Take A Few Deep Breaths Right-Wingers

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2007
Take A Few Deep Breaths Right-Wingers
42
Tue, 10-14-2008 - 3:40am

If you need to, breath into a paper bag so you can

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 3:06pm
As I said before, your thoughts are yours.
mccain image

Obama image
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-09-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 3:22pm

I'm sorry - I am usually pretty good about holding my tongue - I know that during an election season everyone's values, emotions and beliefs are dialed up to "stun."

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 4:26pm

How is this:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism


Different than what Obama said:


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-09-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 4:55pm

The taxation policies of the US government have traditionally included higher taxation for higher earners.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 5:11pm
But, little by little, bit by bit, on down the road we go to more government control/ less individualism.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-25-2006
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 6:24pm

You can shoot me down, undoubtable, since this is your area of expertise, but I do want to pick your brain for a moment. If you don't mind.


I don' t think Obama is necessarily a socialist either, I do think some of his associates from


iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 7:08pm

bumping this up.


Some sound advice from a professional, and some notable questions.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 7:14pm

Maybe we'd all be better off if we actually read a book instead of just posting knee-jerk, regurgitated

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 7:23pm

My thoughts are mine?

Well, thank goodness for that! I mean, can you IMAGINE if SOMEONE ELSE'S thoughts were mine? How confusing would THAT be? I'd be running around spouting off ridiculous crap like "cutting taxes increases revenues," or "John McCain did NOT once act as stand-in for the crypt-keeper!"

That WOULD suck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-09-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 7:38pm

The primary part of my response is that cherry picking policies leads to a distorted picture. For instance, if all I looked at was the most recent action of the Bush Administration (and I am not saying this to be inflammatory), then I could make a very strong argument about his political leanings. The push by Paulson (successful, I might add) to acquire equity in the banks that are being bailed out is the closest example I can come up with in the last 20 years of nationalization of industry in the US. One could make an argument that it is a downright COMMUNIST action (not socialist even, but Communist). Talk about "intrusion into the private sector" - that is a violation of the very tenets of capitalism and would likely make Adam Smith shiver. Do I agree that it was the right move under the circumstances...yes. However that does not change the fact that a very strong argument could be made that it is a Communist action. With that said, I think that is a RIDICULOUS argument, as founded in reality as it may be, it is based on faulty logic: too small a sample and correlation without causation. You cannot handpick these policies and get a fair picture. Likewise, because he would like to more heavily tax heavy earners, Obama cannot be called a socialist. No socialist nation would stand for a medical system that requires coverage only for small children, nor would they stand for the VAST majority of Obama's proposed policies. Likewise for Communists and Bush.

Much like Bush, FDR was acting in a time of emergency. Many, many of those policies were enacted in the first 100 days, when he had extraordinary executive discretion - and due to the current economic situation that is very similar to what is happening now. The upside is that I don't think many of us would want to live in an America without a lot of the programs started in times like these: benefits for spouses and families of wounded and deceased US soldiers (after the Civil War), Social Security (after the Great Depression), Early Childhood Education and Medicaid (after WWII and Vietnam).

Further, farm subsidies are a proud program of the right, as well as bolstering the flailing US auto industry straight through the 1980's. I am not saying we are socialist because we participate in some of these programs. That is the whole point of my post - you cannot make these generalizations based on small samples. To say we are socialist because of farm subsidies, labor unions and Social Security is every bit as ludicrous as saying Obama is socialist because of his tax structure. Besides, this notion that only the left ever pushes for what you call the "welfare state" and "intervention in the private sector" is simply untrue.

Respectfull (truly),
meg

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