As a libertarian, I'm inching closer to voting for Kerry

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Riprorin

Banned
Apr 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: Phokus
Originally posted by: Riprorin
Originally posted by: TuxDave
Thanks Rip but I read that and I'm trying to interpret where the fairness comes in. If every year, average Republican scores nearly double Democratic scores, isn't that an indication that the NTU favors Republican economic choices over Democratic?

It means that the average republican is a stronger supporter of responsible tax and spending policies than the average democrat.

That's a joke, right?

I guess the old adage is true: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
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Rip, I said I can read. You can stop copying and pasting now. NTU is favoring the reduction of spending and taxes, so if a senator votes for that, then he will always get a nice A on his report card. But is reduced spending and reduced taxes always a good solution? That's my question.
 

TheBDB

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2002
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I would think the Republican congress would hate Kerry so much they would revert back to fiscal conservatism, just like they did with Clinton.
 

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
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1) Riprorin, i specifically asked for a link to George Bush's grade on NTU's website, i don't see it. Show it to me. If they give Bush anything better than an "F", i'll laugh my ass off. It seems like a pro-bush group to me.

2) I would find it more strange that a fiscally conservative republican would vote for bush than a libertarian would vote for kerry.

3) It seems you're scared that bush's atrocious social/fiscal/foreign policies are going to drive more and more independents/third party voters to vote for kerry over bush.

4) One of the links you gave was 'the club for growth', everyone KNOWS that's a pro-republican organization. Who the hell are you trying to hoodwink?
 

Riprorin

Banned
Apr 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: Phokus
1) Riprorin, i specifically asked for a link to George Bush's grade on NTU's website, i don't see it. Show it to me. If they give Bush anything better than an "F", i'll laugh my ass off. It seems like a pro-bush group to me.

2) I would find it more strange that a fiscally conservative republican would vote for bush than a libertarian would vote for kerry.

3) It seems you're scared that bush's atrocious social/fiscal/foreign policies are going to drive more and more independents/third party voters to vote for kerry over bush.

4) One of the links you gave was 'the club for growth', everyone KNOWS that's a pro-republican organization. Who the hell are you trying to hoodwink?

With all due respect, I've done a lot of time looking this information up for you with a nary a thanks.

I don't like to be ordered around.

If I what I posted isn't satisfactory to you, do your own homework.

I'm out.
 

Cobalt

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2000
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Originally posted by: Phokus
1) Riprorin, i specifically asked for a link to George Bush's grade on NTU's website, i don't see it. Show it to me. If they give Bush anything better than an "F", i'll laugh my ass off. It seems like a pro-bush group to me.

2) I would find it more strange that a fiscally conservative republican would vote for bush than a libertarian would vote for kerry.

3) It seems you're scared that bush's atrocious social/fiscal/foreign policies are going to drive more and more independents/third party voters to vote for kerry over bush.

4) One of the links you gave was 'the club for growth', everyone KNOWS that's a pro-republican organization. Who the hell are you trying to hoodwink?

Phokus, maybe those are reasons enough to vote Kerry? :D
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: TheBDB
I would think the Republican congress would hate Kerry so much they would revert back to fiscal conservatism, just like they did with Clinton.
Which is exactly what I am hoping for.

And Rip is nothing but a troll. Being a libertarian and embracing a philosophy of self-responsibility IS a big part of my life and personal moral code, and I frequently vote outside the party line when (and only when) I am voting against someone. For example, in November, I will not be voting for Kerry, but I will be voting against GW, against borrow-and-spend economics that threaten to bankrupt our country, against an overly-interventionist and expensive foreign policy that threatens to start a new world war, and against fascism and the restriction of civil liberties. If that means I have to cast a vote for Kerry in order to fire the Shrub, then so be it. Kerry may not be my first choice, but I'll take him over GW anyday.

You know what the difference is between a Democrat and a Republican? They both want bigger government with bigger spending, but only the Democrats are willing to pay for it.
 

sMiLeYz

Platinum Member
Feb 3, 2003
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Riprorin

Banned
Apr 25, 2000
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Would you care explain how the CAGW and NTU are "front" organizations"?

It looks to me like the CAGW is critical of both democrats and republicans:

Link
 

Riprorin

Banned
Apr 25, 2000
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And what about the Club for Growth:

Club for Growth?s next target: Kerry
By Peter Savodnik


The Club for Growth, which spent the better part of primary season targeting centrist Republicans, is turning its anti-taxes, small-government laser beam on Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Best known for running ads against Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and George Voinovich (Ohio), the Club will launch a $1 million television campaign today tarring the Democratic presidential contender.

The ad, part of a larger, planned $10.5 million effort at reelecting President Bush, will run in Boston during the four days of the Democratic convention and will begin running Friday in the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Nevada, Iowa and Wisconsin.


Steve Moore, the Club?s president, called the ads humorous, saying they depict Kerry with a weathervane ?flipping around in the wind.? Moore attacked Kerry for shifting his position on everything from tax hikes to the death penalty for terrorists.

?I think our frustration has been that Bush has not been tough enough on Kerry, that they haven?t taken the gloves off,? said Moore, who served in the Reagan administration and worked at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. ?We will fill that void. We can be very tough with Kerry.?

Chad Clanton, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign, shrugged off the ad campaign. ?We?re not going to take a lecture from these sour-mouthed, lemon-sucking Republicans who have no agenda for the future, who only have negativity to offer the American people,? he said.

Clanton added that the Club?s initiative was similar to the ?deliberately misleading? Bush-Cheney reelection campaign. ?The Bush-Cheney campaign has spent over $90 million trying to define and destroy John Kerry,? he said. ?They?ve failed.?

The Club endorsed the president?s reelection bid last year and has helped a handful of candidates win GOP primaries this election cycle, most notably Rep. Jim DeMint in South Carolina?s Senate race. In April, the Club?s candidate Rep. Pat Toomey lost to Specter in a Senate primary.

Moore portrayed the Club?s campaign as a counterweight to the array of ads being run by liberal interest groups backing Kerry.

?We?ve always tried to use humor and ridicule rather than the sharp edge of MoveOn.org or the Media Fund,? Moore said, referring to two of those groups.

The ad is the third television salvo the Club has launched since the beginning of the presidential election. The first ad focused on the president?s response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The second ad, run shortly after President Reagan died in early July, linked Reagan?s confrontation with communism to Bush?s with terrorism.

?This is the first real assault ad,? Moore said, adding that the group has raised about half the money it needs to wage its television campaign for the presidential race.

Link
 

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,994
779
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Originally posted by: Riprorin
And what about the Club for Growth:

Club for Growth?s next target: Kerry
By Peter Savodnik


The Club for Growth, which spent the better part of primary season targeting centrist Republicans, is turning its anti-taxes, small-government laser beam on Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Best known for running ads against Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and George Voinovich (Ohio), the Club will launch a $1 million television campaign today tarring the Democratic presidential contender.

They target centrist republicans in order to help far-rightwing republicans beat them in the primaries :roll:
 

Zephyr106

Banned
Jul 2, 2003
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Originally posted by: Phokus
Originally posted by: Riprorin
And what about the Club for Growth:

Club for Growth?s next target: Kerry
By Peter Savodnik


The Club for Growth, which spent the better part of primary season targeting centrist Republicans, is turning its anti-taxes, small-government laser beam on Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Best known for running ads against Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and George Voinovich (Ohio), the Club will launch a $1 million television campaign today tarring the Democratic presidential contender.

They target centrist republicans in order to help far-rightwing republicans beat them in the primaries :roll:

Klub for Growth IIRC was the one who launched that hilarious "latte drinking, Volvo driving" add against Dean.

Zephyr
 

Dissipate

Diamond Member
Jan 17, 2004
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Originally posted by: Phokus
Originally posted by: Riprorin
Check out Kerry's and Edwards' ratings by taxpayers watchdog groups like Citizens Against Government Waste, the National Taxpayers Union, and the Club for Growth before you cast your vote.

I'm willing to have slightly higher taxes if government spending decreases substantially. The problem is, George Bush has decreased taxes to some degree, but he's also increased government spending exponentially, which gives EVERYONE a higher hidden tax (in the form of inflation) in later years. [not that i endorse high taxes or high government spending, but i'm doing cost/benefit analysis here and seeing who is the greater evil here]

Actually, deficits do not cause inflation unless the government just prints money to fund it. For instance, in the 1970s the Federal Reserve was literally just printing money to fund the national debt, this caused hyperinflation. Today the debt is mostly funded by bonds which are sold to foreign countries and Americans alike. In this scenario not much new money is being printed, so the debt doesn't really cause inflation beyond the Fed's target inflation rate which is around 1-3%. Deficits have other negative side effects though. When people buy government bonds they are taking money that might have gone towards private investment and they are putting it into non-productive activities. In fact, I would argue that when you buy government bonds you are funding interventionist bureaucracies that go out and hurt the economy even more. This is a double whammy.
 

Hossenfeffer

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
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Voting for a third party seems like a vote for the long-term, with the cost being losing immediate gratification. In theory, getting a larger % of the vote will increase visibility for the party and its platform, encouraging more folks to get involved in their local/regional governments.

In this election, I'm hoping that not many folks go the 3rd party route, but I won't begrudge them if they do. Ok, I'll begrudge the hell out of em, but I won't be pissed. :)
 

Dissipate

Diamond Member
Jan 17, 2004
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Originally posted by: Ferocious
Bush is about as anti-Libertarian as you can get.

Both fiscally and socially.

I agree. In fact Bush seems awfully totalitarian, which is scary.
 

Painman

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2000
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I have just one question for Phokus: You live in MA, a vote for a 3rd party here is probably going to be utterly symbolic. Do you fear that too many other people here might get this idea and swing the state dangerously towards Bush, or will your Kerry vote be a form of your own symbolism and/or solidarity in this moment?
 

Siddhartha

Lifer
Oct 17, 1999
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Do you want Bush and the religious right to choose two or three Supreme Court justices? I don't.