If you're not at the negotiating table, you're on the menu
My regular readers know that I've been having a debate with myself about whether or not I could support John McCain. I tried hard to find a way to overlook his flaws, but they are too many and too deep, and I will once again vote Libertarian in the presidential race, and Republican down-ticket.
The most recent nail in the McCain coffin is his increasing vocal support of "cap-and-trade" policies to control "global warming".
In my latest article for Human Events, I discuss what is going on behind our backs in the development of the "carbon market", how expensive it is likely to be for the nation, and why it is just the latest of many reasons why I can't support John McCain:
please see "Potential Costs to America From Cap-and-Trade", HumanEvents.com, 5/21/08
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26621
| Print article | This entry was posted by Rossputin on 05/21/08 at 09:39:29 am . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
Yours truly
-
Following Obama's Economic Policies
Facebook NetworkedBlogs
XML Feeds
05/21/08 @ 11:22:14 pm
Damn..Ross isn't what you are doing the same as voting for Obama? I mean really...As flawed as McCain is, isn't the only relevant question, which of the two (Viable candidates) is the better candidate to forward your preferred agenda..?
05/21/08 @ 11:38:18 pm
Rusty,
I think about those questions a lot.
The answer is complex. Yes, McCain is better for my preferred agenda, but not better enough to support him.
In 2006, the GOP lost control of the Senate by 1 seat. In Missouri and Montana, the Republican lost by fewer votes than the Libertarian candidate received. If you're willing to believe that (at least in the past) libertarians were more likely to vote GOP than Democrat, you could argue that the Libertarians cost the GOP control of the Senate. For me, that was a great thing.
I am not a "good Republican" in the sense of supporting the party blindly. My interest is in good government. I believe the GOP may be capable of it. I believe the Democrats are incapable of it. If the GOP nominates a candidate who is just barely better than a Democrat, if you adjust for expectations he's actually a lot worse than the Democrat.
And, as I said the "cap and trade" issue is truly huge. It's the biggest threat to the American economy in my lifetime...maybe in the nation's history. And I don't believe I'm exaggerating. If McCain is President, cap and trade will definitely pass. If a Democrat is President, maybe enough Republicans will stand up against it to either keep it from passing or at least to get it changed to a less malignant form of cancer...something which a cure may be found for before it kills us, a cure like another Reagan Revolution after 4 years of a President Obama or President Hillary.
Don't forget, with all of McCain's talk about "reaching across the aisle to get things done", that bipartisanship in Washington means conservatives voting for big-government liberal bills, such as increasing SCHIP, or the Farm Bill, or the Highway Bill. It's never liberals crossing the aisle to vote for liberty, limited government, or free markets. So, in my view bipartisanship is not only over-rated, it's generally dangerous. The last thing this country needs is a "bipartisan maverick Republican". It just means he'll sell us completely down the river, just as he did already with McCain-Feingold and as he tried to do with McCain-Kennedy (immigration) and as he's trying to do with McCain-Lieberman ("climate"). He's a megalomaniac, he's dangerous, and even though he's definitely better than either Democrat, I still kinda hope he loses.
I thought George W. Bush was better, on paper, before his first election than John McCain is now. Much better. And I voted Libertarian in that election; I've never voted for W. If I couldn't vote for W because he wasn't solid enough on fundamental American principles, then I certainly can't support John McCain.
05/23/08 @ 01:07:41 am
Rusty,
Have you paid attention to what our so-called 'Republican' President has done the last seven-plus years? Let me count the ways:
- With the help of Congress, has increased the National Debt from $5.7 Trillion to over $9 Trillion
- Passed No Child Left Behind big-government education legislation
- With the 'help' of the Federal Reserve and Congress, has oversaw the decline of the value of the US Dollar by about 50%
What's the difference between a big-government Republican and a big-government Democrat? Today, not very much - with the exception of folks like Bob Schaffer, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo.
This false left-right paradigm is meant to keep fooling 'true believers' like you who think there's actually a difference between the two candidates running for President. The lesser of two evils is still evil. No good is still no good.
Read Joseph Farah's recent WorldNetDaily.com piece about Why McCain Must Lose: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=64647
Farah makes a lot of sense. If American elects Obama, we know what we're getting: A charismatic liberal whose bigger-government policies will be opposed by Republicans. If we elect McCain, Republicans will probably continue to turn a blind eye towards his big-government policies. This would put us in a deeper hole than we're already in.