Why I'm A Liberal

Via Think Progress, Tom Delay sums up the conservative approach to governing-

The 109th Congress set a record for the fewest number of days worked - 218 between the House and Senate combined. As of last October, only 16 percent of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing. 85 percent of Americans wish Congress had accomplished more this year. And last week, lawmakers left town without passing “nine out of 11 appropriations bills needed to fully fund federal activity for the 2007 fiscal year.”

The reason? Conservatives are supposed to be lazy. At least that’s what Tom DeLay told The Hill in an interview yesterday:

"Conservatives don’t go to pass laws. Only in this town do you count the number of bills you pass and are signed by the president as a success. I count the fewer bills the best and those bills ought to be repealed instead of passing."

By DeLay’s logic, the 109th must have been the most conservative Congress in history.

Yup. That's modern conservatism in a nutshell... don't ask much of us and we won't ask much of you. They don't believe the government should do anything for people (anything above the bare minimum is basically socialism to them) or have a say in anything (unless a Republican is in power, then they want unlimited control). This type of 'dog eat dog' mentality to government and business has brought us such scandals as Enron, an outsourced American workforce, Heckuva Job Brownie, a record deficit for future generations, and infected lettuce at Taco Bell.

Last year, as we watched government at all levels fail the citizens of New Orleans in their darkest hour, I said "Please let this be an end to the era of Reagan Republicans, those who view the government as a hindrance and not a help. This belief is an ideological fallacy. They have spent the last 20+ years trying to dismantle the federal government, yet somehow spending more $$$ and creating more debt than the Democrats ever could. Not only does this make no sense, it is wrong and I plead with the Republicans to rethink this ideology. It does not work and it has failed."

That accountability moment came and went, but I'm sure it has left some lingering anger.

I am glad Tom Delay has decided we can still have him to kick around even though his old seat is now in Democratic hands. His shameless rantings will remind people why we just elected a Democratic majority and also why the Reagan-style conservativism that has ruled our country for 25 years (as popular as the man himself ended up being) is bad. As imperfect as it is, we need the government. And when done right (think New Deal), its policies could have a lasting positive impact for generations and can also inspire individuals to do great things.

There are many reasons I am a liberal, but this is a big one. They can call liberals cynical if they want to (I just call it realistic), but at least we believe that the government has a more important role to play in our society than stopping gays from marrying, throwing out a tax cut here and there, and bombing things.

And with new polls showing strong initial support for the Democratic congress (By 59% to 21%, people want Congress rather the President setting policy; more than 7 in 10 support Democratic legislative plans; etc), I am hopeful that the sea change we experienced last month was not merely a temporary rebuke of current events, but rather a reflection that people are realizing that the whole imperial court that we have had-- not just the Emperor himself-- were not wearing any clothes. It's true we deserve a government as good as its people, and we also deserve one that cares about them too.