If most people actually took to the time to get past all the rhetoric and study conservatism, enough people would end up being conservatives to win most elections. The problem is most people don’t study the facts, or hear the facts being told to them and therefore don’t really know what we are all about. Despite the media’s take that we are hate poor people, have no desire to help those in need, are homophobic and anti-women swim in our riches, this simply isn’t the case. Yes, some radical conservatives are right winged nutt jobs who want Jesus as their next President just as some liberals want abortions to be allowed at birth, but most of us are hard working, middle class Americans that love others, give to those in need, hate war, have homosexual friends and love our freedoms and love America.
However, our nation is divided in angst. It has become about which side wins instead of what the country actually needs the most. The media controlled noise has snuffed out the real conservative message or changed it into something it clearly is not.
Yet at the same time conservatives are simply failing at getting their message out and across and that has to change.
So what do we “conservatives” believe and why should conservatism be chosen over the more promoted “progressive” aka liberal ideology? Well, some conservatives won’t agree with me breakdown, but many do and will, so for all it is worth, here it goes.
First thing we have to get past is all the social and religious noise. Break it down into political values first. Then, for those in which those touchy issues matter, bring them into the discussion at that point. Let’s agree on some basics first. If we don’t have common ground here, no need wasting each others’ time with rest.
Role of Government – We believe that the government is to be controlled by the people and not the other way around. Big governments tend to start controlling every aspect of life with more and more laws that end up penetrating every single thing we do – limiting our freedoms and ability to operate as adults. We are seeing that happen in our day more than ever. (i.e. you cannot even make the grown up decision to buy a Big Gulp in NYC anymore). We believe most, though not all, issues should be passed back down to the State level which allows for those in that State to decide its own issues and also provides some variety across the land. If one State wants to endorse or legalize a specific idea or issue, why should the Federal government get in the way? Not all conservatives see it this way however, which is our downfall and I will explain later. But, why can’t States have the power to choose to either endorse or condone issues like abortion or homosexual marriages for example? Most of the time the State should be the one to call the shots unless it is a clear violation of the Constitution such as it was deemed when Lincoln pushed to outlaw slavery. Most don’t even know it was Republican conservatives that set the slaves free.
The government should never become too big for its britches. The smaller it remains the less of your money it takes from you and the more the people control it instead of the other way around. Big governments become like a big business with more and more people on payroll in various agencies and departments in which downsizing is simply not a realistic option. Have you seen government worker benefits, base salaries and pensions? The average employee of the government now makes more than $57,000 a year. In my business I see government retirees with pensions earning them more per year than most would even imagine and in many cases they also have a powerful retirement plan and can also get Social Security payments! Talk about a comfortable retirement! This is why once the government grows, it is nearly impossible to trim it back – ever. And the bigger it gets, the more money we have to have to feed the monster.
The government does have a role in protecting our borders and freedoms, helping our allies and in other areas like infrastructure and roadways along with passing necessary laws to ensure order. But over the last 100 years it has grown to the point of taking care of the needy and the lazy (two different groups in some cases), controlling foods and agriculture, schools, hospitals, transportation, healthcare, space exploration, energy, various social and moral issues, personal habits and on and on and on.
Taxes, Spending and Debt – America was founded by people who wanted to get away from taxes. Most conservatives agree that even a medium size government requires some taxation. It just needs to be fair and limited. Currently more than 47% of all Americans pay zero income tax. Yes, zero. That means outside of sales and state taxes, they contribute nothing. Others pay up to 35% which is likely to go up to 38%, just in Federal taxes. This has nothing to do with “being rich” or not. The media has made it out to be that all conservatives are also rich. This is simply not the case. Every society has rich people – even the most broke nations of the world have millionaires. But even if tax rates were at 70% or higher, those rich people would not be able to support the operations of a large government society for any length of time. Therefore, it has to be moderated. Everyone should pay something. As President Obama became famous for saying “everyone should pay their fair share”. You might be one of those who gets a nice refund every year and therefore pays little to no taxes, but in reality, is that fair? Can’t everyone pay at least something?
The need for tax increases however are directly related to two other big issues: our spending and a big government. If the government payroll is that of a large company, well, the only income it can generate is through taxation since most of its services are free or at cost. Spending also includes the spending required to grow a big government, but it also includes, money promised to lobbyist, unnecessary wars, stupid studies and grants or bridges to nowhere. Bad spending habits means more taxes are needed. This is no different than it is with an household in America. We all have to watch our spending and when times are tough, we need to cut back, not spend more.
Conservatives wants moderate or low taxes for a few specific reasons – it keeps more of the money in the hands of each American, which means consumer savings or spending will increase and it also keeps more of the money in the hands business owners which will keep many of them from raising prices on services or goods and will push more of them to hire more people. Both of these reasons impact the overall economy, which does one important thing – you said it - increases the Gross Domestic Product which means more income to the government through more people paying taxes without having to raise the tax rates. If you raised the rates to begin with, the above simply would not occur.
We believe the national debt has become an emergency as we close in on 17 trillion. Every American should be alarmed and concerned for their future and the future of their children. If we do not want to become another Mexico, Canada or Greece, we need to get this paid down by fixing the tax codes so that everyone pays some, and reducing our spending immediately. Most Americans just think the government can print more money, and it will, but not without a price that could take decades to recover from, if not longer. No parent would put $250,000 on a credit card and then hand that to their child at birth, but that is exactly what each American owes to China and other borrowers right now in 2012. Yes it will take more taxes to pay this off and it will require everyone paying some. But it will also require less government spending and that means cuts that are going to hurt.
Entitlements – As Americans we do believe in the helping each other way of life. If someone is in need, it is usually someone from America that is there to help, whether it be a natural disaster and donations via the Red Cross or in war times as we provide assistance. Helping our own is no different and most conservatives do believe the government can provide some level of assistance to those truly in need. The key word is truly. Programs like Medicare, Medicaid, along with food stamps, unemployment income, disability, housing assistance and now Obamacare all have great intentions for many. The problem is ease of access actually has had the reverse affect on society as more and more people have become lazy, getting more from the government than they would in their own efforts. More than 47% of Americans get some type of benefit from the government and over 40 million are now getting free food from the government. It has gotten to the point now where our government has a website to help new immigrants find free stuff being paid for by your dollars and mine when many of us can barely cover our own household needs. http://www.welcometousa.gov/Government_benefits/default.htm
We believe America should provide assistance when real assistance is needed. But tough oversight and management is needed to avoid fraud and to keep people from “using the system” to milk the government while making no real effort to take care of themselves as so many millions of people do each year.
Jobs, Economy – We believe that jobs and the economy are grown by private enterprise and the push for the American dream to strive for financial and personal freedom. Americans have always prided themselves in being self-reliant and strong with nothing getting in the way of whatever they dream to accomplish. Americans with this mentality are the very reason we have most of the things we have today, including the jobs or careers each of us has. From the telephone to Apple, it is free enterprise that has worked like it has. No government has ever succeeded in trying to play this role - ever. Every single nation that has ever tried has eventually failed or become miserable. When times get tough Americans get tougher and things improve in time. The government can certainly play a limited role when the funds allow, but low unemployment and a strong economy are always a direct result of a robust and strong private sector. Overbearing government fees and regulations, and high taxes have the opposite result. If we want a strong economy and we want more jobs, we have to let them people solve the problem and we believe this cannot be done if the government is standing in the way.
National Security – Because of our amazing people, history and success, many in the world despise and reject us. This isn’t going to change unless we become like them. Because of this reality, we have to be strong and prepared at all times to defend our rights and freedoms and to stand with our friends around the world who embrace our views. This does mean war from time to time. But when we enter a war, we should be quick, exact and done with it, if possible. Some people and some countries just have no desire to be our friend and never will no matter how hard we try, and that is ok. But if they choose to try and harm us, they should pay a heavy, swift price. Nothing is more important than our way of life and the security of our families. American should be respected, if nothing else for fear of the powers we wield in our military. We need not be a bully, but the world needs to know and understand, “don’t mess with us or you won’t soon forget it.”
The Constitution – we believe the Constitution is the Bible of the American way. There are few reasons to ever add to it, and certainly nothing should be taken away. No other document has had more of a positive impact on political human history than what God gave the Founding Fathers in this amazing work. It is our political compass yet as we attempt to water it down more and more with our “modern” view of thinking, our ground becomes less solid. It can and will stand the test of time if we will allow it too. This is why the appointment of Supreme Court judges is so vital to our future. No judge should be appointed that is going to make judicial decisions based on their personal leanings but sadly, on both sides of the isle, this has happened way too often in the recent past. No matter what side of politics we are on, it must remain the constant for future generations or all will be lost.
Social Issues – the issues of the day seem to be centered on homosexual rights and the rights of women to have an abortion. These two topics alone are powerful enough to start nuclear wars. For me personally, I will never vote for a candidate that supports abortion. It’s just that important for me. But that doesn’t mean I have to make it “the issue” for you, unless you claim you’re also a Believer. Then we have some talking to do. Right wingers have gone so overboard on these two issues alone that the rest of what I just spelled out gets completely ignored. What homosexual would ever want to be a part of a group that hated him or her, despite their leanings towards conservatism in other areas? This is what I believe the solution is to give many of these issues back to States. It would resolve some of the contention and anger and allow us to focus on the more political issues at hand nationally. There have to be plenty of homosexuals that believe in the things we believe in. But when we try to force down their throats things like a “marriage act” it does nothing but further divide us. Abortion can be overturned by merely educating people and showing them real actual abortions taking place. Few could watch one and not change their views on the issue. Marriages can be defined as two people that love each other and for those of us that Believe homosexuality is wrong, we can preach that on the streets and in our churches in loving fashion. But we can all be Americans no matter what and even share in the same conservative values. After all, isn’t it is conservatives that claim we want government out of our lives? Hmm.
I know the future of America looks very liberal…I mean… “progressive” but I believe if we educate people about our political and financial views instead of focusing on the more touchy social views, that more and more people would see in the end that conservatism gives Americans of all walks the best opportunity to succeed and gives our kid the future we all want them to have.
We will see.
Until 2016 or sometime down the road, if ever. Peace.
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