Fiscal conservatism, and the notion of small government, have been central planks of American conservatism. Those issues mattered most to Tea Partiers in 2010. If those things are basically irrelevant in the midst of a Democratic president and Congress who are running up trillions of dollars of debt, the conservative movement is essentially dead. If culture wars are all that matter, and right-wingers never seem to win those fights, what's the point of the Republican party anymore? There's no governing philosophy, it's simply a party of pundits who complain about what's going on in America but can't seem to do anything that makes a difference.

Trump supposedly represented the backlash against liberals overrunning conservatives in American culture. What were the results? Is CRT more or less prominent? Did the border get secured? Is Big Tech censoring more or less(here's a hint: Trump is banned from multiple platforms)? You guys are the "old man yelling at clouds" party, nothing more.

republicans dont like the be faced with the reality that they're now basically just old grannies decrying the creep of culture. they've abandoned fiscal conservativism in practice, but want to maintain it as a tool to win votes by scare mongering against progressives. they're basically relegated to making it harder to vote under the guise of election security that in its essence borders on Qanon lunacy, winking at unfounded claims openly, and bathroom security on behalf of children they cant prove are even at risk without their action. that and crying that Biden should be criticized for border issues that they also didnt want Trump criticized for, all while calling for a lack of criticism in the media and on social media sites.

republicans still make decent state and local candidates, but on a national level Dan Crenshaw-esque grifters are their bread and butter.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Apr 27 2021 10:31am

The co-founder of the lincoln project is into little boys.
Others in the org kept the allegations quiet, which were known to them for some time.

His moral compass. Outcast neocon grifters for Biden.

'must be qanon lul'

Not really.

>Democrats want to spend 2 trillion
>Republicans want to spend 600 billion on infrastructure
>LOL see republicans want to spend money too fake fiscal conservatism!!!!

To me, this is kind of a dumb argument considering if you exclude things like military spending Democrats spending packages are consistently larger than what Republicans want to spend.

one being less than the other isn't excusable when both are too much, and both are heavily targeting silly things.

the core of fiscal conservativism was always an understanding that the government is terribly inefficient with tax dollars, but the modern cry is "your tax dollars are better with us" instead of the former "your tax dollars are better with you".

Trump brought about running the govt like a business as a narrative, but the reality is red tape is still strangling efficiency.

large tax cuts for all become small tax cuts for most and historic tax cuts for corporate america.

democrats being more fiscally irresponsible doesnt make fiscal conservativism alive. it was not about proportionality but rather morality.

Sounds like you follow the Lincoln Project closer than anyone else here. I haven't seen any videos from them since Trump lost. My guess is the neo-con grifters are upset that Biden is ending a war that Trump couldn't, and he's spending like a madman. He also managed to release the IC report on the Khashoggi murder, ended the military support for the war in Yemen, and spoke truth about the Armenian genocide. A non-interventionist outside of the cult would applaud these things.

As Thor said, you becoming a follower of QAnon would be a logical progression. I had no idea what you were talking about, even though I'm aware of some of what this guy at the Lincoln Project did.

it's a relative not absolute measure, like most things in life.

Government has to spend money, the government has to fund social programs, the government has to respond to natural disasters. I lean fiscally conservative that doesn't mean I think programs like food stamps, Medicaid, disability, certain subsidies, etc shouldn't exist.

One party consistently tries to spend less than the other one. So it's logical and based on evidence that that specific party is more fiscally conservative.

Just another despicable attempt to marginalize valid dissent.

Greenwald picks apart your worldview so he has 'brain rot'
I vocally oppose the establishment so 'qanon' must be the logical progression and I'm somehow in a 'cult'

just pathetic anti-intellectualism. a sad attempt to cope with the facts and morals not being on your side.

you've highlighted without realizing just why fiscal conservativism is dead. pork laden social programs that now that they're proven can't be opposed.

the problem is that republican messaging is out of line with this reality. they broadcast a message to their voters that draws on the ideals of real fiscal conservativism, neglecting to inform those voters that social programs that they're in favor of dont take this into account, and also broadcast the idea that voters will pay drastically lower taxes under their watch.

its nostalgic garbage to grab votes from the uninformed. Republicans are better as a check on Democratic spending when they hold 1 or 2 houses to a DNC potus than they are at actually governing.

overall i dont support pork fat social programs, but i prefer them to military spending, police bolstering, and border security that is ineffectual at best.

This is an interesting discussion.

If you look at the deficit under previous presidents, it's obvious Democrats in practice are more fiscally conservative than Republicans. That said, it's partly true because Republicans apply pressure under Democratic presidents to get spending under control.

But Democrats want to spend significantly more, and even though Republicans cutting taxes is fiscally irresponsible, Democrats don't manage to raise taxes, even though they want to. So in the end, if we're faced with a situation of full Republican control vs full Democratic control, Republicans would probably run a lower deficit. But they aren't fiscal conservatives.



Man, I must have triggered you hard at some point. You're not able to respond to anything I post.

This post was edited by IceMage on Apr 27 2021 11:15am