A lot of this is true, but it suffers from the attempt to set up a false dichotomy (both parties obviously guilty of this). This is a probably inevitable consequence of the two-party system. When there are only two parties, you can either build your party up, or simply emphasize how different it is from the other. Both will get you votes, similar amounts. Anyway, I think most people have a pretty twisted idea of US welfare history; that's definitely something to be aware of. And I agree about a couple of the points about crime reduction, but the general emphasis from economists, sociologists etc at the moment is that there are a lot of factors and no one is quite sure which ones have primacy. Modern American conservatism is truly a strange thing. It does not bear a whole lot of resemblance to any version of conservatism that has come before it.