Government is the problem. Why? Because it is. Capitalism is the solution. Why? Because it is.
These are absolute truths.
If somebody suggests using the government to solve a problem, here is the answer: That's socialism. And socialism is evil.
If someone suggests regulating a market, here is the answer: That's impeding capitalism. Capitalism is good. It should not be impeded.
(click image for link to full chart)
The military budget for 2007 is $462 billion. That does not include an additional $120 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But we cannot use a small percentage of that to provide health care for sick children. Because that would be socialism, and socialism is evil.
The United States spends more money on the military than China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Italy, Australia, Brazil, and Canada combined.
But we cannot use just a fraction of that money to make sure World War II vets have the medicine they need to stay alive, because that would be socialism, and socialism is evil.
The United States shipped 363 tons of hard cash into Baghad, where it promptly vanished.
But we could not ship one single dollar into the streets of Detroit, where tens of thousands of auto workers just lot their jobs. Because that would be socialism, and socialism is evil.
Over 40% of our income tax goes to military spending.
But allocating just 1% of our income tax to helping the poor would be socialism, and socialism is evil.
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Listen:
Democrats are not socialists. Democrats are not capitalists.
Democrats are problem solvers. We don't believe that government is THE answer. Nor do we believe that government is the problem. All we care about is finding solutions to problems. Sometimes the answers may be addressed by the free market. Sometimes that market may exhibit problems of its own which would require oversight. Sometimes the government may be the best tool to solve problems. Whatever works. That's all we care about.
Republicans are not the party of problem solvers. How many times have you heard a Republican stand up on the house floor and say, "The role of government is not to help the poor -- which is why I have founded my own privately funded institution that will fight poverty by working with the private sector."
You hear them say the first part all the time, but you never hear them go on to say that second part. That's because they don't give a rat's ass about solving problems. They just have this idea that "The role of government is not to do this and that." Why? Because it is.
People often criticize Fidel Castro for human rights abuses. But you know what? The United States could have stopped human rights abuses in Cuba at any point in the last fifty years. All they had to do was say, "OK, we'll let you guys be. We'll do trade with you. We won't try to squeeze you out of existence. But in return, we just want to make sure that you're not perpetrating any human rights abuses."
If we had done that, human rights abuses in Cuba would have stopped in ten minutes.
But we couldn't do that, because Cuba is socialist. And socialism is evil. Why? Because it is.