did vote for Bush last time. I don't regret it too much [...]
That said, in what I perceive as a close race between Republicans and Democrats, I vote for the candidate I believe is most likely to do the least harm to my take-home pay. In my fight against Leviathan, I aim at the purse. Most of the time, that has meant voting for Republicans.
I must not be understanding you properly, because this makes it sound like
(a) you don't object to deficit spending (a la Bush) as long as your taxes don't go up, and
(b) you think that expansion of Medicare poses a greater threat to individual liberty than secret prosecutions and the Total Information Awareness program.
If those things are, in fact, the case, then I don't understand your brand of libertarianism at all.
(a) I do object to deficit spending - dramatically so. But deficits don't exist because of tax cuts. They exist because spending exceeds tax receipts. I want taxes down, and spending down far more. Much, much more.
(b) I do think that the expansion of Medicare poses a greater threat to my rights (property rights, in particular, with which I am extremely concerned) than closed military tribunals for people caught on an Afghan battlefield (US citizens or not), or the offensive TIA.
There's an old saying that when you're buttocks-deep in gators, it's hard to remember that your first job was to clear the swamp. I value my civil liberties quite highly, but I also prioritize them. This is hardly unusual; I know many Democrats who admire Dean as you do, but won't support him because they don't like his positions on gun rights.
You won't hear me supporting many administration policies. But the greatest government impact on my life, right now, is found in the big subtractions on my paystub.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans are even vaguely close to being libertarians. I really don't have any viable candidates to vote for. So, to reiterate, in a close race, I vote for the candidate most likely to do me and my family the least harm, as I see it.
"*shcr*ft?" Such language! I was under the impression that rivka was running a family journal here. :-)
The incumbent Attorney General of the United States was one of many disappointing cabinet choices made by the President - no argument here. He seems to have a rather proscribed understanding of the Bill of Rights. Though he scares me less than his predecessor, the architect of the Waco barbecue and the Elian betrayal. Pick your poison, I guess.
As I told Rivka, New Jersey is voting Democratic now regardless, so my vote won't matter. Hence, I will likely vote for the Libertarian candidate. If I'm voting for a loser anyway, it may as well be one I respect.
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syntheid
no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 10:09 am (UTC)That said, in what I perceive as a close race between Republicans and Democrats, I vote for the candidate I believe is most likely to do the least harm to my take-home pay. In my fight against Leviathan, I aim at the purse. Most of the time, that has meant voting for Republicans.
I must not be understanding you properly, because this makes it sound like
(a) you don't object to deficit spending (a la Bush) as long as your taxes don't go up, and
(b) you think that expansion of Medicare poses a greater threat to individual liberty than secret prosecutions and the Total Information Awareness program.
If those things are, in fact, the case, then I don't understand your brand of libertarianism at all.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 10:25 am (UTC)(b) I do think that the expansion of Medicare poses a greater threat to my rights (property rights, in particular, with which I am extremely concerned) than closed military tribunals for people caught on an Afghan battlefield (US citizens or not), or the offensive TIA.
There's an old saying that when you're buttocks-deep in gators, it's hard to remember that your first job was to clear the swamp. I value my civil liberties quite highly, but I also prioritize them. This is hardly unusual; I know many Democrats who admire Dean as you do, but won't support him because they don't like his positions on gun rights.
You won't hear me supporting many administration policies. But the greatest government impact on my life, right now, is found in the big subtractions on my paystub.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans are even vaguely close to being libertarians. I really don't have any viable candidates to vote for. So, to reiterate, in a close race, I vote for the candidate most likely to do me and my family the least harm, as I see it.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 01:18 pm (UTC)Ashcroft.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-12 01:48 pm (UTC)The incumbent Attorney General of the United States was one of many disappointing cabinet choices made by the President - no argument here. He seems to have a rather proscribed understanding of the Bill of Rights. Though he scares me less than his predecessor, the architect of the Waco barbecue and the Elian betrayal. Pick your poison, I guess.
As I told Rivka, New Jersey is voting Democratic now regardless, so my vote won't matter. Hence, I will likely vote for the Libertarian candidate. If I'm voting for a loser anyway, it may as well be one I respect.