Monday, June 27, 2011

Something to Read

I stumbled on this wonderful Time Magazine article by Fareed Zakaria over the weekend: How Today's Conservatism Lost Touch with Reality. It says everything that people like me - fundamentally conservative, but appalled at the shameful behavior of today's Republican party - believe.

Nobody can possibly disagree that government spending is greatly out of line with revenue (what we used to call taxes, but that makes Republicans' heads explode, so we can't say the word any more). Simply raising taxes to increase revenue without responsibly reducing government spending is as stupid as the Republican approach of slashing responsible regulations on business and industry and cutting taxes on the wealthy while throwing everyone not in the upper classes under the proverbial bus with huge spending cuts that, in many cases, amount to a - dare I say it? - tax increase on the lower classes.

Time to get real, Republicans. Read Mr Zakaria's article and think about what he has to say.

I know you won't, but it's one of the safer of the fantasies I have.

Have a good day. Think. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

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6 comments:

  1. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)7:54 AM

    I must admit I wouldn't have pegged you for a republican. Hmmm...interesting that you feel the same as me. So where do we fit in?

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  2. Dave Hess8:36 AM

    'Very interesting article. This helps explain why people who seem fairly intelligent, like Michele Bachmann, are going around saying things like "the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling are greatly exaggerated." What world do these people live in?

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  3. Bilbo9:17 AM

    M (P or P too) - I consider myself to be fiscally conservative but socially liberal and open to responsible discussion and principled compromise. There isn't anybody to speak for people like us.

    Dave - I like reading science fiction stories about alternate worlds, but not when they come this close to home...

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  4. Mike11:59 AM

    Great article

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  5. allenwoodhaven6:37 PM

    Excellent article. You are certainly correct that there is no one to speak for fiscally conservative but socially liberal and - gasp- open to responsible discussion and principled compromise, at least in the GOP. It's a shame because there are many like you and it is this kind of person who has the best chances of fixing the mess we are in.

    Unfortunately, I doubt that many of today's conservatives will read the article or be swayed by it. Being open to responsible discussion and principled compromise isn't exactly a common trait amongst them.....

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  6. KathyA3:24 PM

    Asking the ruling Republicans to read is indeed unreasonable of you. I'm not sure they would comprehend anyway.

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