Publius, The first problem I had with the conservatives was their take on the intent of the Founders. I was a volunteer for the GOP for several years, and the Constitution was a favorite topic among the local GOP officials in my area. They often talked with us about the intended meaning, yet they only referenced the Constitution itself. Once I actually bothered to read other sources such as the Federalist Papers and correspondence between the people involved in government during Revolutionary times, I realized that my take on what they were saying didn't jibe with what the conservatives were telling me. I felt that their interpretation was based less upon the intent of the Founders and more upon wishful thinking. I also had a serious problem with some of the state issues that were being pushed at the time. The conservatives here preached about self-determination, yet at the same time were campaigning in favor of issues which I felt directly opposed self-determination,such as the removal of local control of school boards to the state, mandatory insurance laws which deprived individuals of choice, drunk driving check lanes on public roads( which may sound good at first ,but in reality are nothing but an imposition on citizens who have done nothing wrong and had no reason to be stopped). The conservatives at that time also campaigned against the Dems here by calling the Dems "statist"(which in my opinion they were). When the GOP won here, they implemented all of those policies. They also raised 138 seperate taxes in this state within 8 months, but they passed a minimal reduction in the income tax(0.02% decrease).They were guilty of being statist because they obviously defined the right of self-determination as being centered in the state by their actions. Then they started campaigning as tax cutters because they lowered one tax. Another problem for me was the "Hillarycare" debacle. I disliked the plan as much as the conservatives did, but I disagreed with their reasoning. Their position was that since the Constitution doesn't mention healthcare as a right, then the Founders must not have intended for it to be a right. Two points on that. First, by that reasoning the AirForce is un-constitutional(which it is clearly not).Second, of course the Founders didn't mention it. During their time medical science and the health care industry were practically non-existent by our standard. Their talking points sounded great, but their actions left much to be desired in my opinion, which is the only opinion that counts as far as my beliefs are concerned. Now, I know we're not supposed to reference other threads, but I want you to know that I'm familiar with your work. So, in closing, I know that I didn't know every conservative in the country. I can only go by what I have personally experienced, so my local experience is valid. The GOP in my state at the time I worked with them(1992-1998) self-identified themselves as "conservative", so don't attempt to draw the distinction between conservative and GOP. I also object to you labeling me as a leftie. I am not. I just disagree with conservatives in this country, I also disagree with the vast majority of people in both major Parties. How nice of you to inaccurately define my position and then make your argument against said incorrectly defined position. You asked for clarification, you got clarification. If that's not enough for you and you want to play the name calling/insult game that you are so obviously fond of, go play with DevNell. I won't play that game with you. One more thing, If the GOP wants my vote, they have to give me a reason to vote for them. It's not my fault that they've done a piss poor job.
Hey... That you were able to build that response is a shocker in and of itself... and that ya did is to your credit.
You spoke to your observations wherein the Michigan GOP misinterpreted the Constitution and ya based that upon your reading of the Federalist papers and other correspondence of the Founders... but ya didn't specify the relevant issues; for instance, what were the specific failures in reasoning of the MI GOP and what in your source material lead ya to that conclusion?
Now with regard to the 90s GOP push, I happened to have lived in MI in the 90s for a few years while working a fiber contract for Comcast; and I well recall those debates and the substantial cuts in MI taxes which resulted from that push... property taxes, for instance, were slashed dramatically... which resulted in a period of economic prosperity for MI. So I will take issue with you on that one...
With regard to healthcare... your inalienable rights come with inherent responsibility; and that responsibility is to exercise your rights without infringing upon the rights of others to exercise their rights. While you have a perfect right to be treated, you do not have a right to confiscate the product of another's labor to subsidize your need for treatment... Hillary-care confiscated the product of one individual's labor, to subsidize the need of another. Some erroneously misconstrue a constitutional basis of such confiscation in the 'general welfare' clause... the problem is that healthcare is not a function of generality... it is exceedingly SPECIFIC.
This is NOT equitable to 'the common defense...' referenced by your trying to equate the US establishment of the Army Air Corp (which eventually morphed into a separate and distinct branch unto itself) with healthcare... The US Constitution mandates that the US Federal government provide for the common defense of the united states... that Air Force serves to protect all Americans equally...
You have a right to seek treatment and a right to BE treated... you do NOT have a right to require someone else pay for your treatment, nor do you have a right to dictate what someone can charge to treat you. Hillary-Care sought to do just that... You have a right to choose what doctor will treat you; basing your decision on what ever priorities you've established, from Price to historical experience... Hillary Care would have usurped your means to exercise that right...
To be perfectly honest, I seriously doubt that you read the Federalist Papers... or much else in the way of original source material... I suspect that your source was one of any number of radical leftist disinformation websites, which typically sources out of context segments of founding source material and misrepresents the intent of the authors to comply with their political ends... Now I'm basing that upon your stated reasoning and it being directly in step with the spurious pap common to such sources.
You have shown no sense of understanding what rights are... or the responsibilities inherent in those rights... you base your views of free-for-me-healthcare and the absence of a mention of such in the Bill of Rights on some technological inadequacy at the time of the US Founding, wholly oblivious to the FACT that the Bill of Rights does not give ANYONE ANY RIGHTS... it merely provides for specific LIMITATIONS UPON THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT TO INFRINGE UPON OR USURP THE MEANS OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO EXERCISE THEIR PRE-EXISTING RIGHTS; had you actually read original source material you'd know that... and understand the immutable reasoning on which it rests.
Let there be no mistake sport... you're a leftist and you'd be a leftist IF you were running the GOP... instead of just running it down. That assessment is founded upon your own writing and the reasoning is laid out above... a point I note to discredit the asserted distraction that assessing your ideological roots as being well to the left is merely a function of divisive, hate based 'name-callin'...'
But I will say that I am SHOCKED that ya managed to put that response together and that ya did is to your credit... and I say that with all due respect... I'd say that the effort alone is a fair sign that ya have the potential to become an American some day; if you'll just take the time to actually read that founding source material; learning and eventually adhering to the bed-rock principles; which can only lead to rejecting the specious drivel common to the ideological left...
You live in a state which is controlled all BUT completely by the ideological left and HAS been for at LEAST 50 years... Michigan is BANKRUPT... it is an economic CATASTROPHE... and 100% of that disaster lies under decades of leftist policy failures, OKA: Leftist policy.
And finally… Dull-ni’l is an imbecile… She does the best she can God bless’er, but on the whole she’s just about as smart as a bag of hammers. If it makes ya feel any better; I will tell you that in my ever so humble opinion, intellectually speaking Dull-ni’l isn’t sufficiently equipped to hold your key-board. But she could be trained, given sufficient time; I just happen to own her, so if you want to try, I’ll send ‘er your way…