Patters

We've had two major conservative presidents in the last 50 years: Reagan and Bush II. Reagan is still beloved by conservatives, and I'm sure most of Bush's 28% approval rating comes from conservatives. So, looking at the charts on this page, my conclusion is that the new conservativism is no longer fiscally prudent. They may talk a good line, but in fact they are Keysnian in their approach, and this approach is supported by their conservative base.

http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm

"In 2002 Bush’s increase of the debt was 24 times greater than Clinton’s last year in office, 430 billion v. 18 billion. In a matter of only two years neo-con leadership had managed to get spending completely out of control."

PatsWSB47

You talk a good line too. If it wasn't for the war in Irag, republicans would probably still be in control of all the branches. While many of the voters are not "major conservatives" they are more to the right than what the 28% approval rating suggests. It's still around 50-50 in this country and it's the ones in the center that usually swing one way to the other to give a particular party it's party . Right now they pretty much all of them swung left mostly due to the Irag war.

Real World

Since when was George Bush II a fiscal conservative?

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

QuiGon

Sorry, but I don't consider Bush II to be a "major conservative".
Reagan is still beloved by all Americans, except the radical left.

Pujo

Lol, so anyone who doesn't like Reagan is part of the radical left? Nope, no other reason someone would dislike him, he was such a uniter and all. I'll bet the air traffic controllers he fired don't like him.

patsfan13

Any Bush a conservative???????

"Not Hardly" (J Wayne)

You are right if Bush had done the politically astute thing rather than having the courage to do what he feels in right the pubbies would still have majorities int he house and senate and his poll numbers would be high. However he had the political courage to do what was (in his view) right rather than play politics and is willing to pay the price.


Reagan is the most popular ex president of the past 50 years. You guys have to get out of the Northeast (and Europe) and see the rest of America.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

wistahpatsfan

Goes to show that Americans want two things: Money and peace. Two of my favorite things.

godef

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuh?............ and who STARTED the Iraq war?!? Answer: not a Democrat.

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See you at Super Bowl XLVI!

PatsWSB47

Absolutely brilliant observation. Cut out with the "duh" stuff already. Voters changed to vote out republicans becasue of the Iraq war didn't automatically change their stance on all the other issues like taxes, death penalty, abortion, etc.

PatsFanInVa

Have to agree. Voters do not like the idea that if they die they can not leave an inheritence to their children.

It does not follow that voters are concerned about the minority who intend to leave a million dollars or more to their descendents (the estate tax exclusion, if the current bill sunsets in 2011,) or 2 to 3.5 million (the exclusion for the estate tax right now.)

In other words, Americans might not be so thrilled to continue to fund a repeal in the estate tax, when it is made clear that it only affects the estate of a millionaire.

Republicans are savvy about this issue. They know people will vote for what they're going to be. The number who will vote for the rights of millionaire will always exceed the number who will actually become a millionaire, because people will vote for what they project themselves to be.

And when the inevitable comes to their own parents, or to themselves, the "estate tax" would not have touched them in the first place.

In other words, yes, your estate is taxable, but there is an exclusion not projected to dip below one million dollars. The tax percentage is higher, the richer you get.

Should rich people pay more taxes? Conning the poor into saying "no," is pretty much the conservative agenda... meanwhile, how many rich guys are teachers? Cops? Firemen? Soldiers? Precious few.

And don't forget... we end up using the single biggest chunk of our tax burden on war - another part of the conservative agenda.

The Democrats left this country in the best fiscal shape it's been in for decades. We were finally running a surplus; the country was comparatively at peace; we were a respected member of the "family of nations."

Now? In parts of the Arab world, Bin Laden polls higher than Bush; We've insulted our own allies in Europe, and essentially pursue foreign policy objectives in a vacuum; Russia is making noises about re-starting the cold war; and we've spent hundreds of billions, with total costs probably into the trillions, on Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/bu...a6408c&ei=5090 (If you count only direct costs, and you're still looking at about a grand per taxpayer per year... and that's if nobody gets injured and needs health care from those wars in future years, etc. -- clearly an impossibility.)

Keep telling yourself that there is some "classic" conservative model that's fiscally responsible. As practiced in my lifetime, "Conservatism" ends up in record spending deficits, far more so than the politics of "Liberalism."

War. Good Gawd, Y'all. What is it good for?

$141 Billion in 2007.

PFnV