[ExI] libertarianism

[William Flynn Wallace]

my judgement is that the conventional wisdom that the Republicans are
fiscal conservatives and the Democrats are spendthrifts is wrong.    John
Clark

You could be right, but citing historical data seems to me to be
irrelevant.  Times change, parties change.  I think the best way to
characterize the political parties of today is not to do it.  Or, you just
say 'self-serving' and 'demogogic' and be done with it.  I do think the
DEms are more progressive.  Neither are going to mess with Medicare and
Social Security.  And that's too bad.

bill w

On Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 10:36 AM John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Oct 21, 2018 at 11:15 AM William Flynn Wallace <
> foozler83 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The only recent president you cite is Clinton.  And I think your sample
>> size is too small, and outdated, to make any judgment about current
>> affairs.
>>
>
> If you want a larger sample you're going to have to go back further in
> time. There have been 29 presidents since the Republican party was created,
> and only 7 have reduced the countries debt as a percentage of GDP, 2 have
> been Republicans and 5 were Democrats. And only 2 presidents have reduced
> the debt significantly and both were Democrats. You never have as much
> information as you'd like but I believe that's sufficient data to make a
> judgement;and my judgement is that the conventional wisdom that the
> Republicans are fiscal conservatives and the Democrats are spendthrifts is
> wrong.
>
> > Why restrict the cuts to defense?
>>
>
> I don't restrict it to defense but it can't be ignored because it's 54% of
> discretionary spending.
>
>
>> > Some Libertarians think the entire dept. of Education should be
>> closed, among others.
>>
>
> At one time I said the same thing and at one time I said it was
> impractical for the government to guarantee that all its citizens receive
> health care and at one time it was indeed impractical, but I don't think it
> is today. The USA is far richer than it was a few years ago even if most of
> the people who live in it are not.
>
> > When we are spending more than the rest of the world combined on
>> defense,
>>
>
> A slight exaggeration, very slight. It's "only" more than the next 7
> countries combined, and a flat tire is "only" flat on the bottom.
>
>
>> > massive cuts can be made if we can get China and Russia to do the
>> same.
>>
>
> That's a big "if". For that you'd need a leader with great diplomatic
> skill, so obviously that's not going to happen anytime during the Trump
> Dynasty.
>
> John K Clark
>
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