The question is not should we trade with China it is how. I am for free trade under free market concepts I learned from the father Adam Smith. Labor must have legal rights ie no slave and prison labor. The country must respect the rule of law ie contacts, IP rights….. I agree with Adam Smith if they violate you must fine them enough via tariffs to kill the incentive to cheat. And we must enforce the agreement or it is meaning less.

As far as the gold standard the value of our money is being manipulated to cover up out of control spending from Washington. Do you disagree? Many so called conservatives argued with me years ago until inflation hit!

Finally I usually notice GC advocating fiscally conservative policies. I do re-call him unlike others speaking out against bills like Farm, No Child, Highway……Most of his debates center around the social issues from what I re-call or Iraq. This would fall into the Libertarian world view in my opinion. If you re-call Bush ran on us not being the policemen of the world.

It’s all about the price controls baby.

(ducks and runs for cover from Indy, Konop, …)

Please quit insulting Nixon with that comparison.

The abortion issues causes huge numbers of candidates to lose, particularly in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, New York, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Deleware and Massachusetts. Believe it or not, many seats in these places are winnable, but not when the party looks like it wants to inflict Southern values on people who are not Southern. How many Southerners would want California or New York values inflicted upon them?

The Republicans in Congress would have overwelming majorites in both houses if they would leave it at overturning Roe on an unconstitutional basis and stop making it a Federal issue. It has been my long term argument that it is the anti-abortion “freedom fighters” that have kept late term abortion legal.

The federal government has no place in regulating abortion one way or another. It is a state issue and should be left up to the states. Just as murder is illegal because of state law and things like tatoo parlors and braiding shops are regulated by the state.

Until Republicans get back to their small government roots, they will continuously be battered at the polls at an electorate that can tell very little apart from them and the Democrats.

You don’t need to be so uppity by assuming the rest of us do not know who Goldwater is.

Goldwater believed in small government. He believed in federalism and state’s rights. That is the one and only standard that I use is calling people conservative. I am the one who calls “social conservatives” “socialists who believe in God”.

That being said, let me know when GC ever supports a truly conservative cause. He is a “conservative” in the mold of Richard Nixon, who was the single biggest big-government “conservatives” of our time.

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/09/top-obama-bundler-attempts-to-storm.html

“The Government” thinks abortion is “the choice” of women to murder a living child “legally” while HANDING THE INVOICE to people like ME to pay!

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had this hennas crime been legal during the founding of this great nation. We would not have an AMERICA! ….

Come to think of it… I think we are now known as AMEXICA. ….

Yeah … it’s an issue! Without question!

Doug, the abortion issue does not cause many people to lose, for one. Secondly, intolerance of the issue? The Democrats believe in an individual’s choice…not a government mandate over a private matter. The same goes for the marriage issue.

Even Palin wants her daughter’s decision to be private…ironically she does not believe that every other American should be allowed to make their own decision on matters of pregnancy.

FYI

The father of the Conservative Movement
Barry Goldwater was the American politician most often credited for sparking the resurgence of the American conservative political movement

He was criticized in 1964 as a radical reactionary, yet he energized a conservative grass roots movement which, sixteen years later, helped to nominate and elect Ronald Reagan. However, after 1981, the influence of the Christian Right on the Republican Party so conflicted with Goldwater’s libertarian views, that he openly voiced his opposition.
In a 1994 interview with the Washington Post the retired Senator said, “When you say ‘radical right’ today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican Party and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye.” He said about Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, “I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass,” in response to Falwell’s opposition to the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court where Falwell said, “Every good Christian should be concerned.”

http://controlcongress.com/uncategorized/the-father-of-the-conservative-movement

Condi would have been a big mistake.

So you criticize the Republicans for being to concerned about abortion, but you give the Democrats a pass. This is why your credibility suffers (besides the fact that you have failed to ever really support even one conservative issue from Goldwater).

Abortion is too much a part of the Republican party, and I criticize them constantly for that. The fact is, however, that it is worse on the Democrat side. Until this year, the DNC refused to allow “pro-life” candidates to speak at the convention. The desperation of losing election after election forced them into accepting a couple token “pro-life” candidates in 2006, but it is still only a thin veneer to cover their complete intolerance on the issue.

I thought that after the 2006 midterms the GOP would moderate and drop the evangelical extremism that cost them that election. 2006 showed that issues of compassion for the less fortunate were more important than the abortion issue.

I still think Condi would have been allright. She is removed from the Iraq War enough to be palatable. You are probably right though, drjay. She is too close the current administration.

For the future of the party…the evangelists need to be dropped. They were a good addition in the late 70’s but have become a serious liability.

And Palin’s comments about Hilary back just a few months ago were not sexist…just like everything that has been coming out against Palin is not sexist.

It is astonishing. The population of alaska has only come up because the GOP brought it up first. If Rove never made the comments he made about Tim Kaine…it probably would not matter. Albeit, Kaine is not the VP nominee…but the arguents are still relevant.

Obama came clean about his drug use before he ran for U.S. Senate…the media did not have to dig it up. He has not been trying to hide anything.

Double standard? Not at all.

Unless you are a partisan.

What makes me most upset is that popular, beautiful airhead got the prize again. If McCain wanted a woman (there is not disputing that was the number 1 factor in his pick) he should have picked Condi Rice.

So now Rove is your expert of choice when talking about elections. At least I am consistant in that regard and think the man is trash, and should be ignored, but he now seems to be a personal hero of yours. Is he wrong or are you just completely unable to set aside partisanship to hear what you want to hear.

Like I said, Bizarro world.

McCain has experience serving this country that nobody has credibly challenged. Obama, not so much.

Yes, every news media outlet has been all over Palin’s past. Even her husband’s 20+ year old DUI. Obama’s admitted cocaine usage and the rest of his past, not so much.

Double standard? You bet.