Convince me why I should be a republican.

I am a pretty far left leaning progressive. Grew up poor, benefited greatly from social programs like food stamps and pell grants, in fact, I was a very smart honors student who got mostly As, without taxpayer assistance, my potential would have gone to waste, none of my parents were lazy and all worked hard for a meager wage. Secondly, it is difficult for me to vote republican when the viewpoints of the party are so extreme as they are now. Quite frankly, many of their statements are false when fact checked. Probably the only thing I'm conservative on is guns, and even then only in some areas.

So with that being said, why should I vote republican?

 

Doesn't sound like you should.

A far left progressive would find little in common with conservatives.

 

Challenge my viewpoints is what I'm asking.

 

I grew up poor and never relied on the taxpayers so that is the difference between you and conservatives. It is easier for you to take handouts and the easy path then to work it out on your own. You definitely belong with the democrats and their cradle to grave mentality.

 

Point of order:
The moral, economic, and views of governance of conservatives hasn't changed. It the left that has gone far, far over to the loony edge of the political spectrum. At this point, their views border on insanity.

 

Because, as far as I can tell, if you do not become a Republican, the left will turn you into a sissy.

 

You shouldn't. The party has gone to hell.

 

Your signature block indicates you are not in the least open to an argument on the issue.

Anyway, you are asking the wrong question. The two political parties are massive coalitions of sometimes contradictory views and opposing interests.

 

If you truly are a "progressive", then you want to fundamentally transform the nation into a true socialist state. There is very little compatibility between "progressives" and classical liberals (which is what conservatives and most libertarians are) who value individual freedom and small government. Each wants to go in the opposite direction of the other.

If you really want people to take you seriously in your question, then change you signature. Your signature shows you have fallen into the standard "progressive" scheme of denigrating the political opposition, its the classic socialist strategy of reducing your opposition to less than human status so they can be considered as ignorant and not capable of running their own lives. That eases your conscience when you get enough power to force your policies on everyone, including sending the "most troublesome" people to the gulag or even the ovens.

 

Why would anyone bother to try to convince a socialist who wants government to be his daddy and mommy taking care of him like a subserviant and dependent child?

Notably, you tell what government did for you for your benefit in a view that everyone else has an obligation to pay for what you want. What is missing in your message? Anything you've ever done for anyone else.

 

That isn't even remotely true.

The GOP of today is a far different party than the one that put Nixon in the White House.

It is far more dominated by regressive and reactionary politics, and extreme right wing thought and behavior.

Thirty years ago, no one would be publically advocating concealed weapons on college campuses, pushing voter ID laws designed to keep people away from the polls. They would have condemned politicians like Ted Cruz for their prosletyzing ,and suggest that the place for them is on the pulpit.

None of the GOP leaders of thirty or forty years ago would be publically hoping that a Democratic President would fail.

And the GOP of thirty years ago would never have allowed a facistic opportunist to hijack their party's nominating process, much less embrace the bigotry, xenphhobia and fear mongering that is Donald Trump.

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He doesn't appear to have actually said any of that, but you certainly put those words in his mouth.

 

If you don't want to be taxed to death you should at least think about it.

 

Actually that isn't true. I was watching a video of Reagan and HW Bush earlier and their left wing compared to 2016 candidates, I have also gone back and looked at many earlier republicans policies and what the party offers today is extreme and void of logic or reason.

Not true. I support several conservative policies, like gun control issues (depending on the issue). If someone were to give me a valid viewpoint that had data backing it up I'd consider adopting it. So far conservatives have failed to do that. Statements like "it's impossible to do that because you have a cradle to grave mentality with government" is exactly what I mean. Prove to me that government assistance in these areas are bad for people. Prove to me that small government and low taxes is better for the economy. Saying something doesn't make it true.

 

None of them are going to do that. As you can see, several of them are busy putting words in your mouth and then arguing with their own straw men. Others are simply making false statements. None of them are going to argue with facts. They seldom do.

 

I have never been taxed to death, I have proudly paid taxes because that taxpayer money put me through school, kept me from starving, provided me with roads and public transportation. Unless you live in a shack in the woods with no lights or running water I'm positive you have befitted too.

 

Because you are tired of the prosperity enjoyed due to things like labor laws, unions, the Clean Air Act, as well as investments in infrastructure including education, research & development, and roads.

You feel that the US should be a God-fearin' country where women and minorities know their place; where children go hungry because their parents are lazy workers who barely make minimum wage and a person isn't afraid to shout the word (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) and not receive stern looks for it. A golden age where the elderly who've worked their entire lives are left to die by the side of the road because their 401k crashed, developed a serious medical problem, or a company yanked their pension. A place where banks that committed fraud and deceit to suck trillions out of the economy are deregulated and oversight removed. Where we can't tell a legal entity how to remunerate an executive but we can (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) make sure a woman doesn't have a say in her reproduction choices.

Most importantly, as a Republican, you can complain and whine about all the terrible country-destroying liberals, AND THEN VOTE FOR ONE AS YOUR NOMINATION IN THE 2016. How great is that?

 

Question is why would anybody in their right mind vote for either of the corporate owned parties and their cronies?

 

I applaud you if you have succeeded in life having grown up poor with no government assistance.

Not everyone has that ability (or luck in many cases).

Also...I'd hazard that you received government help in ways you're not counting.

 

The difference between calling me a socialist who wants the government to be my mommy and daddy and this, is one of them is true, one of them is not.

I voted for Bernie. I despise Hillary. I'd sooner vote for trump. He may be stupid, but he has honest intentions.

 

All those social programs withheld your parent's true potential of income. Without them, your parent's would of made much more. The more years go bye, the more social programs. Thus before to long, we will be entirely on government programs, which obviously according to history leads to slavery and tyrannical law. And once again according to history, this is unarguable.

 

I think your very first post indicated that you've already made up your mind. As for gun control, you can be a liberal and still like guns. Those type are fairly common in the South. But I can't see any reason in trying to break down conservative thought into small chewable bites when you are not even hungry.

 

Exactly. Did he go to private school? Poverty stricken mom and dad send him to private university from their own pocket? Most of the time these people who say they made it entirely on their own out of poverty are either lying, or conveniently forgetting what help they had.

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How? I need data.

 

I guess you missed it but the OP wants none of that.

He got out of poverty and reached his potential because of government assistance. That helps ALL of us.

And now he wants to extend that help to others...not only because it's the right thing, the moral thing to do...but because it lifts the entire country to have people reach their potential.

 

There is little to no evidence to support that claim.

The availability of old age pensions, health care, education, food assistance, education assistance etc, has not had an effect on middle class income.

Middle class tax rates have hardly changed at all.

And the only major changes in social programs in the last 20 years have been the ACA, which has been largely revenue neutral, and George W Bush's Medicare Part D, which has increased debt

In reality, the GOP solution has been to cut taxes for the very wealthy, and borrow money to cover the shortfall. Reagan and Bush both did that, and McConnell threatened to shut the government down if that approach was not made permanent.

 

How can you claim conservatives favor small government when they support social conservative policies?