News-Record.com

I can, of course, only speak for myself, but the idea of self reliance and limited government are big draws to vote Republican.

Democrats -- usually -- have tended to find government as the "solution" for all woes. They also tend to cry "victim" quite a bit and encourage people to find reasons why they have been denied anything -- except for their own mistakes.

I have worked at several large to medium private companies over the years and found many, many examples of waste and inefficiency. There are also many examples of "the system" protecting itself only so it can feed upon itself -- and gain more to protect itself (a never-ending cycle.) It's amazing because this is in the private sector, which makes me certainly believe that government is at least 10 times worse because there is no one who would ever begin to care about costs or who is paying.

I also truly believe that the more power we give the government to "help" us, the more power government has over us. That's not some crazy "black helicopter" conspiracy theory -- it's just common sense. Think about how soon in your young adult life you became independent (financially or otherwise) from your parents.... did that not allow you more freedom in your life? Government is about the same way...

I always find it interesting how Democrat reporters and editors at newspapers (and that would be almost everyone) always rush to write stories about how government programs are failing or need proping up or more funding. They never approach the story from the viewpoint that the government program might be completely ill-conceived to start with.. it just never enters their mind... and, thus, the coverage starts from that viewpoint and is, for lack of a better word, slanted.

I also view most Democrat policies as borderline socialism, which is just Communism dispensed one cup at a time.

A recent study by Robert Putnam (titled E Pluribus Unum) found that ethnic diversity increases anomie and social isolation by decreasing people's sense of belonging to a shared community.

I just wrote that same thing off the top of my head over at A Priori Concepts.

That was a good article once I got past the author's admitted bias and took the time to see where he was coming from.

I also much liked Rod's comment. For me, I vote Republican because of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower.

Emersonian self-reliance is also a big part of it as is Josiah Bailey style conservatism.

Rod, maybe we could send that black helicopter to get you off that desert island you must be on, because how else could you have not noticed that the federal government, with George W. Bush at the helm, decided to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nothing borderline about that.

I'm not a Democrat, but I can't help but feeling victimized by this latest cupful of limited government from our Republican president.

Easy question, just take a look at Raleigh!! Wall to wall unreported corruption!.
Rod Fannie and Freddie are not Bush problems, they are everyone's problem. Our country supports welfare, from sitting on one's porch collecting checks, to bailing out corporate companies. Just keep repeating, it good for the taxpayers. Yea right. Heck that what both parties tell us. That why I like Palin breath of fresh air, regardless for the hate for her by the liberal media. I think that what bothers them.

Rob Brown... I am with you on that.

I couched everything as "generally" or "tend to" -- I didn't say ALWAYS.

I actually think GW Bush has been awful from a pure Republican standpoint. Just terrible.

From Katrina (it now only gets the feds more involved in local and state government, which is something we should all worry about) to these bailouts, to the unbelievable government programs that have been over-funded during his two terms.

I, of course, can't say every political party always fits an exact model.

But, given the choice between two evils, I'd perfer the one that generally encourages me to do my best, excell in private business and personal life and gets out of my way. I would be against the party that generally wants to "help me" throughout my life at every step. With help like that, who needs help? (An obscure reference to the movie Rushmore -- a favorite..)

Anyway, good discussion. And, Rob Brown, you are right.. really.

Yes, there is no question that Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and even Eisenhower have been spinning in their graves for the last seven and a half years. I'm not certain they would even recognize the Bush administration as a Republican one.

The GOP, before Ronald Reagan, was the party of those who believed in fiscal responsibility and that government had no business interfering with the private, personal lives of its citizens.

Now, it is the party of HUGE government that bankrupts future generations with corporate welfare and believes in controlling the private lives of its citizens.