Health Care, the Election, and A New Hope
Yeah, so basically, the last election was a referendum on Obama, and well, he got his ass kicked. Yes, a lot of the shit that he had to deal with was due to previous idiocies on the part of the government (notice I did not say the previous administration - a lot of it was dumb ass shit which was passed under Clinton as well, such as the Fannie/Freddie disaster), but the big thing he did? Healthcare. And be a obtuse, frustrating, arrogant and ignorant idiot. But yeah, healthcare.
Its a disaster. People realize now that it is a disaster. If you still think there is anything of value, anything at all, which is best achieved with that bill, you are an idiot. It will cost this country a few trillion dollars over the next ten years, and it will give us... well most of us, all it will do is make healthcare cost more. That's it. If you currently have health insurance, all this does is make your life much more expensive, and as a net result, put a major drag on the US economy, leading to fewer jobs, less growth, and a generally lower standard of living. Thanks so much Obama.
The interesting thing is also the emergence of the Tea Party. Somewhat libertarian in values, it has teamed up with right wing leave-me-the-hell-alone-with-my-bible-and-my-shotgun Republicans. This is because, and it hurts me to say this, those crazy hicks are closer to the true libertarian principles upon which this country was founded (seriously - the founding fathers were all about economic liberty) than either of the major political parties.
And therein lies the beauty and difficulty of the Tea Party. The party is pretty much aligned with where I see the majority of intelligent individuals: economic freedom, social freedom.
Most (certainly not all) intelligent 'Democrats' call themselves Democrats because social freedoms (abortion, gay rights, no church+state, no police state {patriot act}, due process, racism, equality before the law, child welfare, our broken jail and legal sytem etc) are the most important to them, at the same time most intelligent Republicans (especially those not indoctrinated in Christianity) are Republicans because they believe in economic freedoms (low taxes, limited government involvement in our economic lives and decisions, less regulation, less spending) and they see those issues as paramount.
Yes, there are a lot of other factors out there, but the basic truth - in my opinion - is that a very large swath of our population (largely incorporating the intelligent part of it) would generally see themselves in the upper right quadrant.
The issue is branding. Right now the libertarian party has a terrible brand, which has now been largely subsumed by the Tea Party... which has an even worse brand, with most people.
So what do I want? I want a new party, the "Society and Freedom Party" or something like that, but with a much better name. And I want to start this party, run for office, and become President. Because goddamn would the world be better off.
Its a disaster. People realize now that it is a disaster. If you still think there is anything of value, anything at all, which is best achieved with that bill, you are an idiot. It will cost this country a few trillion dollars over the next ten years, and it will give us... well most of us, all it will do is make healthcare cost more. That's it. If you currently have health insurance, all this does is make your life much more expensive, and as a net result, put a major drag on the US economy, leading to fewer jobs, less growth, and a generally lower standard of living. Thanks so much Obama.
The interesting thing is also the emergence of the Tea Party. Somewhat libertarian in values, it has teamed up with right wing leave-me-the-hell-alone-with-my-bible-and-my-shotgun Republicans. This is because, and it hurts me to say this, those crazy hicks are closer to the true libertarian principles upon which this country was founded (seriously - the founding fathers were all about economic liberty) than either of the major political parties.
And therein lies the beauty and difficulty of the Tea Party. The party is pretty much aligned with where I see the majority of intelligent individuals: economic freedom, social freedom.
Most (certainly not all) intelligent 'Democrats' call themselves Democrats because social freedoms (abortion, gay rights, no church+state, no police state {patriot act}, due process, racism, equality before the law, child welfare, our broken jail and legal sytem etc) are the most important to them, at the same time most intelligent Republicans (especially those not indoctrinated in Christianity) are Republicans because they believe in economic freedoms (low taxes, limited government involvement in our economic lives and decisions, less regulation, less spending) and they see those issues as paramount.Yes, there are a lot of other factors out there, but the basic truth - in my opinion - is that a very large swath of our population (largely incorporating the intelligent part of it) would generally see themselves in the upper right quadrant.
The issue is branding. Right now the libertarian party has a terrible brand, which has now been largely subsumed by the Tea Party... which has an even worse brand, with most people.
So what do I want? I want a new party, the "Society and Freedom Party" or something like that, but with a much better name. And I want to start this party, run for office, and become President. Because goddamn would the world be better off.
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