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I run a business, I see what is comming, my business now is fine but given what I'm seeing I think a very challenging time is likely comming that my business is not likely to survive.
I hope it does but I'd rather be broke, hungry and cold than bend down to those who would destroy our way of life one vote at a time.
Let go of the fear and realize there are more important things in life than a plasma screen tv and eating out when you want.
The troops at Valley Forge weren't exactly living the high life or the troops doing the Batan death march.
Honor those folks a little, don't make them ashamed of you, they might be watching.
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At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
I hope it does but I'd rather be broke, hungry and cold than bend down to those who would destroy our way of life one vote at a time.
Let go of the fear and realize there are more important things in life than a plasma screen tv and eating out when you want.
The troops at Valley Forge weren't exactly living the high life or the troops doing the Batan death march.
Honor those folks a little, don't make them ashamed of you, they might be watching.
Someone posted this speech from McCotter on the house floor (the youtube clip) which is similar:
...the choice you face is this. You will lose potentially, for prosperity for a short period of time, at the expense of your long-term liberty. Once the federal government has got you to take that risk and pass it onto you as a quote-unquote moral hazard, they will be in the marketplace and as the free market is diminished your freedom itself is diminished. And as your Congress does not stand up to these and put forward a better plan that truly protects the taxpayers and truly has the long-term interests of the United States at heart, you will be in jeopardy of losing both your prosperity and your liberty. The choice is stark and it was put forward in the book by Doestoevsky. In the Brothers Karamazov the Grand Inquisitor came to Jesus and he said if you wish to subject the people, give them miracle, mystery and authority; but above all give them bread. And it has always been the temptation in a crisis especially to sacrifice liberty for short-term promises of prosperity. And it was no mistake during that during the 1917 Bolshevik revolution the slogan was “Peace, land, and bread.” Today you are being asked to choose between bread and freedom. I suggest that the people on Main Street have said they prefer their freedom, and I am with them. I yield back.
If you have clearly stated what you would cut, I have missed it.
I've only stated a few things I'd cut back a year or so ago. Things like Department of Homeland Redunancy Security and Department of Education, and kill All Children Left Behind. I'd combine the CIA and FBI into one agency and streamline the hell out of it. Get rid of the federal reserve. Streamline the IRS into a small agency to handle the 60% of revenue we should be taking in and not the 40% of PIT. The FDA is corrupt to its corp, owned by pharm companies' lobbyists.
Revamp SS for future generations, if not eliminating it entirely. Streamline the dept. of agriculture and its ridiculous subsidies. Tighten the footprint of the Dept. of energy. Streamline the pentagon. Kill the missle defense program. All of our regulations need to be reviewed, kicked out and rewritten with intelligent and then ENFORCED regulations.
Bottom line, there are several government programs that either are bloated beyond belief, or are unnecessary on their face. If I were president, I would commission a line by line review of every dollar spent and then based on the findings, eliminate the ones that are poorly implemented or streamline others. To simply say what one would cut without the access to perfect information is purely conjecture. But we waste tremendous amounts of money. That is a fact. Most of these groups use the vast majority of their budgets on overhead, and the trickle down to the people who they are supposed to be helping is not sufficient, because we have to pay the 'crats.
In RP's Revolution Manifesto, he tells a story of a Brookings Institute person who decided to find out how many 'crats were in the NY public school system. After 6 calls, he found someone who knew the answer, but couldn't tell him. 6 more calls later, he found out that the number was 6,000. He then called the NY Catholic private schools to get the same question answered. NY Catholic schools account for 1/5th the size of the NY Public School system. On the first call, the person said she wasn't sure, then did a quick count. The answer? 26 'crats. 26. Now tell me, which of the two are using their funds to provide actual dollars to the students' education more efficiently?
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Quote:
Mr. Garrison: Kenny, would you please climb that ladder and take down the star above the stage?
I've only stated a few things I'd cut back a year or so ago. Things like Department of Homeland Redunancy Security and Department of Education, and kill All Children Left Behind.
Yikes, we better make sure none of them are late to their bus stops.
Okay, okay, bad attempt at humor there.
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People of Mars, you say we are brutes and savages. But let me tell you one thing: if I could get loose from this cage you have me in, I would tear you guys a new Martian ***hole. You say we are violent and barbaric, but has any one of you come up to my cage and extended his hand? Because, if he did, I would jerk it off and eat it right in front of him. “Mmm, that’s good Martian,” I would say. - Jack Handey
The measure of one's individual liberty is proportionate to their acceptance of personal responsibility. Without the latter the former will cease to exist.
I have long been perplexed by the statements made by many that " the government " is to blame, as if it is the master in some slave trade industry. I would like to think of it as a conduit for the flow of social capital through our society. Eliminating the concept of funding for general purpose and common causes is not even remotely possible. Eliminate the thieves, corruption and leaks in these agencies and programs. Separate corporate America from the tax base, with the existing laws and enforce the sanctions for violators. In a society with 350 million individuals it is preposterous to think that the mayhem of a disassembled "government" system is a better answer. By human nature alone, it is probable to assume that the individuals, solely taking care of their own needs, would be the ultimate recipe for disaster. Imagine rats scurrying for the cheese.
The first decision I would strongly encourage would be to eliminate career elected officials and their power bases. Try a civil service administration with performance based evaluation and rotation. Secondly, dismantle that Defense Department gorilla. Good start in my estimation. The last thing this society needs is a dismantling of social services, yet somehow they always seem to be the whipping boys. Increase the pressure on corporate monitoring and dismantle the conglomerate structure. Very socialistic, but possibly a remedy for a system that has been corrupted to its core.
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In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"The moment you think you got it figured...you're wrong." Mr. Rate
I have long been perplexed by the statements made by many that " the government " is to blame, as if it is the master in some slave trade industry. I would like to think of it as a conduit for the flow of social capital through our society. Eliminating the concept of funding for general purpose and common causes is not even remotely possible. Eliminate the thieves, corruption and leaks in these agencies and programs. Separate corporate America from the tax base, with the existing laws and enforce the sanctions for violators. In a society with 350 million individuals it is preposterous to think that the mayhem of a disassembled "government" system is a better answer. By human nature alone, it is probable to assume that the individuals, solely taking care of their own needs, would be the ultimate recipe for disaster. Imagine rats scurrying for the cheese.
The first decision I would strongly encourage would be to eliminate career elected officials and their power bases. Try a civil service administration with performance based evaluation and rotation. Secondly, dismantle that Defense Department gorilla. Good start in my estimation. The last thing this society needs is a dismantling of social services, yet somehow they always seem to be the whipping boys. Increase the pressure on corporate monitoring and dismantle the conglomerate structure. Very socialistic, but possibly a remedy for a system that has been corrupted to its core.
I have worked in the public and private sector. Workers in the government, and I dont mean elected officials but the day to day grunbts are the worst workers in the world. They just want their government cheese and security and sleep all day at work.
90% of government workers could not hold a job in the public sector plain and simple. Schools worked fine before the Dept of Education, the answer to 9/11 was to consolidate the FBI and CIA not add another layer of government on top of it.
More government is not the solution.
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Goal for 2008: Half as many penalties.
I have long been perplexed by the statements made by many that " the government " is to blame, as if it is the master in some slave trade industry. I would like to think of it as a conduit for the flow of social capital through our society. Eliminating the concept of funding for general purpose and common causes is not even remotely possible. Eliminate the thieves, corruption and leaks in these agencies and programs. Separate corporate America from the tax base, with the existing laws and enforce the sanctions for violators. In a society with 350 million individuals it is preposterous to think that the mayhem of a disassembled "government" system is a better answer. By human nature alone, it is probable to assume that the individuals, solely taking care of their own needs, would be the ultimate recipe for disaster. Imagine rats scurrying for the cheese.
The first decision I would strongly encourage would be to eliminate career elected officials and their power bases. Try a civil service administration with performance based evaluation and rotation. Secondly, dismantle that Defense Department gorilla. Good start in my estimation. The last thing this society needs is a dismantling of social services, yet somehow they always seem to be the whipping boys. Increase the pressure on corporate monitoring and dismantle the conglomerate structure. Very socialistic, but possibly a remedy for a system that has been corrupted to its core.
I understand the desire to do something but government, by it's very nature, is inefficient at best. If the State of Arizona or Florida wants to institute wide raging social programs I think that is fine and up to the people in that state. In a constitutional republic, which we are supposed to have here, there is very little room for these things at the federal level.
I also think that the federal government has no moral authority to consume by force the wages of hard working people. There are many ways for the government to get operating revenue besides the income tax.
As for where do we go from here, I agree social services should be last and phased out over time but they should be phased out at a federal level.
“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.”
—James Madison
“Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. Government is force; like fire it is a dangerous servant -- and a fearful master.”
—George Washington
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“votes are collared under democracy, not by talking sense but by talking nonsense.” ~H. L. Mencken
Because 350M people under the command of the central authority has been such a success throughout history.
I have much respect for your opinion Wally but I have to agree with TJ here.
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
—Thomas Jefferson
Population when TJ was around was somewhere around 2 million, tops. The principle is fantastic but the application is impossible.
Also consider that the era of deregulation and laissez faire leaning preceded this clusterbuck we are now enmeshed in.
Deregulation has allowed the carpetbaggers to rule and without the threat of public lynchings for the corporate sucklings, they will drag every last one of us down and are counting on it. ,
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In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"The moment you think you got it figured...you're wrong." Mr. Rate
Just thinking that the intent of the FDA, FTC, SEC, FAA, et al is, in theory, good for our society. It is the neutering of these agencies in combination with the bureaucracy that cloaks its workings that has created this illusion of bad government. Just thinking..... ya know?
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In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"The moment you think you got it figured...you're wrong." Mr. Rate
Just thinking that the intent of the FDA, FTC, SEC, FAA, et al is, in theory, good for our society. It is the neutering of these agencies in combination with the bureaucracy that cloaks its workings that has created this illusion of bad government. Just thinking..... ya know?
In theory, they are a good idea. At least the theory that sold them to the people. In practice and in reality they serve their corporate masters.
If you really want to empower the people you have to let go a little and let people really be in charge. This is a scary concept to a lot of people. It is really scary to the people that are at the top and in control of the money and power because under such a system their continued success is not guaranteed.
Some people decry self-interest but the unfortunate reality of human nature is if people don't have a self interest they don't really give a $%#@. The people at the FDA don't have much self interest involved to make sure drugs are safe. If they make approve or don't approve a drug and people die because of it they still have a job. The FDA approving a drug makes the drug company less liable for their screw ups so if they can get it past the FDA they are mostly off the hook. They have a built in excuse that it was FDA approved.
All this regulation and government agencies sound good on paper but are fatally flawed IMO.
Anyway, I enjoy discussing this stuff with you. I think we have a similar opinion on where we need to be but obviously we have major differences on how we need to get there.
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“votes are collared under democracy, not by talking sense but by talking nonsense.” ~H. L. Mencken
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