Confused

Many ex-pats move to Mexico because the costs and TAXES are lower. The predominate voices on this form are Democrat, a party which historically and presently supports a bigger government with high taxes. I am not trying to support Republicans here; many of their faults have been outlined in previous posts by others. What I am CONFUSED(the title of the original post) about is why high-tax, big government supporting folks would find low-tax under-serviced Mexico appealing. I would think a place like Norway, which is consistently ranked high in terms of world wide best places to live, and which has the same sort of philosophy to which the aforementioned folks espouse, would be a more likely choice. For the surfers, Hawaii is a very Democrat state, and its warm!

I can see someone who thinks we are overtaxed and our government is too big wanting to stay in Mexico; I don't get why big government supporters would choose there. It seems inconsistent with those beliefs, especially with some of the other options I mentioned.

So enlighten me: why do big government loving folks live or spend extended periods of time in Mexico?

This is a little complicated. I'll let you know what I think later.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2010 09:22AM by Puerto Bill.

It's a straw-man argument. Big government/little government are not the reasons. Nobody (I haven't heard anybody. They may exist though.) said they do or don't like Mexico because of big/small government. That is not the only reason to go to or like Mexico.

It would be like saying; since the people of Arizona don't like Mexicans why would anybody from Arizona go to Mexico?

And saying that Democrats are the only ones who "like big government" is not accurate either. Government grew under Republican leadership from 2002 - 2007. I would say that I want the government to regulate Wall Street and the oil industry and pick up the trash and make sure food is safe and build good roads and make sure water is clean and make sure that medicine does not hurt me or... that kind of thing. I would like to see the military budget downsized by 50%. I might want to see farm subsidies reduced or eliminated but I would listen to the argument for and against. There are things that people want that I may not want. When somebody talks about "big government" it would be a good idea to give examples.

I wonder what a small government person would want to see cut. In May Eric Cantor rolled out a campaign called "YouCut" which promises that House Republicans will call for spending cuts chosen by online voters. It turned out to be a little more difficult that they thought.

A 62 year old Tea Party supporter acknowledged to the Times when she was told that if defense, Social Security, Medicare and the required interest on the national debt are untouched, that's over $2.2 trillion. Somehow, Tea Partiers would have to magically cut $1.3 trillion of the remaining $1.6 in FY 2010 spending. She said:
"That's a conundrum, isn't it? I don't know what to say. Maybe I don't want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security." She added, "I didn't look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I've changed my mind."

So the point is that there are a lot of people who say they want "smaller government" (this seems to be buzz words from the right wing talking points) but when asked what they would cut they have a hard time.

My understanding of the "straw man" is making up a hypothetical person that really doesn't exist. I am referring to people who do exist on this form. Also, again, I am not pro-Republican or right wing, whatever that means. That's why I specifically used the term "small government." I didn't say Democrats are the only ones who like big government. You rightfully say that the Republicans expanded government, even though they say they want less government. But Democrats don't usually say that. They say they want to increase services and raise taxes. They often point to Canada or Europe as models.

I am more specifically speaking of folks who live in Mexico, or spend a good amount of time there. Of course, the traveler wouldn't have to hold to any type government philosophy. Mexico has a wonderful culture and PE is a great place. But another appealing aspect to expatriates is the low cost and low taxes. You see, the high taxes and expenses in California and the US are the very taxes that are supporting so many of the services and programs Democrats openly support. It just doesn't seem consistent that one would be voting to support the programs with tax dollars, but then not willing to pay the taxes.

But, then, maybe the reason people are Democrats or Republicans doesn't really have to do with their personal philosophy about government? People are often tied to a political party for a variety of reasons, and they are usually reasons that benefit them personally.