Conservative, but pragmatic
If one of the big banks, or one of the big automakers had been on the brink, the market driven guy in me would say let it fail. But when it looks like a whole industry sector is going to fail, it would be an unwise leader who does nothing.
And GM and Chrysler are paying off the loans even faster than the plan, imagine that.
I'm a pragmatic conservative, though some don't think I'm conservative at all. I recognize that there is no such thing as a perfect democracy, no such thing as a perfect free market, no such thing as perfect equality of opportunity. I don't think governments should be giving tax payers reductions (especially the rich like Warren Buffet who pays little tax anyways because he has some many loopholes) unless and until the spending side of the house is under control. I do believe in limited government stimulus. I don't believe in long term government market distortions (like agricultural subsidies).
I don't think everything that comes out of a conservative's mouth is golden, I don't think everything that comes out of a liberal's mouth is untrue. Furthermore, I know that liberal and conservative politicians don't believe that either, but they pretend to in front of the media to "energize their core constituency" as they now say, back in the day, they used to say pandering.
Most of all, I think political leaders, regardless of their political affiliation, have a higher duty to their country and its citizens than they do to their party, and a responsibility to lead in the national interest. That doesn't mean letting the clock almost run out before reaching a compromise. That doesn't mean spending more time on school yard name calling than on moving forward with legislation.
I do think that the US will have to deal with its debt. But I also know what has been created over decades cannot be wiped away in years. Japan was in a worse financial situtation in the 90s, they have travelled a long hard road to recovery, and they haven't reached their old levels of prosperity yet. But they didn't panic, they set a course and they kept at it.
I don't think Obama will go down as one of the most decisive or effective American presidents. But he isn't a communist. If Obamacare is unconstitutional, bring it to the supreme court.
