When republicans shout "small government" what does it mean?

You should read about the Laffer Curve. You cannot simply take more from this minority group. They are already paying significant taxation and trying to take more will be futile...

 

Not quite sure what you are talking about, but I will note that virtually everyone surrounding Trump, some, what, 40-50 people, acquired covid. They did because they followed their leader, who was reluctant to wear the mask, who mocked others wearing it, etc. One can complain about localized democratic policies, but there are few fewer cases of covid in Biden's entourage than in Trump's.

 

I doubt it. First. the fact that they are a 'minority group' is irrelevant. Why would
you even mention it? To garner sympathy? Puhleeze.

What they are not paying is a rate which is proportional to the degree they benefit from the system, overall. Of course they should pay more, the system demands it, because if we don't, the deficits will lead to inflation which disproportionately benefits the rich at the expense of the poor.

 

The fact that a 1% group is paying more taxes than the 99% group is a big deal if you're in the 1%. Everyone should fund the government which they demand...everyone...not just the 1% or 5%...everyone. And there's nothing wrong with a progressive tax system but when 99% want the 1% to pay for everything i suggest it's not going to work...

 

That's not quite the argument I'm making.

It's 1% plus the upper 49% vs the bottom half, not the 99%.

I could care less what the 1% think.

Everyone should fund the government who are so able, proportionate to the degree they benefit from the system. If the upper 50% have 98% of the wealth (noting that the top 1% have 30% of the total wealth, and the top 49% have 68% of the wealth and the bottom half have about 2% of the wealth, according to Fed Reserve wealth distribution report ) , they (the 1% and the top 49%) need to pay ALL of the taxes, progressively according to ability to pay.

those who are not able, who barely have enough to live, shouldn't have to pay anything, which is the bottom half. .

 

Incorrect. Both Republicans and Democrats love the rich. Just ask the Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

For Republicans, "small government" means supporting the military-industrial complex which is a complete contridiction. Historically, those on the right support businesses over the rights of the individual.

 

Yeah, that's a problem. The Old Timers will tell you about the time they were so fed up with Papa Bush over raising taxes that they backed off on the support that won 3 elections in a row, the result was the election of Bill Clinton.

 

The freedom to travel does not address the manner used. It is meant to prohibit states from closing their borders, not permission to travel by any means you want.

 

More than the private sector.

 

I am hearing that the 1% now prefer Democrats to Republicans. Republican elites are being forced to at least make populist sounding gestures which I imagine they despise. If you are a globalist that wants to send US jobs to China, where they don't worry about HR and OSHA and Climate Change issues, Joe Biden, not Trump, is your man.

 

I don't think I've heard that old shibboleth since 1990. It's like 'trickle-down economics' and even more thoroughly debunked. It bases itself upon the idea that rich people can ALWAYS find tax loopholes, no matter how well the government plugs them and how much it costs (or how risky it is) to find them. At a certain point, it's cheaper to just PAY the damned things, especially if the alternative is a hefty penalty or prison.

Not everyone is Wesley Snipes, (or Donald Trump).

 

Not for the Republican leadership, it's not. Big government and the Military is the original model of Crony Capitalism and has been since at least WWII. It probably goes back a good deal farther.

This is why Republicans love defense spending just so long as it's on hardware, not salaries. Hardware spending is practically a straight through conduit from the taxpayers to their defense contractor's butt-buddies in the Republican leadership

 

Your implied claim that the President has no influence over spending bills is false.. and yes ..we all know Congress controls the purse strings.
This does not change the fact that Reagan was a princess with a credit card ..

and w/r to 2009.. Bush handed Obama a 1.4 Trillion dollar deficit. another princess with a credit care.

You have been schooled on this numerous times - yet you return to the same vomit over and over - like you have not been schooled.

 

"The 1%" prefer whomever is in power.

 

That statement is correct now, the Democratic base for decades where unions and their money, now that they are so small they turned to Wall St. for money!.....Just another successful bid by republicans to destroy the middle class!

 

I'm talking about the States response to COVID(and I don't know if they can tell by their chirping but their response obviously isn't working at anything save for slowing down the economy). Since it clearly isn't working, you and I are both intellectuals so we both subscribe to the knowledge that you can't prove a negative. We don't know if or how effective masks would've been at the confirmation party. Did a COVID positive person cough(or sneeze) on those infected? Or was it the recently discovered air circulatory phenomenon(Which would really damper the effectiveness of masks ).

Or, if this COVID positive person touched things and other people unwittingly touched those same things what would a mask have done then?

It isn't merely the policy and its ineffectiveness that's the issue (So ineffective that 'blame Trump', because if we don't even have a half way decent excuse then the masses will be fed up.). The big issue is blaming Trump essentially for the economic consequences of their plan! And Trump is such an easy pinata, that millions of people actually fell for it.

Seriously there could be a 10.0 earthquake in California and "It's Trump's fault.". He's become a caricature villain and now that his Presidency is over, it's hilarious.

 

You know what a strawman is, and so, you know better. There is a solid argument that Trump's handling of Covid resulted in more deaths than needed to be. If that is true, then it's affect on the economy is also an argument thus. As to degree, no one knows, but...................

Trump is a monster, and he had to be removed by any legal justifiable means, in my view. He is the exception to the rule, when it comes to fair play, because one thing he did not do, is play fair.

You don't fight a street fighter with gloves.

 

Your claim that that is what I said is false as clearly stated in my post. Maybe read before you comment

"The Democrats of 2008 and 2009 increased spending first 10% for FY2008 and then 20% for FY2009. Bush43 was able to hold them to that 10% with his veto threats but they cut him out for FY2009. "

Your again fallacious statement does not change the fact that Reagan in his budgets requested LESS spending than Congress authorized which was LESS than they wanted.

How did Bush hand Obama a $1.4 Trillion dollar deficit? The Democrats including first Senator Obama and then President Obama handed Obama that budget and that deficit. Why do you attribute it to Bush?

If it was vomit you'd be able to refute it you "school" no one other than in your own mind.

 

Unions were primarily ran by criminal organations, therefore from the 70's and before Democrats were supported by criminals. The mob's assistance in Kennedy's election is well documented.

Credit where credit is due, at one time the Democrats at least kept up the appearance of being civil libertarians, but the abandoned that 30 or 40 years ago

 

He should have addressed the nation with the Woodward information in real time, that might, might have made a difference. More saliently is the pre-symptomatic issue as well as the common familiarities with the common cold. These factors are far more contributive to the spread of the coronavirus. But there's no political points to be scored there.

But no, I'm not using a strawman, our newly minted VP fearmongered that it was "Trump's vaccine", and that we'd be poisoned before the elections! It's because of that public stunt that now they're trying to make a public spectacle that "Hey, it's okay now.". The disgusting farce shouldn't be lost on anyone, and it was her Woodward moment.

The point is: Old boss, same as the new boss. And that old boss in totality wasn't the evilest thing to walk the earth. As the years go by, We'll all acknowledge the age of histrionics for what it was.

 

Mostly when they talk about small government they mean big government.

 

Might have? C'mon. He said it was a nothing burger; said don't listen to democrats, because the fear is a hoax, and now we wonder if he had told the truth if it would have made a difference.

Had he told the truth, been upfront, and encouraged the country to listen as the science unfolded, it would have made a huge difference, and he would have sailed through re-election easily.

 

There's two elements to this. Yes, Trump telling the truth would have helped but the second element: Human nature is largely unknown. Even if we presume that more people would've listened, the uncertainty surrounding the response still exists. The virus's similarities to the common cold still exists. I argue that a totally transparent Trump buys us a few months at best before the economic and political uncertainty weighs in on the masses.

 

Except the countries who have actual leaders has fared better than us. He blew this one.

 

I just think that Trump gets both more credit and blame than he deserves. This idea that if Trump commands it, people will start wearing masks is ridiculous. He himself probably thought it to be ridiculous and absurd it turns out that the greatest political feature is acting. Ie: As you point out, if Trump had wore his mask and waved his finger scolding "his base", it would've possibly prevented his defeat.

The reason Biden is now trying to temper expectations is that it's one thing to appear like a savior, it's another to actually appease such a crowd. He knows it very well: He saw the highs and lows of the Obama Administration.