I got an email from a friend - a conservative of the extremist variety. I'm only posting my answer to protect the guilty.
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I've got a couple minutes here. You spoke your mind. Here's my take on things.
I'm not a very good Democrat. I don't always vote with them and I identify strongly with the old Republican values. One exception being that I don't enjoy having someone else's religion and morals forced on me. I'm against the current big spending and I'm for smaller government. Let the big banks and oil companies fail trying to pay their debts and damages. Let your pension, social security and medicare disappear, it doesn't affect me though I will feel for you and even help you through the hard times - I do have that much liberal in me. I have twice been eligible for unemployment and refused to collect. I pay my taxes and don't ask for anything in return. Protection you say? I could sail around forevermore with a Mexican passport, my life wouldn't be a whole lot different, though I would be more popular in many ports. The problem is that I was raised proud of my country's history and the people that sacrificed to make it what it is. It's a time for heroes. The time for "I want mine!" from all classes is coming crashing to an end.
What's sad is watching big business and ignorant people highjack the country. Corporations want to not be regulated but then want to bailed out. It is called "privatizing profits and socializing losses" and you are onboard with it. Some background for you:
Corporate welfare, or trickle down as you call it, is wrong. Real socialism and facism are also wrong and none of the three will be tolerated in this democracy. The backlash of Bush codling super corporations and the rich has been clear with the mass removal of Republicans from office, starting in '06. The Republican party has had to come crawling back to the middle, idealogically. They've got a ways to go but I think it's a good thing. The Democrats aren't much better supporting their pet projects with your kids money. You know I'm in the camp where every penny spent on renewables saves your kids money. I don't think you agree with me there either. It's a game of lessor evil for me and the pro-pollution group on the right poses the larger threat to your kids.
Socialism is the government owning all industry. Do you believe that the voters will allow that or do you just misunderstand the meaning. I'll have to look up fascism later. It is a good word to use in your arguments because it sounds scary.
I understand your angst toward liberals and I enjoy your emails even if they are filled with more wild conjecture and opinion than fact. I'm not sure you being older than me makes you better at spotting bullshit. You seem to be eating the bs that corporate america is feeding you so you're not immune.
It might broaden your perspective to get your news from more sources. I goto Google and click the news link. You get access to random news sources from around the world. Yes, your Fox, Heritage and Cato are all represented. Sources are randomly picked. It quickly becomes obvious, when reading multiple sources on the same news story, where a news organizations biases lie. It's the best way I know to get the whole picture on a story.
My tax plan is to have the tax rate directly fixed to spending (and everyone pays the same rate, a sales only tax would work too). When politicians up spending the tax rate is automatically forced up on everyone. Politicians, mostly Democrats, like to spend knowing that the bill will arrive on someone else's watch. That would end. When Bush wanted a war to drive up the cost of oil he stuck your kids with the bill. Obama is doing the same thing with even more money except most of that money is going toward US infrastructure and a bunch toward renewables. I consider it very excessive but a better investment. Nowadays elections are choices of lessor evil. McCain had some good centrist ideas but then Palin happened and he lost me. I'm hoping for a Limbaugh/Palin ticket. How'd that be?
Health care is a tough one. It's hard to see that even third world countries offer free basichealthcare and we don't. You're wrong about Europe. Most of those countries will outlast us. No country wants us to fail so we won't.
The only thing that will save the billionaires now is for them to rebuild up a strong middle class. During the robbing of America by the rich in the Bush years, they let the middle class dwindle. In the '08/'09 tumble they betted against the country. Did you know that 218 billionaires were created in '09. There were only 700 something in '08. That doesn't bother you? They are learning a hard lesson now.
Bill Gates said it the other day, "The rich don't pay enough taxes". When Reagan took office the deficit was 0% and we were paying down our debt. As I understand it, the tax rate for some of the very wealthy was 90%. The country was arguably in great shape.
You understand that unless you are for the privatization of the police, fire and defense departments, you are a socialist. And you are anti-democracy. When a large group feels a small group are abusing them, the large group can vote to curb the abuse. What you recommend is removing the will of the people from government and handing over management of the country to small private parties. That's not democracy.
CA does spend too much and doesn't tax enough.
Jindal doesn't need permission to put up berms in his own state. Don't worry, lot's of people fell for that one.
I'm confused about the apology thing. If you backed over the neighbors dog would you knock on their door and apologize? Man up, it's the harder thing to do but it shows integrity.
Seems like most rich people earn their money on the backs of people who work harder than them. You know, those pesky voters. I grew up in a wealthy family. I was offered opportunities that the ghetto kid was not. I'm not complaining but it is an inherent advantage. Seems to me that a ditch digger works harder than a company manager and that hard work doesn't get him moved up on the ladder. And it shouldn't necessarily but letting the ditch digger go hungry or refusing him basic health care for a cost that is in balance with his income in a country as great as ours doesn't seem right.
I read the news, I didn't know that our relations with China, Russia, Iran and N. Korea were messed up. We are shifting China off the dollar, Iran will get nuked by Israel before it produces a bomb. It doesn't seem like things are worse than under Jr. Also, I'm more afraid of the big quiet guy in the corner of the bar than the midget southerner shooting his mouth off to everyone. It's nice to be the big quiet guy again.
I don't defend illegals. Everytime I break the law I pay or go to jail. Why should they be different. I don't hire them either as my Republican friends do.
On global warming I thought we agreed that it was happening but disagreed on whether increased (man made) CO2 had anything to do with it. Are you changing your stance? Are you in the camp that we are in a cooling period now that will continue? Do you believe that man is causing the increased CO2? You never responded to me when I asked how you feel about the oceans dying because of the increased CO2. If you don't believe man has caused the increase then you're off the hook.
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