Comments Posted By EddieInCA
Displaying 1 To 2 Of 2 Comments
MY PROBLEM WITH 'FALSE' EQUIVALENCE
Freedom's Truth said: [i]As for me, I am a patriot first, conservative second, and Republican third. Seeing how Obama’s collosal $9 trillion deficits, his egregious attempts to funnel billions in pork to favored special interests, his disastrous foreign policy apologetics, his power-grabs in the energy and healthcare industries, these are threats to our liberty, our prosperity and our future. It all reminds me of why indeed “Republican” follows naturally after ‘patriot’ in my political thinking. I care about the future of this country, I care for what the next generation will have to face. This is a partisanship rooted in logic.[/i]
Where to begin with the lies and flat out distortions in one simple paragraph:
1. (From Sully) If you believe in fiscal conservatism, the last place on earth you should look for salvation is the GOP. They have single-handedly destroyed America's finances since the 1980s, with the sole exception of George H W Bush, who was rejected by his own party precisely because of his fiscal sobriety. The current debt is overwhelmingly inherited by Obama, and it would have been nuts to enter office in the downdraft of the sharp recession and set about cutting spending. Bush had eight years to restrain it and he didn't. He let it rip. Think of the GOP's phony concerns about the cost of the current healthcare bill and compare it with the GOP's prescription drug entitlement that Rove rammed through the Congress when the GOP held total power. The costs then were about eight times as great as the proposed costs now. But that was a Republican measure and so it doesn't somehow count as evidence of fiscal irresponsibility.... Somehow - thanks in part to dishonest partisan hacks like Glenn Reynolds and Sean Hannity - the Bush-Cheney debt is all Obama's fault and you need to get Republicans back to fix it.
The last Republican who left the office of the presidency with the federal public debt as a percentage of GDP less than when he entered was Richard Nixon (FY 1975). The last Republican who left the office of the presidency with a federal deficit less than 2.7% of GDP was Dwight Eisenhower (FY 1961). Since WW II no Democratic president has ever left office with the federal public debt as a percentage of GDP more than when he entered. And since WW II no Democratic president has ever left office with a federal deficit more than 2.6% of GDP.
We already have at least one party of fiscal responsibility. It's called the Democratic Party.
2. The US standing in the world has greatly improved since Obama took office.
3. Which power grabs, specifically, in energy and health care? Seriously, which power grabs?
Your paragraph, like many from ideologues, lacks intellectual honesty and specificity. It's a collection of pablum designed to push emotional buttons, not engage the mind.
Comment Posted By EddieInCA On 9.09.2009 @ 17:46
Dear Rick -
I read your blog almost daily. I read Balloon Juice daily. You and Mr. Cole are both terrific writers with passionate voices. However, Mr. Cole has pegged you perfectly, and you should attempt to refute his direct points above. In my opinion, based upon reading your blog for the last several years, you are first and foremost a party man. You may not think you are, but, based on your writing and blog radio show, you are.
Regardless how badly you think some in the GOP are, your criticisms are ALWAYS couched in a manner which proclaims the Dems are worse.
As for me, I'm a registered independent who voted Reagan, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Gore, No Vote, Obama. For Governor here in California, I have not voted for a Democrat since Bradley. For Senate and house, I think I have voted equally for Dems and Repubs since 1980.
It's hard to claim to be any sort of independent if all your energy is spent trying to help one party win over another. The truth is that neither party has all the answers, so blindly following one party is a recipie for disaster.
Comment Posted By EddieInCA On 9.09.2009 @ 17:38
