" Strick, well of course that's true--but to be precise, I call it not a belief but a suspension of disbelief, which is to say that the "belief" persists although nobody really believes it or does it. It's more like "rooting" for something than believing anything."

Don't be silly. Some folks think that all people who disagree with them take their beliefs from Rush Limbaugh. Others say it's the ACLU. :D

Didn't the Democrats recently propose a counter tax cut? One in which everyone would receive a $300 rebate (wait, where have I heard that number before?). We're talking politics, not economics. Politicians playing to their narrow special interest groups. Doing what ever they think it takes to get elected.

Values? Econonics, the real messy real world thing, is perfectly happy to ignore values as your own examples prove. Oh, you mean of the people making economic proposals! They don't really know anything about economics. See above.

As for labels, naming and categorizing things is good. Projecting stereotypes as you did in your post summing up your dismissal of John H is bad. How in the heck can you really know what I think on any issue by simply calling me a name?