Tony S wrote on 10/08/13 at 15:57:38:Dane Allen wrote on 10/08/13 at 13:26:37:Tony S wrote on 10/06/13 at 23:16:56:The lefties - and this country - survived 8 years of Bush. The righties and this country will survive 8 years of Obama.....
That is not an accurate comparison,
Obama is the most radical, partisan liberal probably in our nation's history. The closest comparable Conservative in recent history would probably be Goldwater. Even Reagan wasn't as Conservative as Obama is Liberal. Bush, with his being a reactor to world events, No Child ligislation and massivle Part D expansion would probably be more appropriately classified as center left.
Think about it, Democrats have shifted soo far to the left that Bush 2 and Romney look like rock-ribbed conservatives when they are really lenter left or even a strain of independant populist. Republicans celebrated the wild success of Reagan by running a string of consistantly waterdown conservatives to utter failure. Im mean, seriously, McCain??? Mr. Maverick...
I disagree. Obama has actually rather pissed of the "far" left who expected much more. Watered down health care reform that left all of the insurers in the game when what they wanted was national health care and one insurer - the US Government. No real effort on gun control. Tried for a little while after the rash of shootings but then walked away from it. Upped the ante in Afghanistan. Got us involved in Libya and was ready to do something similar in Syria. Defended the massive spying and wiretapping of average American citizens. Did not shut down Guantanamo as promised.
Since both the loony left and the loony right despise him, I think he's likely right where he needs to be.
And ahh, how quickly they forget. Johnson and the war on poverty. FDR and the New Deal. Both despised by conservatives in their day and derided as the end of democracy and more communist than socialist.
There is no real scale against which to weigh if someone is as conservative as someone else is liberal, though it makes for interesting thought. Goldwater doesn't count as he was never president. Ronald Reagan talked and was labeled more conservative than his actions actually proved (a Republican I voted for, btw. You just couldn't help but like the man, even if you disagreed with some policies) - and history will record something similar for Obama. Labeled far left in his day but not really so.
Because in 10 years, Obamacare is going to be no more controversial than Medicare is now. The party leaders of the GOP recognize this and would really rather drop the fight. But haven't the courage to stand up to the loony right.
I'll repeat myself. The Dems learned their lesson with McGovern and told the Loony left to sit down and shut the crappity smack up. Until the Repubs get the balls to do the same, the GOP is in for an ugly time on the national level.
I agree with the Reagan part and am on the fence with McGovern. The left always wants more, they want it all, actually, and nothing short of total domination will satisfy them. What the left doesn't get is that the things you mentioned like Afganistan, Syria and wiretapping are the natural progression of power corrupting a politician. Obama, like most liberals, is in it for Obama and this is what big government types do when they get a taste of power.
As to FDR, Medicare and Social Security, etc. not being controversial over time, I would respectfully disagree. They knew at the time that it wasn't sustainable and that by kicking the can someone down the road would fix it, so they get elected now by creating a problem that someone will absolutely have to fix later.
Well, it is almost 100 years later, no one has fixed anything, we've been hearing about insolvency for decades and we are at what? 170 trillion in unfunded liabilities. It is unsustainable and I do believe it will become very controversial when the ratoning hits, the premiums skyrocket and all the lies told the sell this pig to the public come to light. I have lost three doctors already, two who returned to India just ahead of the worst parts of the rollout.
As they say on Wallstreet - Past reults are not a predictor of future performance.
That is, just because we have been able to drag these massive social wellfare programs this far doesn't mean we will be able to continue hauling this massive burden, especially if the burden continues to rapidly grow in size.