|
TheHeretic -> RE: CM Republicans -- What does change mean? (9/5/2008 7:49:02 PM)
|
Responding more to the question of the title, than those in the first post...
As already mentioned, fiscal conservatism. That's a big one. Please don't squander the money! Before we throw still more money into a program, how about we make some cuts? Cut the waste. Cut the abuse. Cut the fraud. Cut the bloat. They probably have more than they actually need.
The whole government is too damn big. Fixing that would be a tricky balance between how fast we fire gov't employees, and how quickly the economy can expand to absorb them. We are talking about the biggest employer in the country here. Make that, 'employers,' because you can damn near pick a major jurisdiction at the city, county, or state level, and the governing body will be the biggest employer too. There was once a conservative theory that competition was a good thing. The government has become an entrenched, overbureauocratized, monopoly.
It means a lot less government intrusion into my life. I want schools controlled by a local board, people I can run into at the grocery store. If I'm of a mindset different than the community, I want to have choices within reach. I use the nifty new curly bulbs in a number of places around my house, but I don't like being told I can't have the immediate, strong, clear light of a 100 watt incandescent at the top of the stairs, or in the bathroom with the first aid kit. (Yes, I know all the talking points about fundamentalists telling us how to live, but how often do their press releases to the base succeed? Last time I checked, porn was still plentiful on the internet, abortion was still safe and legal, sodomy is legal in Texas, and gay couples are planning weddings. I'm perfectly ok with them busting all the unmentionable porn rings they can find.)
Can I get my head up in the clouds for a moment? For this Republican (official now, I want to vote in the next primary), it means damn near all that great stuff Obama talked about at the DNC convention in '04, only I have a completely different vision of how we get there.
|
|
|
|
