GOT NO FRIENDS ON YOUR RIGHT? YOU’RE LEFT

Summarizing A Recent Conversation With An Economic Based Republican.

Do you have friends who never talk about their political feelings?

If so, and you talk about your party, they’re probably on the other side of the fence.

Is that a bad thing? Never, it keeps things interesting.

In an ideal world election results would be close enough so the winner needs the other party, instead of the mandate you hear about when one party freezes out the other after a runaway victory.

You might want a Rodney King moment with “Can’t we all just get along” but mandates get declared in the slimmest of margins.

This is what happens when friends break out their ballot.

What’s the difference between Democrats and Republicans?

…Maybe they’re the same to some degree, but maybe is works like this: The D uses government to solve social problems by creating ways to funnel money.

Housing? Money.

Equality? More money.

Fairness? Money.

Crime? Money.

…Republicans depend on the good will of the people and the market place to solve problems instead of government intervention. It didn’t start with Trickle Down Economics, but it’s old enough to work with.

It’s simplistic to think the difference between the two parties comes down to government solutions or non-government solutions, but it’s a start.

Elect a tax and spend democrat and watch them tax and spend.

Elect a republican and watch them????

The D sees problems and backs up the armored car with the money crane to unload enough dough to bury the problem.

The R sees a problem???

The D spends like there’s no tomorrow, funneling money like a bark dust blower.

The R keeps a tighter purse string.

This is where it gets complicated.

Vote the D and you know what to expect.

Vote the R and you get an Eisenhower Republican? Are there still those around?

If there’s an Eisenhower Republican, there must be a Roosevelt Democrat?

Where’s the balancing measure on the D side when you vote R and they turn out to be a neo-con R?

What’s the D equivalent of a Constitutional Party R? A Tea Party R? A Libertarian R?

The Democrat gets peppered with the same challenges: Don’t tax and spend like a kook.

How can you pepper the Republican if you don’t know their platform? Who’s smart enough to saw into every branch of the party?

In the early 90’s Oregon had something called the Oregon Citizens Alliance. Vote R and you might be voting for one of them and not know.

Stealth candidates are no way to run a political machine.

Check the box on your ballot and you expect to get the guy you voted for, not an ideology, or an agenda you didn’t know about.

Here at BoomerPDX the rule is be up front. Politically speaking, the Left is the left. The Right has more than a few shades of the rainbow.

Do women deserve a better deal? How can that still be a question? The answer is still yes.

Do kids deserve a better deal? Always.

Do the marginal members of society deserve help? That’s what America does best.

Do groups with different ideas on how to live their lives and who to live them with deserve the same protections as everyone else? Yes, they do.

When you vote in this mid-term year, know your candidate.

Whether Right or Left, no one enjoys the candidate who pulls of the campaign mask after winning and brings the whip down on surprised victims.

Last word?