What's a "True Conservative"

[Shane]

I'm a GOD fearing conservative who is against liberal ideas, actions and agendas.. Abortion being at the top of the list..
I have voted that way my whole life, for the "conservative career politician" only to be repeatedly let down.. Every single time... I had to do something different this time.. Insanity is the key word

The problem we have is a "liberal" is a liberal and that's it.. They are against all forms of conservatism..
Now we have a "conservative", a "Christian Conservative", a "Staunch Conservative", a "Constitutional Conservative", a "Sorta Liberal Conservative" and the list goes on and on... We are so busy trying to prove which is best for our party that we lose sight of the true fight.. We lose. They win.. Divide and conquer. That love it..

You didn't have to vote for a pro-abortion lifelong liberal this time. There were several better choices. But not anymore.

[Shane]

For what it's worth, this last few months has been very eye-opening to me and everyone else too. It's been shocking to see how few people are committed to the constitution, how many people are, in one way or another, advocates of bigger and more powerful government, and how politically divided Christians actually are. Who knew??

[Traildust]

This thread reminds me of when you buy a new truck and how much you love it.......then that first payment comes due.

[PondPopper]

You didn't have to vote for a pro-abortion lifelong liberal this time. There were several better choices. But not anymore.

I intially voted for Carson and Huckabee was my 2nd choice. They never had a chance. I couldn't pull the trigger on Cruz. He had 3 things working against, from day 1, to get my vote.

[PondPopper]

For what it's worth, this last few months has been very eye-opening to me and everyone else too. It's been shocking to see how few people are committed to the constitution, how many people are, in one way or another, advocates of bigger and more powerful government, and how politically divided Christians actually are. Who knew??

The constitution is there. Always has been. They ammend it at will. We have no say so over that.. Our elected POLOTICIANs, the ones you and I have voted for over the years, are the ones that let many of these changes take place. That will never stop..

[Landrover]

It really depends on what issues we are talking about. I believe most conservatives want smaller govertment, less "free" programs/lower taxes and have a "up by your bootstraps mentatility". You want it, you earn it so to speak.

Most liberals or as they like to called progressives think the government should be the answer to all the problems and issues people have. Remember when Hillary said it takes a village, lmao.

I do believe that someone can be conservative fiscally and moderate to somewhat liberal on social issues. Look back in the 60's and 70's, and you will find the New England Republicans which is the Bush lineage and Rockfeller Republicans. Hell, we had a resourgance of them to elect Pataki three times in New York, maybe the most liberal large state!

I really am tired of the extreme right wing of the party right now...the fact that y'alls golden boy "**** Cruz" got stomped anywhere that wasn't hardcore conservative tells you the limited appeal of your message. I don't think Trump is perfect but we had a process and elections. He won the elections and votes. It's time to get behind him and make sure that we dont get stuck with a third term of Obama aka Hillary...

When I grew up in the 70's anyone could call my parents, threaten to whip my butt, pick me up hitch-hiking to or from practice, or feed me lunch until my folks came home. I bet 99% of TBHers had the same experience .........that would be, "it takes a village!" Hillary took the meaning and literally used it for HER political gain. Secondly, all this get behind Trump discussion. He still has to earn OUR votes by giving us insight into his plans/appointments/etc. As of today, Trump & Hillary are no more than a third term of Obama in my rudimentary assessment at this point. I truly hope he ends the hyperbole and get down to brass tacks. Odd how his BEST speech by far was delivered concisely and with few gaffs......even with a teleprompter. I will go with that Trump all day and twice on Sunday. His "off the cuff" rhetoric is just that, and appears to be tailored for an aspect of our society that I don't relate to.

Do you not think we need accountability by the government?

Ah, yep! Starting with term limits.

Of course we do. And one of the best ways to improve government accountability and reduce government corruption and waste is to reduce the size and scope of the federal government - get them involved in less. Government is the problem, not the solution.

Beat me to it!

There is no getting rid of government. That can't happen. It's a pipe dream.. Impossible. We can't function without it.
Big government isn't the BIG problem. It is all the corrupt, agenda driven, bought politicians, on both sides, running the big government. They are failing miserably in every catagory..
If our elected officials would start working for the citizens of this country, with our safety and best interest in mind, big government would not be such a problem as it is today.

I concur........limit it to service not a career and lots of the issues simply fall away! Do we have the political will...........nah.........but that is telling in itself!

I didn't say get rid of government. I said reduce the size and scope of it. Big government IS the problem. The only possible way to reduce government corruption and abuse is to reduce the size and scope of government. The idea that we could somehow get all elected officials in government to work for the citizens is the pipe dream. That's just not ever gonna happen. There is too much money and power in big government. That, in and of itself, is corrupting. Limiting government's size and scope by returning to the government established and described in the Constitution is the only way we'll ever stand a chance of reducing government corruption. You can rearrange the name tags on all the office doors in Washington all you want, but that'll never fix the problem.

Oh, and we'll never get rid of all government corruption and abuse. The best we can do is reduce and limit it. Can't do that without reigning in the size of the beast.

Yes and Yes! It aint really that hard but I can assure you that both of these candidates aint got a interest in that.

Both of these candidates will grow the govt even more.

U got it sir! WE are in trouble.

You didn't have to vote for a pro-abortion lifelong liberal this time. There were several better choices. But not anymore.

Yep, with all the yelling about conservatism we definitely passed on the folks that supposedly fit the bill!!! LMAO!!

For what it's worth, this last few months has been very eye-opening to me and everyone else too. It's been shocking to see how few people are committed to the constitution, how many people are, in one way or another, advocates of bigger and more powerful government, and how politically divided Christians actually are. Who knew??

Cha-ching...........thus my post above!!! Lots of hot air but when the moment of truth was presented WE went with more yelling, screaming, accusing and pure northeastern bravado! WE are truly a fickeled bunch but then again we have FREEdom of choice, thus no buyers remorse will be accepted!

[miket]

For what it's worth, this last few months has been very eye-opening to me and everyone else too. It's been shocking to see how few people are committed to the constitution, how many people are, in one way or another, advocates of bigger and more powerful government, and how politically divided Christians actually are. Who knew??

Yep. As I have said before, America is dying. Not only are the liberals killing it, so are the so called conservatives. Many on this forum. If you are for big govt, you are not a conservative. Trump is not one. Period. The constitution is clearly set up to limit govt, if you are for big govt you are against the constitution and therefore not conservative. A large percentage here are either fooled or lying to themselves. Flame away, wont change the facts.

[Mike Javi Cooper]

While I firmly believe that our government has become overly cumbersome and is definitely full of egomaniacal self-important demigods I think a lot of so called conservatives need to take a step back from the edge and realize the small government ship sailed on a one way trip more than 150 years ago..

[texansfan]

How can you have "small govt" with 330,000,000 people living in your land?

Seems pretty unrealistic to me.

You can't even have a "small" govt dealing with just the 30,000,000 people we have living in Texas.

Heck, look our education system. The different ISD have different boards all the way up to the state DOE to keep them all at bay.

It's a mess!

[texansfan]

The constitution is clearly set up to limit govt,

The constitution has constantly been changed/upgraded since not even 2 years after it was enacted.
If you go back 100 years, the constitution in that form would not have allowed your mother, wife or daughters to vote.
Are you OK with that?

That "2nd" that you speak of was an AFTER THOUGHT to the original document which is why it is called an AMENDMENT.

Things change.

[texansfan]

Yep, with all the yelling about conservatism we definitely passed on the folks that supposedly fit the bill!!! LMAO!!

160 years ago a "conservative" would not have allowed you to be a free man and speak your mind.

See, "conservatism" changes with time.

160 years ago a person would thought to be foolish if they said they'd allow a black man to look them in their eyes or even set foot on their porch.

Now???

You're a pariah if you hold those sentiments.

Who is to say 160 years from now we won't be looked at as pariah if we won't let a dude in a dress use the bathroom stall next to our 11 year old daughter.

Now, (in the state of Texas) you're a fool if you'd allow that.


So, you're screaming you want to be a "conservative". But how "conservative" or how far back in "conservatism" do you want to go?
1875 or 1825?
1916 or 1816?
Should we only use the initial 10 amendments and get rid of all the others?

What type of "conservative" are you?

[Mike Javi Cooper]

Small government is a pipe dream, a practical impossibility given the population numbers alone. We are controlled by the government, we haven't controlled the government for the last two hundred years or so.... But the real problem lies in WHO does CONTROL the government.... that's the real question ,since it isn't the average citizen....

[jerp]

The constitution has constantly been changed/upgraded since not even 2 years after it was enacted.
If you go back 100 years, the constitution in that form would not have allowed your mother, wife or daughters to vote.
Are you OK with that?

That "2nd" that you speak of was an AFTER THOUGHT to the original document which is why it is called an AMENDMENT.

Things change.

All true, however that is the point. It was written containing procedures to change via amendments, and could theoretically be entirely rewritten via a Constitutional convention. If someone does not like parts of the constitution then they should fight to change it through the means that are legal and have been in place since the founding. What constitutionalists object to is politicians and judges eliminating the separation of powers and coming up with "rights" out of thin air that clearly do not exist in the document just because they think it's "fair", "the times and popular sentiment have changed" or they just think it is the right thing to do. Remember that Jim Crow laws were legal because although they were clearly unconstitutional, they were supported by popular sentiment - until they weren't - and the Constitution prevailed.

As far as smaller government goes, the Federal Government is always going to be big, it's a matter of what they stick their nose in and what they don't. Over the decades they have come to control many times more than the constitution gives them the power to. The bigger the state, the smaller the citizen.

[miket]

The constitution has constantly been changed/upgraded since not even 2 years after it was enacted.
If you go back 100 years, the constitution in that form would not have allowed your mother, wife or daughters to vote.
Are you OK with that?

That "2nd" that you speak of was an AFTER THOUGHT to the original document which is why it is called an AMENDMENT.

Things change.

I dont see where I said "2nd" at all but it is beside the point anyway. Enumerating rights after the fact ( as in the bill of rights-in which lies the 2nd ) was arguably a mistake in the first place. A fact that was argued with vigor before it was adopted. Enumerating them gave the impression that they were an "afterthought" when they were NOT. They were granted by "our Creator" not by man or the Constitution or amendments. ( another clear indicator that you are not near as informed as you pretend )

As stated above, it is true that we lost the small govt battle many years ago, the war is still being waged by the few true patriots left.

[Landrover]

160 years ago a "conservative" would not have allowed you to be a free man and speak your mind.

See, "conservatism" changes with time.

160 years ago a person would thought to be foolish if they said they'd allow a black man to look them in their eyes or even set foot on their porch.

Now???

You're a pariah if you hold those sentiments.

Who is to say 160 years from now we won't be looked at as pariah if we won't let a dude in a dress use the bathroom stall next to our 11 year old daughter.

Now, (in the state of Texas) you're a fool if you'd allow that.


So, you're screaming you want to be a "conservative". But how "conservative" or how far back in "conservatism" do you want to go?
1875 or 1825?
1916 or 1816?
Should we only use the initial 10 amendments and get rid of all the others?

What type of "conservative" are you?

Zero idea how you got that out of my post or any of my posts in the last 15 years? Responding to that hyperbole would be useless, it is not the subject being discussed nor the point of my response.
I simply noted: WE passed on what supposedly is KEY to saving our Union.........or maybe it is NOT so KEY to right our sinking ship? Heck, maybe the ship aint sinking! WE dang sure about to find out! It is odd that in this election cycle when it should be a SIMPLE win by the conservative side of the Republican party it literally went down in flames in favor of liberal acting Republican......lol!