Are Republicans the big spenders?

[jpbalkenende]

A female Paultard? This simply can't be!

[emilyekins]

haha

[ChessClubMusic]

yeah a democrat not living on handouts!

[bluebudgie21]

;o)

[haegong]

1. republicans

2. republicans

3. republicans

[akgregor]

The US is the only remaining superpower in the world, yet we still spend trillions of (accounted) dollars every year on Defense projects (probably way more, because congress votes blindly on black ops). And yet there are hundreds of thousands of american citizens starving in our own country, mostly children. War is not just A business, but THE business, the oldest industry in the world!

[eric5335]

@akgregor Eh industry??? Actually prostitution is the oldest industry in the world! There have always been wars. And when war is a business, why has there NOT been any profit yet?

[Deep13lue]

We want to "reform" our welfare programs........ right

That means cut.

It is the basic republican ideology that the government is not efficient and should not have any welfare programs. That means no more medicare, social security, etc.

[emilyekins]

Almost, your comment suffers from the "either or" fallacy. Either the government does it right and should offer these programs, or the government does it poorly should not offer these programs. Instead, you should interpret it this way: sometimes programs don't have the desired outcome and we must reevaluate and often reduce spending.

[jpbalkenende]

Tell me sweetheart, which 15 countries are wealthier than the USA and why are they almost all (2 dictatorial exceptions) more socialistic than the USA? And how come they have lower poverty rates, less inequality and so on. And how come inequality has increased so dramatically the last 3 decades after decreasing so much during and after FDR? Reevaluating means looking at the stats, I suggest you do. I just hope you're more of a pragmatist than ideologue.

[emilyekins]

Well sure, I'm all about the stats. First, it depends on how you measure wealth, right? Such as GDP, GDP per capita (ppp), the gini coefficient (not really wealth, since USSR pretty equal but economically crappy)..? Also, we likely also care about political and economic freedoms, so how to the countries compare? What about HDI? (stats in next comment box:

[metteann]

Ron Paul is the only one who has a grasp on the subject. Throwing more money at a problem doesn't fix the problem.

[wfillmore1]

Its absolutely shameful that all the candidates except one (DR. Ron Paul) are for more and bigger fed govt. I am getting fed up with people actually thinking these candidates are conservative or even Rep. Maybe I am in the wrong party or even the wrong country. I am getting tired of having to explain to people that Mike Huckabee is not a conservative capitalist but a liberal socialist. Save the Republic, restore the constitution, keep capitalism, and for God's sake wake up and vote for Ron Paul!

[juanthestabber]

So maybe there are some cool chicks in LA

Awesome question. I don't think most of the candidates care about small Gov't anymore though.

[nrev79]

ron paul does

[randomDudeDeux]

I want to see the debate!!

[JensdawgZ]

That is why I like Ron Paul so much.

[yankees12054]

you mean "spending?" oh and good job gettin on CNN

[bookender]

Good question. It would be enlightening to watch the candidates squirm!

[ilyak20]

except for Ron Paul

[haimmortal]

Best question ever.

[dnHooligan]

i don't know much.(period) are the f.b.i., c.i.a., and d.a.r.e. federal programs?