Out of Egypt:

kind of ironic that i'm now registered as a Democrat

When I look at the Washington Post's key votes database for the last Congress, I see that I come down on the Republican side more often than not. The main areas in which I differ from the Republicans, of course, are civil liberties and immigration policy. Guess I have successfully been converted to libertarianism after all. My brief fascination with Obama passed after I looked at his policies more closely, and I'm now closer to where I was near the beginning of the election season, when I was a Ron Paul supporter.

It's hard for me to be consistent in political views. When I look at things from the 30,000-foot view, dramatic social programs can seem attractive. But when it comes down to the actual implementation, and the unintended economic side-effects, I realize that it's generally better for the government to leave well enough alone.

That said, I don't support the tax cut policies of either Obama or McCain, as I believe that they are a poor substitute for fiscal responsibility. McCain claims that he will fund his tax cuts by eliminating government waste. However, any serious investigation of the budget would show that waste is not the main cause of government expenditure. Obama, as far as I know, doesn't even attempt to explain how he will fund his tax cuts - and program increases.