Quote:
Originally Posted by BigV
Adak--
A brief point of order--you may not have to rely on hearsay because of your personal experiences, but when you offer such experiences as evidence in support of your argument, to all of us and everyone else reading your argument, such "evidence" *IS* hearsay. You dismiss xoB's links as hearsay, but they're examples of corroboration of his argument, and good ones too. If you wish to be taken seriously, I respectfully suggest that you provide similar citations to document your personal experiences to better support your arguments.
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Reagan was a true conservative - everyone knows THAT. Conservatives believe that welfare - any program giving welfare - should be aimed at giving those in need a hand UP, not just a hand OUT.
Is that harsh? Yes, sometimes. Is it fair? No. Life isn't fair, people are not born with equal skills, and aptitudes, and we don't get equal parenting and education, etc.
I've been working on a program (computer), and just haven't gone through his links yet - but I'm going to view them before the debate today.
Politicians say a lot of things - Obama saying we have the wrong number of states, for instance, or Sarah Palin saying she can see Russia, from Alaska.
But look at their actions, while they're in office. Did Reagan cut Social Security? Did he increase our take-home pay by cutting our taxes? Did we in fact, have a significant recovery AND get our Iranian Embassy hostages returned, AND see the destruction of the Soviet Union's hold over several countries, during his terms in office?
Was everything perfect? Oh hell no! But our nation as a whole, was stronger economically, AND stronger militarily. Also, several countries were finally freed from the grip of the communists in Russia, for the first time since the end of WWII. This was all done (with the exception of throwing out the Cubans from Granada), with hardly a shot being fired.
If it didn't work, over and over again in our history, I wouldn't support Conservatism, as our political philosophy. I can think of a political philosophy that is much nicer - but it just doesn't work nearly as well. I believe we have to be pragmatic about what we do, as well as idealistic.