Why a Conservative America is a Myth

PDF is here.

Quick summary:

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

On Health Care: 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

On Energy Policy: 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources"; 64 percent are willing to pay a higher energy tax to pay for renewable energy research; 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.

On the Economy: 77 percent of Americans believe Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.

On Government's Role: 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves." Twice as many people (43 percent to 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as want government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."

On Immigration: 62 percent of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should be given a chance to "keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status." 49 percent believe the best way to reduce illegal immigration from Mexico is to penalize employers, not more border control.

Funny on this one

[Marxist Hacker 42]

On Immigration: 62 percent of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should be given a chance to "keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status." 49 percent believe the best way to reduce illegal immigration from Mexico is to penalize employers, not more border control.

I'm in the 49%, but I'm not sure I'm in the 62%. Maybe because I think you can't have a liberal government without using laws to control economic fraud, regardless of WHO is doing it? But I'd rather have the 12 million deport t

Re:

[WillAffleckUW]

See, this is what most liberal Dems think too. We want 5 year jail terms for the CEOs and senior execs of all firms (larger than 50 people, otherwise the regulatory burden is too much) that hire or subcontract illegal workers - and confiscation of their assets to pay for the massive debts run up by the "conservatives" for their wars of foreign expansion and tax cuts for billionaires.

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Yes, on most fiscal/law matters I'm a Liberal Democrat. On most social matters, I'm a local conservative (in that I think the best way to shore up Social Security would be to eliminate abortion and pay women to have children; I'd like to eliminate the Department of Offense and turn it into the Department of Defense, I'd like to eliminate Euthanasia and replace it with good end-of-life care, I'd like to eliminate The Death Penalty and replace it with either Permanent Solitary Confinement or Death of Persona

Re:

[WillAffleckUW]

See, I'm the exact opposite. I think it's nobody's business what you do at home or in church (or even if you have one). The best way to shore up Social Security is to just remove the earnings cap (poof, suddenly no problem). Abortion is nobody's business but a woman and her doctor - if she chooses to include you, cool, if not, it was your choice not to use birth control, guy. I used to work for the Department of National Defense (DND) in Canada (Canadian Army Sergeant, been to way too many military fune

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

That last bit everybody can agree on.

The Social Security remark is based on pre RoeVWade Demographics vs now- the original system was designed for 5 workers for every retired person. We're now down to 2 and falling. In fact, that's the only argument FOR immigration I'll accept- that we need replacement workers to cover those who were never born...at a rate of a million a year. It's selfish enough that the Baby Boomers want us to cover their retirement, but in not breeding at replacement rate they made i

Re:

[WillAffleckUW]

You want us to have MORE kids?

Every American we crank out means the global warming and energy crises just get that much WORSE.

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Every American we crank out means the global warming and energy crises just get that much WORSE.

I'm convinced there are some pretty easy answers to that in housing for the poor (done right, it's a major carbon absorption method, where done right means turning deserts into bamboo forests using condensation techniques, then using the bamboo to build housing so that the carbon *stays* locked up for decades, maybe centuries depending on building method) and decentralized ambient energy (where each house is bu

Re:

[dave-tx]

I don't really care much about the whole immigration issue one way or the other (which is odd because I'm in Texas, where the issue actually has a substantial impact on everyday life), but I'd tend to lump myself in with the 62 and 49 percentages. What I would really find interesting (and take that with a grain of salt, because I haven't even bothered to google it) would be the state-by-state breakdown of a poll such as this. It seems to me that, while everyone's opinion counts in a Democracy, the opinion

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

With modern transportation, every state has become a border state. Mexicans Latinos are the fastest growing minority illegal immigrants in the Pacific Northwest- Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, none of which border Mexico.

Re:

[dave-tx]

That is a good point about modern transportation, but the fact that "Mexican Latinos are the fastest growing minority illegal immigrants" seems obvious, since most illegal immigrants ARE Mexican. The real question is how many illegals you're talking about in the first place - what percentage of the workforce and how does it impact the local economy, both positive and negative?

I'd still be curious to see a state-by-state breakdown to see what the trend is in terms of proximity to the borders.

Yeah, but who owns the media?

[WillAffleckUW]

And that gives you your answer for why the myth exists.

With those figures in mind....

[dave-tx]

...why is it that we have a conservative president in office, especially for a second term?

There are many reasons, but the obvious answer is that conservatives do a better job at actually getting out to vote. Using polarizing issues like gay marriage and flag burning have brought out the far-right wing vote in the past, but even when there isn't something nutty on the ballot I would guess that we'd see that conservatives vote in higher percentages than non-conservatives. As such, we get the government w