The evidence is in. Hillary Clinton is completely insane. She is so fundamentally dangerous to the nation and the basic rights of individual citizens, that as she moves farther to the front of the Democratic pack with Republican candidates looking like weaker and weaker challengers, we are reaching the point of desperation, when almost any alternative has to be given serious consideration.
We've got a $600 billion (so far) war going on which Clinton isn't likely to stop for five years or more at another half-trillion in spending, an accumulating budget deficit which is out of control, a bankrupt social security system, and a ballooning Medicare debt which will be half of the total federal budget within a decade. Yet in the past few weeks Clinton has made the centerpiece of her presidential campaign a disastrous health care proposal which would cost at least $110 billion a year and she has now compounded that insanity by proposing another $20 billion a year to give each child born in the US a $5000 bond just for being born. It's the megalomaniac's version of the old 'chicken in every pot' promise taken to ridiculous extremes.
We can only hope that she's just being a politician and promising voters anything to get their votes - hell, she's trying to buy their votes at $5000 a shot. We might get lucky and find out that she was lying all along. But if she did follow through on her plans it would require repealing all of the Bush-era tax reforms plus raising taxes enormously beyond the pre-2000 levels. To advocate this kind of spending is insanely irresponsible. It ought to disqualify her as a presidential candidate altogether, but voters don't think ahead or realize that the money to pay for these programs has to come from somewhere, and that means your pockets and mine — pockets which already feel awfully light. Deliberate, unrestrained spending this great can only be seen as a deliberate assault on the economy intended to bankrupt the nation and leave us with no choice but to accept a command-and-control economy complete with total income and asset forfeiture and central economic planning.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - gonzo marx
no chance on Gore, imo
he's rightfully sick and tired of being run through the mill by folks in the GOP noise machine, and after 2000, why bother?
this bit i found interesting - "We've got a $600 billion (so far) war going on which Clinton isn't likely to stop for five years or more at another half-trillion in spending, an accumulating budget deficit which is out of control, a bankrupt social security system, and a ballooning Medicare debt which will be half of the total federal budget within a decade."
it appears that the Author might actually be waking up to the bullshit pulled in the last 7 years...one can only Dream, i guess
Excelsior?
2 - RJ
I mostly agree with you on Hillary (although I find her to be much more rational and realistic than John Edwards, and the $5,000.00 per baby idea isn't entirely loopy).
But I had to disagree with you on Al Gore. He may have positioned himself as a "moderate" when he was a Congress-critter from Tennessee, but he's just a liberal-left as the rest of the Democrats running for President.
I am absolutely certain that a Gore Presidency, coupled with a Democrat-controlled Congress, would include the following:
- Payroll tax hikes
- Socialized medicine
- Ratification of Kyoto, or the equivalent
- Increased gasoline taxes
- Retreat from Iraq
- Abandonment, or at least neglect, of our National Missile Defense system
- Leftist Supreme Court nominees, in the mold of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Endless Justice Department investigations into the previous administration
- Really boring and obnoxious performances at press conferences
Want a Democrat who can win in 2008, and who wouldn't be a complete failure? How about Bob Kerrey.
3 - NYPopulist
Thanks for this article, you lay out many of the reasons why Gore should run. I just want to point your attention to America for Gore. America for Gore is a coalition of 18 Draft Gore members (and growing), including the two biggest players - draftgore.com & algore.org - and have been very active since its inception. I urge your readers to check out the many ballot initiatives going on and the very successful $.02 Campaign we launched last month. Thanks!
4 - Dave Nalle
he's rightfully sick and tired of being run through the mill by folks in the GOP noise machine, and after 2000, why bother?
Because Gore does seem to have some sense of civic duty, I think. As for the 'GOP noise machine', if Gore wasn't quite so sanctimonious and focused solely on global warming, the right would be a lot more friendly towards him. Even as it is now, their argument isn't with Gore so much as it is with the cultish and anti-American character of the global warming movement.
this bit i found interesting - "We've got a $600 billion (so far) war going on which Clinton isn't likely to stop for five years or more at another half-trillion in spending, an accumulating budget deficit which is out of control, a bankrupt social security system, and a ballooning Medicare debt which will be half of the total federal budget within a decade."
it appears that the Author might actually be waking up to the bullshit pulled in the last 7 years...one can only Dream, i guess
I've written about every single thing I mention in the paragraph you quote before. I've written complete articles on most of those topics. Where were you then?
Dave
5 - gonzo marx
"As for the 'GOP noise machine', if Gore wasn't quite so sanctimonious and focused solely on global warming, the right would be a lot more friendly towards him."
bullshit, do you have NO memory of the 2000 campaign?
and that was before "global warming" now, wasn't it
you yourself even mock the "lockbox", and yet bemoan what's happening to SS/Medicaid...think about it for a moment, eh?
as for the rest of your Articles and th elike...when you make a solid point, i ALWAYS say so...when i think you are factually incorrect, or full of shit..i also say so
where have YOU been? oh, that's right...defending the Administration because you don't like to see them get picked on...
puh-leeEEEEeezze...fucking spare me, ok?
Excelsior?
6 - Dave Nalle
bullshit, do you have NO memory of the 2000 campaign?
It was 6 years ago. My recollection is that it was just exactly as bad as every other campaign since I was a kid. Surely you're old enough to remember what Nixon did to his opponents. Don't even try to tell me what was done to Gore was bad in comparison to the kind of stuff which has gone on in other campaigns.
and that was before "global warming" now, wasn't it
Yes, but since that time it's been the GW issue he's taken flak for. Surely he wasn't so naive as to expect NOT to be attacked by the opposition in the presidential campaign?
you yourself even mock the "lockbox", and yet bemoan what's happening to SS/Medicaid...think about it for a moment, eh?
Gonzo, even you have to admit that the 'lockbox' statement sounded idiotic and patronizing. He deserved then and now to be mocked for it, especially considering that a lockbox isn't much use when you have nothing to actually put in it.
where have YOU been? oh, that's right...defending the Administration because you don't like to see them get picked on...
Unmerited criticism is what it is, whether the target is Gore or Bush or anyone else.
puh-leeEEEEeezze...fucking spare me, ok?
Extremely unlikely.
Dave
7 - Dave Nalle
But I had to disagree with you on Al Gore. He may have positioned himself as a "moderate" when he was a Congress-critter from Tennessee, but he's just a liberal-left as the rest of the Democrats running for President.
'
It's actually not true. He started out genuinely conservative and moved towards the left in order to become moderate when he started looking at national office.
I am absolutely certain that a Gore Presidency, coupled with a Democrat-controlled Congress, would include the following:
- Payroll tax hikes
- Socialized medicine
- Ratification of Kyoto, or the equivalent
Actually, Gore is currently no longer pushing Kyoto, but a more balanced plan rather similar to what Bush proposed this week.
- Increased gasoline taxes
'
Let's hope.
- Retreat from Iraq
No one except for the most radical and ideological of the candidates - Kucinich, Gravel and Paul - is actually going to pull us out of Iraq.
- Abandonment, or at least neglect, of our National Missile Defense system
Um, who the fuck cares?
- Leftist Supreme Court nominees, in the mold of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Endless Justice Department investigations into the previous administration
Like you won't have these with ANY Democrat?
- Really boring and obnoxious performances at press conferences
At least he'd HAVE press conferences.
Want a Democrat who can win in 2008, and who wouldn't be a complete failure? How about Bob Kerrey.
He doesn't have the national stature to run.
Dave
8 - RJ
"- Increased gasoline taxes
Let's hope."
It would be highly inflationary, increasing the costs of virtually every good and service in the United States. The price of gas has practically tripled in the last 8 or 9 years. Increasing the federal tax on gasoline will make this serious problem even worse.
"- Abandonment, or at least neglect, of our National Missile Defense system
Um, who the fuck cares?"
Well, if Bush doesn't act against Iran in the next 15 months, and a "peace" Democrat is elected in 2008, then we can be pretty certain that Iran will have nukes by 2010 or 2011. (And missiles capable of reaching the East Coast of the US by 2015 or so.) Which is why I care a great deal about National Missile Defense.
"- Endless Justice Department investigations into the previous administration
Like you won't have these with ANY Democrat?"
Well, that's true. But Gore hates Bush because of the 2000 election, and would be more motivated than other Democrats to launch endless investigations over just about everything that happened from January 2001 to January 2009.
9 - alessandro
Ah man, here in Canada we're used to having little choice as we have to vote for the party. Hence why so many of our leaders are bland - or at least the system forces them to be so.
But you in America have no excuse. The system encourages - in theory anyway - independent thought. Hilarious Hilary I don't get. I'm no betting man but always go with the lesser of two evils. In this case, Gore - if he runs.
Or hope that the GOP nominees can somehow resonate. I like Fred Thompson. He knew how to handle McCoy.
10 - kkoz
Today I received this email and was glad to make a contribution...
Dear Friends,
We are entering the final stretch of this campaign, energized by a wave of enthusiasm and the hope that a Gore candidacy may be just weeks away. No, we cannot promise you that. But our candidate has left the door wide open and now it's up to us to try to persuade him to walk through it. Events over the next few weeks could affect this decision - and with it, the course of history. Some of them are out of our hands, such as the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize on October 12. But what we can do is make our voices heard to let Al Gore know that our call to service is backed by our willingness to fight for him. Please read on and join us on this historic journey.
Help us take out an ad in the New York Times
This will be our biggest bang of the campaign: a full-page ad in the New York Times with a powerful open letter to Al Gore asking him to run for president. But this ad is extremely expensive and we cannot afford it without your contribution. This is a one-time request and a unique opportunity for you to let Al Gore know how strongly you feel about him running in 2008. This is one letter he is sure to read. Please help us make it a reality by making a contribution today.
It may seem hard to believe that a group of grassroots activists like us could have a real impact on the choice of candidates for president. But as Margaret Mead once said:
Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Sincerely,
Monica Friedlander
Draft Gore
11 - Dave Nalle
It's interesting that the Gorebots found this article as fast as the Paulbots have found my articles which mention him.
I doubt any of the Gore drafters will be back, but if you guys DO check in, I'm curious if there's a Republicans for Gore organization. I tried to find one, but all I could find was the group from 2000 which seems to be defunct.
Dave
12 - gonzo marx
"Gonzo, even you have to admit that the 'lockbox' statement sounded idiotic and patronizing. He deserved then and now to be mocked for it, especially considering that a lockbox isn't much use when you have nothing to actually put in it."
well now..turns out he was completely correct about said "lockbox"...and to answer your thought that there was nothing in it...
if it had been implemented in 2000, there would be...also the simple fact that the budget was headed to paying off the Debt and would then pay back the IOUs to the "lockbox" , would have been quite plenty to keep SS going indefinitely...
this was stopped by Greenspan, who hated the Idea of the Nation being Debt free, when he testified before Congress on the topic of the Bush tax cuts...the purpose to spend the surplus and keep the Nation in Debt....instead of funding SS/Medicare
so Gore was right twice...for all that some thought he "sounded ridiculous"...
there's some "inconvenient Truth" for ya, and anyone who actually voted for W
Excelsior?
13 - NYPopulist
There's no Republicans for Gore group that I'm aware of, but just skimming through some of the comments over at the draftgore.com petition, there were a lot of Republicans and Independents who signed. Remember, we're trying to get him to run in the Democratic Primary...at this point, there's no real purpose of a 'Republicans for Gore' group. We'll save that for the general.
And FYI I resent being called a "Gorebot."
14 - Clavos
I say elect Hillary. most of the horrors that Mr. Nalle posits will probably happen, but the country is strong enough to survive a Hillarocracy, even for eight years.
What will happen is, that after back-to-back disastrous Republican administrations followed by back-to-back disastrous Democratic administrations, we'll never see another Republican or Democrat elected again.
Think about it.
15 - gonzo marx
well..at least Clavos admits this Administration has been a disaster
progress goes on...
Excelsior?
16 - REMF
"I say elect Hillary. most of the horrors that Mr. Nalle posits will probably happen, but the country is strong enough to survive a Hillarocracy, even for eight years."
True, and at least she's not as big a scumbag as Newt Gingrich.
17 - Baritone
Unfortunately, for most all of you above, Hillary is very likely to get the Dem's nomination unless something very drastic happens over the next 13 months, the possibility of which I certainly won't discount.
The threat by evangelicals to pull the plug if Guiliani is the Rep standard bearer makes Hillary even stronger. And does anyone really want a president named after a baseball glove? Fred Thompson is likely too little, too late and too lazy. Who else ya got? McCain, who can't get out of his own way? Or, uh, who?
So you are opting for Gore. I have no particular objection to Gore either, for that matter. After all he did get elected once. Had the popular vote held sway in 2000, we would most assuredly not be involved in Iraq today. I don't see it happening, though. How much abuse can a man take?
Actually Dave, I think you are being sinisterly clever here. Get Gore involved and you split the Dem's loyalties rendering them less formidable against whoever the Reps drag out as their standard bearer. It might work.
I think all your fears regarding Clinton are largely unfounded. She is not nearly so "out there" as you claim. She is the best organized of all the candidates from either side of the aisle, and she is, like it or not, the most experienced and qualified to run the country. And she has never been in a gubernatorial race. I mean, what kind of person wants to be a guber?
Keep in mind that political candidates often make sometimes outlandish campaign promises that anyone with a brain knows will never come to pass. It is an unfortunate part of the game.
At any rate, how could Hillary or anyone else be more fiscally irresponsible than Bush? Liberals are always accused of "tax and spend." Bush just spent without the advantage of tax. Then he has his economic mouthpieces claim that a record deficit is nothing to worry about. No problem.
As I've said, I can't imagine wanting to be the next president given the crap that will be dropped in her or his lap. But what the hell. There are around a dozen or more people clammoring for the opportunity. Most of them would likely do at least a nominally creditable job of it. Should it be Hillary, we all just might be pleasantly surprized. She may be a bitch on wheels, but she may also turn out to be a "bitchin" president.
B-tone
18 - Clavos
"True, and at least she's not as big a scumbag as Newt Gingrich."
Wrong, shuffleboard man.
She's got Newt (and even Kerry) beat by a country mile in the scumbag sweepstakes.
She's probably not as much of a scumbag as Hanoi Jane or Cynthia McKinney, however.
19 - brewski
AMERICA FOR GORE: NATIONWIDE COALITION CREATED TO
DRAFT AL GORE FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008
National Milestone Reached in Growing Grassroots Movement
BOSTON, Massachusettsâ€"September 21, 2007â€"They are teachers and students, scientists and doctors, secretaries and CEOs, store clerks and store owners, factory workers and artists. They represent every demographic group and every geographic region in the country. They are everyday Americans, from coast to coast and across the political spectrumâ€"Democrats, Independents, Republicans, conservatives, liberals, moderates. And they have two things in common: They have become involved in the political process (many for the first time), and they want Al Gore to run in the 2008 presidential election.
And, as of September 2007, the grassroots effort of these thousands of individuals has reached a milestone: They have joined together as a nationwide coalitionâ€"America for Gore.
America for Gore encompasses all the major and minor groups within the movement whose goal is to persuade Al Gore to run for president. Among the groups in the coalition are DraftGore.com, AlGore.org, Netroots for Gore, GoreHub.com, AlGore08 MySpace, Draft Gore Facebook groups, GoreforPresidentNow.com, Goreganic.com, RunDammit.com, RunGoreRun.com, and the Al Gore Support Center, as well as hundreds of Draft Gore meetups and groups nationwide. While the groups will continue to focus on their individual strategies, they will also be working together on important initiatives by sharing information, exchanging ideas, and mobilizing their members to help other groups within the coalition.
The America for Gore coalition is launching a new websiteâ€"www.AmericaforGore.orgâ€"to establish a central location on the web for the coordination of this grassroots effort. America for Gore is not replacing existing websites, groups, and blogs. The individual websites of each organization will continue to exist as before, but the new coalition website will keep group members and the public informed and will act as a portal, directing Gore supporters to the member sites so the can become involved in the many different facets of the Draft Gore movement.
Members of the coalition cite Gore's unmatched political experience (eight years each in Congress, the Senate, and as Vice President), the fact that he won the popular vote in 2000, his early and outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq, and his commitment to solving the climate crisis as core strengths of a potential candidacy in 2008.
The formation of this coalition signals a significant increase in the sophistication of the Draft Gore movement as well as in the powers of coordination, recruitment, and influence of the movement.
By coordinating their activities, the groups hope to extend their reach, recruit more members, and increase their impact on the public's and the media's perception of Al Gore's strength as a candidate.
20 - Clavos
gonzo #15,
I don't think I've expressed much support on these threads for the Bush administration's actions for quite some time now.
What I have done is disagree with those who criticize the Bushies on purely partisan grounds, and for purely partisan reasons.
About the only Bush policy that gets my approval is the tax cuts. I'm alarmed by the assault on the constitution and appalled by his Democrat-style spending.
He offends my libertarian side and my fiscal conservative side. And i can't stand the way he pronounces nuclear.
21 - REMF
"Wrong, shuffleboard man...She's got Newt (and even Kerry) beat by a country mile in the scumbag sweepstakes."
- Clavos
So the same guy who defends GW Bush's desertion and Bill Calley's war atrocities is now passing judgement on Hillary Clinton...?
Sweet.
22 - Clavos
Grin and bear it, dixiecup. Grin and bear it.
23 - Franco
#14 â€" Clavos
"the country is strong enough to survive a Hillarocracy, even for eight years."
I don't know Clavos. The damage she could do could last far longer then 8 years. Maybe she would be setting a course of big government and its controls of us to new levels that just could not be undone.
Hard question to answer when we really do not know what she is not telling us as Dave points out.
What we do know is from what she does tell us.
Flash Back:………The 1994 mid-term election became a "referendum on big government â€" Hillary Clinton had launched a massive health-care reform plan that wound up strangled by its own red tape
Op-eds were written against it, including one in The Washington Post by University of Virginia Professor Martha Derthick that said:
In many years of studying American social policy, I have never read an official document that seemed so suffused with coercion and political naivete ... with its drastic prescriptions for controlling the conduct of state governments, employers, drug manufacturers, doctors, hospitals and you and me.
The key words there are “naivete” and “drastic control of everything including you and me”.
Now we have all recently heard her on the presidential campaign trail stating she learned a lot lessions from that period. Here area some of her exact quotes:
Referring to her previous efforts at health care reform, Hillary Clinton said "I learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process, the importance of bipartisan cooperation and the wisdom of taking small steps to get a big job done
I am sure she did lean a lot. Apparently she learned she needed to work with people, not dictate to them. And do you note any reference to her making any amends concerning her “drastic control of everything including you and me”.. Nope, it ain’t their. What is there in its place is “taking small steps to get a big job done”.
What’s the “big jog that needs to be done”..... drastic prescriptions for controlling the conduct of state governments, employers, drug manufacturers, doctors, hospitals and you and me.
As president, she will be in full power unlike her status as First Lady back in 1993-1994 when she tried to ram this through. Add to this the lession she says she has learned and well, if leopards can't change their spots, she would still be that same tiger lady for control with Big goverment, only a lot less naive about how to get it done.
I think she IS telling us, so we really only have ourselves to blame for the worst that can happen.
For all those wanting big government to take care of controlling your lives, you should be happy as pigs in shit when you hear or see her.
Dave’s comment "We might get lucky and find out that she was lying all along." is really like a fervent prayer.
24 - Dave Nalle
well now..turns out he was completely correct about said "lockbox"...and to answer your thought that there was nothing in it...
if it had been implemented in 2000, there would be...
The SS fund had been completely depleted before 2000.
also the simple fact that the budget was headed to paying off the Debt
You seem to have forgotten the recession which got us back into deficit land BEFORE the war even started, a deficit compounded by inflated taxes which were slowing the economy and reducing government revenues on multiple levels.
and would then pay back the IOUs to the "lockbox" , would have been quite plenty to keep SS going indefinitely...
I believe you forgot about the baby boom as wsll. The tiny and rapidly disappearing surplus was totally inadequate to stand up to the projected increase in SS and Medicare obligaions resulting from baby boomers retiring.
Yes, we certainly would have been better off without the war, but the lockbox idea was never going to be sufficient, and the metaphor just sounded dumb, which was my main point.
Dave
25 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
This is the latest in the antics over who will pretend he is the next world emperor?
Dave, it appears that you realize - as does Joel Hirschhorn and "The Realist" - that your country is rapidly getting flushed down the toilet, and that you are reaching in your own way for a solution.
Irene is worshiping at the altar of Ron Paul, and you worship at the altar of Al Gore - though given the devilish look your new photo gives you, it is hard to imagine a devil worshiping at any altar.
After you've talked your friends into nuking Tel Aviv, unstrap those cloven feet, fold up the horns, shave off the beard - and go buy yourself lots of gold coins, a troy scale, a good hard knife, and loads of ammo for those coyote-killers of yours. Then strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. It's gonna be a doozy.
For your own sake, you might even want to mutter a few prayers to the G-d you don't believe in.