Question for Libertarians and other Fiscal Conservatives... (health care, Sanders, ideology)
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Would you vote for a true Socialist party if their goal and party platform at election time was to pay down all debts/bills first before beginning any new social programs (and instituting a freeze on any new government spending that can only be taken off once bills are paid)?
Would you vote for a true Socialist party if their goal and party platform at election time was to pay down all debts/bills first before beginning any new social programs (and instituting a freeze on any new government spending that can only be taken off once bills are paid)?
Nope, because it would be all lies. Once you let the cat out of the bag, there will be no putting it back.
Don't take my thread in another direction...
...but to satisfy you, let's say you don't support them, they still win, and then they pay down debts and do not begin any new social programs through one whole election cycle.
Let's say the next election cycle comes, they've done what they've said, and national debt has been paid down 60% (great progress, but not finished yet)... would you vote for them in the next election cycle?
As well as socialism might work in some countries (thinking Scandinavia here), I think our country is too big and too diverse for that level of centralized control. It also gives me the willies to grant the government that kind of authority in general. In specific cases and on some issues I think a socialistic approach is workable and maybe even preferable, but I wouldn't want to live under a top-down socialist state or move towards and entitlement and benefits culture altogether.
It would be nice if they did pay the bills first, but it wouldn't turn me into a socialist.
Quote:
Let's say the next election cycle comes, they've done what they've said, and national debt has been paid down 60% (great progress, but not finished yet)... would you vote for them in the next election cycle?
On the other hand, if they were doing a GREAT job of running the country I wouldn't vote against them just because they happened to call themselves socialists. I'm more interested in what is good for the country than ideology or labels derived therefrom.
I'm fine with some social programs--if we pay our debts off first. Would I support universal health care? I still don't think it's a good idea. But I have no issue with some other social programs.
The end game of a "true" Socialist party is government ownership of most everything. It would be immaterial to me to be seduced by a promise to pay down the debt knowing where they were headed.
I believe in sound fiscal management, and no socialist country has that. (the Scandanavian countries are social democracies, not socialist)
As well as socialism might work in some countries (thinking Scandinavia here), I think our country is too big and too diverse for that level of centralized control. It also gives me the willies to grant the government that kind of authority in general. In specific cases and on some issues I think a socialistic approach is workable and maybe even preferable, but I wouldn't want to live under a top-down socialist state or move towards and entitlement and benefits culture altogether.
It would be nice if they did pay the bills first, but it wouldn't turn me into a socialist.
Well full state socialism would of course not work here, it would have to... and most likely be... a form of market socialism that Americans could most relate to.
I'm not necessarily asking if you'd become a Socialist... I'm asking if you'd vote for them if they did that and followed through on their promise.
For me personally, I advocate a full free market on local, state, and regional levels, with much stricter control of national and multinational corporations (such as instituting extremely large tariffs on American and multinational corporations importing goods from China, etc. and including nationalization of essential commodities such as oil). For businesses, this would result in a new tax structure where small and local businesses are taxed the least (if at all... under 5%), regional companies are taxed around 10%, national companies are taxed at 20%, and multinational companies are taxed around 35%. For the consumer, a completely new tax structure would be created with all current loopholes thrown out... then there would be 0% tax on income up to $60,000, 10% tax on $60-100K, 15% tax on $100-499K, 25% tax on $500K-$2M, 35% tax on $2-10M, and 50% tax on $10M+... among other things such as a reinstituting the estate tax for estates of a minimum certain value, and some form of an investment/holdings fee/tax, again, requiring a minimum certain value.
I probably wouldn't but I have the utmost respect for Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich.
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