The Village Square

The Purple Interview: Neil Skene Talks Tea Parties, Civility and Florida Politics

February 8th, 2010

Jump on over to Purple State of Mind to read the entire interview with Village Square board member Neil Skene. Here’s a tickler:

The thing about the political “base” of both parties is that they are much more in love with rhetoric and litmus tests than results. Ronald Reagan didn’t reduce the federal budget, and Jeb Bush didn’t reduce Florida’s budget, but they talked a great game and remain conservative heroes. Conservatives love to pass “sunset laws” and “balanced budget amendments” and everything else, but they rarely declare their opposition to any consequential program and successfully turn that position into policy. Liberals have their own philosophical litmus tests, around race and social programs, for example, but are often unable to manage what we already have.

Entry Filed under: Economics Lose the Ideology