Manifesto

Until recently, I was a registered Republican, though I've voted Democrat for the last thirteen years.

I consider myself a sane fiscal conservative and moderate social liberal, by which I mean, I believe taxes should be as low as possible for everyone, not just the rich, but high enough to pay for the things we want government to do for us. In other words, I'm anti-deficit, anti-tax cuts for the rich, anti-wasteful government spending, and anti-the social welfare establishment (as opposed to, say, social welfare as such). I believe, as members of a common society, we have an obligation to help each other when help is needed, and if government is the best tool to provide that help (and it often is) then so be it. On most other matters, I want as little government as possible, and in this, I'm more of a traditional conservative than most of the clowns who call themselves that today. Government should stay out of our lives, period, except to a) protect us from enemies (by raising and managing a military force), b) protect us from each other (by maintaining a strong and fair criminal justice system), c) protect us from unexpected disasters (by providing a flexible and effective social safety net as well as effective and dynamic emergency care), and d) bring us together to work as a community to solve community problems (like health care for lower income Americans, public education for all our children, and so on). I've yet to hear a candidate from either major party articulate a platform I can completely support, but when push comes to shove, I guess I'd rather be wrong with the Democrats than wrong with the Republicans.

At least the Dems don't have Pat Robertson.