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The so-called "Great Society" also entrenched the notion that the American citizen wasn't really working for himself or herself, but was really working for the government. During the Clinton administration, the notion that tax surpluses should be rebated to the taxpayers was dismissed. The argument advanced by the administration revealed that they looked at tax revenue as "their money," not the people's. It was clear in the language they used to argue against the idea. The left believes that we are working for them - the most important element of employment is the tax that we pay. From this, largely, they obtain their power. The overweening view of the left might cynically be summed up thus: "Sure, the tax policies we support reduce the individual liberty our citizens enjoy, but at least they also make it harder for our businesses to operate." America's greatest challenge in the coming years will not be that posed by Islamofascist terrorists, or by an increasingly vital Chinese economy, or even by that of a small Russian who dreams of reviving the past glory and halcyon days of the Soviet Union. Our greatest challenge will be in resisting the temptation to increasingly become another socialist nation. We must resist this scourge, and call it for what it is: the attempt to hobble the one economy that has consistently improved the standard of living globally. We must celebrate the fact that our system allows us to succeed tremendously, even as it also holds the possibility of failure. But we cannot insulate all of our citizenry from failure and not at the same time reduce the opportunity for success. swdowning has my approval.

stumeade | 09/04/08

Very easily

MorgMcA | 09/04/08

taxes are a necessary evil the difference between the parties is the application of these taxes. After 14 years of the republican "vision" Its painfully obvious that the ridiculous idea of trickle down economics doesn't work It didn't work for Reagan, Bush1, Bush 2. Their "regimes" were known for deficits. When you take care of companies that don't invest in American workers everybody loses .

TheBrownHornet | 09/04/08

Hej brown hornet, you may want to move your comment to the debate forum.

MorgMcA | 09/04/08

true This should be debated Because people have very short memories

TheBrownHornet | 09/04/08

I mean, sign in, go to your debate and type what you wrote as a comment, into the box labelled for your arguement. otherwise we just sit here waiting for you to respond to swd

MorgMcA | 09/04/08

Ummm, yeah, Brown - where do you get off weighing in here, in the Comments section, when you haven't responded to the fellow who's debating you? Strap some eggs on, son, and do your duty. Confine your remarks, however stupid they may be, to the area you've been assigned to. There's no crime in being a moron.

spepper | 09/05/08

As this is BrownHornet's first argument, it's possible that he'll just abandon it. Also, his statements in the comments section reveal a lack of focus regarding his argument. He may simply be out classed.

bobjerunkle | 09/05/08

Bobjerunkle...Right. But probably the biggest factor is that BH is being destroyed in this argument. Still, if he were well-bred, he'd forfeit like a man. (sigh) So few men, so much time...

mrelish | 09/06/08

This is easy. Because you want to make and keep more of your own money. Next.

USA Pit Bull 63 | 09/06/08

My guess is that BH won't respond. This is disappointing. Still, I suppose I can't blame him.

swdowning | 09/09/08

I'm poor and just making it by paying rent. I'm voting republican because where they stand on Government hands off. Teach a man to fish not give him a fish!

RoadKill | 09/09/08

i thik huckabee said it best :"I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich. I'm a Republican because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me." makes sense to me

daliane | 09/09/08

swdowning said 09/04, 01:14 AM "But among the poor segments of society - those the GS was supposed to help - divorce is up, single-parent families are up, absent fathers are more numerous, crime is up, teen pregnancies are up. We've lost ground, despite spending those billions." And public statisticts indicate that all of these negative factors have worsened by nearly an order of magnitude in the last 8 years!!! God must have loved the poor as he made so many of them and the Bush era economics have created more than just a handful. We are currently in a totally Orwellian society/economic environment powered by war and consumers paid by our Homeland Security budget. I'm a long ways from considering myself poor and will continue to profit by lower taxes if McCain is elected, but wouldn't vote republican if a pig was running against him.

shaggyMule | 09/10/08

I agree, if you want to leech off of the system, by all means, vote Democratic.

AmazonQueen | 09/12/08

Shaggy: The fact that entrenched policies continue only means that they are more insidious, not that every administration under which they continue endorses them. To whatever extent we live in an Orwellian society, we can thank leftists/"liberals." It is the left who have championed "hate crime" legislation - that wonderfully tolerant legal concept that makes the thoughts behind a crime a valid reason for increasing the penalty for that crime. How is this fundamentally different from the "thought crime" concept advanced by Orwell in "1984"? Thanks, you tolerant, idiotic leftists. Thanks for the invidious intrusion into our private lives, justified by your obsession with ensuring that everybody sustains your political ideology. Shaggy, you should be so lucky to sit at AmazonQueen's feet, and to learn from her.

swdowning | 09/14/08

The Patriot Act is not Orwellian? Monitoring of your personal communications without a warrent is not Orwellian? Little old ladies in wheel chairs having to take their shoes off is not Orwellian? Waterboarding is not Orwellian? Well, maybe not, it was originally used during the Catholic Inquisition to extract confessions from supposed heretics. One of the thought police's favorite tactics was to figure out your greatest fear and then subject you to it. Strapping a cage of hungry rats in my face would convince me to confess! If you want to continue to rewrite history in your own mind to justify your own predujices there's absolutely no hope for you. You're more than welcome to your own political ideology but your not welcome to force it off on me. OOOh sit at her feet, would I get to lick her knees?

shaggyMule | 09/15/08

Shaggy: Actually, your examples are nowhere near as Orwellian as is hate crime legislation, because hate crime legislation so far has no requirement that it be reviewed and extended by congressional support every two years; the Patriot Act has to be re-enacted every two years. It is not perpetual, as is hate crime legislation. Face it, amigo, the left is far more Orwellian than is the right. That's largely what makes us right. As to licking AmazonQueen's knees, I'd say that's up to her, but I'd bet that I have a better chance. And that's if choosing only her knees didn't automatically exclude me.

swdowning | 09/16/08

AmazonQueen: I like your style, babe. Wish there was a way for us to hook up...

swdowning | 09/16/08

That's Mr. Mule to you fella. I only let people with a mature intellect call me shaggy. In your case it's Mr. Mule Sir. Contemplating a hate crime or two are you. Must explain your fear of that law. If you're one of these bozos that believes in dragging a gay man behind your pickup for a couple of miles is just a big lark that doesn't deserve the death penalty I don't know where your head is. Sorry Amazon my heart and soul belong to another, but if this becomes a free dating site we can expect particapation to pick up. On the other hand if you resemble Cindy McCain I'll have to rethink my position. What a babe! Did you see her at the NasCar event in the t-shirt and jeans? She has my infinite respect actually for her humanitarian efforts and her work in India. She has more class in her toenail clippings than Sarah Palin has in her whole body and is also more qualified to be V.P.

shaggyMule | 09/16/08