Reading the article, it seems like I may be – or have been – a Rockefeller Republican. I find it amusing that “The Birchers” fueled the first split and “The Birthers” are fueling the one now.
Still, I think I am fairly fiscally conservative. I want to give people a Hand Up, not a Handout. I want to give people the tools to succeed and remove the yokes designed to keep them down. In the end, though, you have got to step up on your own. I do not, however, want to give huge breaks and subsidies to corporations. I do not want to allow them use of tax havens and other tax avoidance methods to wiggle out of paying their fair share.
I don’t want government all up in my business. I like Thomas Jefferson’s quote :
No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.
Sadly, we have a lot of people committing a whole lot of different kinds of aggression against others, so we have to have laws protecting people from such things a discrimination, violence and fraud. (I found the non-aggression principle interesting) Other things make less sense. Why is there a law forcing me to wear a seatbelt while driving? My safety? That is not the purpose of laws – to keep me safe from myself. Also, I don’t agree that wearing a seat belt makes me safer. It is a form of gambling – a seatbelt could keep me safe or it could cause my death. I am the only one who can rightfully make that choice.
One thing I really agree with – and want to help push forward – is the possibility of a grassroots movement to counter the paranoid rampage of Tea Party Republicans. That is not to say ‘be against the Tea Party‘ by any means. If some of their points are valid, then embrace those. We need to have a group dedicated to Truth and Reason above and beyond political agendas, ideology and ‘belief.’
The problem is that people don’t get excited about Truth and Reason. People get excited about being Against something. As a group, we need a rallying cry, a symbol, a cause to inspire and drive us. There are plenty of people saying the same things. Some are scaring Glenn Beck.
US Uncut is building some momentum – but its only focused on getting corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. There is a whole lot more at issue here. The Coffee Party is doing great things and really growing, but I fear a lack of cohesion or a lack of a motivating central theme. “Civility” will only get you so far, unfortunately. I am a “Founding Member” of the Coffee Party (as a Grassroots Movement, Politically, I am a member of the Reform Party) and am going to put some effort toward spreading it’s message here in Mississippi. I am a member of the Coffee Party’s cooperative site Shared Purpose. I just hope people really can Wake Up and Stand Up!!
And as always, Ethical Capitalism can Save U.S. !!
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some links of interest:
CBO on TARP
FedUpUSA is a good read.
CBO Hourly Wages from 1979 to 2009