Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson Says Male Lawmakers Shouldn’t Vote On Abortion Laws At All

[igglepoof]

Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson is one of the most vocal and outspoken members of the GOP today and he’s not afraid to openly criticize his party when it deserves it. Simpson once again gave his party a tongue lashing during an interview with the Los Angeles Times, slamming the Republican Party and the Tea Party for their refusal to

Comments

[the_physicist]

why is he still in the republican party?

edit: i just mean, he doesn't sound much like one?

[beoweasel]

He's a fiscal conservative to the extreme.

[the_physicist]

;) yeah, i'm just being difficult. i know the republicans have other policies other than bigotry really. they jsut hide them well currently. XD

[recorded]

you're not being difficult. srsly, if you're not a bigot you can't identify as a republican.
they just need to give up and start a new ~fiscal conservative party~.

[curseangel]

Except even that would be ridiculously bigoted, because so-called "fiscal conservatism" is always rooted in bigotry and disgustingness. People who call themselves fiscal conservatives want to get rid of programs that help the poor and disadvantaged, get rid of laws that protect minorities, and basically make cuts to every government program that actually helps real people. It's a really gross viewpoint and honestly not much better than flat-out Republicanism. It's just less religious.

[recorded]

lol fair enough

[littlelauren86]

Yup, and those "fiscal conservatives" never seem to have a problem with corporate welfare, subsidies, tax cuts for the rich, etc.

[sfrlz]

True, but debate on how much we're spending and on what services is a necessary debate that would happen even if we were all fiscal liberals. So I guess what I'm saying is that if the Republican party did turn into a fiscal conservative party, without all the social issues, I would at least be happy to talk about some debatable issues and not just "hurr hurr abortion is murder" all the time.

[curseangel]

I understand what you're saying, but it still wouldn't be "without all the social issues" because those social issues are deeply ingrained into the party line of social conservatives - the links between disadvantaged groups and poverty, lack of healthcare, and other things which fiscal conservatives think we don't need to deal with have been proven and cannot be ignored. Fiscal conservatives think they can just ignore the way racism, sexism, etc. interact with the need for social programs like welfare and subsidized health care, but that isn't true, and there is a lot of inherent bigotry in their views on the subject. Their POVs on the budget and how social programs that aid people - in large part disadvantaged people - are really gross, and I wouldn't call the existence of programs like welfare and social security "debatable issues". Fiscal conservatives would.

[the_physicist]

i guess i don't have too much hope for such a party either. XD

plus it would depend on whether that party can agree on whether they want to balance the books by increasing tax revenues or by cutting all current government spending. as this is a republican fiscal conservative my guess would be it's about cutting spending, not tax increases....?

[underlankers]

Fiscal conservatism as the GOP practices it is bigotry, as their idea of cuts is to screw over everyone they don't like. That's many things, but not fiscal policy.

[perthro]

Exactly. I'm "fiscally conservative" in that I can see that if giving access to birth control for free saves $3 for every $1 it spends or so, that's good math, and I'm all for it. Giving people taxpayer-paid healthcare is fiscally conservative in that the healthier my workers are, the better work they do, and the better they can support themselves... and that saves us money and suffering in the long run.

Fiscal conservatism as it's practiced by politicians is just as much of a sham as the Republican "we gotta get the government out of your private lives- and into your vaginas!" bit. ACTUAL fiscal conservatism is not evil.