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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (425)	6/5/2005 5:50:15 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 541357

I can see trying to preserve individual liberty by limiting future government commitments and programs, but what do we do with the $2 trillion monkey on our back now? We could try to cut it, more realistically if we could stop its growth it would shrink as a % of the economy. If you want to improve the goal of achieving liberty (a fine goal if getting there doesn't have equally adverse unintended consequences for others) Every major goal applied across the country (including maintaining the status quo) will have adverse unintended consequences for someone. how do we do it from here? Do you mean what ideas do we implement, or how do we implement them? The first is the easier part. The second has to deal with real world politics, and special interests and the type of problems discussed in public choice theory. And as a broader question, which parts of your life do you feel are too crowded by government officials not that you want to get back? It's a serious question; apart from taxation I don't feel much impact from Uncle Sam but I have an atypical lifestyle to say the least. Most obviously taxes are too high and complex. Other problems are often more indirect or hidden, or apply to other people but not really to me. That doesn't mean they aren't problems, but they don't impact me in the same way or with the same force. Some of them might effect me but not all the time. Others might shape how I live my life without me even thinking about them much. Tim

To: Dale Baker who wrote (425)	6/6/2005 4:35:32 AM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 541357

More voices chime in against name-calling.... Two Democrats Disavow Dean's Jab at GOP By Mike Allen and Alan Cooperman Monday, June 6, 2005; Page A06 Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) distanced themselves over the weekend from remarks by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who is facing criticism for the pace of the party's fundraising. Dean, who inspired a passionate following when he ran for president in 2003-04 and showed the potential of Internet fundraising, has been as unpredictable with his public remarks since becoming party chairman in mid-February as his Republican counterpart, Ken Mehlman, has been on message. Biden made his comment on ABC's "This Week" after the host, George Stephanopoulos, played a clip of Dean saying Thursday that perhaps Republicans can wait in line to cast ballots because a "lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives." Asked whether Dean is doing the party any good, Biden said, "Not with that kind of rhetoric. He doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric. And I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats. . . . I wish that rhetoric would change." Edwards, the party's vice presidential nominee last year, said at an annual party fundraising dinner Saturday in Nashville that he disagreed with Dean's comment. "The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party," Edwards said, according to the Associated Press. "He's a voice. I don't agree with it." Mehlman, appearing on his first Sunday talk show since becoming Republican National Committee chairman in January, said on NBC's "Meet the Press": "I'm not sure the best way to win support in the red states is to insult the folks who live there. I think that a better approach might be to talk about the issues you're for." Dean, who portrays himself as a fighter, clarified his comment a day later to say that he was referring to the Republican leadership, not to ordinary Republicans. Dean's aides, who have declined invitations for him to appear on television with Mehlman, said he was unavailable to comment on the reaction because he was traveling to Seattle for a Women's Leadership Forum fundraiser and a "DNC Low Dollar Fundraiser." His spokeswoman, Karen Finney, said: "He is a voice of the party, not the only voice. We have different voices in our party. But we are all committed to rebuilding our party and getting our country back on track." A recent article in Business Week was headlined, "Howard Dean's Raised Voice Isn't Raising Cash." The national Democratic Party raised about $18.6 million in the first four months of the year, compared with $42.6 million for the RNC. Finney said the Democratic Party is now raising $1 million a week.