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Wake Up, Socially Liberal Fiscal Conservatives
Townhall.com ^ | January 18, 2013 | Jonah Goldberg

Posted on 01/18/2013 6:13:36 AM PST by Kaslin

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To: DManA

“I agree with you that every STATE should outlaw abortion and no STATE should redefine the parameters of marriage.”

The Federal government has no role in those issues, except that it can use the full faith and credit clause to allow states to refuse to recognize marriages that their own state law does not recognize.


21 posted on 01/18/2013 7:28:40 AM PST by Daveinyork (."Trusting government with power and money is like trusting teenaged boys with whiskey and car keys,)
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To: Daveinyork
I think the term “socially liberal” hinges on two issues - abortion and gay marriage.

As I consider myself to be libertarian, which makes me conservative, I don’t understand how a libertarian can be other than for the rights of the unborn. As for gay marriage - what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home is not the business of the government. But changing the definition of marriage beyond one man and one woman opens doors I would rather not see opened - like that fast food commercial.

Show me someonw who claims to be socially liberal, but fiscally conservative and I will show you someone who will wimp on fiscal matters too, because they have no faith in individual responsibility - (Chris Christie, for one), and are terrified of being branded as extremists.

I agree with you 100%, but my thoughts take me one step further. Any government with the power to legislate these social issues also has the power to swing in the opposite direction (which is what we are seeing now). My opposition to the federal government's involvement in social issues IS NOT equivalent to condoning abhorrent behaviors, quite the opposite, it is my recognition that there are two sides to every door. These issues are best left to the states and local governments, where representation is closer to the people and we all have a choice: if we don't care for liberal NY, we pick up and move to TX where there exists a contrasting representation of the population.

The federal government has no business in these issues, and to think so makes one accepting of nanny state tendencies. It is a dangerous precedent that has already been set and needs to be rolled back. If we tell liberals what is acceptable, we have no room to b!tch when they turn around and shove their ideals down our throats. The federal gov't should be OUT of these issues or we've degraded to nothing more than mob rule.

22 posted on 01/18/2013 7:34:11 AM PST by RobertClark (It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we'r)
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To: Daveinyork
I think the term “socially liberal” hinges on two issues - abortion and gay marriage.

As I consider myself to be libertarian, which makes me conservative...

 

Don't forget dangerous drugs. Social liberals want drugs legalized. And do not fool yourself; libertarians are not conservatives. They are liberals. Social liberals.

And libertarians therefore can never ever acheive fiscal responsibility.

23 posted on 01/18/2013 7:38:30 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Daveinyork

This is an important point that EVERYONE misses - governments at different levels have different purposes but everyone talks about “The Government”.

At the Federal level I am rock ribbed fanatical libertarian. This government should only be allowed to do what is specifically allowed to them in the Constitution.

States have wide latitude to do what they want within their own constitutions.

Local governments should be able to do pretty much anything the citizens agree to do.


24 posted on 01/18/2013 7:39:11 AM PST by DManA
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To: Daveinyork

Those two issues, plus a host of various “ism” perceptions that are actively pomoted and propagated without effective response.

The fact is that a Socially Liberal Fiscal Conservative who votes social issues is a flippin’ idiot. I’d probably lean towards the Socially Liberal (Libertarian) position on a number of issues, but I’m smart enough to realize that the BIG issues in the room are the debt and taxation/spending policy.

I’ll ALWAYS vote - in a general election - for the major party candidate that’s closest to me on those (plus Second Amendment Rights) regardless of Social Issues. Which means that I’m always going to vote for the Republican over the Dem.


25 posted on 01/18/2013 7:40:19 AM PST by tanknetter
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To: RobertClark
The federal government has no business in these issues, and to think so makes one accepting of nanny state tendencies. It is a dangerous precedent that has already been set and needs to be rolled back. If we tell liberals what is acceptable, we have no room to b!tch when they turn around and shove their ideals down our throats. The federal gov't should be OUT of these issues or we've degraded to nothing more than mob rule.

 

This is libertarian thinking at its worse.  OF COURSE the federal government must be involved in social issues. Take marriage as a current and prime example. Marriage is not just a civil or religious concern, it is a concern vital and integral to national security. A healthy marriage is the foundation to a healthy society. Any county that wants to survive and thrive promotes and protects the family. Any country that wants to escalate into a fiscal, social and moral black-hole can follow America's example since we entered into the Great Society.

Social issues are the key to our survival as a nation. Nothing else comes close.  Not a 16 trillion dollar debt. Not unemployment. Not nothing.

26 posted on 01/18/2013 7:52:20 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

“Don’t forget dangerous drugs. Social liberals want drugs legalized. And do not fool yourself; libertarians are not conservatives.”

Show me the clause in the US Constitution that permits the Federal government to prohibit drugs.


27 posted on 01/18/2013 7:57:42 AM PST by Daveinyork (."Trusting government with power and money is like trusting teenaged boys with whiskey and car keys,)
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To: Responsibility2nd

You are suggesting that government can enact legislation that will foster healthy marriages? I don’t see any evidence over the last 30 years to validate that claim. I’m all for healthy marriages but just how do you propose the government does that? My opinion is that is a role for the church not the state.


28 posted on 01/18/2013 7:58:36 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
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To: Responsibility2nd

Then you have an obligation to amend the Constitution to permit the Federal government to get involved in those issues. If you want to undermine our country’s foundations, I know of no faster way than to violate or ignore the Constitution. It puts you in league with El Presidente.


29 posted on 01/18/2013 8:02:42 AM PST by Daveinyork (."Trusting government with power and money is like trusting teenaged boys with whiskey and car keys,)
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To: napscoordinator

Sorry, but that “$16 Trillion” doesn’t include trillions more in liabilities (SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.).

And, of course, the dumbasses are still using the credit card for $40 of every 100 they spend.

The Federales still aren’t broke - they have enormous assets in mineral rich land - but I can’t see them using these assets to dig themselves out of the hole.


30 posted on 01/18/2013 8:07:58 AM PST by Little Ray (Waiting for the return of the Gods of the Copybook Headings.)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Funny. Morphine, laudanum and their cousins didn't destroy or even threaten the country back when they were legal.
31 posted on 01/18/2013 8:11:19 AM PST by Little Ray (Waiting for the return of the Gods of the Copybook Headings.)
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To: Little Ray

Milton Friedman, the original fiscal conservative, was pro-legalization. So you could say he was socially liberal fiscally conservative.


32 posted on 01/18/2013 8:13:52 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
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To: Kaslin

In a nutshell, the left and almost-left are uneducated in politics and know only the sound bites on TV.. that’s what they repeat. They also have a short attention span and lean lazy in doing any research. They choose to believe what they hear and not what they should know. Thus, the misconception of who conservatives are... or who the Republicans are/have become. I hear them repeat those sound bites... and even though none of them are true, they think they are real smart by being able to recite them. To be so shallow and to be willing to stay that way....

It offends me to hear myself being called what they think I am. No way to defend against it... we are trash and crazy. They don’t know they are being cooked and we are trying to save them.


33 posted on 01/18/2013 8:20:12 AM PST by frnewsjunkie
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To: Responsibility2nd
Social issues are the key to our survival as a nation. Nothing else comes close. Not a 16 trillion dollar debt. Not unemployment. Not nothing.

Social issues are the key? Show me where the founders advocate as such? The founders deliberately stayed away from personal and social issues, including an official religion, understanding that a government with the authority to grant such powers would have the authority to take them away. The Founding Fathers did realize that a social issue is not something you build or in our case rebuild a country on. Until we all get that through our heads, we will doom the conservative cause.

So, in comes the argument that we are confronted with social issues that the Founders could not have imagined. True, and they were confronted with some that are beyond our comprehension (ie slavery). If we accept that argument, then we have to conclude that the founding documents of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence have to evolve over time - and liberals would thank you for that thinking.

34 posted on 01/18/2013 8:24:58 AM PST by RobertClark (It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we'r)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Right, because spending billions on a drug war we can never win is fiscally responsible.


35 posted on 01/18/2013 8:35:28 AM PST by Boogieman
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To: RockyMtnMan

I was pro-Drug War.

But the Drug War has become to much of a threat to civil rights. Police kick down the wrong doors, seize property, shoot dogs, and, occasionally, people. Cops have become too militarized.

I’d rather put up with the druggies (you can shoot them if they become threatening) that the cops.


36 posted on 01/18/2013 8:36:58 AM PST by Little Ray (Waiting for the return of the Gods of the Copybook Headings.)
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To: Daveinyork

Typical. Hiding behind the Constitution.

First YOU show me the clause in the US Constitution that permits the Federal government to prohibit abortion. Or same sex marriages. Or whatever.


37 posted on 01/18/2013 8:41:03 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: RockyMtnMan

but just how do you propose the government does that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Re-instate tax benefits for married couples.

2. Reduce - even stop - welfare benefits for unmarried welfare queens.

3. Many others come to mind, but these two alone would add billions of economic benefit to the country.


38 posted on 01/18/2013 8:43:53 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Boogieman
Right, because spending billions on a drug war we can never win is fiscally responsible.

Not only can it not be won, it further empowers those who wish to do harm. Look at the cartels, the heroin smugglers, the meth cooks in clandestine labs. What we continue to do is erode personal liberties in the interest of furthering the 'war' effort. We can't walk into a Walgreens and buy sinus medicine without being tracked, we can't go to the hardware store to buy muriatic acid to clean our driveway, we can't walk through S Central LA or S Chicago without worrying about gang violence - but it's just an inconvenience for our own good!?!?! Yeah, right. It is a reason to strangle personal freedoms for all to try to prevent the minority from partaking in their habits.

We would be much better served and much better off as a society to use a fraction of the funds toward education and do away with the militarization of local police forces and the erosion of rights. It is amazing how quickly people swallow the trampling of rights when they assume they know what is in the best interest of everyone, but hate it when it is done to them.

39 posted on 01/18/2013 8:45:10 AM PST by RobertClark (It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we'r)
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To: Little Ray

There are two major issues with the WOD. First is the incredible expense that doesn’t seem to affect availability and increases violence. The second is the way in which it contorts the constitution to achieve its “authority”. That same authority is now being abused to give us Obamacare under the Commerce Clause. The “crusade” against drugs was used as the justification and now “fiscal conservatives” have to live with the consequences thanks the “social conservative” position on the WOD.

I’m not a user myself and have no interest in ever using. Maybe if I ever had to undergo chemo I’d give it a try, but at least I’d have the option available to me here in Colorado.


40 posted on 01/18/2013 8:48:11 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
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