Yes, we could eliminate the deficit in less than a decade, and eliminate the debt within our lifetime just by limiting the growth of Government. You don't even have to roll it back, just slow the growth. Time will do the rollback for you.
On the general philosophy of "no more RINOs", I hope most on this thread would heed the words of President Reagan posted right here, on FR, over 6 years ago:
"When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it."Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything.
"I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'
"If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.
So what is that list to grade against, how many points does a politician lose if they support limited Government, lower taxes, and gay marriage? If they support elimination of most Government departments, and also want to legalize drugs? What are the non-negotiables, and how do you score people?
Hello FRiend,
I am on the side of Reagan and, although I understand the frustration of many including Jim Robinson (to whom I am very grateful for FR), it is foolish to reject or eject every RINO.
In IL we are thrilled to have pro-life, pro-gun Democrats elected. You have to do the political calculus and elect who you can. While I am not crazy about Republicans in general, they pale in comparison to Democrats in terms of taxing and spending and regulating.
In a perfect world we wouldn’t have to debate the dumb ideas proffered by liberals and statists. Instead we have the best our Founders could offer. American government has grown larger/more invasive than even Hamilton could have imagined and we need coalitions to move our agenda forward and get back to the Constitution.
I love your idea on spending (I am for low taxes, but they’re a gimmick compared to spending) and think it could easily be sold to the American people as a fundamental political platform. It is simple, the math is easy (makes cheating more obvious) and you could convince a cabbage it would work.
If you were to couple spending control with school vouchers you’d see the end of the massive American state, naturally and without bloodshed (or too many tears).
In voting it comes down to supporting the lesser of two evils. No-votes/3rd party votes just elect their guy and I will tell you first hand Democrats do the math and they only care about winning. You can do a lot more with a majority and they know it.