Conservatism vs. Liberalism

Winston Churchill was supposedly quoted as saying "If you're not liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not conservative when you're older, you have no brain." That quote describes me well. I once tilted to the left. I am embarrassed to say that my first vote was for Jimmy Carter over Ronald Reagan. Once Reagan completed his 2 terms, I was a converted conservative. Not by the partisan rhetoric, but by the results. In Reagan, I saw a principled leader. And his principals made sense to me.

Neither conservatives or liberals are completely consistent in all areas. I have found that conservatives are more consistent in the important areas, such as life and personal responsibility. Liberals are terribly inconsistent on life issues. They tolerate abortion and abhor capital punishment. They seem to tilt toward big government Big Brother solutions for social problems instead of encouraging personal responsibility.

Neither conservatism or liberalism has completely succeeded in our form government. The biggest difference between the two positions is that today's liberals believe that liberalism has failed in the past because it was not implemented correctly. The current administration is falling back on old failed tactics that will again fail. Conservatism fails when our conservative leaders lose their compass and try to get along with the liberals. Reagan was the closest to perfect conservatism, but failed in getting congress to accept his entire trickle down plan.

Despite the liberal ridicule, trickle down economics worked well. Cutting tax rates fueled capitalism for years. Tax revenue soared. Every boat was raised. Reagan failed in that he did not demand Congress reduce or freeze spending. Instead, spending rose before tax revenues increased and at a much higher rate. Hence, part of Reagan's legacy is deficit spending and a higher national debt.

The M&M's report that criticism of Obama is inspired by right wing talk show hosts. That is offensive to me. I think for myself and could have been a liberal if their ideas made sense. I haven't listened to Rush in years. The last time I did, I thought his absurdity to be far "over the top". I sometimes catch part of Sean Hannity or Micheal Savage on my drive home. Neither speak for me, but usually validate what I already believe.