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Just ran across this article. It is a topic that I want to further explore but this is a great article about inflation.
As Food Costs Rise, Is Government Being Straight About Inflation?
Tonight I joined with many others on Twitter in the SGPBall and I saw one theme that stood out to me… Conservativism lives. Not in Washington, but definitely in America. We have not fallen in line as the liberal media likes to make it sound. The conservatism that Goldwater, Reagan, Buckley, Gingrich and others believed in still is alive. It has been tarnished by the Bushs, McCains, etc. but it is still there. I look forward to a “New Day in America” or “Contract with America” that will revive the dream.
The movement has started. Will it lead the party?
As I am writing my analysis of why I feel politically homeless, Peggy Noonan comes up with a great article on the basic problem in politics. Take a look!
Article: Third Time
Technorati Tags: Politics, Party Politics, Political Parties, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian
The Libertarian party claims to be the third largest political party in the U.S. today. They tend to lean toward small Constitutionally contained government. I have stated that I view myself as conservative leaning libertarian (notice the little L). I have read a lot about the Libertarian party and have a few issues with their ideals. Here is the breakdown:
Government Size
The Libertarian party has very strong beliefs in the model of limited government. They believe that the size of government should be very small and people should follow the rule of self-responsibility. They only the see the need for limited services such as foreign relations, fire, police, defense, etc.
State/Federal (Federalist)
The Libertarians appear to believe in the concept of states rights. They believe that ALL government should be limited in nature. It appears that they would tend to side with stronger state government instead of stronger federal if they had to choose.
Foreign Policy
It appears that Libertarians believe in a fairly isolationist viewpoint on foreign policy. They believe in free trade among countries. They believe that the United States should stop getting involved in so many international issues and focus on the homeland. They also believe that we could save billions (if not trillions) by not funding every international entity and scheme. For obvious reason, Libertarians tend to be against the United Nations as a government body. Libertarians want to limit federal government so creating a world government is not a good decision.
Taxes/Spending
As I stated earlier, Libertarians believe in low taxes, low spending, and small government. They believe that this will cause the government to have the least impact on the citizens of the country. They have a very conservative view of fiscal policy. Most Libertarians do not agree with the idea of a Federal Income Tax. They believe that the federal government should have more than enough money from fees and tarriffs as it did in the beginnings of our country.
Military Issues
As I stated in foreign policy, they believe that the U.S. should keep their focus at home and not abroad. They tend to keep a very isolationist viewpoint on this. Also, they do not believe in spending the money on fighting. Their basic opinion is have a strong national defense but only utilize it for defensive purposes. Many Libertarians were very against the war in Iraq.
Social Issues
Libertarians follow an approach of let people do what they want to as long as it doesn’t affect other people. They take a very liberal approach to personal freedoms. Many believe in legalization of drugs and prostitution as victimless crimes. They do not support government social programs.
Business
Libertarians are very pro-Business. They believe in a laissez-faire style of government when it comes to business. They typically don’t believe in the idea of taxing business because “businesses don’t pay taxes, people do”. They would push for the idea of removing regulation over businesses. They believe that the free market can control business using natural mechanisms.
I tend to side with many of the general principles of Libertarians. I love the idea of a small government and lower taxes. I think allowing business to flourish under decreased regulation would be a very positive economic change. I strongly agree that the government should not be allowed to set price caps/controls in the economy (such as minimum wage). It goes against the idea of capitalism.
I usually break with Libertarians with some of their more anarchic theories. I don’t believe that legalizing ALL drugs is a good idea. I don’t necessarily agree that all gun controls should be removed (convicted felons should lose that right and people don’t need armor piercing rounds). Although I tend to agree that the government should get out of the business of marriage, I believe some controls should still exist (people shouldn’t molest children even if that is their sexual preference). I don’t completely agree with the isolationist ideals either. I do think that we shouldn’t be so involved in the world’s problems but that we must remain somewhat engaged.
All in all, I agree with libertarian (little l) concepts. I find that the Libertarian party is too anarchist for my tastes.
Your thoughts on my opinions?
Technorati Tags: Politics, Party Politics, Political Parties, Libertarian
Well, I will start this portion of my analysis of the parties with the Democratic party. I must say that I find very little to agree with them on. I think that the Democrats of old were more in touch than the current Democrats are. I believe that there are still a few Democrats who I can relate to like Zell Miller. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the liberal arm of the Democratic party is bent on running these people out. Anyway, here we go.
Government Size
The Democratic party tends to believe that the government should provide a lot of services for the citizenry of the United States. This is the party that brought the U.S. Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, and took a shot at Hillary-care. They tend to believe that the government should always provide a safety net for people and should make sure that no one feels pain.
State/Federal (Federalist)
The Democratic party tend to believe that things should be provided at the Federal level. This position can be pointed out by the fact that many Democrats immediately pointed at the Federal government for the poor response during Katrina. Although the local and state governments had responsibility the Democrats decried the horrible job FEMA did.
Foreign Policy
The basic foreign policy of the Democratic party is make friends with everyone and sign alliances. They believe that no action should be taken without the blessing of the U.N., NATO, or all of our allies. They also tend to lean toward appeasement instead of confrontation. This can be illustrated by President Clinton offering light-water reactors to North Korea in exchange for their “promise” of behaving themselves. In a perfect world, this foreign policy may work but in the real world it shows weakness.
Taxes/Spending
As I stated in the government size section, Democrats believe that the government should be the provider for many services. This of course, points to increased spending which logically points to increased taxes. In my opinion this is not an economically sound concept.
Military Issues
In the foreign policy section I outlined the belief that we should form alliances with everyone and use the “world body” opinion to judge our fights. This attitude tends to push Democrats to not spend as much on military and spend more on social programs. They do not like to utilize the military in a war-fighting mode but prefer they act as a police force. Again, I do not think this projects strength.
Social Issues
As with much of the Democratic mindset this is a place where the government needs to control things. The government needs to handle retirement, medicine, prices, wages, education, etc. They like to legislate social norms instead of trying to change the mindset through intellectual debate.
Business
The Democratic party claims to believe in the American dream but they are the first to attack business. Everytime they need to spend more money they try to either tax evil business or evil rich people. They attack companies like WalMart for not paying their people more. They attack business by constantly trying to increase minimum wage or adding required benefits.
I believe that the Democratic party has a vision. I believe that it is a socialist vision. I want to say that I do not mean that in a negative manner but in the true definition of the word. They would like the government to have strong controls over the economy, industry, jobs, social norms, medicine, etc. They would tax people and then would provide the “necessary” services. This is a socialist mindset. On the political diagram in my previous post they would typically qualify as a Left/Liberal Authoritarian.
I personally have a lot of respect for the socialist/marxist ideas, I just simply don’t believe that they work in the real world. Capitalism works even though many times it can be ugly. I would tend to believe that the Democratic party will never be my home.
Your thoughts on my opinions?
Technorati Tags: Politics,Party Politics, Political Parties, Democrats
As a follow-up to last night’s post I want to clarify a few things before I go on my exploration. First of all when I use terms like conservative, liberal, socialist, libertarian, etc. I mean it in the true political sense not with any derrogatory meaning. I like the following diagram to describe politcal leanings instead of the typical right-left dicotomy.
On the same web page they give a great explanation of each of the terms used in the diagram. Take a look. I personally consider myself a conservative leaning libertarian. The “World’s Smallest Politcal Quiz” confirms that belief. In my opinion, there is no political party that currently fits that set of beliefs.
I have also decided that I want to use the following categories as rating categories for me:
- Government size
- State/Federal (Federalist argument)
- Foreign policy
- Taxes/Spending
- Military issues
- Social Issues
- Business
So with that I am going to do some research. I will continue to post as I look. I will go through the 3 or 4 “major” parties. As I said, if you have something to add let me know.
Technorati Tags: Party Politics, Political Parties, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarian
