There are a few questions to ask about any initiative. One, is it best handled by government? Two, on what level of government does it belong? Three, what is the least costly way of dealing with it? Four, what is the least disruptive and/or dangerous way of dealing with it?
Welfare reform has been pretty well handled, but it is a Republican initiative, and it is unlikely to have happened without the take over of the Congress...
Few would credit the administration with having had an impact on the crime rate, which is mostly a local and state issue. A few things were important: frankly, the termination of the turf wars over crack that tormented the inner city; tougher laws (mostly Republican in origin), leading to a higher rate of incarceration; and more effective community policing, which was largely initiated in several major cities by Republican mayors....
The health care initiative was a flop for good reason. There are better, simpler ways of dealing with health care, and there is no need to federalize it.Republican proposals to establish MRAs, tax advantaged savings accounts similar to IRAs, with low cost hospitalization or catastrophic care insurance would have made more sense...
The administration deserves credit for following through on GATT and NAFTA, but it inherited both from the previous administration, and there was more support among Republicans in Congress than Democrats...
Only if you assume the further federal gun laws will make a difference in the murder rate can one give them any credit. Since current gun laws, such as the Brady Bill, are not yet enforceable, it is dubious that they have done anything productive....
The main impetus for the balanced budget has been the Republican Congress....
I am not sure what you are talking about on the treaty, I believe you are mistaken, and are referring to the ABM treaty, which restricts the deployment of missile defenses. In an era where we have major concerns about proliferation and rogue states, it makes sense to rid ourselves of such restrictions....
I have already referred to a Republican plan to make health insurance more affordable, and have commented on other aspects on the thread earlier....
China is, of necessity, a "strategic adversary", that is, a potential enemy, not only due to strength, but conflicting interests. And she has stolen a lot of our military secrets, which is a legitimate cause of alarm....
If the administration were truly proposing debt reduction, you might have a point, but no sooner did it catch a whiff of possible surplus than it suggested new spending initiatives. Give the money back to the people, deny it to the government, and see what happens.....
The Clinton administration has used the military a great deal, for example, in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti, while not adequately addressing readiness issues. We are a global power, with far- flung interests, and must be prepared for two major engagements at one time, lest our adversaries take advantage of our distraction....
Either outlaw tobacco, or get off its back, this is getting to be a joke....
I am not in the NRA, but beyond the constitutional question, everyone has an inalienable right of self- defense, and government should be restrained in regulating the activities of the law- abiding. It is still a matter of faith whether further impositions on the law abiding would make much of a dent in the black market....
In general, most desire improvements in society, the arguments are over what to do to "progress".....
|
