I knew I should have withheld comment. Last month, I said something nice about J…

Some are arguing Obama’s 570 bills makes him big gov’t.

Some argue it is average.

I’d like to posit that both of you are right. 570 bills may indeed be average today. The problem is that most legislators have actually become quite BIG GOV’T.

Members of both right and left usually arrive in Washington thinking they all have to do something. The truth is we’d all be a lot better off if they would ALL do a lot less.

Just my inflation adjusted 0.241 cents worth.

The bottom line of my rebuttal is that in comparison with most members of Congress, Obama’s 570 sponsored/co-sponsored bills is not that extreme. There are Republicans with the same tenure that have approximately the same number. In other words, 570 isn’t really as high as you make it out to be. Thus, if you make the argument that his 570 make him “big” government, than the bulk of Congress (based on their numbers) are too.

FISA isn’t “big” government, it’s smart government;

That’s my point. Without identifying the bills Obama sponsored/co-sponsored individual, how can you make a blanket statement about his 570 meaning his “big” government. Might some of those 570 be “smart” government.

Just out of curiosity, “TheOtherSide” of what – party affiliation (Rep vs. Dem); political philosophy (cons vs. lib); or opposing viewpoint (maj vs. min)?

I am a registered Democrat. I would say I am fairly moderate. I lean more to the right on fiscal policy, more to the left on social policy.

In fact, if has supported 570 bills, then that proves he supports big government and gives us even more reason not to vote for him.

By that logic, all Senators and Representatives support big government. And I guess that whole FISA bill is all just about big government too. Very weak argument.

My point is, given the short amount of time Obama has been in public service, supporting 570 bills seems a bit excessive, and leads one to wonder, with the exception of the vote on Iraq, has there ever been a bill he has not supported?

“By that logic, all Senators and Representatives support big government.”

Here, you lost me. So I’ll respond by saying government only becomes cumbersome and unmanageable, “big”, when Senators and Congress begin passing/supporting every bill that comes before them, which appears to be Obama’s m.o. with 570 bills under his belt.

“And I guess that whole FISA bill is all just about big government too.”

FISA isn’t “big” government, it’s smart government; targeted e-surveillance of phone calls between non-citizens in this country and known terrorists abroad is government protecting its people. The U.S. has neither the resources nor the inclination to randomly monitor the phone calls of its citizens.

“Very weak argument.”

And yet you still felt the need to respond.

Just out of curiosity, “TheOtherSide” of what – party affiliation (Rep vs. Dem); political philosophy (cons vs. lib); or opposing viewpoint (maj vs. min)?

What I want to hear but didn’t and won’t is: let the market do its work. When there is an outright case of fraud, then yes, let the law be involved. Otherwise, the government must stay out — it has done enough damage. I didn’t hear that and knowing McCain, I never will. He makes an imposing statement, which is one of the reasons he won the nomination — he comes across a lot tougher and determined than he really is. I doubt in the end there would be much difference from the results of the other guys. Sorry people, but again no sale.

I think the question that needs to be asked in December is this. How did we get to this point anyway? If the conservative movement is so strong, why were we unable to nominate a thorough, consistent conservative in the primary process? Yes, at the beginning the conservative vote was fractured among many candidates (which is why, as a Ph.D. mathematician, I recommend a different voting procedure called the instant Borda runoff to determine a winner, not the plurality winner). Yet even as conservative candidates dropped out of the race, McCain remained in the lead and eventually won.

Does the fault lie within us? Did part of the GOP electorate feel nervous about nominating a consistent conservative in a year when the Republican president (who has often betrayed conservatism) is so unpopular? Maybe the GOP primary voters decided to take a chance on a partial conservative rather than none at all.

Your thoughts?

Obama’s first real legislation

No need to respond, rooster, I normally ignore known ignorance.

Is it ok if I now don’t hold my nose quite as hard anymore come November?

On March 26th, 2008 at 5:52 pm, TheOtherSide said:

I won’t banty words with a fool lib.

The fact that B Husseins Obama’s first real legislation is something of a global poverty bill says it all. If I do recall correctly, this was pushed through very quickly as his co-conspirators did not want much light on this bill. Imagine if American citizens knew they are being taxed specifically to fight poverty in every country but ours!

No need to do your fact check, otherside, I normally ignore known lib bias.

You are not being referred to.