Various comments and statements from me,
Though this is not a direct response or comment on the issue at hand this is the two bits that I would like to add for the day.
For one I'm getting real annoyed at people describing Bush as not fiscally conservative. But take this food for though, from dictionary.com conservative means "Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.” Well for the last 50+ years the US governments have been deficit spending in order fund the cold war and build the IMC and its 25,000 dollar bomber seats programs. So what is not conservative about continuing this practice of spend and tax. First spend the money then tax to pay the minimum for the month. This policy has done more for the conservative ideal of a class society, since the dark day when non-land owners were given the right to vote, then any other practice to date.
Secondly the fear of the third party we need for more parties. The belief that the Democratic Party will be hurt by the ascendance of the Green party or the Libertarian party is a little funny. Firstly the green party may actually aid the Democratic Party in ridding it self of some of the radical differences within the party between some of the "party members" and therefore their politics. This may end the choosing of lesser evils mentality that people portrayed in the last general election. Since the democratic party has to chose the candidate that is the most acceptable to all the party faithful it makes the party choose the most centrist or I'm for the that candidate.
The Libertarian party has more to do with the Republican Party then the Democratic Party, though it will pull some from both. The anarchist from democratic states that seem to support this party, probably don’t vote anyway though they act like they do, so there impact is minimal at best. There danger is pulling the thinly populated states from the heart land of the US that the Republican Party gets so much of its support from. By pulling 10 to 20 percent of a state might allow a popular democratic candidate to win one or two traditionally republican states.
The days of the good verse evil politics of the United States might be coming to an end not because the people are more involved or the internet but CNN, MSNBC, and “Fox News” need content and more parties might produce the need for more information and therefore news and less summer of the shark stories. Though most of these possible new parties will use the internet more then their contemporaries will at least originally. This is due to the basic funding problems that any new party without the ability to sell legislation to seduce corporate backers with. But that last comment might be my cynical side shining through.
Back to the economy, the current system that has generated so much prosperity in the last fifty years, which we leveraged are future productivity to pay for might be coming to an end as all good things do. With the end of the cold war and the ascendance of Multinational Corporation whose profits are more difficult to find then a witty and well spoken comment buy George 2.0, the future we believed we owned might be in doubt. As profits generated over seas stay over seas a modern day tax revolt is happening. Where companies say why should we pay high first world taxes when we produce, build and trade largely in the third world. These corporations or rather syndicates only really sell to the first world how long will it take for the One World Alliance (an airline syndicate) to move its maintenance to Mexico or China where there are no unions and cost of operations are low low low. Allowing a 3 dollar price reduction per ticket that the consumer will never see but there is a silver lining most of the jobs in these multinationals will be filed by first worlders with connections. That’s what all the anti globalization protesters are bitching about. They do the work we or rather some of we reap the benefits and that is that. I guess that’s enough for the day

What's happenin', Mike?

I think the dictionary definition of "conservative" is a bit of a stretch for political conservativism. The changes that conservatives oppose the most took place just after the McKinley Era, and they've been gritting their teeth through the "New Deals" ever since. A fiscal conservative cuts taxes and spending, with the goal of reducing government and trying to get back to those McKinley glory days, keeping your money at the ranch, social programs be damned. Bush cuts taxes, and then goes to the government "all you can eat" buffet bar, spending billions he doesn't have. What I think most people don't realize is that the Bush Administration is run by neoconservatives, which adhere to authoritarian, not conservative, principles. Pretty freaky...

I do agree with you that America's fiscal future is a big question mark... that's why it's so important that we citizens get our heads around the nature of the multinational corporation, who's primary goal is it's own well being, not the well being of the American people, and seek to curtail its power. I'm a big fan of capitalism, but within a specific arena... having yielded to multinational corporations control of our government, which is supposed to be of, by, and for our people, we're just begging for our own demise.