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America Becoming ‘Greek-Style Welfare State’

By W. James Antle, III on 8.2.11 @ 11:17AM

The Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell says both parties won the debt debate while the American people lost. So why the left-right opposition I noted in today’s column?

The hard-core conservatives are upset that the deal is mostly smoke and mirrors on the spending side and that there may be a tax-increase trap on the revenue side.

The hard-core liberals, by contrast, are angry that there are any spending cuts, even ones based on Washington math. Moreover, they want higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers today, not a supercommittee that may or may not follow through on soak-the-rich policies in the future.

We’ll just have to pass the bill to see what’s in it, so they say.

Siegfried X| 8.2.11 @ 12:38PM

Antle: "why the left-right opposition I noted in today's column?"

Two of the answers are obvious. The third is more disturbing. First, there are real differences between the parties. Second, those differences are exaggerated, and new imaginary ones invented, because the parties spend tens of millions of dollars a year demonizing the other party. It's often much easier to control a voter by convincing them that the other party is evil, rather than proving our party is good.

The third reason is voter ignorance, which partially comes from #2, all the partisan propaganda.

Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 1:45PM

As indicated this deal stinks worse than a dead skunk, and its only accompolishments are possibly avoid a credit rating downgrade and a slowing down of governmental spending. There will be no true solutions to this problem if/until the taxpayers begin voting intelligently. While arguing with some here, its now obvious to me that some of you apparently either don't understand the significant differences between Republicans and Democrats or simply know but refuse to acknowledge that difference. The essential tipping point of this problem when this nation elected its current president in November of 2008. Its still dumbfounding to me that this even occurred, as he was/is the most liberal senator/politician that the Democratic Party contained. Previously, a political war occurred within their party between the liberal faction [ie the Kennedys] and the moderate faction [the Clintons], and the former won the battle and thereafter financed and promoted our current president. Their party was well aware however that they could not win the WH without disguising their liberal candidate and propagandizing him as a average, justlike you, everyman [which was a complete falsehood designed to get him votes and elected president]. The American public was brainwashed by them and their minions within the MSM, and the public voted STUPIDLY for this extremist, radical street-merchant from Chicago [who cut his political teeth with Acorn type political corruption]. The public was bombarded with their HOPE & CHANGE bullexcrement and bout it hook,line and sinker. When he came out of his liberal political closet and revealed himself as to the radical that he was/is by conspiring with Pilosi, Reid and other liberal Democrats, the tea party nation was established over the outrage resulting from same. Getting back to my point, the American public [and especially some of these tea partiers] still don't obviously have the ability to see these liberal Democrats for who/what they are and are still being brainwashed. They're combining all DC politicians into a THEM category, instead of making a useful distintinction between the parties and their platforms. These DC Repuublicans are lackadasical and forgetful of the fact that they owe their allegiance to their constituent-voters back home, but they are not Democrats. These Kennedyisk Democrats now have full control of their party and are ruthless and don't give a damn about anthing other than their own political power. They are in the political control of our government [again thanks to our voting stupidity in 2008] and they have/will cram down America's throats their social legislation that causes the present defecit/debt at the expence of taxpayers. They conspiratorially use their gained governmental power to institute social/welfare legislation in order to enlarge the public's dependency upon governmental services and to correspondingly force the voters to re-elect them in return for their granting of this welfare. When the tea partiers refuse to acknowledge the party differences, they are playing right into the Democrats' desired intentions and playbook. Since there are only two parties, if the tea partiers reject Republicans and vote instead for Democrats [as they did in November of 2008 for the current Democrat president], then the Democratic Party has once again succeeded in brainwashing America. I understand tea partiers and all of us conservatives' frustration with this semi-worthless debt deal, but understand that the only solution desirable will come in November of next year if you elect more conservative Republicans to replace current Democrats DC office holders. If the Senate and the WH come into Republican hands/control, then your desired budget reduction of substantial proportions can then be enacted and government spending can be cut in large amounts [by eliminating governmental departments, programs etc that waste taxpayers' money and are the cause of this defecit/debt problem]. I'll conclude by saying a special THANK YOU to the tea party movement of patriots out there who have heroically begun this battle. We all owe you a great debt of gratitude for your courageous fight, but we must all put aside our differences over specific agendas, vote the straight Republican ticket, provide more ground troops to DC freshmen etc Republicans who are fighting for us taxpayers, and we will one day soon hopefully get the desired conclusion that we all strive for!!!!!!!!!

They Lie| 8.2.11 @ 7:14PM

"vote the straight Republican ticket," That's exactly what the RINOS are counting on. Keep the old dinosaurs like McCain, Hatch, McConnell, Cornyn, Lindsay Graham,Grassley,Snowe,etc. in power to continue spending us into oblivion. At some point, the grim reaper of debt must be paid. When that time comes, tax rates will be 70% plus, freedom will be a memory, and we will all be slaves to a Socialist/Marxist State. We are already on that slippery slope, and Republicans have helped grease the skids. George W. Bush spent more than anyone before him (Democrats included) and Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and WH, and it got us nowhere near a balanced budget or a reduction in spending or a smaller less intrusive Federal government. In fact, George Bush and Karl Rove and the ruling class Republicans did absolutely nothing to help conservatives.

The worse thing we could do as conservatives is to concede our vote to any one with an R by their name. If we can't vote for a conservative, then vote for a libertarian or do not vote. RINOS should NEVER be rewarded with our votes, our precious money and time. They must be defeated. We must not rest until every republican holding office is a conservative. The moment they stray, we replace them. The country is on the road to ruin. Just look at the debt, the horrific economy, millions of unemployed, government regulations which strangle our free market system, and politicians who trash the constitution. We are a nation founded on individual liberty and justice for all. We are losing our freedom, and the only justice now seems to be for the ruling class who set themselves above the law and hold in contempt those whom they are supposed to be serving. The only serving I see from them, is self serving.

When 47% of the population pays no income tax, thus does not pay their fair share and leech off the other half of the nation, we are but a step away from going over the precipece. The sweat of one's brow should not be taken by a tyrannical government and used to buy the votes of the slovenly so as to keep that evil government in power. Those of us who allow our labor to be stolen and our freedom snatched away by a thief wearing wing tips and a pin striped suit instead of being jack booted and wearing a uniform adorned with a swastika, and do not resist with all our might deserve to become slaves to the masters.

I for one will NEVER bow down to the ruling class R's by voting a straight ticket filled with arrogant aholes who look down on conservatives. At least when I am dragged kicking and screaming to the gulag, I will have a clear conscience that I did not put the Judas Goat in power.

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