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| 7/9 |
| 2005/10/13 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Domestic/President] UID:40058 Activity:moderate |
10/12 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9629463/site/newsweek Conservative columnist George Will: "Conservatives are not supposed to be cuddly, or even particularly nice. They are, however, supposed to be competent. And to know that scarcity--of money, virtue, wisdom, competence, everything--forces choices. Furthermore, they are supposed to have an unsentimental commitment to meritocracy and excellence. The fact that none of those responsible for the postwar planning, or lack thereof, in Iraq have been sacked suggests--no, shouts--that in Washington today there is no serious penalty for serious failure. Hence the multiplication of failures." \_ No, the conservatives have only one main function, and that is to keep the liberals out of power. \_ No, you're confusion conservatives and liberals with R's and D's. \_ "Duh" -- good link \_ Those aren't really Conservative values, but more military values. Conservatives are supposed to say "praise Jesus" all day and strive for theocracy. |
| 7/9 |
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| www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9629463/site/newsweek George F Will-The Last Word On K Street Conservatism Conservatives are not supposed to be cuddly. They are supposed to be comp etent, and to understand the scarcity of everything. That intrusion has been accompanied by a 51 percent incre ase in the budget of the Education Department that conservatives once as pired to abolish. The accumulation accelerated in December 2003, when the Republican House leadership held open for three hours the vote on adding a prescription-d rug benefit to Medicare. The time was needed to browbeat enough conserva tives to pass the largest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ-an en titlement with an unfunded liability larger than that of Social Security . The president's only believable veto threat in nearly five years was m ade to deter an attempt to cut spending by trimming the drug entitlement . Agriculture subsidies increased 40 percent while farm income was doubling . Conservatives concerned about promiscuous uses of government were appa lled when congressional Republicans waded into the Terri Schiavo tragedy . Then came the conjunction of the transportation bill and Katrina. The transportation bill's cost, honestly calculated, exceeded the threshold that the president had said would trigger his first veto. The bill President Bush signed contained 6,371, costing $24 billion. The total cost of the bill-$286 billion-is m ore, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than the combined costs of the Marsh all Plan and the interstate highway system. With Katrina, "nation building"-a phrase as sensible as "orchid building, " and an undertaking expressive of extravagant confidence in government- has come home. It is one thing to invoke, as Reagan frequently did for n ational inspiration, the Puritans' image of building a "shining city upo n a hill." It is another thing to adopt the policy of rebuilding a tarni shed city-it was badly tarnished even before the inundation-that sits be low sea level. Could Katrina's costs be paid by budget cuts, perhaps starting with $24 b illion of transportation earmarks? No, said the then House Majority Lead er Tom DeLay-"The Hammer"-because Republicans have cut all inessential s pending. |