Is Bush a fiscal conservative?

[millwx]

Sorry FreedomBurns.  There is more sides of conservatism than that.  Someone on another thread had a fairly decent breakout of conservatism.

MODU, I know you're not giving a glowing endorsement of Bush's fiscal conservativeness, but you completely miss the notion that govt spending might have something to do with deficits.  Govt spending under Bush has increased... dramatically.  And the Iraq war, war on terror, and 9/11 cannot be blamed.  Discretionary spending has gone up.  Much of the spending from these wars is not in the discretionary spending.

Bush isn't even a social conservative in the old fashioned sense.  On the social side "conservative" used to mean pro-civil rights, but anti-entitlement.  Bush has spoken out in favor of affirmative action (after some political pressure).  Meanwhile, since the injection of the religious right into the Republican party in the late '60s and early '70s most Republicans, including Bush, oppose the hot button civil rights of the day that have religion undertones.  While I'll admit that it's partly how you define "conservative", in my book Bush isn't even socially conservative.  Socially right wing?  Yes.  Conservative?  No.

Sorry for the diatribe.  I just get infuriated by this whole discussion.  If you look at the old fashioned Republican party... from Abraham Lincoln, to the party that championed civil rights in the 60s... the current party doesn't resemble this at all.  And why does it anger me so?  Because folks like myself who hold to the true conservative premise are left out in the cold with no representation... and it's largely because the Republican party has been hijacked by special interests and the religious right.

Anyway, enough of my tirade.  Point is, Bush is in no way conservative.  On any front.  In any way shape or form.  "English" is right... he's Authoritarian.  Sadly, most of the Rep party supports this platform.  That's just frightening.  And it's one of the reasons I'd rather vote for a liberal schmuck like Kerry, who I can't stand (and I lived in Massachusetts for 21 years... I'm intimately familiar with Kerry), than Fuhrer Bush.

[millwx]

I hope for your sake and the sake of the country that the traditional conservatives are able to retake control over the Republican Party.  The neo-cons are pushing a lot of moderates into active liberals.  The face of the country is changing.

I've given up hope.  The true conservatives (referred to as "moderates" in the current era's perverted logic) are losing ground.  People like Snowe and Chaffee are laughed at "liberals" within their party.  They are not gaining traction.  They are being marginalized.  Some just get frustrated and leave, like Jeffords.  And most Republicans of today, when Jeffords left, cheered because they got rid of him.  Pathetic.

The only party espousing traditional GOP values is the Libertarian Party.  Sadly, rabid pro-gun people have run to the Libertarian party.  Many of them are more socially right-wing (I've even seen it among "Libertarian" members even on this forum).  Check out the Libertarian platform.  It is very "live and let live", if not left-wing (but non-entitlement) in its social platform.  Now, it stands the risk of being hijacked by the right wing as well.  I pray it doesn't.  It might give me a "political home".  But I never see the Republicans recovering from thier "disease".  I left the Republican party two years ago, and I can never foresee returning.  Regardless of their holier-than-thou big-tent professing, I guarantee you I'd not be welcome.  They are not interested in a reasonable discussion of ideas.  Follow their "liberal right-wing" platform to the letter or get out.