Definition of Conservative, from Lyn Nofziger

courtesy of my Dad:

“I would define a conservative, first as one who believes in the Constitution as it is written. That takes care of free speech, freedom of religion, the right to petition the government, the right to keep and bear arms and, in the words of William O. Douglas in one of his saner moments, ‘the right to be let alone. Second, a conservative believes in small, limited government at every level. Along with this he believes strongly in individual responsibility. That is, a person or a family should take care of itself and turn for help to government only when all other means have been exhausted. It also means that society, before government, has a duty to take care of its own. Government should be a resource of last resort. Third, a conservative believes taxes should be levied for the purpose of financing the limited responsibilities of government such as providing for the common defense, catching and incarcerating criminals, minting money and filling potholes. Taxes should not be levied for the purpose of redistributing wealth... One other thing I think a conservative believes is that the parents, not government, are and should be responsible for the upbringing and behavior of their children.” —Lyn Nofziger

Courtesy of me:
/rant

Notice there is no mention of religion (other than freedom of), sanctity of marriage, abortion, etc and all those other things that current people try to chime in when talking from a Republican point of view. Just live your life, and I will live mine. I really like the statement of redistribution of wealth...Which exactly what they (ok, democrats) are chiming about when an oil company actually profits on 10% of their investment. Wouldn't you be pissed if the government decided to windfall tax you because you made 10% of your investments? You invest 100 dollars, you make 10. Oil companies invest 100 billion dollars, and profit 10 billion. That's not windfall folks, that is conservative and smart investment.

Go after anyone who makes over 20% if you want, then you will get Google, Microsoft, most banks and all the pharmaceutical companies. Start complaining about the price of your medicine, and get over the price of gas.

But since we all own mutual funds in those companies as well, I would still be pissed if the government decided to tax a windfall on any company that profits over 20%. That is the whole point of capitalism, right? I'm just trying to make a point. The people who bitch about the oil companies are uneducated or poor or ignorant, and the politicians are just placating them because they know the facts. Because they do know the facts and just want your votes. Like when they hike to the Mobil station on top of the hill by the Watergate, and then drive away in their SUVs. Change your lifestyle habits, cause there ain't a change o' coming about the price of gas.

Tomorrow, I will continue my rant about the absurdity of ethanol and how that is costing us more money and escalating the price of food (ie, "commodities").

/rant