Proof that Bill Clinton is not the reason for the balanced budgets of the 1990s

[werepossum]

I like how in your 'rebuttal' post you mindlessly demonize the opposition in exactly the way you were just complaining about.

You exist in a world entirely without a sense of irony. It's both funny and sad.

I live in a world filled with irony. But the fact remains that I can see good and bad in both parties, and I can define the American political middle even while recognizing that in many issues I am not in it. I can recognize that some things I ideologically prefer (e.g. a lack of zoning regulations) are not practical at our levels of industrialization and population.

Progressives on the other hand recognize good only on the left, position yourself as the middle between a small moderate left (communists) and a large far right (which includes most of the country), and then convince yourself that you actually think about issues when in reality you merely justify your pre-conceived position aligned with the left. That may leave you correct on some issues, but it's no substitution for actual thinking.

 

[First]

W sucked is what happened.

They decided that deficits don't matter.

Same Republican Congress simply decided deficits don't matter coincidentally when Clinton leaves office.

You're so bad at this it's painful to watch, lol.

 

[fskimospy]

I live in a world filled with irony. But the fact remains that I can see good and bad in both parties, and I can define the American political middle even while recognizing that in many issues I am not in it. I can recognize that some things I ideologically prefer (e.g. a lack of zoning regulations) are not practical at our levels of industrialization and population.

Progressives on the other hand recognize good only on the left, position yourself as the middle between a small moderate left (communists) and a large far right (which includes most of the country), and then convince yourself that you actually think about issues when in reality you merely justify your pre-conceived position aligned with the left. That may leave you correct on some issues, but it's no substitution for actual thinking.

Hahaha, you just did it again.

 

[ayabe]

I live in a world filled with irony. But the fact remains that I can see good and bad in both parties, and I can define the American political middle even while recognizing that in many issues I am not in it. I can recognize that some things I ideologically prefer (e.g. a lack of zoning regulations) are not practical at our levels of industrialization and population.

Progressives on the other hand recognize good only on the left, position yourself as the middle between a small moderate left (communists) and a large far right (which includes most of the country), and then convince yourself that you actually think about issues when in reality you merely justify your pre-conceived position aligned with the left. That may leave you correct on some issues, but it's no substitution for actual thinking.

Large far right? Based on what? Evangelical males over 50 do probably identify themselves as such but they are not "most of the country".

Your strawman is a raging conflagration with a side of demagoguery.

 

[Macamus Prime]

Mouth foaming fucktard-ness found, carry on.

 

[ProfJohn]

Same Republican Congress simply decided deficits don't matter coincidentally when Clinton leaves office.

You're so bad at this it's painful to watch, lol.

Just as Democrats decided that deficits didn't mater either once they took office?

"yea, but Obama had to spend because of the deficit"

Well Bush had a deficit too and 9-11 as well...

Here is the thing.
If Democrats had a history of being tight with the purse strings then you would have a point. But they don't. The only time a Democrat congress has shown responsibility when it comes to the deficit was Clinton's first two years.

Otherwise Democrats have a lousy history when it comes to spending.
All that spending under Reagan, passed by a Democrat congress.
H.W. Bush? Democrat congress.
Obama? Democrat congress.

Republicans spending history:
Under Clinton it was good.
Under Bush is was average. We forget that the Bush deficits were smaller than the ones passed by Democrats under Reagan and Bush 41.
Under Obama. So far it looks to be good, at least compared to his first two years.

It is telling that the only evidence Democrats have to support a theory of fiscal responsibility comes from when Clinton was in office with a Republican congress. Or the first two years of Clinton's term when the deficit shrank a little. The other 16 years they controlled congress since Reagan took office? Guess they don't count.

 

[werepossum]

Large far right? Based on what? Evangelical males over 50 do probably identify themselves as such but they are not "most of the country".

Your strawman is a raging conflagration with a side of demagoguery.

My point was that when one takes a fairly left of center position and declares that one is in the middle, that leaves very few people on your left and the large majority of people on your right, so that what could be described as the actual center becomes the right and the actual right becomes the far right. The actual center is defined by equal numbers to the left and to the right.

As an example, I offer myself. When farmers in the arid western USA must be denied water to avoid stressing and possibly killing off endangered species of fish, I'm squarely on the side of the fish. This is a left of center position, as most people will support endangered species up until their needs threaten people's livelihoods. When it comes to gay marriage, I'm firmly in favor of it, whereas the center is clearly accommodation via some sort of civil union. When it comes to foreign policy, I'm in favor of retiring into isolationism, at least until some dire threat causes the free world to actually ask for our help. This is a right of center view, as most people favor engagement. On the border, I'm in favor of militarizing the border and jailing illegals caught trying to cross. Military spending? I think we need to add at least two more light infantry divisions and return 10th Mountain to specialist status, similar to airborne and air assault but for mountainous and other unimproved terrain. Again, these are right of center views. It's important to be able to honestly recognize the center position, even though it's not necessarily the correct position. Progressives commonly assert that their positions are in the political center, but in fact Spidey's "we the people" rants on Obama are much closer to reality than progressives' assertions that socialized health care is in the political center.