Random thoughts from a conservative democrat

First off, I actually have considered myself as a Republican for a long time. I am a strong believer in a small government and fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, since the 1980's on, the Democrats seem to be more in line with some of my viewpoints.

Abortion
I personally abhor the thought of abortion. And from some of the feelings I have heard from people who I have known that received one, it was not an easy choice. Many Neo-Cons(modern day Republicans) make it seem like women use abortion as a method of birth control and the decision of getting skim or lowfat milk is a harder one to make than the choice of the abortion. Not true. I will not go into the finer points of a family's decision of why or why not they chose abortion. As part of my belief in small government, I believe the decision belongs with the family. It is not my business and it is not the business of the government to regulate family choices.

Gay Rights
This one affects me personally. Again, like the abortion section, the government should not have a say as to who I fall in love with or deny me the same benefits that a heterosexual couple can receive. All that matters is that two consenting adults enter into this contract. We are not demanding that all heterosexual people are required to get gay-married. We are not demanding of anything of anyone else outside of equal recognition. And to this day, all we get is "The Bible says..." as the excuse that homosexual couples should not be allowed to be married. This is in violation of the First Amendment since it would be stating that this country is favoring Judeo-Christian beliefs.

Fiscal Responsibility
This is one that has always chaffed my hind. Our country is allowing itself to fall into debt in both Trade Balances and Budget. It is hard to stay ahead of the Trade Balance issue since you would have to manufacture goods that other countries would want. Americans are cheap ass tight wads when it comes to spending. Yet, at the same time, they have the trophy holder mentality. I have to have the best this or the most of that. Since American workers require a set level of pay, we then contract out portions of the work to third world or low-end first world countries. America, once a major player in the realm of televisions, textiles and farming has become more of an importer now...losing the ability to manufacture or improve on the existing goods. With more importing comes more trade imbalance.

The second half of this is a Balanced Budget. I cannot stand Republicans pushing for multiple wars at the same time as pushing for tax breaks for high income earners. I am for giving people a break in their taxes when we can. I am for war when the last options for peaceful resolution have failed. But you cannot have both. Modern wars use a lot of specialized equipment with servicemen who require even more training than before. This costs money. To be brutally honest, it costs a shit-ton of money. So, if we are going to wage wars, we need to keep taxes higher to pay for them. At least until we can get back to the days of President Clinton's budget surplus.


But, that ends my rant for today.