Democracy Has Prevailed.

December 8, 2006

The Aristocrats

From Digby:


But looking at that amazing picture of the Bush clan in the White house --- the former president, the current president, the Governor of one of the largest states --- all together in the White House says everything you need to know about what true conservatism is really all about.

We allowed them to impeach the duly elected president who beat the father, for trivial reasons. We allowed the father's appointees to settle a dubious election result in the son's favor. We have watched them as they created a presidency insulated from popular or congressional oversight in which they have gone so far as to set forth the idea that the president has no obligation to follow the law. They lowered taxes on the very rich to a level not seen in many decades and created an income disparity between the very, very rich and everyone else that is unprecedented in the modern era. They eliminated the single best means of ensuring that an aristocracy will not truly form --- the estate inheritance tax. The ten year campaign to repeal it was bankrolled by 18 of the richest families in America.

Who says Bush isn't a real conservative? Why he's the most purely conservative president in American history.

Read the rest here.

7 comments:

Richmond K. Turner said...

Who's the hot blonde behind Jeb?

Oh yeah, aristorcracy, where was I? I agree with many of your points, but as someone who likes to think of himself as "conservative", I don't really view this president's accomplishments as being in keeping with my own (rather vauge) defintion of the term. Taxes that are no higher than absolutely necessary are "conservative". But cutting taxes -- in war time, no less -- to the point where the national debt swells out of control isn't really conservative. We aren't conserving anything if we are spending money we don't have in the hope that children yet unborn will happily pick up the tab for us.

But I still take your point. When you look at the political leaders who have used the term "conservative" to define themselves, most of them would support any and all of the actions you mention in your post. I fear that the very definition of this word has moved to a point where it really doesn't fit my beliefs, but no other word has been made available to describe folks like me.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Turner, you put the word "conservative" in quotation marks, but not the word "accomplishments." Was this advertent?

Who do you consider to be the genuine conservatives at the Federal level these days? I'm not sure I could point to one.

It would be fun to debate a real conservative on this blog. Are you new here? I am relatively new myself.

Anonymous said...

I'll help ya there, Rocky.

We conservatives do not consider the Bush clan conservative at all. Our role model is Ronald Reagan, and these people fall far short of that.

BTW, Maria, get some of your facts straight. When Reagan pushed through the historic tax cuts in the early 1980's, the top tax rate was 70%, the country was emerging from a recession, interest rates and inflation were at double digits, and a general malaise had set in (thank you, Jimmy Carter).

Reagan set the highest rate at 28%, eliminated loopholes, and away we went. The economy has not looked back since then, anmd we are now taking in more revenue than during the Clinton years, with tremendous job growth.

The one thing you libs fail to understand is that, when tax rates are raised on the top bracket, the loopholes increase. When they go down, the loopholes diminish. The wealthy (not all live like Paris Hilton) can then invest in their business, or their farm, or buy luxury goods. All of these push the economy forward.

Anonymous said...

Hey, x.

I didn't mean to exclude you, and I didn't mean to imply you were not a real Conservative.

I do think of you as someone who defends the Bushies, though; and I'm afraid I just can't think of anyone, whether GWB or Reagan, who triples the national debt as a Conservative.

Richmond K. Turner said...

There may be true conservatives -- people who are trying to preserve the nation as something that future generations will benefit from -- at the federal level. But they have been marginaized to the point where they are out of both the leadership and the public eye. They are likley to be moderates, regardless of what party they belong to. And neither party has much love for their centrists.

As my British friends would say, I guess I am a "little c" conservative, as opposed a "big C" follower of the Conservative Party/movement/whatever.

I also can't see a tripling of the national debt as an appropriate conservative ideal. That being said, Reagan faced a pretty dire economic condition as he entered office. And when times are that bad, than taking on some (more) debt can indeed make a great deal of sense. The 70% upper-bracket tax rate was clearly so far beyond excessive that it was ridiculous, and needed to be drastically lowered. These early decisions were pretty much OK with me.

The question then became "what next", and there my admiration from Reagan dims quite a bit. Reducing taxes from usurious rates to something more reasonable is one thing, but once things began to get rolling again he needed to do something to start paying down the debt. That didn't happen, and that's not what I would call something that is likely to "conserve" the union for future generations.

Maybe there just isn't a good label for people like me.

Anonymous said...

OK, just for fun, who's the guy seated on the left? Is it Neil? Looks like he was sent to the corner for a little "time out". Also what is our President wearing on his feet? Cowboy boots? At first glance I thought they were striped anklets...

Bush the 1st appears to be grimacing more than smiling. I think he's losing his marbles, cryin' a river all over the place these days...

Babs Bush looks like she wants to be sitting in baby George's lap, she is SOOOO leaning away from Daddy-o.

djhlights said...

With a title like that I was waiting for:

"So this family walks into a talent agents office..."

I'm dying to know what Bab's talent is.