As I said, so long as you are in the majority, you think its great. When you find yourself in the minority, its not so pleasant. Thats why its so important to respect the rights of the minority, especially when you're part of the majority, so that you'll receive the same respect when the tables are turned.
The problem I have is that the ONLY policies they give us to choose from are statist. For example, the gay marriage ban in California... One side wants the state to recognize it as legal, the other wants the state to ban it as illegal, I want the state to end the practice of granting permission to individuals to get married. I don't know exactly when we gave government the job of issuing marriage licenses but they didn't always have that job and I'd like to see that power returned to the people.
You may or may not be a racist as well....
My position is CaLiCo, Capitalist, Libertarian, Conservative. I disagree all forms of statist policy. The problem you have is thinking that anytime I speak up against the Democrats, its done in support of Republicans... Thats just not the case. I don't like the Progressives ideology in either party because of its statist positions, that includes the Progressive wing of the Republican party (they are the Neoconservatives). I get along just fine with the Classical Liberals on the Left, most Libertarians, and the Conservatives on the Right with the only caveat being that they hold non-statist views.
No. Sorry but I know bad policy, its all I've seen from both parties my entire life and its time for real change, to Non-Statist pro-Capitalist policy, that's change I can believe in. I've watched the two parties play tug-o-war on top of a mesa and both directions lead us over the cliff or they do the bi-partisan thing and build the mesa higher. I'm trying to dismantle the mesa and get us back down to our constitutional roots.
The poison is a promise that you don't have to pay for your own healthcare, that you don't have to work for a living but it will be provided to you, that you don't have to be able to afford a home to own one, that no matter what need you have, a politician will provide it at someone else's expense in trade for your vote.
You need to brush up on your history and my position. First of all, I support Capitalism that's only regulated by protecting the rights of individuals as called for in our constitution. Government picking winners and losers, as they are doing now, doesn't lead to innovation, it leads to stagnation because government has taken away the incentive to improve the product in order for it to be competitive. I don't support corporate welfare, you do. I don't think any corporation is too big to fail, you do. I don't support corporate subsidies, you do. I don't support government owning or controlling corporations, you do.
As for history, the robber barons are often cited, as are the monopolies of the time, as a case against "unregulated" capitalism but if you bother learning about the government regulation leading up to that point... It was government that put their competition out of business through regulation, it was government that created the circumstances for the monopolies to rise and it was corrupt politicians who oversaw and implemented all of it to increase their own personal fortunes as they, and their robber baron buddies, got rich through the power of government.
When a corrupt corporation like Enron comes around, you blame capitalism and push to punish all corporations... Yet when a corrupt politician like Blagoyavich comes around, you DON'T blame democracy and demand that all politicians be punished. Capitalism has become a whipping boy because its popular to denounce it as a "failed" system yet you don't seem to notice, or you completely ignore, all the failures of government regulation over the free market and never argue to remove the regulations that lead to failures. Instead you see ANY deregulation as a bad thing and ALL regulation as good.
I didn't want to go into Iraq either but we did. We couldn't just leave once we got there so your complaints about staying amount to nothing more than crying over spilled milk. Whats the Obama exit strategy for Afghanistan again? Oh, he doesn't have one - Same as Bush. What is his plan for Iraq? We'll leave as conditions on the ground permits - same as Bush. Obama says he'll cross the boarder into Pakistan to go after terrorists - Bush policy since '04. Obama's plans to gut the military, slash spending on future combat weapons and have a "civilian defense force" that's "just as large, well armed, equipped and trained as the regular military" will cost a fortune and nobody has any idea what he'll actually use such a defense force for once he has it.
Please stop with this "give it a chance" garbage... I said his policies would cause the cost of electricity to skyrocket, you denied it but all the evidence goes against you. It doesn't take a crystal ball to understand this and even he admitted it. Cap & Trade alone will be expensive to the consumer. We do need to become energy independent and I'm not arguing for pollution, what I'm arguing against is the taxation of cheaper products in order to subsidize the more expensive ones so they can compete in the market place. We won't get innovation in the Alternative energy industry if we subsidize their mediocrity.
People enjoy it, thats enough for me to care. Pursuit of happiness means something to me and just because I disagree with someones actions isn't grounds for me to force them into changing those actions. Attempts at using taxation to regulate behavior amounts to social engineering, something I'm no fan of.
Problem is, you're not the one paying for it... so what do you care how much it costs? You don't... The bottom 50% pay 3% of the tax bill... All a politician has to do is pander to the "poor and middle class" with promises paid for by the tax money of the upper 50% and he can get elected, and he's no better than a hired thug who uses legislation and tax policy to mug the other half of society.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare etc are being provided when they should only be promoted. Add Healthcare and 75% or more of our national budget will be eaten by just those programs. And BTW, I don't like nation building either.
Lastly, I'd like to apologize for calling you a political hack... You don't hold a candle to your good buddy Shaman in that department. 
