For Liberals: What conservative policy do you support?

[Rikurzhen]

Define "Conservative Policy".

Please.

Totally up to you. This is clean debate.

What I had in mind was something like this: If you're a liberal and you look out into the political universe, what policy do you see that most conservatives favor that you also think makes sense but you don't see much support in liberal-land.

The problem is that when a sensible conservative position arises, as soon as there is any bipartisan agreement on it, a large part of the right labels it a sell-out and it is no longer "conservative". Examples:

1. Earned income tax credit.
2. Cap-and-trade pollution control.
3. Romney-care.
4. McCain style campaign finance reform.
5. McCain/Rubio style immigration reform.
6. Reagan endorsed gun control.

In fact, I would be hard put to find any bipartisan measure that the "conservatives" would accept even if they first proposed it. Can you name one?

There's another thread for that topic but it looks like all the action is here, so I'll respond here.

I'm a conservative and if I cold start with a blank slate, I'd institute mandatory health insurance coverage. No one would be permitted to be without insurance. I'd cancel EMTATA which mandates that hospitals must provide emergency care even to those without insurance. Screw that because that sets up perverse incentives. If we let some people die due to not having insurance, that's a big slap in the face which wakes people up and gets them to buy insurance.

The problem I have with the liberal version of this mandatory insurance buy-in is the redistributive design to send more benefits to the elderly and the poor.

So, in principle I see nothing wrong with mandatory insurance coverage. I just can't support the way liberals have added on a whole bunch of other features to the mandatory buy-in.

 

[Shrimpbox]

The Myth of the Falling Bridge - Bloomberg View

We spend more than any other country in the world on education with worse results.

We have the least transparent administration in years with Obama.

So AJ I don't really know what you are talking about. I will agree we have a two tiered justice system, but saying that minorities are not getting their slice of the American pie is just false, just ask the Asian community. Sounds like we are just not getting the outcomes that you want.

As far as bipartisan bills conservatives support just check the backlog in the senate held up by Harry Reid of legislation passed by the House of Representatives. Let's tell it like it is. Nothing republicans support will even be allowed to be considered by the Obama administration. Like the car commercial says, when it comes to what Obama wants no negotiation is necessary.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Define "Conservative Policy".

Please.

Totally up to you. This is clean debate.

What I had in mind was something like this: If you're a liberal and you look out into the political universe, what policy do you see that most conservatives favor that you also think makes sense but you don't see much support in liberal-land.

Conservative is as Liberal does out there Mr. R., and I'm not really an extremist, so putting things in terms of white and black and blue and red is difficult for me.

I favor reasonable over right or left.

Tell you what... you suggest a favorite conservative policy of yours, and I'll let you know if I think it's reasonable.

How about this one.

Public accommodation laws.

NO ONE should be able to force someone to do business with them. This shouldn't even a liberal/conservative argument.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

Some conservative policies I agree with:

Recognizing the equal protection rights of same-sex couples to access marriage law.


Acknowledging the privacy rights of women to decide whether to have a child or not, thus enhancing individual liberty at the expense of government authority.


Respecting the due process rights of immigrants, which also places limits on government authority.


The problem, of course, is conservatives abandoned being conservatives some 40 years ago, along with most of their policies.

 

[Rikurzhen]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

Some conservative policies I agree with:

Recognizing the equal protection rights of same-sex couples to access marriage law.


Acknowledging the privacy rights of women to decide whether to have a child or not, thus enhancing individual liberty at the expense of government authority.


Respecting the due process rights of immigrants, which also places limits on government authority.


The problem, of course, is conservatives abandoned being conservatives some 40 years ago, along with most of their policies.

You're like a broken record. I did though enjoy the originality of your comment. Kudos on finding a novel way to spin the same old shit.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

Some conservative policies I agree with:

Recognizing the equal protection rights of same-sex couples to access marriage law.


Acknowledging the privacy rights of women to decide whether to have a child or not, thus enhancing individual liberty at the expense of government authority.


Respecting the due process rights of immigrants, which also places limits on government authority.


The problem, of course, is conservatives abandoned being conservatives some 40 years ago, along with most of their policies.

There should be no "marriage law"

A woman of course has the right either get pregnant or don't get pregnant.

On the last . I think you will it interesting to note that the 5th Amendment says this

Nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation

Illegally entering this country is NOT a criminal offense , it is a CIVIL offense and thus the federal government is NOT required by Constitutional fiat to give illegal aliens due process before deporting them. We do, but by the strictest reading of the COTUS it is NOT required.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

More than 40 years ago conservatives sacrificed their integrity, pragmatism, and common sense on the altar of the social right and Christian political fundamentalism.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

More than 40 years ago conservatives sacrificed their integrity, pragmatism, and common sense on the altar of the social right and Christian political fundamentalism.

Give it a rest . That is a GROSS generalization . I could just as well say

"More than 40 years ago, Democrats gave up on being productive members of society and started being content with being government leeches"

You continually acting like conservatives have nothing to bring to the table helps NOTHING, no it does worse than that, it just pisses conservatives off and makes them even LESS likely to compromise.

Border security. Only an idiot would suggest that the Democrats/liberals are practicing a policy that is the best plan for our country's safety.

Let's start there.

If you deny that the Democrats are wrong to just not worry about our border, we will end there as well, as I do not debate with partisan wonks. There's no use.

 

[SmedlyButler]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

There might be quite a few if I put my mind to it. This is the 9th "Plank" in the Tea Party Platform (Does the tea party fit within your definition of "conservative"?)

9. Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics - "American politics is burdened by big money from lobbyists and special interests with an undue influence on the peoples’ representatives. The Tea Party movement is seen as a threat to the entrenched political parties and thus is the continual target of smear campaigns and misrepresentation of its ideals. We choose not to respond to these attacks except to strongly and explicitly disavow any and all hate speech, any and all violence as well as insinuations of violence, and any and all extreme and fringe elements that bring discredit to the Tea Party Movement. We are a peaceful movement and respect other's opinions and views even though they do not agree with our own. We stand by the Tea Party beliefs and goals and choose to focus our energies on ensuring that our government representatives do the same."

The first sentence is the centerpiece of my agreement but I'll go along with all of it for the sake of comity.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Legalize pot.

Yup. If Sarah Palin runs for President with David Duke as her running mate and they'll legalize it... then fuck it. I'm all in!!!

 

[Rikurzhen]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

There might be quite a few if I put my mind to it. This is the 9th "Plank" in the Tea Party Platform (Does the tea party fit within your definition of "conservative"?)

9. Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics - "American politics is burdened by big money from lobbyists and special interests with an undue influence on the peoples’ representatives. The Tea Party movement is seen as a threat to the entrenched political parties and thus is the continual target of smear campaigns and misrepresentation of its ideals. We choose not to respond to these attacks except to strongly and explicitly disavow any and all hate speech, any and all violence as well as insinuations of violence, and any and all extreme and fringe elements that bring discredit to the Tea Party Movement. We are a peaceful movement and respect other's opinions and views even though they do not agree with our own. We stand by the Tea Party beliefs and goals and choose to focus our energies on ensuring that our government representatives do the same."

The first sentence is the centerpiece of my agreement but I'll go along with all of it for the sake of comity.

Thank you for being the first to play the game as I envisioned it when I wrote the OP.

Do you have specific vision in mind regarding the issue of money being used to buy/influence votes?

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

There might be quite a few if I put my mind to it. This is the 9th "Plank" in the Tea Party Platform (Does the tea party fit within your definition of "conservative"?)

9. Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics - "American politics is burdened by big money from lobbyists and special interests with an undue influence on the peoples’ representatives. The Tea Party movement is seen as a threat to the entrenched political parties and thus is the continual target of smear campaigns and misrepresentation of its ideals. We choose not to respond to these attacks except to strongly and explicitly disavow any and all hate speech, any and all violence as well as insinuations of violence, and any and all extreme and fringe elements that bring discredit to the Tea Party Movement. We are a peaceful movement and respect other's opinions and views even though they do not agree with our own. We stand by the Tea Party beliefs and goals and choose to focus our energies on ensuring that our government representatives do the same."

The first sentence is the centerpiece of my agreement but I'll go along with all of it for the sake of comity.

Thank you for being the first to play the game as I envisioned it when I wrote the OP.

Do you have specific vision in mind regarding the issue of money being used to buy/influence votes?

My vision would be to allow people to donate to the PROCESS rather than the candidate. And of course you can use your personal money however you want.

What do I mean by donate to the process? Simple. If you wish to donate to an election, you send your donation to a quasi government/private foundation which distributes all money donated to all qualified candidates for whichever position you selected. So in regards to the Presidential election, for instance, if you donated $1000 and there were 3 candidates on the final ballot each of those candidates would receive $333 from your donation, and so on and so forth.

 

[rdean]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

This is impossible to answer. There were Republican policies in the 1950's that were outstanding and really helped the country.

Building the interstate highway
The creation of NASA
Making the uber rich pay their fair share
The emphasis on science and education

But those are all things of the past and the GOP doesn't stand for any of those anymore. What's awfully odd is they look at those years as a "Golden Age" in America. Stating their current policies ruins the notion of a "clean" debate so I will have to stick with "impossible to answer".

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Anyone in the mood for a little thought experiment? If you were designing a new country and it's government policies AND YOU'RE A LIBERAL what conservative policy would you throw into the mix because it made sense to you?

If your answer involves specific conditions, please share what those conditions are.

This is impossible to answer. There were Republican policies in the 1950's that were outstanding and really helped the country.

Building the interstate highway
The creation of NASA
Making the uber rich pay their fair share
The emphasis on science and education

But those are all things of the past and the GOP doesn't stand for any of those anymore. What's awfully odd is they look at those years as a "Golden Age" in America. Stating their current policies ruins the notion of a "clean" debate so I will have to stick with "impossible to answer".

Just be truthful. if they supported dedicating EVERY government resource to curing cancer, you would bitch about it. In fact if they DID cure cancer, you would bitch that they caused something else to happen because of curing cancer.

YOU are exactly what is wrong with this nation. NO ONE wants to work together anymore, It's all "I'm the only one who can be right nanny nanny boo boo"

You want our politicians to stop behaving in that manner? It has to start with YOU ,and ME. We are infested with assholes from both parties who don't care about us, and you know what? We deserve them.

So, how about you give THAT some thought and maybe , just maybe back off the "the conservatives are EVIL" rhetoric just a bit?

I completely realize I just wasted my time typing that, but so be it. Goodnight

 

[Vandalshandle]

Dramatic spending cuts, with 95% of that coming from the military budget.

 

[rdean]

More than 40 years ago conservatives sacrificed their integrity, pragmatism, and common sense on the altar of the social right and Christian political fundamentalism.

Give it a rest . That is a GROSS generalization . I could just as well say

"More than 40 years ago, Democrats gave up on being productive members of society and started being content with being government leeches"

You continually acting like conservatives have nothing to bring to the table helps NOTHING, no it does worse than that, it just pisses conservatives off and makes them even LESS likely to compromise.

Border security. Only an idiot would suggest that the Democrats/liberals are practicing a policy that is the best plan for our country's safety.

Let's start there.

If you deny that the Democrats are wrong to just not worry about our border, we will end there as well, as I do not debate with partisan wonks. There's no use.

The problem with saying that is that it would be false. How much research is done at "liberal universities"? Why is so much wealth and technology concentrated in Blue States? How did the right wing get the reputation of being "anti science"? And if you are anti science in this country, what do you have to offer?

That's why I couldn't come up with any current policies. Lots of past ones for sure, but nothing from the last 15 or 20 years. And if you do, let me know. I would be interested to know what they are.

 

[Rikurzhen]

Dramatic spending cuts, with 95% of that coming from the military budget.

How does that line go from the "Do you want to be a millionaire show" - Is that your final answer?

How much of the Federal Budget should be cut and are you sticking with 95% of that coming from the military? If so, where in the military would you cut the spending?

 

[Vandalshandle]

How does that line go from the "Do you want to be a millionaire show" - Is that your final answer?

How much of the Federal Budget should be cut and are you sticking with 95% of that coming from the military? If so, where in the military would you cut the spending?

To start with, The US does NOT need 1,000 military bases around the world, including at least 150 in Germany (It was in the news. We won the war).

U.S. military bases around the world graphic National Post

Oh, and I really don't think that we need two of them in the Bahamas, whose mission is to train Bahamian naval forces (Bahama does not have a navy).

 

[Rikurzhen]

How does that line go from the "Do you want to be a millionaire show" - Is that your final answer?

How much of the Federal Budget should be cut and are you sticking with 95% of that coming from the military? If so, where in the military would you cut the spending?

To start with, The US does NOT need 1,000 military bases around the world, including at least 150 in Germany (It was in the news. We won the war).

U.S. military bases around the world graphic National Post

Oh, and I really don't think that we need two of them in the Bahamas, whose mission is to train Bahamian naval forces (Bahama does not have a navy).

So where would you cut the $500 billion defense budget?Those overseas bases are too many you say, so which should be closed or should all of them be closed?

Look, I'm interested and I'm also interested in where you'd propose to cut domestic spending.

 

[Vandalshandle]

So where would you cut the $500 billion defense budget?Those overseas bases are too many you say, so which should be closed or should all of them be closed?

Look, I'm interested and I'm also interested in where you'd propose to cut domestic spending.

McCain has the right idea. Totally stop earmark budget spending. I am in no position to say which bases remain open, and which one closed, but I recognize pork barrels when I see them. The Pentagon has been trying to close air bases here in Tucson for years, but has been blocked every time by Congress, which, presumably, is because they know more about what the military needs than the military does.

It is too late to go into detail about domestic spending, but for the most part, other than the military, there is little common ground between conservatives and myself on that issue.