I'm a lifelong conservative activist and I'm backing Barack Obama

Not sure how I feel about this. An UNREPENTANT supply-sider choosing the lesser of two evils (in HIS mind).

But he sees something he can work with... I guess this actually worries me

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I'm a lifelong conservative activist and I'm backing Barack Obama
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/07/16/2008-07-16_im_a_lifelong_conservative_activist_and_.html

BY LARRY HUNTER

I'm a lifelong Republican - a supply-side conservative. I worked in the Reagan White House. I was the chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for five years. In 1994, I helped write the Republican Contract with America. I served on Bob Dole's presidential campaign team and was chief economist for Jack Kemp's Empower America.

This November, I'm voting for Barack Obama.

When I first made this decision, many colleagues were shocked. How could I support a candidate with a domestic policy platform that's antithetical to almost everything I believe in?

...snip....

Plus, when it comes to domestic issues, I don't take Obama at his word.

...snip....

Besides, I suspect Obama is more free-market friendly than he lets on. He taught at the University of Chicago, a hotbed of right-of-center thought. His economic advisers, notably Austan Goolsbee, recognize that ordinary citizens stand to gain more from open markets than from government meddling. That's got to rub off.

...snip...

When it comes to health care, I am hoping Obama quietly recognizes that a crusade against pharmaceutical companies would result in the opposite of any intended effect.

... even though he (an economist) agrees with the Rethugs on the economy, the unnecessary wars and the trampling of our Constitution are MUCH more harmful to our nation than the economy right now. Our economy can and will come back from bad economic policy. But gutting the Constitution and waging illegal wars can destroy this nation. That's why he's going with Obama.

I hope one day he'll realize that.

Reaganomics was all about the MIC.

I recovered from the Reagan-Bush years under Clinton. And it will recover from the Bush years under Obama.

I have NO RESPECT for anybody who calls himself an economist if he's still running around trying to defend Reaganomics.

:scared: scary stuff. Don't expect any sort of blue collar worker's revolution under Obama. His staff is stacked with Chicago School muscle.

Real conservatives realize what a fraud the neocons are. I don't for a minute expect them to be on board with a Dem agenda, but if they vote for Obama or stay home I'll be really happy.

and I am not supporting Obama.

I will vote for Obama as the lesser of two bad choices.

But I'm not voting FOR Obama. Not since his FISA crap.

I voted FOR Edwards however.

And he would be as right about that as he is about his other list of horrible misunderestimations.

When talking about conservatives, one has to forget the aphorism that "a stuck clock is right twice a day". In their case, a clock running backwards is never right. But if he is going to vote for Obama, that's great, just do it, and later, when his track record on predictions is still zero, he can shut up and go away.

In a sense, there's no such thing as a free market - unless you fancy being paid with privately-printed money. To the extend that we're talking about "free trade," I think the consensus is that international trade is going to exist, and it should be as free and (wait for it) as FAIR as possible.

I personally have no problems with stuff being made in China as long as the people who make it get a decent wage and their health and safety are protected (hint: they're not). Fair Trade says we'll have trade agreements with countries who agree to a level playing field and to support basic worker rights and environmental standards. And I think Obama is on record as supporting that.

It's not free, or fair, trade when China slaps a 20% tariff on our exports while we only put a 2% one on their imports. Pretty simple to understand.

Driving poor farmers out of business and into the city to look for work, where wages have slashed due to the lack of "anti-competitive" labor protections.

But there is no good solution to end them. Unlike tariffs and quotas, the power over agriculture subsidies is vested in Congress which is responsive only to their constituents many of whom are farmers.

Democrats, on the whole, are even worse on farm subsidies than Republicans are, although Republicans don't do jack shit about it either.

There's a whole bunch of people in the U.S. making a whole bunch of money off Chinese imports. Here's hoping that the gravy train derails on January 21, 2009.

Obama has little interest in ratting the neoliberal status quo.

It doesn't end there. What is a "decent wage"? When you work with a gun to your head and unions are outlawed there can be no free or fair trade. China and others need to enact legal systems that not only protect its workers but its citizens as well and are serious about their authority. China also needs to work on some of its very serious environmental issues like hazardous waste and other pollutants. When we see China becoming serious about tackling some of these issues then we should be willing to talk trade and not before.

As long as He goes in a voting booth and votes Obama. Good news.

The far right thinks Obama is more right wing than he lets on and the far left thinks he is more left wing than he lets on.

In presidential politics, I believe that is known as success.

:evilgrin:

why?? a vote is a vote, and a vote from someone like this is extremely significant...

this is great news

He sees something that tells him Obama will be more 'centrist' (meaning Right-leaning these days)

After the FISA thing I'm not sure which wing of the bird Obama is 'faking out'

sorry, I didn't catch that at first.

but that's one less vote for McCain, if he is being truthful about really voting for Obama

Is there a chance of an Obama voting group like PUMA?

Nothing he said bothers me; they're just his speculations.

get back to funding our major university systems and maybe we will find cures for the diseases that now plague us. Alzeheimer's being one.

If the pharmaceutical companies had been in charge, we'd still be keeping our children in during the summer afraid that they would catch polio.