Wasteful Government Spending

So, let me see if I understand the idea of this whole "where were you when" argument/defense. Should anyone who criticizes the currant government for waste have to show documentation that they opposed that of the last one? Come on, your smarter than this. this is a tired, worn out line and it is about as far from a defense of government waste as one can get...it is a non issue.

"when billions and trillions of dollars were being spent in Iraq?" Get your facts straight. The war has been expensive, in many ways, but it hasn't even eclipsed $1 trillion in actual dollars and that's over a 7 year period. Obama managed to raise the deficit by 1 trillion in just one year. "So just explain to me why liberals should not adopt the "You are Unamerican" for not supporting the president's spending as you did during the Iraq war." Who is this "you" that you're talking to? Need I remind you that Bush's approval sunk to a whopping 19%? How many of those 19% do you think are here on mylot? I could name 2 maybe, but I think they're the same person so perhaps your message would be best sent to them. Seriously, just point out who here has called anyone unAmerican for opposing the Iraq war. Heck, even most of the conservatives here seem to be big fans of Ron Paul and he was flat out AGAINST the Iraq war. They'd be calling him unAmerican too if that's how they felt. "Explain to me why one is fine and dandy and one is 'unconstitutional'" Well now you're confusing unAmerican with unconstitutional. Those are two entirely different things. The first is a word basically used to demonize opposition since there is no black and white definition of what is American versus unAmerican. Unconstitutional however is very simply something that violates the constitution. That could be a federal mandate forcing people to purchase health insurance in direct violation of the 10th Amendment. If you'd like to understand what Obama's done that is unconstitutional, there are some of those listed here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2464090/has_obama_violated_the_constitution.html?cat=37 Note, this is not to say that Bush didn't also violate the constitution, because he did, but you were only talking about his supporters use of the word "unAmerican".

Iraq war cost the taxpayers 3 trillion dollars this according to the Washington post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html These figure account for the cost of not just fighting the actually war but also the boarder impact on the economy. Now if you do not want to even think about it on those term will can just as well understand the number to be at 1 trillion dollar. That is 1 trillion dollars that has to be paid for in the form of national debt. So that trillion is added to with interest that future generations get to figure out how to pay for. So yes it is a bit hypocritical for someone to slam the Obama administration for racking up debt when the Bush administration did it too. Now has the Obama administration racked up more yes but debt is debt. Someone has to pay for it.

I hated it when Bush and his admin threw around the "unamerican" label to anyone who disagreed with him. You are NOT unamerican for disagreeing with the president or memebers of our government. No matter who is president or who is sitting in congress. I did not like Bush's spending....I don't like this admins spending. It seems to me NONE of them know what fiscal responsibility means. They are just fighting over how the money gets spent...not IF it should be spent. I worry the conseravatives are just playing games...using the whole "fiscal responsibility" label to get elected but don't really mean it. As for people "oking" Bush and his spending. I would not say people or conservatives were ok with it. Look at his approval ratings when he left office. They were horrible. A lot of people (including conservatives) were fed up with him and his spending. What they wanted to see was budgets being balanced and a plan to get the national debt under control. Not get it paid off...just a plan on how to do it. It is going to take years. That is where the Dems blew it. If they would have done that..they would be golden right now. I also think the Dems did not do a good enough job of explaining their spending or listening to the people. Lack of communication or rather effective communication has really hurt this congress. A lot of people feel they are not being listened to and that they are not being told the whole truth. Congress's approval ratings during Bush was in the 20s. Now it is in the teens. That should tell them something right there. Peopel were not happy with congress before....but instead of doing things to instill trust in them by the american people...they continued the bull headed actions of the last congress.

I wouldn't say that this standard of judging government naysayers today is a bunk standard, but I will say that I find it to be a little too picky for me to use. It's certainly not my standard. Is it good to give a "booyah" to somebody? Probably only within the circle. And to that end, everybody just circle-jerks around a cause and shouts "booyah" anyway. So what's the point? Waiting for Palin news is more effective. Stating that you want government to stop spending out of control doesn't necessarily mean that you want them to stop spending altogether. Stating that you want government to cut some entitlement programs doesn't mean that you want government to cut every one of them. Obviously, this is obvious. But... booyahs are the fuel for politics. You can still eat at Burger King even if you hate the Whopper and onion rings. To me, it's not a difficult thing to understand. A person can feel the war was necessary and that a push for socialized medicine is not. Where's the beef with that? Maybe a person feels exactly the opposite. Where's the beef with that? Maybe a person wants their Medicare left alone or increased since they've been paying into it all their lives, and don't want it cut to make room for more entitlement spending elsewhere. And maybe vice versa. What needs to be explained? We are Borg?

isn't 'unconstitutional' often used to mean 'has nothing whatsoever to do with the constitution but i don't like it' and of course 'unamerican' always means 'not really me'?

Yeah, that's what I would like to know. Republicans b!+ch and complain about spending, when in fact, they themselves have done a lot of wasteful spending. Yeah, let's bring up the war. During Bush's eight years in office, this country has been in war, and how much money is being spent on that? Billions? Trillions? More money than most people can count, right? What about all of those Tax Breaks that Bush gave us? Wouldn't that be considered wasteful spending?

Don't forget the Democrats voted for almost all of President Bush's spending programs including the war.

How is saying somebody is "unAmerican" unconstitutional? I am absolutely confused at your point. I am a conservative so am mostly against government spending but I d believe that our tax money should be used more for defense than welfare. This is a country where opportunity is everywhere. If you choose not to grasp it, thats your problem. Not mine.

ZephyrSun, I want to know where those conservertives were also. If you ask me they are just trying to follow their leader Rush something.