Commence: My Political Revelation

This is my first entry. It's 10:53pm EST on September 20th, 2011.

I'm not entirely sure where this blog going to take me. I'd like to think I'm going to write about politics, philosophy, money, etc., but we'll see...

I've been spending a lot of time lately reading, watching videos, etc. about politics and all things related. I've always felt the left vs. right, Republican vs. Democrat, rhetoric in media is a distraction. From what? - I've never been entirely sure. Over the past 60 days or so, I feel as though I'm finally gaining some semblance of clarity on the subject. I'm not going to try to fully articulate the clarity I feel to be gaining, this evening, but I will try to in the coming days, weeks, months...Tonight, I'd like to discuss a somewhat painful revelation I've had...

The role of government seems to be at the heart of the debate these days. Those on the "right" SAY government should be small; the "left" SAY government has an obligation to help the poor, protect those in need, etc., which typically means bigger government. Those generalities being said, the biggest joke, in my opinion, of today's political theater is the current leadership of the Republican party. I'll provide some examples...

The Republicans say they want small government, but the size of the federal government grew under George W. Bush. Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Education, as well as an expensive prescription drug plan were added...how is that smaller government?

The Republicans say they are the fiscally responsible party....but the above additions to the federal government, including two very expensive wars, came with tax cuts. How is increasing expenses while at the same time reducing revenues (income) remotely fiscally responsible?

I could provide more examples, but I'll stop there. I feel they are sufficient enough because they highlight the disappointing fact that the actions of the Republican party over the past decade do not agree with their rhetoric or even what they define as their two key principals. Unfortunately, their actions are the exact opposite of their words.

In the interest of not rambling, I'm going to end the post with a summary of my revelation: Both parties want big government. The Republicans want it in the form of a  military-state and the Democrats want it in the form of a welfare state. I reject both.