Why cut taxes?

[Topper]

Actually it does. The Libertarian Party was built to chase windmills and push the GOP to the right on certain issues. Functionally governoring is not in their DNA. Why not give the Greens a chance? Because they are also crazy and ridiculous.

I'm not certain there is a functional theory of American government. Any philosophy that is "anti" a component of society and government will necessarily have blinders.

Libertarianism shows us the benefits of personal liberties in the face of government power. This is a useful perspective, to respect the power of the collective over the rights of the individual.

Statism is a belief that the collective is powerful and will usually seek to benefit the collective good. The problem with this approach is it ignores and/or stifles innovation and promotes egalitarianism and mediocrity for large swaths of the population. It also stagnates income and socio-economic mobility.

Conservatism in the classic sense is to rail against government, to rely upon large business concerns and to empower religious entities. This philosophy stagnates change and prevents improvement, unless it is forced to, i.e., civil rights.

Anarchy is not a governing philosophy but a source of change, just usually not positive change.

Communism, totalitarianism and monarchies are not useful in the American experiment.

A philosophy that respects personal liberties, respects traditions and doesn't seek to change tradition just for the sake of change but takes advantage of the market forces while seeking public change or allows societal change to happen while fulfilling its traditional functions is a difficult one to articulate and to facilitate. But that is the philosophy that would do the most good. Who embodies this philosophy now? No politician, no party and no single political philosophy.

[frank ryan]

Go ahead and hitch your wagon to that dysfunctional group if you like--something to be proud of, no doubt. Flushing the toilet and giving Libertarians a chance to run things doesn't sound so bad.

Actually it does. The Libertarian Party was built to chase windmills and push the GOP to the right on certain issues. Functionally governoring is not in their DNA. Why not give the Greens a chance? Because they are also crazy and ridiculous.

[Bo Diddley]

I should have said national office. Not HOA or PTA president.

Go ahead and hitch your wagon to that dysfunctional group if you like--something to be proud of, no doubt. Flushing the toilet and giving Libertarians a chance to run things doesn't sound so bad.

[Topper]

Unfortunately, the only cuts that will make a significant difference are to the four sacred cows: Military, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Everything else is pretty much a rounding error.

It also depends upon defining the role of government. In order to get a consensus on one, you need horse-trading on one of the others.

[Moliere]

Unfortunately, the only cuts that will make a significant difference are to the four sacred cows: Military, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Everything else is pretty much a rounding error.

Yep. All the geriatrics in this board would freak out if we cut their “retirement benefits” and the conservatives will freak out if military spending is cut and all the liberals will freak out of Medicaid is touched. We are screwed but at least I’ll be dead and gone by the time it all hits the fan.

[cowboy]

The growth will cover part, but not all of the tax cuts. Duh.

Unless we do something to cut spending, all this means is even more deficit spending.

Unfortunately, the only cuts that will make a significant difference are to the four sacred cows: Military, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Everything else is pretty much a rounding error.

[frank ryan]

#FakeNews Sorry Frank... Nationwide, there are 164 Libertarians holding elected offices.

I should have said national office. Not HOA or PTA president.

[Uncle Ted]

Not very many death certificates list the cause of death as "very old." They blame it on heart failure, which is chalked up to heart disease, or some sort of cancer, which might not be worth fighting anymore. My grandmother died at 101. She had survived cancer once but had a second type diagnosed when she was 99. WHen she died 2.5 years later, it might have been from the untreated cancer, or she might have just stopped living. I think the death certif refernced heart issues, but I am not sure. At her age, it was time and no one felt like it was a great tragedy to go, even if cancer or heart disease caused it.

SO, sure, lots of people die prematurely, but do they back the non-premature deaths out of the stats we talk about?

OK, so I am right about my assertion that Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos could fully fund all the research that the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society need.

[falafel]

#FakeNews Sorry Frank... Nationwide, there are 164 Libertarians holding elected offices.

Texas has two and Utah has one.

[creekster]

What? No one dies prematurely from heart disease or cancer?

Not very many death certificates list the cause of death as "very old." They blame it on heart failure, which is chalked up to heart disease, or some sort of cancer, which might not be worth fighting anymore. My grandmother died at 101. She had survived cancer once but had a second type diagnosed when she was 99. WHen she died 2.5 years later, it might have been from the untreated cancer, or she might have just stopped living. I think the death certif refernced heart issues, but I am not sure. At her age, it was time and no one felt like it was a great tragedy to go, even if cancer or heart disease caused it.

SO, sure, lots of people die prematurely, but do they back the non-premature deaths out of the stats we talk about?

[Uncle Ted]

That's a fascinating graphic, but shouldn't we be focused on premature death? Everybody is going to die from something, and if you live long enough you are going to get some sort of cancer or heart disease, I would guess.

What? No one dies prematurely from heart disease or cancer?

[old_gregg]

#FakeNews Sorry Frank... Nationwide, there are 164 Libertarians holding elected offices.

yes, how could one forget the great debates in the run up to the kohls fire district board

[Uncle Ted]

We don’t have any elected Libertardian politicians, so no worries about them being confused with the two parties.

#FakeNews Sorry Frank... Nationwide, there are 164 Libertarians holding elected offices.

[frank ryan]

FIFY.

We don’t have any elected Libertardian politicians, so no worries about them being confused with the two parties.

[creekster]

Cutting spending is pretty easy, JL... We can stop listening to NYT, Guardian, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and the other so called news about how terrorists are our worst nightmare and stop fighting these stoopid wars:



If anything, we should be fighting the war on heart disease and cancer.

That's a fascinating graphic, but shouldn't we be focused on premature death? Everybody is going to die from something, and if you live long enough you are going to get some sort of cancer or heart disease, I would guess.