Rebulican party - They are supposed to be for less government but seem to spend the most?

Question

I'm an independent and always have been. I'm for less government all the way. My question is to you "republicans". The republican philosophy is less government but the republicans I know of seem to put the nation in debt? What gives? Ronald Reagan? Reagonomics? George W? We're in debt again? The biggest spenders in history? Can you please explain why these republicans are for less government yet ruin the economy? Let me remind you, we are very close to a recession again.

Answer 1

I am independent as well. Two things you need to realize about the spending of the past three Presidents. Each of them were spending money to fight 'wars'. Reagan the Cold War, Bush the First the Gulf War, and the Bush the 2nd the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Fighting these wars costs alot of money and Reagan and Bush the Second both greatly increased the amount of federal spending on the military.

All of that being said, Republicans of the past were very much in favor of lower spending, less government, lower taxes and keeping the government out of the every day lives of Americans. With the birth of the Christian Coalition that all changed. They still want lower taxes, however they are actually for more impact on your personal life then even the Democrats. Their views (and I'm not saying they are wrong) impact everything from marriages (which should be a state issue, not a federal one), abortion, drugs (federal laws only apply to the importation of drugs, everything else is on the state level - until the medicinal marjiuana laws in California), etc.

But to be fair, the Republicans spent largely because they had too, not because they wanted to. And while Bush the Second wasn't forced to go into Iraq, he did make the right call into going into Afghanistan. I just wish he would have finished the job there instead of letting the serpent escape.

Answer 2

Look these clowns are just interested in running the ship of state into the ground as fast and effectively as they know how.

Trillions of debt, and no conceivable way to pay for it - ever.

A litany of policies engineered to defraud anyone making less than 500,000 a year.

The sickest part of all is the propaganda (ala Fox or AM radio) which has the majority of "conservatives" cheering these guys on without the slightest information as to the dire state of our national economy or the industrial "west" at large or their own interests.

I'd love to say that the libertarian ideal is alive and well, but that's just another mechanism to defraud, Katrina, Rita prove this , the active involvement during the recent wildfires proves the opposite case.

In a world where nothing went wrong, the weather was 72 degress and sunny - all the time, libertarian governance might work, but the minute a bridge needs fixing or a person is made homeless or a chemcial spill occurs the "common good" would be seen to be failing - so it's just like communism in a way - it's awesome in theory - but kinda sucks when you actually try to implement it.

BTW, we're not close to a recession, we're heading for a long recession where negative GDP is normal and unemployment permanent - for the rest of human history - probably - until we solve 3 problems.

1. Fuel - we have more or less reached the 1/2 way point on oil and in 30 or so years will have practically none left (see "the end of oil" , "the long emergency" or the recently declassified (2001 "James Baker Report" on Energy) without a fix in the form a a "Mr. Fusion" type device , we should get used to a few changes in a world without oil.

2. Food production - quietly - food production peaked in 1998 - but of course the government isn't into "bad" news - so every year thereafter it's declined about 1% per year.

3. Population - every day 300,000 fellow inhabitants are born.

This is not a recipe for success as a species.

Answer 3

When republicans got all power in 2000 one of the first things they did was abandon PAYGO. PAYGO was started by democrats in 1990 to keep the debt down. It is a principle by which the cost of any legislation brought before congress is paid for in some way, either through taxes or less spending.
the GOP ended PAYGO and spent 4% a year over inflation for discretionary items (not war money or emergency money, but things like bridges to nowhere).
Now that democrats are back in control of congress they have reinstituted PAYGO, thankfully.

As far as presidents go, the budget requests, and the tax policies of three presidents (named Reagan and Bush) account for 8 trillion of our 9 trillion in national debt.
The interest on the national debt (about 200Bln a year) is enough to pay tuition for all college students.

Answer 4

I don't disagree that the Republicans have not worked in the tradition of Ronald Reagan to reduce the size and scope of govt. They spent like drunken sailors and Bush never vetoed a bill on spending during their rule in congress. This why they lost, Republicans quit voting for them.

However, since taking over the helm the Democrats have started to spend even MORE than the Republicans showing that they were never fiscally responsible in the first place, and that their saying so was a facade.

We TRUE Republicans are against big spending and big Government, and we intend on getting our ranks back in time, and will get rid of all the RINOs you speak of. Take care.

Answer 5

They are also suppose to be Anti-Gay, but they engage in closet homosexuality. Just ask Larry Craig and Senator Foley.

They are suppose to be Christians, but they are against the poor, Children's Health Care. They are also war mongers, which is not a Christian virtue.

They are suppose to be for the troops, but care nothing about them when they come back from war. Case in point, 25 percent of the homeless are veterans. Many of them are veterans for the wars in Iraq and Afghanastan. There are currently 200,000 homeless vets in the United States. And Bush has cut the amount of money spent on Veterans in half, since taking office in 2001.

This clearly shows that Republicans are not trustworthy, in fact they are the ultimate hypocrites.

Answer 6

They never have been. it rather is merely a pretend promise to get you to purchase into decrease taxes. they want you to have self assurance that decrease taxes potential much less spending yet each and every time they decreased taxes they extra advantageous spending. each and every time. And what to we would desire to consistently teach for that? - a million. 15 trillion in debt 2. extremely wealthier a million% and the biggest pile of deepest capital ever seen (trillions) 3. A devastated middle classification suffering long term, intense unemployment So it is the only beneficiaries of low taxes and intense spending is the a million% who're just to blame for a million% of the ensuing public debt, mutually as the ninety 9% who're laid low with this affiliation undergo ninety 9% of the conventional public debt. As Warren Buffet mentioned - there is classification war and his classification is prevailing!

Answer 7

Nice talking point; but have you seen the Democrats budget proposal? They are spending way more than the Republicans.

I am not saying that Republicans handled finances well but the Democrats certainly blew the right to claim the high ground on fiscal conservatism.

I guess we all need to vote for the Bull Moose Party or the Whigs next election.

Answer 8

they are for less government in social issues only. they believe in more of the big ticket item, military the bigger the better. they believe it is okay to spend and not increase the revenues to cover that spending.they believe in less government but think they should tell us our sexual orientation. they believe in freedom of choice but believe that does not include a woman's right to chose abortion. they believe in states rights but dictate no child left behind standards with no funding. they believe in tax cuts for today's wealthy and leave the payments for them with the middle classes children and grandchildren. they believe in the constitution and then permit warrant-less wiretaps and searches on our citizens. so why does it surprise you that they have grown our debt and now blame the democrats, they failed to produce balanced budgets and still allowed huge tax cuts.

Answer 9

The debt is so stupid, I have a easy way to fix the problem, tell them "We got the bigger guns and we ain't paying." Also you seem to no so much more than the people on Neil Cavuto because you just said we are close to a recession, when 9 out of 10 on Neil Cavuto so we aren't near one and our economy is way stronger then any other countries.

Answer 10

I guess you haven't been following the news. Bush (a Republican) has been using the veto to block the excessive (pork) spending bills of the Democrat-controlled Congress. Congress just overcame his last veto to get their massive spending bill into law.