our children will get to pay for this. Actually, those of us who are still working when the baby boomers retire will pay for it.

Whereas the Dems would just give us butter and handouts and more ethanol.

As long as corn-growing states with small populations get the same number of senators apiece as California does, you can rest assured that the federal government -- no matter who presides over it -- will subsidize ethanol.

Meanwhile, complaining about hypothetical Democrat budget-busting is a weak strategy, since Clinton actually balanced the budget, and Bush is blowing it up.

[Atticus Grinch]

Individual Ready Reserve, activate! That pretty much sucks. I have several friends in this category. I wonder if Bush's supposed lock on the military vote will be counteracted when pretty much every single military mom and spouse is pissed off enough to vote Dem.

I also wonder which lever Colin Powell will pull in the secrecy of the voting booth.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Maybe I'm overreacting (I am currently rereading some Ayn Rand, so I may be particularly sensitive) but does this kind of language scare you?

Nope. That is, in fact, one of the core functions of government.

S_A_M

[SlaveNoMore]

Sidd Finch
Yeah, that prescription drug benefit and the bridge in Alaska sure were necessary to fight terror.

And yet funny that the only complaint out of the Dems over the prescription drug benefit was that it wasn't Large enough.

Funny.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Nope. That is, in fact, one of the core functions of government.

S_A_M

While both Ashcroft and Ridge see their job as scaring you, it is not historically one of the federal government's core functions, and I do not think my taxes should pay for it.