HeyBub wrote:
CJT wrote:

The Democrats think everybody should have a chance to do well. The
Republicans think the already well-off should keep all they have and
get more, regardless of merit, at the expense of the "unwashed
masses." That's what's "conservative" about it -- conserve the
relative positions of everybody -- keep the rich rich and the poor
poor.

I mostly agree. We conservatives want to keep what we've got and keep the
ability to get more. Others are free to get theirs, but not at our expense.
It's not that we want to keep/get our wealth at the expense of the great
unwashed masses; we object to the government taking our wealth and giving it
away.

Unfortunately people often parrot that but live something completely
different.

Isn't it a paradox that stuff like the following goes on everyday.

Take for example the Walmarts in my area. In the past few years Walton
Enterprises, LLC has contacted the government with a request that went
something like this. "Mr Government, thanks for all of your help in the
past for lifting the money out of the pockets of others to help us build
our first stores in your area by acquiring the land and installing the
roads, utilities, traffic signals and best of all giving us a nine year
tax exemption which is effectively lifting more money out of people
pockets on our behalf because they have to pay the taxes and we don't.
So the tax exemption is up so we have picked out another close by
location than you can acquire and develop for us again by pulling money
out of peoples pockets on our behalf. As we understand this completely
renews our tax exemption so others can pay the taxes we don't."

Or how about insurance companies who wouldn't think twice about denying
a claim going to the government and demanding help as in "it was a lot
windier than expected so we will have to pay out a lot of claims, so Mr
Government could you please pull money out of everyone's pockets to help
help us?

Or how about brokerages and megabanks who say they are conservatives and
would do anything no matter hoe amoral it was to make money: "Mr
Government, even though I have an MBA and 25 years experience I got
tricked (read "I was really greedy") into buying those investments. It
would really be embarrassing if my decision making reflected on us so
could you pull money out of everyone's pocket to help poor little us?

And I have known two individuals who always claimed they were true
conservatives and if others had to eat mud it was their fault instantly
change their minds when they got into difficulty. Then it became "The
government has to help poor little me..."


Economic conservatives believe that wealth can be created. Liberals tend to
believe the amount of wealth is fixed and simply needs to be redistributed.

Many (many) years ago, I saw F. Lee Bailey interviewing H.L. Hunt, a rich
Texas oilman. Bailey asked the "are you still beating your wife question"
as: "Why have you never shared your immense wealth with the less fortunate?"

Hunt looked like he had stepped on a bug.

"Because I use my money to give people something more important than a
picture on a museum wall. I give them a job."

And as for the opportunity to create wealth, where else but America could a
poor black boy grow up to be a rich white man and marry Elvis Presley's
daughter?