Congressman Tim Bishop has not been able to keep from spending, no matter what. The Postal Service has an $8.5 billion deficit, and Tim Bishop is out there fighting to keep an unneeded post office open. We are trillions of dollars in debt and he comes out blasting the Tea Party, because they want Congress to not waste anymore money on green boondoggles like Solyndra.
Conservatism in the United States
A fundamental difference between conservatives and progressives is the belief in individual responsibility. Conservatives believe in individual responsibility. Progressives do not.
Congressman Ron Paul, a perennial favorite of CPAC, the annual convention of the American Conservative Union, packed the house and then lit it up with his speech of liberty and libertarianism.
In an interview on Bloomberg radio yesterday, New York Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch talked about the perilous state of New York’s economy. Mr. Ravitch was a key player in the rescue of New York City from the brink of financial collapse in the 1970s. He talked about bankruptcy being an option and how New York City’s possible bankruptcy really brought banks to the negotiating table. He also talked about how important the financial services industry is to New York as a source of tax revenue. Then he let the cat out of the bag.
On October 17, 2010 members of TeaParty365 and Media Matters gathered in front of the New York Times headquarters and later in the day at the headquarters of NBC to protest the liberal distortions of those and other main stream media outlets.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCL_o-WhFo&hd=1
It is interesting to note the tea party members who can be seen (Chinese, black, young white female) are not what the main stream media keep telling us make up the tea parties, while the liberal who stops to curse at the protest is an old white guy. The mainstream media did come to see what was going on and interviewed the organizers of the event as well as this correspondent, but seemed bored and disappointed that some self fulfillling controversy didn’t break out. Attempts to find any footage of their filming after the fact were fruitless.
The old bull Republicans continue to get rocked. Add Carl Paladino and Christine O’Donnell to the list that includes Rand Paul, Sharon Angle, Joe Miller and others. It drives home the point that was exposed in a Rasmussen poll that 72% of GOP voters say Republicans in Congress are out of touch with their base. On the Democrat side it is just the opposite where 61% of Democrat voters say the Dems in Congress fairly represent them. While the Democrats are standing pat, rank and file Republicans are asking for a new set of cards.
Liberty’s Life Line endorsed Mr. Lazio, because New York state government is such a dysfunctional mess it was felt more political experience and a detailed plan would make more headway than an outsider. However, the fire in the belly that Mr. Paladino demonstrated, we wish Mr. Lazio had. But Lazio ran another lackluster campaign as he did against Hillary Clinton for Senate, missing the key issue for voters by focusing on the Ground Zero mosque instead of the broken government. Oddly, he had a 24 page plan on how he would change things, but you had to hunt to find it. I have two suggestions for Mr. Lazio: drop out of the race on the Conservative line and free that up for Mr. Paladino, and give a copy of your plan to Mr. Paladino.
For the Republican party’s old pulls, it’s time to clean out your desks. Enough of the lamenting that we need moderates to win in the general election. When the going gets tough moderate Republicans vote with the Democrats. When do moderate Democrats vote with Republicans? Never, because there are no moderate Democrats. We don’t need any more Arlen Specters, Susan Collins, or Olympia Snowes. It is time to get polarized, energized, and laser focused on the issues that affect Americans. If that means we have two extremes, left and right, so be it. It also means Americans will have clear choices.
So let’s get behind the nominees and also put the old bulls out to pasture.
Zogby International conducted a survey to measure how well people understand economics and what their political persuasion was. The conclusion they came to was clear: the Left is economically ignorant. As reported in the Wall Street Journal (Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?) there were eight questions and the multiple choice answers were: Strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree or are not sure. Here are the statements:
- Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services
- Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago
- Rent control leads to housing shortages
- A company with the largest market share is a monopoly
- Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited
- Free trade leads to unemployment
- Minimum wage laws raise unemployment
Answers of strongly agree and somewhat agree were grouped together for scoring purposes, as were strongly disagree and somewhat disagree. The survey respondents were then asked their political persuasion: progressive/very liberal; liberal; moderate; conservative; very conservative; libertarian. The correct answers to the statements are
- Agree
- Agree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Disagree
- Disagree
- Agree
Here is how the respondents performed grouped by political views:
- Libertarians 84.3% correct answers
- Very conservative 82.4% correct answers
- Conservative 77.7% correct answers
- Liberals 59.9% correct answers
- Progressive/very liberal 32.4% correct
If this were a course in school, liberal, very liberal, and progressive students, would have all failed and in some cases miserably; conservatives would all have passed by comfortable margins. The article goes on to say, “The pattern was not an anomaly.” I think this survey explains an enormous amount about the frustration being felt across America today.
Other studies have shown that about 60% of Americans describe themselves as conservative. The current administration is driving hard left at an extraordinary rate and most Americans don’t understand what President Obama and the Democratic Congress are doing or why. This survey explains it pretty well. They don’t know what they are doing, or they are expecting outcomes that are economically flawed. The American people know it and they have been shouting, “STOP!” But the Democrats blissfully press on in their ignorance and are confused why America is not going along.
Statists have long assumed and treat their fellow Americans as if we are too stupid to know what they are doing is for our own good. Well here’s the proof folks that the American people are the ones who know what works and what doesn’t and the only way to fix it is to send all the progressives/very liberal/liberal politicians packing. If we elect conservatives they will implement what works and what economics proves works, and our country will be on the mend.










