Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin

If there is one thing I have learned from Charlie Brown cartoons, it is that there are three things you should never discuss with people: Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin. Since this is cyber-space though, I say to hell with Charlie Brown! I'll talk about whatever I want!

About a month ago I was listening to the Rush Limbaugh show. I'm sure you are asking "why?". Well, I listen to it a lunch sometimes in order to get some insight into the right-wing insanity of the republican party. Anyways, I was listening and Rush was discussing the idea that moderates/independents are somehow less passionate about politics. He was spouting some crap along the lines of, "I may be an ideologist, but at least I am involved. Moderates are not involved in the process at all." I thought this was one of the dumber things I have ever heard on that show. First off, moderates (or independents) decide who gets elected in this country. I saw a statistic recently that said only 10% of the people who will vote in this election have not already made up their mind on who to vote for. Guess where those 10% stand in terms of the political spectrum?

As for me, I am definitely a moderate. Moderate is really too simple a term though. I'm really a social liberal but a conservative when it comes to monetary policy. Of course, that stance basically screws me when it is time to vote. I either need to vote for the socially and monetary conservatives (republicans) or the socially and monetary liberals (democrats). Although with Bush 2, it seems like the republicans have become the socially conservative and liberal spending party (discretionary, non-defense spending is up 8% a year since the republicans took over both houses and the white house).

I think I need to break it down issue by issue:

Abortion: DEFINITELY think it should be legal. Morally not in favor of it. But then again I am not the one who has to have a baby either. Consenting adults should be able to make there own rational decisions. But I also think the government has the right to regulate it, without making it difficult to complete(like preventing minors from performing this action without parental notification).

Gun control: Think gun control is a good idea generally, but that some of the liberals take it too far. People should be able to buy guns with a background check and some wait period. Also think the current laws need to be enforced a lot better.

Gay marriage: In favor. I don't understand the problem with it quite frankly.

Affirmative Action: Not in favor of it. At least, I am not in favor of race based affirmative action. I AM in favor of affirmative action based on a person's social status (poor white folks should get help just like poor African Americans).

Drug Control: I think most of it is a waste of time, especially in terms of economic theory. Decreasing the supply of something with high demand just drives the price up. This in turn makes selling and trafficking the substance very profitable. Basic economics 101. Hard drugs (like crack, cocaine, and may be a few others like heroin ) should probably be illegal though. The rest should be regulated. Heck, from what I have seen, tobacco and alcohol have way more known long-term and short-term costs to society than most of the known "illegal" drugs.

Taxes: OK, this one really bugs me. Republicans claim that tax cuts create GDP growth. Democrats claim that they increase debt. They are both right and both wrong of course. Again, econ 101. Tax cuts do put money into people's pockets. Since the saving rate in this country is only something like 3%, the tax money gets put back into the economy. Sounds good right, except that what republican's fail to point out is that the tax money they are returning to people is money the government is already spending! It does not really matter if you spend the money or if uncle sam spends the money. Ultimately that money ends up being spent in the economy. That is why republicans never cut taxes and spending at the same time. If they did, it would basically have no effect on economic output. But cutting taxes and leaving spending as is, is basically the equivalent of having the government just spend a lot more money.