I would like to point out how the party of "small government" and less taxes is anything but.I will lay out how the party of "lower taxes" is really taxing you in a variety of other ways, including one I had never considered. My plea has always been to know the difference between reducing "income taxes" and payroll taxes, as most Americans are constantly being sold on the idea that the GOP will reduce "income" taxes and this means more money in the pockets of middle-to-lower class Americans. And if anybody needs a reminder of how these so-called "conservatives" come up with solutions to help Americans who are struggling, this year we got our "stimulus" check--($600 to $1800) that will change your life!
Point being: conservatives, time to take back your party! As for Democrats, we could go on for days about how that party has been hijacked as well, but the GOP are the ones in charge and in my opinion are nothing but a bunch of kleptocrats who keep selling you on the same tired ideals, which they completely abandon once in power.I ask you, are we that stupid?
I am registered Independant who has voted with the GOP for the past twenty years.But I'll be shot before I vote Republican this year. Why? Because the GOP is a pack of remorseless liars, and not about the little things. About the single biggest unifying principle of conservatism -- limited government and low taxes.Last week, I sat and watched Republican candidates speak at the convention. Each one stood up before the crowd, and in turn spoke the Lie. The Big Lie, the Mother of All Mendacities: That the Republican Party is in favor of small government and low taxes.
In my lifetime, no Republican president has ever left office with a smaller government than he found on Inauguration Day. Nixon certainly didn't. Reagan oversaw the largest expansion of defense spending in U.S. history in pure dollar terms, and ran up record deficits in the process. Bush 39 and Bush 41,neither one came within a country mile of balancing a budget. Every time you turn around, the budget is bigger. Even when the military is smaller, the defense budget grows. The Medicare budget grows, Social Security spending grows. Where's the small government?At least liberals don't pretend.
Republicans whine about pork-barrel spending, but they perfected legislative earmarks, through which they funnel billions. In the old days of the Democrats, most spending had to pass the Ways and Means Committee to be added to the budget -- at least some oversight. Now it is nothing but a free-for-all, and we have the GOP to thank for it.The second, more subtle lie is that Republicans cut taxes. Yes they do, on paper, but when you borrow trillions to cover budget shortages, are you really cutting taxes? To borrow money, the government has to float bonds, and the more bonds it sells, the higher the interest rate it has to pay out to make the bonds attractive, and citizens pay higher interest rates on everything from mortgage payments to credit card bills because Republican presidents remain on an endless spending binge.Who pays for all this? Most likely our children, the children of the middle class.So you do pay more taxes. The tax does not come out of your paycheck; it is hidden in your mortgage note. And in the end, you will probably pay more in higher interest payments that you ever would if the government would do the manly thing and raise taxes to pay for its profligacy.
Sometimes, a Democrat will come close to saying: I will tax you, but I will provide better services to you in return. It doesn't often work out that way, but at least when I pay taxes and approve higher taxes it means I have a right to raise my expectations and demand something in return.Republicans have an opposite, ugly calculus: I lowered your taxes so I don't owe you rights, justice, health care or any other consideration. You got your stimulus check so go on and shut the hell up.Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me Republicans haven't figured out that as long as the electorate gets rebate checks and cheap oil and tax cuts no one is going to care what the government is up to.
I am not hoping for an era of bigger government, but these liars need to be put in check.This election could be the punch in the mouth that Republicans need to get back to governing as a conservative entity instead of pretending to be one.
Point being: conservatives, time to take back your party! As for Democrats, we could go on for days about how that party has been hijacked as well, but the GOP are the ones in charge and in my opinion are nothing but a bunch of kleptocrats who keep selling you on the same tired ideals, which they completely abandon once in power.I ask you, are we that stupid?
I am registered Independant who has voted with the GOP for the past twenty years.But I'll be shot before I vote Republican this year. Why? Because the GOP is a pack of remorseless liars, and not about the little things. About the single biggest unifying principle of conservatism -- limited government and low taxes.Last week, I sat and watched Republican candidates speak at the convention. Each one stood up before the crowd, and in turn spoke the Lie. The Big Lie, the Mother of All Mendacities: That the Republican Party is in favor of small government and low taxes.
In my lifetime, no Republican president has ever left office with a smaller government than he found on Inauguration Day. Nixon certainly didn't. Reagan oversaw the largest expansion of defense spending in U.S. history in pure dollar terms, and ran up record deficits in the process. Bush 39 and Bush 41,neither one came within a country mile of balancing a budget. Every time you turn around, the budget is bigger. Even when the military is smaller, the defense budget grows. The Medicare budget grows, Social Security spending grows. Where's the small government?At least liberals don't pretend.
Republicans whine about pork-barrel spending, but they perfected legislative earmarks, through which they funnel billions. In the old days of the Democrats, most spending had to pass the Ways and Means Committee to be added to the budget -- at least some oversight. Now it is nothing but a free-for-all, and we have the GOP to thank for it.The second, more subtle lie is that Republicans cut taxes. Yes they do, on paper, but when you borrow trillions to cover budget shortages, are you really cutting taxes? To borrow money, the government has to float bonds, and the more bonds it sells, the higher the interest rate it has to pay out to make the bonds attractive, and citizens pay higher interest rates on everything from mortgage payments to credit card bills because Republican presidents remain on an endless spending binge.Who pays for all this? Most likely our children, the children of the middle class.So you do pay more taxes. The tax does not come out of your paycheck; it is hidden in your mortgage note. And in the end, you will probably pay more in higher interest payments that you ever would if the government would do the manly thing and raise taxes to pay for its profligacy.
Sometimes, a Democrat will come close to saying: I will tax you, but I will provide better services to you in return. It doesn't often work out that way, but at least when I pay taxes and approve higher taxes it means I have a right to raise my expectations and demand something in return.Republicans have an opposite, ugly calculus: I lowered your taxes so I don't owe you rights, justice, health care or any other consideration. You got your stimulus check so go on and shut the hell up.Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me Republicans haven't figured out that as long as the electorate gets rebate checks and cheap oil and tax cuts no one is going to care what the government is up to.
I am not hoping for an era of bigger government, but these liars need to be put in check.This election could be the punch in the mouth that Republicans need to get back to governing as a conservative entity instead of pretending to be one.
