When did I get so Extreme?

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

The other day, during a discussion with one of my more conservative friends, he made the statement:

"When did wanting a fiscally responsible, balanced budget get considered extreme politics?"

I replied that the basics of that statement weren't extreme.  But if you think that the only way to get to that point is to cut Social Security & Medicare without performing some real cuts in the Defense budget, that is extreme. 

But that got me to thinking, I do not consider myself that extreme of a person, and while I have taken a few extreme political positions in my life mostly those were tempered somewhat by other positions.  So the thought process then took me another direction:

"When did supporting Unions, a living wage, a social safety net, and government regulation of Industry to prevent damaging consequences become an extreme position?"

Because economically that's really all I am talking about.  I am not advocating industry nationalization, or complete takeover of certain companies or sectors.  I don't think it's extreme to want a good education for my children, an expectation of good, affordably priced health care, the idea that all things being equal my children can hope to live better than I do economically.  And yet that has somehow become considered the extreme.

And that about sums up the problem with our national political discourse these days.  Positions that used to be considered normal are now radical.  What was radical is now normal.  And I think that until that reverses there will be more hard times politically.