To: TimF who wrote (281159 ) 3/21/2006 7:30:04 PM From: Road Walker Read Replies (1) | Respond to re: So what made the world and the US better? We might disagree about the size of the difference, and the cause of the difference, or the circumstances of the difference, but we both agree about the difference, and that this is one measure where Clinton came out ahead of Bush. 1 - While a balanced budget is something that would probably have support from a lot of libertarians it isn't really a small government vs. large government issue. But government spending is not the only issue that libertarians care about. There are many other issues and concerns for most libertarians. A better record on controlling spending doesn't necessarily mean a more libertarian record. 3 - That better record on spending was in very different circumstances. Winding down the spending from the cold war for Clinton, winding up spending for the war against Islamofacist terrorism for Bush. A new Republican congress wanting to cut government for Clinton, vs. a more settled and corrupt Republican congress for Bush. 4 - Clinton got action on a lot of things by regulation that required other people to spend rather then on increasing spending. The action is just as against real libertarianism as increasing spending, perhaps more so. 5 - I have other political/ideological opinions besides libertarianism. Bush tends to fit better on these concerns than Clinton. Some of these ideas might be what you call my "strong Republican bias", but its more ideological than partisan.
