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One of the best things I have ever read about conservatives!

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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 08:26 PM
Original message
One of the best things I have ever read about conservatives!
Conservative Evangelical Republicans apparently believe that the right to life begins at the moment of conception and ends at the moment of birth.

Their fight against "welfare" generally affects Aid to Dependent Children. The hodgepdge of regulations (and subsequent administraial expense) comes from their horror at the thought that governmental aid might end up in the pocket of someone, somewhere who's sleeping on the sofa and watching soap operas while eating bon-bons.

In decidedly un-conservative fashion, they demand all sorts of governmental oversight over funds directed to children whose only sin against the people is that they've picked the wrong parents.

When you look at the actual benefits available to the lower classes of citizens (i.e., food stamps, MedicAid, rent subsidies, et al) the typical recipient gets about $15,000 annually. But, because of the imposed beauracracy imposed by legislators...just to be sure there aren't any welfare "cheats," the cost to the taxpayers is more than $30,000 per case. After all, those social workers and auditors and administrators (and legislators and governors and attorneys general, et al) need to be paid for their qualifications.

You could fire all those welfare administrators, all those Social Workers, all those MedicAid claims analysts, administrative assistants, case workers and supervisors... and cut a one-time-only check for $100,000.00 to each eligible "welfare" recipient, and probably solve the problem once and for all for a lot less taxpayers' money.

Because what matters in America isn't the ability to get by, but a chunk of capital. Most welfare recipients could take a $100,000.00 nest egg to any bank in town and use it to leverage it into a restaraunt, a store, a service, an enterprise that would contribute to the community. But, thanks to Conservatives, "welfare" is parsed out at barely subsistance levels, month by month, with incredibly expensive administrative costs (to the taxpayer) built into the system.

For reasons that constantly escape me, "Conservatives" in America exist for no reason other than to delay the inevitable.

Research shows that most people under the age of 25 simply don't understand their parents' generation's opposition to same-gender marriage; they think a woman should be given the choice of terminating a pregnancy or carrying the fetus to full term; they know the difference between an in vitro zygote and a walking, talking human being; they believe in God (or not) and still recognize that evolution is the rational explanation of how we got where we are and how we're getting to where we're going (even if it might be God's Plan).

One of the lessons of history is that conservatives have always -- consistantly, predictably, and perpetually -- been wrong.

Blacks are equal to Whites, women are equal to men, unions are just as legitmate as corporations, Baptists are entitled to the same rights as Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Mormons, and Muslims. Conservatives have always opposed such thoughts.

And conservatives have always been wrong.

There will be stem-cell research.

There will be legal abortion.

There will be gender-specific equality.

There will be religious freedom for all beliefs. (Even non-belief.)

There will be equal benefits (and "marriage penalties") for long-term committments between two consenting adults, regardless of how they get their jollies in the bedroom.

The only thing standing between those inevitable circumstances is "conservatism," and it's nothing more than a delaying tactic; a ploy to win elections now, based on the prejudices du jour, bregardless of long-term complications and (as in the case of global warming) potential catastrophe.

Conservatives, as they always have been, are wrong.

http://kcbuzzblog.typepad.com/kcbuzzblog/2007/01/missouri_right_.html#comment-27414507
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 08:29 PM
Response to Original message
1. Nom, and adding a Berkeley study on conservatives, then bookmarking!
Edited on Mon Jan-08-07 08:37 PM by babylonsister
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izzybeans Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 11:21 AM
Response to Reply #1
15. Conservative = scared infant
I'm sorry their parents failed to provide aid and comfort to them as children.

Beware of the stranger. Beware of those people. Beware of the government (unless they are holding weapons and in fatigues, then bow down and kiss their feet). Just be wary won't ya child. The sky is falling. Those people are wolves in sheeps clothing. The emporer has wonderful clothes. Trust his infinite wisdom (unless she or he is one of those people). He will protect you (unless of course he is a she and no damned woman could be commander-in-chief). :cut to adult crying in the shower (date: morning of November 8th, 2006) "The sky is falling momma. But I vow to take my revenge (sniffle, sniffle)" :pan out to revel Rick Santorum huddled in a fetal position, wimpering:


I'm sure the list of childhood lessons like this would be long.
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Lisa0825 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 09:39 PM
Response to Original message
2. Great rant!!!
The bit about the $100,00 is an interesting point. I am not keen on the idea of giving out $100,000 chunks of cash, but considering that people who are on welfare a long time or often end up costing the system more than that, it's something to think about... if we could just invest more money into people SOONER, we could save a lot in the long run.
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. Yes I loved it too
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badgerpup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 06:46 PM
Response to Reply #2
19. I think there needs to be some education about money...
...before ANYBODY EVER gets handed a $100.000 check, for any reason.
What money will and won't do. How long can you expect it to last, and how to set...
and stick to priorities so that at the end of a year or two the person doesn't end up with all kinds of neat 'toys'...but has nowhere to live, no skills, and no prospect of learning any.

It's really easy to piss it away if you don't know what you're doing and you're used to thinking in $5 and $10 dollar sums.
$100,000 sounds like all the money in the world, and is overwhelming when looked at all at once.

I'm not saying "'They' shouldn't be given money, they're too stupid to handle it!"
I'm saying there needs to be some education and learning to focus on long term planning, and not just the fact that now you can buy that iPod, or Nikes or xBox. :shrug:
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Lisa0825 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 09:40 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. I totally agree...
Hell, I got a home equity loan last year, and had about $30,000 to spend on home repairs and other stuff, and I am AMAZED at how fast I went through it... mostly on practical things, but still...

Anyway, I was thinking about something along the lines of a personal account available to all citizens with a lifetime amount of $100,000 (debatable and adjusted), with conditions about what it can be spent on and under what circumstances (unemployment, maternity, temporary disability, etc - of course totally separate from long term disability). When someone is out of work, they can choose from a variety of plans, including entrepreneurship, job retraining, higher education, etc. They would also get a LIVING WAGE while on assistance. I work in a state workforce office, and people who are on "welfare" do NOT get enough to have a reasonable existence on, much less think about improving themselves! And we are constantly running out of slots for subsidized childcare. BULLETIN! A single parent can't work if they don't have affordable daycare!!!

Anyway, I like the idea of giving MORE SOONER to REALLY get people back on their feet, rather than throwing scraps at a down-and-out person, and expecting them to overcome it.
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Jade Fox Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 10:09 PM
Response to Original message
3. Trying to turn back the hands of time.....
is the basic social agenda of Conservatives. How smart do you have to be to figure out it won't work?

There is a great article written by Philip Slater (which I am unable to find a link for) called "Why America is Polarized". In it he posits that the huge amount of changes brought about in the last century have made Conservatives simply frantic about trying to go back to the "good old days". It's worth a read if you can find it.
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Lisa0825 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 10:31 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Here is a link to it in pdf
http://www.philipslater.com/why%20america%20is%20polarized.pdf

I'll give it a read, thanks for pointing me in that direction.
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Lisa0825 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #3
8. That was an excellent article!
Thanks for the tip! I passed it along to some friends too.
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The Rock2111 Donating Member (36 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-08-07 11:42 PM
Response to Original message
6. Deceived!
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Lisa0825 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 12:11 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. care to elaborate?
:shrug:
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ProfessorGAC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 09:40 AM
Response to Reply #6
13. Unbrilliant
The Professor
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loudestchick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 11:09 AM
Response to Reply #6
14. enjoy your (likely short) stay at DU.
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eridani Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 01:12 AM
Response to Original message
9. It is VERY important to provide technical assistance as well as money
Easy for potential entrepreneurs with good ideas and not much experience to blow $100K pretty fast. Lots of organizations provide this along with money.

http://www.cascadiafund.org/programs-overview.html
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DeeDeeNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 09:09 AM
Response to Original message
10. That first sentence says it all
Or, as the great Randi Rhodes has said in describing their twisted values, "Love the fetus, hate the child."
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 09:28 AM
Response to Original message
11. "Nothing inspiring has come from the Conservative mind since the age of John Adams"
My favorite George McGovern quote.

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ourbluenation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 09:32 AM
Response to Original message
12. They are completely and utterly motivated by one thing and one thing only
fear.


great piece - thx.
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wizstars Donating Member (792 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 11:42 AM
Response to Original message
16. I've often wondered just what it is that conservatives are trying to conserve...
..the only thing I can figure is, they're trying to conserve wealth for the wealthy and power for the powerful. why is that so important? A democracy is about equality, where the poor and powerless count too. Hitler was a conservative, Jesus was a liberal; need I say more?
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Lisa0825 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 02:57 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. great post!
and welcome to DU! :hi:
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The Rock2111 Donating Member (36 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 09:42 PM
Response to Reply #16
21. Jesus, was well, Jesus!
Edited on Tue Jan-09-07 09:42 PM by The Rock2111
He was (according to the bible) not afraid to rebuke those who chose to live outside of God's will. In short, he was not by any account liberal. Hated the sin, not the sinner.
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wizstars Donating Member (792 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-10-07 09:56 AM
Response to Reply #21
22. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, helped the poor,...
... preached love thy neighbor, hated wealth--to that extent, yeah, I'd say he was a liberal. I'm not a christian myself (intensely LOATHE fundies!), but in the words of the doobie brothers, jesus is alright with me. My sentiment is often, "lord, protect me from your followers!"
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The Rock2111 Donating Member (36 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-10-07 08:48 PM
Response to Reply #22
24. Uh, Yea, Whatever!
One should point out that those you loathe and ask for protection from are the very same that have or sponsor ministries that do all the things you said Jesus did (by the way, I do agree with that part). Literally Hundreds of them in my community alone. As to the liberal tag and hating wealth see post #6 - or for the long version read the new testament. Perhaps there is disillusion with the church (many deserving) that has created such sentiments.
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grace0418 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-09-07 03:04 PM
Response to Original message
18. I totally agree that conservatives don't seem to give a shit about children
once they're actually born. However, firing all the welfare administrators and giving each welfare family $100K is not really a viable solution. I'm as bleeding-heart liberal as it gets but I have done enough volunteer work and known enough social workers, inner-city teachers, etc. to know that so many families are so broken that $100K will not fix them. The reality is that many people are so undereducated, so mired in drug addiction and other forms of self-abuse, and so disenfranchised that huge chunks of money would only make for more misery. I totally agree that the system is broken, however. And conservative fears about welfare queens are hardly the reason why the system doesn't work.
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noonwitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-10-07 10:43 AM
Response to Original message
23. I don't think any political label is cut and dry like that
There are liberals who have conservative views on some issues, and there are conservatives who have liberal views on some issues.

There is a block of catholic voters who support union and welfare policy, but are anti-abortion, for example.

I live my life by fairly conservative personal values. That doesn't mean I think that my values should be the law of the land, but I do think that because I live by those values, I avoid certain types of problems in my life.

One thing that I would say that conservatives are right about is this-teen sex. Teens don't need to be having sex. They are too young and it causes nothing but heartache, chlamydia, pregnancy and suffering. I don't care whether kids are gay or straight, they need to wait until they are adults of at least college-age before having sexual relationships. The complications are too serious, and usually fall on the girl.
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