But, as Mr. Spock would say, it's illogical!

I am sick and tired of seeing the following leap of illogic:

 Someone speaks of the issues that "liberals" if we must use labels, have espoused over the years, and then, as if there were direct linkage, blames the federal debt on liberals - a lie (look at the Reagan and both Bush's debt increases in times of relative good economies) and pretends that makes the entire position null and void. An accurate paraphrase might be: "because we don't like most of the things liberals think are important, we'll blame the debt on them to hide the fact that we are bigoted, mean spirited and ignorant." below are some things "liberal" which have little economic impact at all, but are kicked to the curb by the Right, because their real agenda (the Far right) is really anti "everyone else different from me." 

the 21st amendment -  no cost, but more than half of Americans were granted full rights as citizens for the first time. (for those of you who are Conservatives, that means votes for women.

The end to legal racial  segregation -  no cost, actually cost savings in the South where dual school systems  were outlawed

Roe v. Wade -  According to several studies, the decrease in urban crime during the nineties (which ran counter to the predictions of every law enforcement expert in America) was a direct result of thousands of unwanted children not being born to parents who had no capability or intention of raising them.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting rights Act of 1965 - two of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed, forced those who would violate both the spirit and letter of the Constitution to stop doing so  (the only cost here is enforcement in those cases where bigots and haters still resist obeying the law)

Clean air and Clean water Acts and the creation of the EPA  (signed into law by that environmental activist Richard M. Nixon) - again, yes, there are costs, but look at China if you really want to see how bad things could be without them.

Medicare - The big lie here is based on one (or both)  of two assumptions   1: Some persons just don't deserve as good health care as others because they're not as important or as smart, or as white, or whatever.  (And don't you dare tell me there are not those who hold this opinion - I have worked with some)   2: Medicare is an expense we wouldn't have if it weren't for all those liberals who helped enact it. The reality, based on seeing countless case studies, is that in the absence of affordable health care, people often don't go to a doctor until their particular medical condition is so severe that they present at the local emergency room in crisis. A medical emergency  that could have been resolved  with preventive care or early treatment becomes an extended hospital stay and the cost is borne by the taxpayer anyway, but it's a much larger cost!  Lack of simple prenatal care carries with it a huge economic cost in extended hospitalization, in some cases for both mother and child.

Equality for all Americans: The Defense of Marriage Act, touted by Rick Perry and others was  a miserably misdirected solution to a non-existent problem. Letting same sex couples marry would cost nothing, and have zero effect on anybody else's marriage. Resistance by conservatives on this point is based on religious bigotry, and flies in the face of all logic. Christians who say they believe in a New Testament God, reject all the little annoyances in Leviticus like dietary laws, selling their daughters into slavery, or killing their neighbor for mowing the lawn on Sunday, medical treatments for rashes, etc. Hell, you can't even get a Born Again to sacrifice a dove or lamb or a  calf anymore, and when Santeria worshippers do it in Miami, they go nuts! But homosexuality - well  now, God was really serious about that, so let's ignore everything but that. Sounds silly when you look at it like that, doesn't it. Almost certainly the apostle Paul felt that way too, which is why he urged men not to marry if they didn't have to.  (Was Paul g**?) If your marriage needs defending by the government, it has already failed quicker than a Kristen Stewart  romance.